Theme: FEARLESS - WOMEN OF COURAGE WITHIN US

Women change-makers from our local communities share their stories of inspiration that continue to lead them to create programs or businesses to lift the lives of people within our communities and beyond. The event is an opportunity to shine the light on these fearless women who continue to find ways to connect people in a variety of ways so as to make the world a better place. As we continue to reckon with the realities of racial equity and justice as well as the challenges of a pandemic, the courage in these women and their resolve to succeed offers glimmers of hope on how to cultivate the best in each one of us.

Hopewell Valley CHS
259 Pennington - Titusville Rd
Pennington, New Jersey, 08534
United States

Beverly Mills

Community Organizer

Beverly Mills is a retiree as the Director for the Workforce Development Board in Mercer County, New Jersey. Beverly is a founder of the Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum and a member of the Advisory Board and a Trustee of the Stoutsburg Cemetery. Along with her colleague, Elaine Buck, Beverly was instrumental in forming a partnership, named the Sankofa Collaborative; an initiative created to ensure that material and resources that relate to African American history are accessible statewide to a broader and more diverse audience. Beverly is the first African American woman to hold the elected position as a Councilwoman in Pennington Borough, NJ. Her past affiliations include Trustee on the board of Ellarslie. Beverly currently lives in her ancestral home in Pennington with her husband Robert Mills to whom she has been married for forty-five years. She is also the mother of two adult sons, Jason and Drew, and the grandmother of five.

Catherine Fulmer-Hogan

Community Organizer

Catherine Fulmer-Hogan lives in Hopewell Township with her husband, Anthony, and 3 of their 6 children. The community work she engages in is centered around creating a more just, empathetic, and inclusive world for her children. Catherine has over 25 years of experience in Finance and Administration and is currently the Finance Manager for Liquid Outdoor Media. She is a community organizer, and both an advocate and ally for marginalized communities. Catherine serves on the Trustee Boards of Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum, The Hopewell Museum, and Hope Rises, a local non-profit engaged in making social and political advocacy accessible to local community members. She is also the Event Founder and Committee Chair for Hopewell Valley Heritage Weekend, a group of local organizations that are committed to sharing and preserving local history. Catherine believes that preserving and educating others about our often deeply complicated history, is also a form of activism.

Ellyn Ito

Founder & CEO, Seeds to Sew, International

Ellyn Ito, founder of Seeds to Sew, Inc. Social Entrepreneur, Investor, & HR Executive With over 20+ years in Human Resources Management. Through her experience, Ellyn has developed keen insights into the ecosystem of leadership, labor, and impacts on the human condition. In 2009, Ms. Ito founded Seeds to Sew International, a non-profit organization focused on improving the lives of women and girls in compromised communities through skills training and access to education. Ms. Ito passionately advocates for inclusivity as a way to drive longer-term stakeholder gains, ensure broader economic stability, and improve health outcomes for all people in the face of social unrest, climate change, and a widening income gap. In addition to serving as Executive Director for Seeds to Sew, Ms. Ito currently serves as HR Executive for a NASDAQ med-tech scale-up, a Board Member for Redeemer Health Systems, and Board Member for the Gail Bierenbaum Women’s Leadership Council at Rider University.

Heidi Kahme

Coordinator, Hopewell Valley Municipal Alliance

For the past 14 years, Heidi Kahme has focused her work on youth and families in the Hopewell Valley community. Coordinating the efforts of the Hopewell Valley Municipal Alliance, Heidi has developed a committee of over 50 dedicated members representing various sectors of the community which convene regularly to discuss issues facing youth and ways the community can ensure they are supported, provided opportunities and a positive identity so they can thrive. Heidi’s work also includes a commitment to parents by regularly planning workshops and outreach so they too are supported with resources and opportunities to raise healthy and responsible children. The biannual Hopewell Valley Parenting Conference which has been attended over the years by 500 parents has been very successful.

