Leadership Somerset Celebrates The Class Of 2014

Leadership Somerset, an adult leadership program for people who work or live in Somerset County, recently held a graduation celebration for its Class of 2014 in the county Administration Building, located at 20 Grove St.

Freeholder Peter S. Palmer, joined by Leadership Somerset Board Member Guy Catapano, presented graduation certificates and gifts to each class member. The keynote speaker for the ceremony was Paul Grzella, general manager and editor of the Courier News, Home News Tribune and MyCentralJersey.com. Grzella incorporated the seven capacities of Positive Leadership, which are included in the class curriculum, in his remarks.

Each year, Leadership Somerset asks participants to identify and implement a class project for the benefit of the community. Before being presented with a certificate, graduates offered a summary of their class projects and a definition of what leadership means to them.

Members of the Class of 2014 achieved success by getting community buy-in and forming partnerships that allowed them to implement two projects. With assistance from the New Jersey Water Supply Authority, Rutgers Cooperative Extension, Somerset County Park Commission and the Borough of Somerville, one project team established a rain garden, which will help to address storm water runoff issues, at Carol Pager Sports Complex in Somerville.

The other project team focused their energies on assisting CASA SHaW (Court Appointed Special Advocates in Somerset, Hunterdon and Warren counties), a nonprofit 501(c) organization committed to advocating for children living in foster care. A Court Appointed Special Advocate is a trained citizen who is appointed by a judge to represent the best interests of a child in court. The project team helped the nonprofit extend its community outreach, attract new, diverse members to its Board of Directors and galvanize volunteers from Ortho Clinical Diagnostics to develop a marketing plan for the organization. The goal is to enable students at Raritan Valley Community College to help CASA SHaW implement the marketing plan in the future.

Established in 2000, Leadership Somerset is sponsored by Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders, Somerset County Business Partnership, Raritan Valley Community College and the United Way of Northern New Jersey. Leadership Somerset is looking forward to inducting its Class of 2015 on Jan. 21.

CAPTION: Members of the Leadership Somerset graduating class of 2014 pose for a photo in the Freeholders Public Meeting Room in Somerville. From left to right in the bottom row are: Frances Varacalli of Franklin, Linda Kragie of Bernards, Elise Marucchi-Soos of Warren, Taran Connelly of Califon, Mayra Martinez of North Plainfield, Janice Haggerty of Bedminster and Beverly Pranzatelli of Bound Brook. Top Row: Dave Frauenheim of Somerville, Tara Ann St. Angelo of Somerville, Chris Hart of Hackettstown, Alaysha Walker of Piscataway, William Weber Jr. of Bernards, Elisabeth Staehle of Bernards, Sunil Bhorkar of Monmouth Junction, Bahdra Parmar of Bethlehem, Pa., and Paul Hatrak of Warren. Not shown are Rajani Flynn of Manville, Felecia Nace of Bedminster and Nancy Petrillo of Branchburg.

For more information, contact Leadership Somerset at (908) 231-7040 orLeadershipSomerset@co.somerset.nj.us. Discover Leadership Somerset on Facebook, Twitter orLinkedIn.