Honorees

Joe Roth
President & CEO
New Jersey Sharing Network

Honored for its novel “#DonationNeedsDiversity,” program, an initiative to encourage multicultural communities to become more involved in saving and healing lives through organ and tissue donation.

People of most races and ethnicities in the U.S. donate in proportion to their representation in the population. The need for transplant in some groups, however, is disproportionately high, frequently due to a high incidence of chronic conditions such as high blood pressure or diabetes. There are nearly 4,000 people in NJ currently waiting for a life-saving transplants- 66% are people of color.

Eloise Samuels and Co-Founders
New Jersey Orators

New Jersey Orators, Inc. is a non-profit 501(C) 3 youth organization that teaches the art of public speaking, an appreciation for literature, reading and media arts literacy, civic engagement, college readiness and life skills to youth from 7 to 18 years of age in preparation for advance learning. Founded in 1985 by a small group of African-American corporate executives who were concerned by the lack of formal language skills of young people who visited and interviewed for jobs at their respective companies. Over the past 35 years, the New Jersey Orators has grown from one chapter in Somerset, New Jersey, to 22 chapters and more than 200 volunteers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania with plans to expand nationally.