West Orange Resident Receives Trailblazer Award

On Sunday, March 11, U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) hosted his third annual Women of Distinction Awards to celebrate Women's History Month.

Among the six recipients was New Jersey Citizen Action Executive Director Phyllis Salowe-Kaye of West Orange.

The Evangelina Menendez Trailblazer Award was named in honor of the Senator’s late mother because, says Menendez, "she was a trailblazer in her own quiet way who made the momentous decision to flee Cuba and come to America so that her sons and daughter could have safety and stability."

More than 400 people attended the award ceremony at the Margaret Williams Theatre at New Jersey City University where EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson gave the keynote address, with New Jersey TV host and correspondent April Woodward serving as mistress of ceremonies.  

"It is incredible to receive this award, to be in the company of such fabulous women, and to be honored in the name of a woman who is truly inspiring," Salowe-Kaye said in a press release.

Salowe-Kaye has been blazing trails as Executive Director of New Jersey Citizen Action for the last 25 years. She has negotiated more than 40 Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) agreements with almost all of New Jersey’s largest banks, and several of the smallest, totaling more than $22 billion dollars in below-market rate mortgages, discounted home improvement loans, construction and permanent financing for non-profits, small business loans targeted to women and minorities, and community and economic development lending, officials with Menendez's office said. 

Salowe-Kaye also serves as a Board member of USAction, a national progressive coalition working on issues such as health care and education, providing a national voice for progressive values. 

In December 2009, Salowe-Kaye was appointed to the Consumer Advisory Commission of the Federal Reserve Bank in Washington, D.C.

Salowe-Kaye is a role model and a leader, a woman whose banking expertise is an asset to the community. Her efforts make a real impact on those having difficulty with the housing market and people trying to start their own business, according to the press release.