More than $100,000 Raised for Freedom Scholars Program
PARSIPPANY, NJ – More than $100,000 was raised as four successful women were honored yesterday at the 6th Annual Women of Achievement Awards Luncheon benefiting Tri-County Scholarship Fund’s Freedom Scholars Program. The New Jersey non-profit – which annually provides 400+ scholarships for many of the state’s most financially disadvantaged children, enabling them to attend accredited K-12 values-based private and parochial schools – hosted the fundraiser on Thursday, April 12 at Fiddler’s Elbow Country Club in Bedminster, NJ. The 6th Annual Women of Achievement Awards Luncheon began at 11:00 a.m. and was co-chaired by Ann Marie Manahan and Joseph Gonnella, the Chief Development Officer for the Boy Scouts of America Patriots’ Path Council. More than 250 attended the event, which directly benefits Tri-County’s Freedom Scholars program –a partnership between Tri-County, schools, and families which assists financially disadvantaged high school students so they are able to afford values-centered, high-performing private schools and also helps them from their Freshman through their Senior year with mentoring, tutoring, college prep courses and more.
Honored at the 2018 luncheon are the following:
Rosemary Mercedes (Union City, Hudson County), Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer of Univision Communications, Inc.;
Rebecca Levy, Esq. (Woodcliff Lake, Bergen County), General Counsel for Summit Medical Group, PA and Chief Legal Officer of Summit Health Management, LLC.;
Reema Puri (Hunterdon County), Vice President of Human Resources for Nevakar, Inc.; and
Denise Flanagan (Harding Township, Morris County), Broker and Sales Consultant with Coldwell Banker.
“We couldn’t be more pleased to honor these four amazing women, all of whom are passionate about the Tri-County Scholarship Fund mission and support us in so many different ways,” explained Prudence Pigott, President of Tri-County Scholarship Fund. “Their work and efforts are inspiring to all who encounter them – especially our students – and we thank them for all they have accomplished.”
Rosemary Mercedes is the first Chief Communications Officer for Univision Communications, Inc., the leading media company serving Hispanic America and the rising diverse, American mainstream. She defines Univision’s overall communication strategy and she has played an integral role in building and executing some of Univision’s most successful communications and awareness campaigns in the past 10 years. Her impact has been recognized by the industry a number of times throughout her career; most recently Mercedes was named the 2017 Pioneer of the Year by the Hispanic Public Relations Association. She was named to The Holmes Report’s 2016 List of Rising Communications Leaders in North America, among the Top Women in PR by PR News, and as one of the Top 40 Under 40 PR Professionals in the U.S. by PR Week magazine.
Rebecca Levy, Esq. has served as Summit Medical Group, P.A.’s General Counsel since 2011. In 2014, she was also named the Chief Legal Officer of Summit Health Management, LLC, an entity that offers a population health-focused model of management services to healthcare organizations in New Jersey, Arizona and Oregon. Levy is responsible for oversight of all legal and compliance matters and she is also responsible for oversight of the Human Resources Department, the Risk Management and Patient Safety Department, the Coding Compliance Department and the Summit Medical Group Foundation. Levy also serves as the Vice President of the Summit Medical Group Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. She was named a New Jersey SuperLawyers “Rising Star” in 2010 and 2011, was listed among NJ Biz magazine’s 40 Under 40 in 2014 and was a finalist in NJBiz magazine’s General Counsel of the Year awards in 2015.
Reema Puri serves as the Vice President of Human Resources at Nevakar, Inc., a company that she helped found and grow along with her husband, Navneet. Nevakar is a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative products in the injectable and ophthalmic space. With more than 15 years of combined experience within the Pharma industry, Puri has had tremendous success in Research & Development and Human Resources. Puri has parlayed her expertise in helping young women in New Jersey by mentoring and serving as an Advisory Board member at the New Jersey Women in STEM Entrepreneurship & Innovation Challenge. In fact, she is recently the recipient of the 2018 AWISN New Jersey Women in STEM Mentoring Award. In addition, the Puri Family supports educational endowments for graduate students at Rutgers University and Reema is on the board of Vedic Samaj, where she is the President and also serves as a Board of Trustees member.
Denise Flanagan is a very successful real estate professional, in addition to being a trusted colleague, friend, mentor, and community volunteer. Her many accomplishments include being a certified Real Estate Broker, a Manager/Broker of Record, a member of the New Jersey Real Estate Commission, and a Certified Tax Assessor. She has consistently been a recipient of many awards and honors including the Million Dollar Sales Club from 1984-1991 with Schlott Realtors and from 1992-1994 with Coldwell Banker. While with Coldwell Banker, Flanagan received the North Central Jersey Association of Realtors Circle of Excellence Gold Level in 2005 and from 2007-2012 as well as the Silver Level in 2006. She has been in the President’s Elite Top 1% Worldwide and in the New Jersey Association of Realtors Distinguished Sales Club. Since 1979, a span of thirty-four years, Denise has sold over 1,000 homes, an average of 25-30 homes a year.
The annual Women of Achievement Awards Luncheon is just one fundraiser hosted to benefit Tri-County Scholarship Fund. The organization will host its 5th Annual Lawyers for Tri-County Awards Dinner on Thursday, May 10 at Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit, NJ. Following, Tri-County will host the 26th Annual Tri-County Golf Invitational at Morris County Golf Club in Morristown, NJ on Monday, June 4. Details regarding these events can be found at http://www.tcsfund.org/news-events/ or by calling 973-984-9600.
