Christine Kenny Notigan is one of 32 women in Union County selected by the YWCA to receive a TWIN award this May.
For years, Christine Kenny Notigan worked in “the hard drive of litigation” as a management and labor attorney, but she said there came a time when she wanted to take a step back from the sometimes adversarial side of employee relations and work with the softer side of people. So, Kenny Notigan decided to make a change.
Today, Kenny Notigan works as the director of human resources — client relations, power at Public Service Enterprise Group. In early May, Kenny Notigan was recognized for her work with the company having received the YWCA Union County’s Tribute to Women & Industry Award, a nationally recognized honor for for women in executive, managerial and professional roles who have made significant contributions in their field.
YWCA is a national nonprofit working to eliminate racism and empower women. Proceeds from the YWCA’s annual Tribute to Women and Industry celebration benefit the YWCA Union County, which provides services for victims of domestic violence and their children.
Kenny Notigan grew up in Monmouth County and went on to earn her bachelor’s of arts degree from the University of Notre Dame. She said, during her college years, she was drawn to women’s issues. She volunteered her free time doing gender discrimination work, which ultimately influenced her decision to pursue a career in law.
She went on to receive a juris doctor degree from Georgetown University Law Center. She said throughout her time at Georgetown, she was part of several clinics on gender discrimination, and so when she graduated law school, she made her way back to New Jersey to work in employment law.
She worked for a time as a management labor and employment attorney with Saul Ewing LLP in Philadelphia and Proskauer Rose LLP in New York before serving as deputy attorney general for New Jersey.
After serving as a trial lawyer in Trenton, Kenny Notigan moved to PSEG as in-house attorney advising on employment law. She said developing relationships with some of the company’s executives helped her to realize she wanted to make the switch to human relations. She said she felt like she could make more of an impact working on human performance motivation and large-scale organizational change.
“The transition was natural and really great,” Kenny Notigan said.
She started doing human relations strategy for a plant in Salem before being promoted to director of human relations approximately a year ago. She said juggling being a mom to her sons Robby, 7, and Pierce, 4, and travelling all over New Jersey for her job is something of a balancing act. The family moved from Princeton to Moorestown nearly three years ago. She said the town’s proximity to Philadelphia, strong schools and sense of community drew her and her husband, Rob Notigan, to the area.
She said a typical day for her could consist of anything from high-level executive meetings on leadership development to strategy meetings on organizational development.
Much of her work involves helping leaders to change their performance. She said dealing with a diverse workforce is very exciting and brings a lot of challenges.
“Effectuating change in an organization is the most challenging [part],” Kenny Notigan said of her role.
Each year, PSEG looks at women across the company who have made significant contributions to the success of the organization. It selects about three or four leaders and submits them to the YWCA.
“I was surprised but very proud and honored that my leadership team felt the confidence in me to be nominated,” Kenny Notigan said.
Ultimately, Kenny Notigan was one of 32 women in Union County selected by the YWCA to receive a TWIN award this May.
