Kent Manahan to Receive Outstanding Woman in Business Award

TRENTON — Fans of public radio in Cape May County and throughout the state will be familiar with the winner of an upcoming business award.
Kent Manahan, Acting Executive Director of NJN Public Television and Radio, will receive the Zurich Integrated Products Outstanding Woman in Business Award at a luncheon hosted by The Family Afterward, a non-profit organization serving women and children. The luncheon will be held at the Basking Ridge Country Club on Wednesday, May 6. Diana Williams, WABC-TV news anchor, will be the Mistress of Ceremonies for the event.
Ms. Manahan is known to residents, business and legislative leaders throughout the state as the senior anchor for NJN News. For three decades, she was a familiar face to many New Jersey households. Each weekday evening, Manahan led the Emmy Award-winning newscast, providing in-depth coverage of New Jersey. Manahan stepped down from her anchor chair and was appointed as the acting executive director of NJN and the acting president of the NJN Foundation on December 4, 2008. She will serve in that capacity through June 30, 2009, when a successor will be named.
The five-time Emmy Award-winning journalist has reported on issues of statewide importance, including homeland security, education, politics, domestic violence and the elderly. Manahan’s nationally broadcast documentary entitled Battered Wives, Shattered Lives told a compelling story of the damage caused by domestic abuse. Counselors fielded thousands of calls during a live national call-in that followed the program, which received an award from the International Film and TV Festival of New York. After working on this special, Manahan became actively involved with the New Jersey Battered Women’s Shelter.
Manahan’s commitment to her viewers extends beyond the newsroom. She is a dedicated wife and mother of six, but Manahan has still found the time to serve on the Board of Regents of Seton Hall University, the Board of the Tri-county Scholarship Fund and the Educational Opportunity Fund for Disadvantaged Youngsters. She was named spokesperson for the Literacy Volunteers of America in New Jersey. Her many activities underscore her commitment to education, and Manahan can often be found speaking to statewide community organizations and groups of students, encouraging scholastic and vocational endeavors.
The Family Afterward, a Freedom House Inc. program, provides services to women recovering from substance abuse. The program provides safe housing and reunites women with their children. The women are taught parenting and life skills and are assisted in finding full-time employment with benefits. The program has two locations, one in Trenton in one in Mansfield Township, New Jersey. Over the past seven years, The Family Afterward has returned over 140 children to their mother’s arms.
Major sponsors of the luncheon are Zurich Integrated Products, C.R. Bard, Inc., Carroll McNulty & Kull, and Chubb. For luncheon ticket information, please contact David Harry at (908) 537-7500 or dharry@freedomhousenj.org