Jess Niederer

Community Organizer

Jess Niederer is the owner and head farmer of Chickadee Creek Farm. After graduating with a BS from Cornell University, Her travel experiences led her to turn from scientific research to farming, a path that allowed for the practical application of the ecological and social justice principles that had become the most important to her. At age 25 she launched Chickadee Creek Farm, working alone initially with all borrowed equipment. The farm has grown into a thriving business with ten employees, farming 20 acres, and harvesting year-round for 7 farmers markets and 750 farm members. Jess was awarded the Edible Jersey Magazine’s Local Hero Award in 2014 and 2017, the NJ Outstanding Young Farmer of the Year Award in 2016, and the National Outstanding Young Farmer of the Year Award in 2016 and has served as the President of the Mercer County Board of Agriculture, the Vice President of the NJ Vegetable Growers Association, and is a volunteer EMT with the local first aid squad.

Lisa Wolff

Executive Director , FOHVOS

Lisa Wolff is the co-founder of the Outdoor Equity Alliance and the Executive Director of Friends of Hopewell Valley Open Space. Ms. Wolff co-founded the Outdoor Equity Alliance, comprised of over 25+ like-minded municipal, school, corporate, consulting, environmental, and service organizations, to create inclusive experiences and access to associated health, environmental, and career opportunities in nature and the outdoors. She has 20+ years of management strategy and sales experience, is the immediate past president of the Mercer County School Board Association, and was the longest-serving president of the Hopewell Valley Regional School District. Ms. Wolff earned an MBA from the Wharton School, serves on the Global Connections Foundation Board, and is a contributing columnist to several publications.

Rosetta Treece

Assistant Superintendent of Schools in charge of Curriculum

Dr. Rosetta Treece has been an educator for 19 years. Currently, she is the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction in Pennington New Jersey for Hopewell Valley Regional Public Schools. Dr. Treece graduated Magna Cum Laude from the College of New Jersey earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Secondary Education and her Doctorate Degree in Educational Leadership from Rowan University. Dr. Treece has researched social-emotional learning in middle school and high school students and has a core belief that teachers must support their students emotionally so that students become successful learners. Dr. Treece is an Advanced Trainer in the Nurtured Heart Approach, a wife and mother of two adult sons. She attributes much of her success to the support of her loving family.

Sharon Buck

Community Organizer

Sharon Elaine Buck, who prefers to be called Elaine, is a founder of Stoutsburg Sourland African American Museum and a member of the Advisory Board. Elaine is also a thirty-year Trustee of the Stoutsburg Cemetery Association which is a historic cemetery for people of African descent located in the Sourland Mountains in Hopewell, New Jersey. Along with her research partner, Beverly Mills, Elaine has co-authored a book entitled “If These Stones Could Talk” which is based on over a decade’s worth of research on the contribution of African Americans who lived in the Sourland Mountain region and surrounding area. She is a co-founder of Friday Truehart Consultants which is a consulting company that works closely with K-12 educators from various school systems who are interested in including African American history in their lesson plans and curriculum. Elaine has been married to John Buck for over forty years and is the mother of two adult sons, Aaron and Jason.

Shazel Muhammad-Neain

Founder & CEO, Eunoia Global

Shazel is the founder & Ceo of Eunoia Global. Eunoia Global is committed to impacting 1 million lives around the globe through its programs, workshops, and community outreach. Shazel’s life mission is to connect with the people that God puts on her path, and with them, cultivate the best in humanity. Shazel believes that self-cultivated individuals nurture stronger families and more resilient communities that collaborate, innovate, and resolve conflict. Shazel’s legacy work is the African Link Initiative (ALI). ALI’s noteworthy programmatic and curriculum partners include African Ancestry, Boys & Girls Clubs of Mercer County, Anthony Browder’s Cultural Imperative Program, Vital Smarts, and Global Connections Foundation. Some of her nonprofit partners include Girls on the Run, Pass It Along, and GC-Foundation. Shazel is a popular keynote speaker; and was featured on BBC News, where she highlighted how Africans in the Diaspora can connect to contribute to Africa’s development.