On Sunday, Verona’s Multicultural Inclusion and Accessibility Advisory Committee (MIAAC) and the Verona Public Library held their second Women of Impact panel, honoring five Verona women for being role models or for having a positive impact on Verona or the greater community: Kristen Donohue, Kate Hartwyk, Alison Mackey, Christine McGrath and Sarina Rivera-Knoetig. MIACC had sought nominations from the public in January and February.
Donohue is a Montessori preschool teacher, mom, volunteer and co-president of C.H.I.L.D., the group that represents special education students in Verona public schools. She has advocated for more inclusivity in Recreation Department and helps run the Sensory Story Time at the library.
Hartwyk, a certified parks and recreation professional, is the deputy director of the Essex County Park System, and oversees the daily operations of the South Mountain Recreation Complex, including Turtle Back Zoo.
Mackey is a Verona resident since 1999 and mother of three. Formerly a mortgage loan officer, she has volunteered with the Verona Junior Women’s Club, The 5th Downers, and several SCA committees. MyVeronaNJ.com recently profiled Mackey’s work with Angels on the Ground, a organization that brings clothes and food to the homeless in Newark.
McGrath, who is in her second term on the Verona Town Council, is the chair of the Verona Democratic Party and a board member with the Human Needs Food Pantry. A mother of two, she is the past president of the Junior Women’s Club of Verona and the Friends of the Verona Public Library, and advocated for the creation of MIAAC.
Rivera-Knoetig, a resident of Verona for 16 years, is a mother of four. She is an associate general counsel at Genentech, the biotech company that developed the first targeted antibody for cancer. A former Army National Guard medic, she has served on the Verona Public Library Foundation, the Verona Foundation for Educational Excellence, the Verona Field Hockey Parents Association, and Laning Avenue’s SCA.
Community service inspiration
During a presentation at the Verona Community Center moderated by MIAAC’s Carla Buglione and Manya Brachear Pashman, who volunteers with the Friends of the Verona Public Library, the women talked about what had inspired them to be involved in community service. They talked about coming from families that had been active volunteers and how volunteering had connected them to other members of the Verona community and given them confidence to be more active.
“Volunteering was a different way for me to showcase the skills that I have,” Donohue said.
“The Verona Juniors gave me this confidence while being surrounded by like-minded, hardworking women.” Once she found her footing, she was able to take on other leadership roles. Now in her third year as co-president of C.H.I.L.D., the challenge has been advocating for a small group with limited resources. “The very nature of advocacy means that there are people who don’t necessarily think what you are pushing toward is important,” Donohue said. “So that means kind of running to into walls having to ask for things over and over again only to be told No.”
Rivera-Knoetig said that, in the early days of motherhood, she didn’t feel that she had time for volunteering. She started small and became involved with VFEE, the Verona Foundation for Educational Excellence, which provides grants to teachers to enhance the curriculum. Then friends encouraged her to get involved with the nascent Verona Public Library Foundation. “It was a wonderful opportunity to be able to be at the ground level of something that again has such broad reach within the community,” she said.
The panelists said that it was also important to be role models. “It’s about being able to set that example for my own kids,” Rivera-Knoetig said. “How can you say you that this is something that’s important to do if you’re not modeling that behavior?” Rivera-Knoetig, whose husband is a paid firefighter in another town, noted that this community service is trickling down, with both her oldest daughter and son serving as volunteer firefighters in Verona. “It fills my heart with gratitude,” she added.
Mackey echoed the importance about modeling community service for one’s children. “I was always not only happy to help our community but I think I was able to teach my kids how to have empathy for others,” she said, noting that her older children sometimes help her on her early Sunday morning trips to Newark. She said that volunteering with Angels On The Ground has become a full-time job because the number of homeless in Newark continues to rise. She said that while her garage has come to resemble a consignment shop because it gets so filled with donations, the effort is worthwhile. “I’m changing lives one coat at a time,” she said.
McGrath was also asked about the challenges and opportunities that women face in political campaigns. “Women really don’t have equal rights in our country,” McGrath said, “because we don’t have equal political representation. Only 28% of Congress is women . In New Jersey, only two of our 12 Congressional reps are women.” She said that women who are interested in getting involved in politics to look into Rutgers University’s Center for American Women and Politics, which runs a non-partisan campaign training program.
Mentoring and being effective advocates
The moderators also asked the panelists how they declined volunteer requests and how they can be effective advocates. On the first point, Rivera-Knoetig conceded that while that can be hard, it is important for one’s mental health to set boundaries. “I like to join organizations where I feel like there’s an appropriate division of responsibility and duty,” she said, “and that everybody’s kind of pulling their weight towards that goal.”
McGrath said that while advocates need to be persistent they shouldn’t strive for perfection, saying that it can hold women back. “It’s important to focus on the big picture and utilize your time wisely.”
Hartwyk said that she strives to give the women on her team full credit for the work that they do but when one of them makes a mistake, she takes responsibility for it. “They’re on my team, so it’s my mistake,” she said. Hartwyk added that, after listening to a TED Talk by Sheryl Sandberg, the former chief operating officer of Meta and founder of Leanin.org, she actively invites women to take a seat next to her at events.
Participants agreed that it is important for women to mentor other women, to “send the elevator back down” as one put it. “I’ve made it my mission now within my small corner of the company,” Rivera-Knoetig said, “that I’m in to be the mentor to others that I would have wanted to have for myself in that same position.”
Asked what kind of advice they would give to younger women who want to get involved in Verona. “You need to start small,” Donohue said said. “That will build the confidence needed.” “Everyone will have something to give,” she added. “It’s just about getting to know people. The more you get to know people and understand them as humans, the more you can help them to see what they may not see in themselves.”
Mackey agreed. “Start by just making one person’s day every day. “Getting involved is huge, even if it’s an hour just an hour a day, it’s going to make all the difference.
You can watch the event in full here. There are some jumps and gaps in the audio.
