Panel shows expanding roles of women at work
BY JENNIFER AMATO
Staff Writer

NORTH BRUNSWICK - To celebrate Women's History Month, eighth-grade female students at Linwood Middle School were invited to listen to a panel of eight women describe their professions during Women's Career Day, held on March 29.

Hester Agudosi is an attorney who loves her job because she makes a difference in defending people's lives. She began in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and now works in New Jersey. She used to process insurance fraud and bias crime claims, but now handles everything from shoplifting to homicides.

She enjoys the versatility law school offers because any course of study in college will suffice as a prerequisite to a career in the justice system, as long as you take the LSATs. The learned skills include public speaking, community relations and problem solving.

"One of the great things about law school is it requires that you do have to go to college but you can major in anything, so it's not disciplined like medical school or engineering school or if you go into business," she said. "When you're in college, major in what's of interest to you because you will do well."

Ann Marie Burke has been self-employed as a licensed mortgage broker and Realtor for the past 19 years. She has three offices in New Jersey and one in Pennsylvania, showing there is no limit to the possibilities the job offers as long as you work hard. She feels she has become a successful saleswoman, and that "I feel I could sell jewelry, cars, houses, anything."

"Putting a first-time homebuyer into houses, … it's exciting to see people in the first homes when they're starting their families," she said.

Burke said she sets goals for herself at the beginning of every year, reminds herself occasionally and then re-evaluates them toward the end.

Seeta Jones is a detective with the North Brunswick Police Department, and has worked in law enforcement for the past 10 years. She investigates burglaries, sexual assaults, robberies, harassment and other major crimes. She said she has been injured several times on the job and that she deals with guns "almost every day."

"It's a very hard job. You have to have support from your family," she said. "My main goal is to make it home every day."

Jones said there are only four female officers in a department of 86, and that she is the only Indo-American female. Yet she works just as hard as the males to be successful in the "best career move I ever made."

"I show them every day that I can do the same job [they] do," she said. "I think it's an excellent job."

Her advice for the girls was to never get arrested because once a person has a criminal record, it follows them for the rest of their lives.

"Rioting, shoplifting - how bad do you need that lipstick? It will go on your record and will ruin your life," she said.

Sarah Levine works in the insurance industry for MetLife. She began her career down a different path, majoring in Hebrew

at the University of Wisconsin for reasons she is still not sure of today. She did data entry part time for three months, and then using her minor in computer science, worked at a retail computer center and a database company for a short time. Yet after 10 years of working in New York at an insurance agency, she decided she wanted to enjoy both her work career as well as her family.

"I felt it was really important for me to have time with my kids. I wanted to give them a bath, I wanted to do homework with them when they got older, I wanted to sign that homework book that said I had done it with them. I really wanted to find that work-life balance," she said.

She has since worked at MetLife for 14 years doing project management.

"The 'glass ceiling' has really been broken at MetLife. Half of the top level senior level management are women … and there is a diverse population from the color and gender perspective," she said.

However, she said she has encountered some harassment as a female, mainly when a man patted her on the backside during a meeting, which was considered acceptable at the time.

"The world really has changed and I think you girls are growing up in a world where that is not [appropriate]," she said.

Rhonda Lyles and Cathy Nicola are town councilwomen, two of the 32 female elected officials in Middlesex County, which has a total of 164 elected seats. Their responsibilities include maintaining quality-of-life standards, making sure operations run smoothly, sponsoring committees, formulating the municipal budget and attending community events.

Lyles said she is the first African American councilwoman in the history of North Brunswick. She said she truly loves her job, and the position that being an elected official presents for helping the community.

"You have to be there because you want to help your residents. You have to be there because you love your job. You have to be there because you want to see change," she said.

With 51 percent of the county population being registered voters, and 52 percent of those who are women, Nicola said that females must recruit and sponsor other women in government.

"We make the best public policy when there is diversity around the table and that is what women can do for local government," she said. "Women have equal rights as citizens for equal representation."

Nicola noted the importance of students incorporating themselves into the community, especially since colleges are looking beyond academics, arts and athletics to volunteer service. She said people who like animals can join the Humane Association, those interested in the environment can help the 2030 Committee, residents seeking to advocate anti-substance abuse can become a member of the Municipal Alliance Committee, anyone looking to help the poor can help the Food Bank and students intrigued by law enforcement can participate in the Junior Police Academy.

Sheral Rossmann works in municipal government as the court administrator. She said that of the 542 municipal courts in New Jersey, 500 are run by women and the majority of the office staff is comprised of women.

Rossmann did not receive a college education but instead went into the work field and was hired by North Brunswick in the 1980s, working her way up to the top administrator position. Her current responsibilities include evaluating police tickets and setting bail if someone is arrested.

She said the office is always looking for volunteers, so it is a perfect avenue for young girls to get involved. There is no specific training for the position but clerical responsibilities are available.

"There are a lot of opportunities for women, so if you're interested, start looking into it now because it's just fascinating," she said.

Dorothy Thomas is a financial analyst for Primerica, teaching people how to save money, be debt-free and be financially independent.

"When you do make some money, save half of it. It's very important for you to learn how to save. It's called pay yourself first," she advised the students. "Start saving now as young women because as you get older, you will find out you need money to survive and if you don't save now it will be hard to manage."

Career Day was held in commemoration of Women's History Month, which heightens awareness and recognizes the contributions of women to society and the nation during the month of March. This year's theme was "Generations of Women Moving History Forward."