The Two Women, Who Embody the Best of Outside-the-Box Thinking, Received the N.J. Chamber's 'Women Leaders in Innovation' Award
Two social justice heroes who have each made it their life’s work to fight systemic barriers and make New Jersey a better and more equitable place to live and work were presented the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce’s 2022 Alice H. Parker Women Leaders in Innovation Awards on Oct. 12.
Jill Johnson, co-founder and CEO of the Newark-based Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership, and DeAnna Minus-Vincent, executive vice president, chief social justice and accountability officer at RWJBarnabas Health, were recognized for using desire, hard work and innovative programs to create economic opportunities for historically marginalized New Jerseyans.
“To me, this recognizes the work we do day in and day out,” Johnson said at the awards ceremony. “It is important that organizations like the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce recognize people that don’t often get recognized.”
Minus-Vincent drove the point home in her acceptance speech. “Social Justice work is innovation,” she said. “It takes work - every day.”
DeAnna Minus-Vincent, executive vice president, chief social justice and accountability officer at RWJBarnabas Health, is the awardee for innovation in health care and social justice
Minus-Vincent’s primary responsibility at RWJBarnabas Health calls for pursuing an “intentionally anti-racist, equitable culture” within its walls and in its communities.
She praised RJWB Health for taking on inequality in a real way. “While other companies decreed and pledged, they put their money where their mouths is,” Minus-Vincent said. “It takes courage for a system to look at themselves and change things we didn’t like.”
Minus-Vincent leads RWJB Health’s “Ending Racism Together” program and other initiatives that improve health outcomes and promote health equity. Overall, she is responsible for ensuring all RWJBarnabas patients and employees are afforded an equitable environment, free of discrimination.
Most recently, Minus-Vincent co-designed and launched RWJB Health’s ‘Health Beyond the Hospital’ initiative, which allows physicians to identify social factors contributing to their patients’ health and streamline the process of connecting the patients to resources.
Minus-Vincent, born and raised in Trenton, received a Master of Public Administration from Rutgers University, and a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from Morgan State University.
Jill Johnson, co-founder and CEO of the Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership, is the awardee for innovation in finance and social advancement
In 2002, Johnson co-founded the Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership (IFEL), an independent not-for-profit that helps people of color access the knowledge, network and capital required for entrepreneurial success and wealth creation.
“There is a lot of potential among many different populations, but what they often don’t have is the capital and the connections to achieve the entrepreneurial success and create wealth,” Johnson said.
“Our work at the Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership is about eradicating barriers at a systemic level,” she added. “My goal is that 20 years from now our organization doesn’t need to exist because we are able to participate fully in the entrepreneurial ecosystem and reap the awards of the American Dream. It’s through that, that we will create more jobs, better social outcomes, better health and a whole lot of ‘betters’ that right now are just not possible because we are not fully included.”
Johnson, who earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from Harvard, has been a driving force in creating a number of IFEL programs including:
- ‘Women of Color Connecting,’ which leverages the power of relationship capital.
- ‘Making of Black Angels,’ designed to increase number of black angel investors.
- ‘Small Business Needs Us,’ a volunteer corps of business professionals ready to help small businesses.
“This work is hard and it often takes a lot of effort,” Johnson said. “You may not be paid as much as you would in some other big position but it is work that is necessary, and I figure ‘If not me, then who?’ It’s up to each one of us to make a difference any way we can.”
The honorees are paving the way for historically marginalized people to succeed
“Our honorees are outstanding business executives who have used their talents, their expertise and their experience to generate social changes,” said Tom Bracken, president and CEO of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. “Both DeAnna and Jill employ new ideas to break down old barriers and pave the way for historically marginalized people to gain access to the tools needed to succeed.”
About the Alice H. Parker Women Leaders in Innovation Award
The Alice H. Parker Women Leaders in Innovation Award was created by the N.J. Chamber of Commerce to recognize and celebrate the contributions of women to the rich legacy of innovation in New Jersey. The N.J. Chamber named the award after African-American Alice H. Parker, a long overdue acknowledgement of the Morristown resident's significant contributions. In 1911, Parker earned a patent for a "natural gas-fueled, new and improved heating furnace," the blueprint for the forced-air, thermostat-controlled home heating systems used everywhere today. Other than this patent, little is known about Parker's life. Howard University confirmed that she was a student there, that she took classes with honors, and earned a certificate from its academy in 1910. The North Jersey History and Genealogical Society has a thin file containing not much more than the copy of her patent, which states she lived in Morristown.
