Ms. Sylvia Axelrod resides in Monroe Township and has served as the Executive Director of the National Alliance on Mental Illness-NJ (NAMI-NJ) since 1992.  During her tenure she initiated a wide range of programs focusing on providing education, support, and advocacy for families and consumers. She is a graduate of Kean University and Brooklyn College.   Ms. Axelrod has served in the mental health field for 25 years.  During this time she has reached out to the South Asian, Latino, and African American populations to provide mental health awareness and education.  Her Freedom for Stigma Campaign includes providing media attention on the strengths and talents of individuals affected by mental illness. Currently she is working on specialized programs on bullying, cyber- bullying, suicide prevention, emotional support for children of military families when a parent is deployed, and on a Law Enforcement Education Program (LEEP).   Ms. Axelrod has dedicated her life to improving the lives of individuals and their families who are affected by mental illness.  This 2011 Woman of Achievement was nominated by Ms. Marjorie L. Strohsahl of the GFWC Sparta Woman’s Club.

Dr. Laura C. Morana, the Superintendent of the Red Bank School District, is a resident of New Providence.  She emigrated from Ecuador as a teenager and taught herself English from her school lessons, watching television, and listening to her classmates at Irvington High School.  She earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Kean University and then went on to earn a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from Rowan University.  She taught Bilingual/ESL classes in Elizabeth and then moved on to various administrative positions such as Director of Special Services, principal, and assistant superintendent, culminating with her present one as superintendent.  Dr. Morana has participated in many community and professional organizations including serving as a member of the NJ Governor’s Council for Young Children, the Red Bank Library Board of Trustees, and Hispanics Inspiring Student Performance and Achievement (HISPA). She currently serves as president of the Monmouth County Superintendents’ Roundtable.  Dr. Morana is truly an inspirational educational leader whose talents and dedication have reached thousands of students and teachers. She follows her district’s mission statement Quality Learning by All…Whatever It Takes.  This 2011 Woman of Achievement was nominated by Ms. Vivien S. Finn of the Woman’s Club of Upper Montclair.

Dr. Mary E. Norton of North Arlington is an Associate Dean and Professor of Global Initiatives at Felician College.  She began her medical career as a nurse and received a Masters of Arts and Doctor of Education from Columbia University.   She has been the recipient of five Fulbright Awards and several USAID Grants.  Dr. Norton has developed baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in Iran, Pakistan and Jordan.  Currently she serves as an educational consultant in the development of the PhD Program at the University of Jordan.  She has also served as a consultant to programs in China with Project HOPE and in Thailand with Cambodian refugee camps in collaboration with Cornell University Medical School and the United Nations, and as a consultant for the World Health Organization in the Caribbean. Dr. Norton has secured Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) status for Felician College and serves as the college’s official representative to the United Nations Department of Public Information on Non-Governmental Organizations as well as the International Council of Nurses representative to the United Nations Economic and Social Council. She chaired the 63^rd Annual United Nations Department of Public Information, NGO Conference in Melbourne, Australia in the fall of 2010. In 2001 she received the Excellence in Nursing Recognition Award, which is the highest award given by the NJ Department of Health and Senior Services.  Dr. Norton has demonstrated exceptional humanitarian leadership as a healthcare provider, teacher, researcher, program developer, consultant, and administrator.  This 2011 Woman of Achievement was nominated by Ms. Roxanne Douglas, President of the West Essex Woman’s Club.

Dr. Laura McKirdy and Ms. Gail Dunlap Reuben are the co-founders of The Lake Drive Programs for Children Who Are Deaf and Hard of Hearing which in 1977 was founded as a result of a rubella epidemic. Dr. McKirdy resides in Mendham Township and was awarded a PhD from Rutgers University in 1978.  She has served as a consultant to The Lake Drive Programs since 2005.  Dr. McKirdy was also the founding director of the Department of Speech Pathology at the Morristown Memorial Hospital where Ms. Reuben was the hospital audiologist.  Since its inception, Lake Drive has helped thousands of deaf and hearing impaired children learn to communicate and fulfill their potential. Ms. Reuben is a resident of Convent Station and received degrees from Douglass College and Seton Hall University in speech therapy, special education and clinical audiology.  She has served as a trustee of The Lake Drive Programs since 1996 and was awarded the Governor’s Jefferson Award in 2006.  The co-founders approach was unorthodox at the time in that they put hearing aids on babies and toddlers and taught them to listen, talk, and communicate which produced amazing results.   Today the Lake Drive Programs offer New Jersey’s most comprehensive continuum of educational opportunities for children with hearing loss from birth to high school graduation.  Their efforts have led to the development of two new pilot programs:  Precious Ears at St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital and Ivy Nursery, New Jersey’s only full day, intensive inclusive early intervention program for toddlers to 3 year olds with and without hearing loss.  Both programs are funded by the Lake Drive Foundation.  Dr. McKirdy and Ms.  Reuben are now retired but continue to work tirelessly to provide hearing impaired children every advantage and to educate the public about hearing loss in children.  These 2011 Women of Achievement were nominated by Ms. Stephanie Deyo, President of The Lake Drive Programs for Children.

Ms. Carol A. Wolfe of Brick is the founder and administrator of Dottie House Inc., which provides shelter and other services for battered women and their children and is the President/Chairman and General Partner of Homes Now Chambers Bridge Project, Inc., and Homes Now, Inc.  Dottie House was founded in 1999 in memory of her mother who was a battered woman.  The facility has 17 apartments.  The Homes Now Chambers Bridge Project, Inc  provides 184 apartments for low income seniors and physically and developmentally disabled individuals.  Ms. Wolfe was appointed by Governor Whitman and served for 9 years on the NJ Council on Affordable Housing from 1996-2005 and served as the vice-president from 2002-2003.  She has also served as Director of Affordable Housing Professionals of NJ and is active with the Northern Ocean Habitat for Humanity Board of Directors.  She is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Brick Township Chamber of Commerce and the Lakewood Chamber of Commerce.

Ms. Wolfe  has been honored with many civic awards including Advocate of the Year (2005)  from the Ocean County Advisory Committee on the Status of Women; Citizenship Award (2005) from  the Ocean County Bar Association; and Women Helping Women  Award (2007)  from  the Southern Ocean County Business and Professional Women.  Ms. Wolfe has used her fortitude and talents to reach and serve those who sometimes do not have a voice in an inspirational and compassionate manner.  This 2011Woman of Achievement was nominated by the Ms. Mary Anne Hayes of the Brick Woman’s Club EMD.