NJN Foundation Board of Trustees Elects Officers

STATEWIDE – At a recent Board meeting, the NJN Foundation Board of Trustees re-elected the following officers: Douglas S. Eakeley, Esq. Chair; Dean J. Paranicas, Esq., Vice Chair, Governance; Angelo J. Genova, Esq., Vice Chair, Strategic Initiatives; Dennis Baldassari, Treasurer; and Scott A. Kobler, Esq., Secretary.

The NJN Foundation is a private, non-profit 501(c) (3) organization, whose mission is to advance the goals of NJN Public Television and Radio.  The Foundation Board is composed of 37 Trustees, representing the State’s key business and community leaders. The NJN Foundation is the fund-raising arm of the NJN Public Television and Radio, New Jersey’s public broadcasting network and multi-media resource for public media.

Douglas S. Eakeley, Esq., Short Hills, NJ
Mr. Eakeley, who will serve his third year as Chair, has been an NJN Foundation Trustee since 1993.  He is a practicing attorney with the Roseland, NJ and New York City law firm Lowenstein Sandler PC, where he chairs the firm’s Practice Groups focusing on Antitrust and Trade Regulation and Class Action & Derivative Litigation and co-chairs the firm's Appellate Practice Group. Mr. Eakeley is a former Rhodes Scholar and First Assistant Attorney General of the State of New Jersey; he graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree from Yale University and earned a bachelor and master of arts degrees in jurisprudence from Oxford University and a juris doctor degree from Yale Law School.  Mr. Eakeley is a resident of Short Hills, New Jersey.

Dean J. Paranicas, Esq., New Providence, NJ
Mr. Paranicas has been an NJN Foundation Trustee since 2001. He is the Vice President, Corporate Secretary and Public Policy for Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey.  He is responsible for the company’s corporate secretary and business conduct and ethics functions and also engages in state and regional public policy activities.  Mr. Paranicas earned a bachelor of arts degree with honors from Rutgers College, Rutgers University, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.  He earned a juris doctor degree from Rutgers School of Law, Newark, where he was an editor of the Rutgers Law Review.  He is a resident of New Providence, New Jersey.

Angelo J. Genova, Esq., Cedar Grove, NJ
Mr. Genova has served on the NJN Foundation Board since 2005.  Mr. Genova is a founding partner in the law firm of Genova, Burns & Vernoia with offices in New Jersey, New York, and Philadelphia.  He has practiced labor and employment law, litigation and election law for over three decades.  Mr. Genova holds a juris doctor from Rutgers School of Law, Newark and earned a master of arts degree in industrial and labor relations from Rutgers University.  He received his undergraduate degree from Montclair State University cum laude.  Mr. Genova is a resident of Cedar Grove, New Jersey. 

Dennis Baldassari, Morris Twp., NJ
Mr. Baldassari will mark his seventeenth year as Treasurer. He has been a Trustee of the NJN Foundation since 1993.  Mr. Baldassari is a past president, chief operating officer, and director of GPU Energy, which included Jersey Central Power and Light Company, Metropolitan Edison Company and Pennsylvania Electric Company. He holds a bachelor of science degree in commerce and engineering from Drexel University in Philadelphia, where he majored in finance.  Mr. Baldassari is a resident of Morris Township.

Scott A. Kobler, Esq., Essex Falls, NJ
Mr. Kobler has served as a Trustee of the NJN Foundation since 1993. He also serves as a Commissioner of the New Jersey Public Broadcasting Authority (NJPBA), the operating authority of NJN, and has twice served as Chair. He is a partner at McCarter & English, LLP, the oldest and largest law firm based in New Jersey.  Mr. Kobler practices primarily in the area of public finance and has substantial expertise in complex financings for non-profits in the health care, housing and education sectors.  He is on the boards of The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and The Morris Museum. He is a graduate of Princeton University, and earned a juris doctor degree from Boston University School of Law. Mr. Kobler is a resident of Essex Fells, New Jersey.

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