MONTCLAIR, N.J. – Feb. 10, 2021 – How will New Jersey’s largest city rebound post-COVID-19? Four prominent female leaders in Newark, N.J., will share their 2021 priorities during Violet PR’s free webinar on Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 2 p.m. EST. Executives, investors, developers and business owners with an interest in Newark’s success are invited to attend to learn more about urban innovation, economic development, education and the arts in the Brick City.

Speakers include:
• Adenah Bayoh, founder, Adenah Bayoh & Companies
• Aisha Glover, vice president of urban innovation, Audible
• Taneshia Nash Laird, president and CEO, Newark Symphony Hall
• Erin Sweeney, executive director, Schools That Can Newark

The program is hosted by Essex County, N.J.-based public relations firm Violet PR, which specializes in economic development, professional services and social good.

“We’re thrilled to have these visionary female leaders come together to speak about Newark’s future during our upcoming webinar,” said April Mason, president of Violet PR and moderator of the program. “Adena, Aisha, Taneshia and Erin have a significant impact on New Jersey’s largest city and its collective future. We can’t wait to hear more about their plans in 2021.”

Bayoh is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in New Jersey and owns/operates several individual IHOP franchises in Newark, Paterson and Irvington, N.J., with a fourth location that has just opened in downtown Newark. She also owns a real estate development portfolio with several major residential and commercial urban redevelopment projects across northern New Jersey, including the mixed-use redevelopment project, 915 Broad St. in Newark.

Glover serves as the vice president of urban innovation at Audible and formerly served as the president and CEO for the Newark Alliance and Invest Newark. In both roles, she worked in partnership with Mayor Ras J. Baraka and oversaw a range of community-focused economic development initiatives for the city. She also led the city’s bid to attract Amazon for selection of its second headquarters.

“I cannot be happier to appear alongside such esteemed female business leaders – and am looking forward to discussing Newark’s future as a center for development and the arts, during the program,” said Nash Laird of Newark Symphony Hall and a cultural change agent.

Nash Laird, the sole Black female leader of a performing arts center in New Jersey, is currently spearheading several community-driven initiatives for the vintage hall, including artist-in-residence and career pathway programs and unique virtual programming. Nash Laird is also a board member of the National Independent Venues Foundation (NIVF), tasked with rescuing the performing arts amid the pandemic.

Nash Laird has also been a city and state official for economic development, the executive director of the Arts Council of Princeton and co-founder of the MIST Harlem venue in New York City, among other feats. She is also an adjunct professor of entertainment and arts at Drexel University.

Sweeney, of Schools That Can (STC) Newark, is committed to urban youth, education and the City of Newark. Since taking the helm at STC in 2015, Sweeney has dramatically grown the organization, designing and implementing real-world and career readiness K-12 programs that reach hundreds of students and faculty in roughly 40 Newark district, charter and independent schools each year.

This year, reacting to the pandemic, Sweeney helped pivot one of those programs, Design Day, into the first-ever digital Design Challenge, bringing together students, teachers, corporate executives and community leaders to transform urban public school buildings into smart, green and efficient structures.

Over the past 12 months, Violet PR has provided counsel to entertainment venues, nonprofits and professional services firms that have had to adjust their business models due to COVID-19.

To register for the webinar, visit: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/446241604682236941.