Debora J. Csontos To Receive Walter Moon Award!

Debora J. Csontos, C.P.M., has been selected to receive the Walter M. Moon Award on Wednesday, June 13, 2018 at The Palace at Somerset, Somerset New Jersey.

The Walter M. Moon Award is presented to an ISM-NJ member who has consistently demonstrated purchasing professionalism and has made outstanding contributions to the development and professional stature of the Association.  Factors to be considered in selecting the candidate are:

• Demonstrate leadership and service on committees, at forums, dinner meetings and other ISM-NJ activities with a diversity of responsibilities.
• Make contributions to published purchasing articles.
• Participate in scheduled committee, Board and dinner meetings.
• Be an active member for a minimum of seven years.
• Other factors that appears pertinent for consideration.

Deb Csontos has worked in a wide range of functions in supply chain for a large utility for over 32 years.  Starting out as a material management clerk in their auto repair facility, she has worked her career path to a current position as contracting manager for their construction projects group.  All non-traditional roles for a woman in the utility industry where she built upon each position and worked toward the next higher level of responsibility.

Along with her professional trailblazing, Deb has continued her educational development through evening college classes taken over 15 years that eventually earned a BS degree in Business Administration/Material Management.  Not stubborn, just persistent.  Deb also attends ISM leadership training, seminars and conferences to continue her professional and personal growth.  Along the way, she has earned a lifetime C.P.M. and past CPSM and CPSD credentials through the Institute of Supply Management, as well as PMP certification from the Project Management Institute.

Deb is now retired enjoying making memories with family and friends.

Register Here

Wed, Jun 13, 2018
6:00 PM – 9:00 PM
The Palace at Somerset Park
333 Davidson Avenue
Somerset, New Jersey 08873

ISM-New Jersey Blog Post

We hope you have a great and enjoyable summer!  Please check out our summer webinar program in  August.  Our next membership meeting will held on September 21st at The Palace at Somerset Park.  Look for updates on our website https://www.ismnj.org for future events.

 

Eva J. Milko Featured Keynote Speaker during the ISM-NJ Women & Leadership Conference

Eva J. Milko will be our featured Keynote Speaker on Thursday, October 15th during the final day of our 12th Annual Women & Leadership Conference. Eva will speak on Pause to remember who you are before you find your why!

Our recent societal badge of honor for working and nonworking people alike is the concept of “being busy”. In fact, not just busy. So busy. So very, very busy. I too fell victim to this rhetoric and worked super hard to keep up with the Joneses. A looming anxiety began to set in. What if I am not busy enough? What else should I take on?

What else should I say yes to? Am I on purpose? Is this enough? This mentality kept me shackled. I allowed for the programming to take over. It felt too easy to simply allow it to happen. Until a set of unintended pauses took me down a different path. Our discussion is designed for you to Pause, pause long enough to ask some of the most important questions for which we do not have time for. David Whyte , a famous corporate poet, describes it as the most important conversation to be had, conversation with self.
It has been said that remembering who you are is much more important than finding your why. Let’s have the conversation.

Eva Milko, is an international business executive with over 30 years experience in running global functions, product development and revenue generation engagements with focus on business and human transformation while building customer advocacy.

In her current role, Eva is the Managing Principal and an Executive Advisor at Thought Foundry LLC, a boutique agency dedicated to organizational transformation. She is also a Marketing and Supply Chain professor at University of Denver in Denver, Colorado.

Register now for the 12th Annual Women & Leadership Virtual Conference, held on October 1, 8 and 15th for 90 minute sessions. Tickets can be purchased on our website: https://www.ismnj.org for 1 or all 3 sessions. Continuing educational credit will be available for all attendees.

#weareismnj#ismnj2020#ismnjwl2020

Panel Announced for the Women & Leadership Conference

ISM-New Jersey is pleased to announce we will feature our Panel Discussion on Thursday, October 8th during the second day of our virtual conference.

Learn from leaders in the industry how they found their “why” & what continues to keep them being key leaders.

Please join us for the 12th Annual Women & Leadership Virtual Conference, which will be held on October 1, 8 and 15th for 90 minute sessions. Tickets can be purchased on our website: https://www.ismnj.org for 1 or all 3 sessions. Continuing educational credit will be available for all attendees.

#weareismnj #ismnj2020 #ismnjwl2020

Philip Ideson to speak at the 12th Annual Women & Leadership Virtual Conference

Philip Ideson will be our featured Keynote Speaker on the first day of the 12th Annual Women & Leadership Conference, on Thursday, October 1st. He will be speaking on “Procurement’s Future & Your Role” in a fireside chat with Larysa Cohen, VMO, Tapestry.

Philip is the Founder and Managing Director of Art of Procurement where he hosts the world’s leading weekly podcast and leads the delivery of their membership community and consulting business lines. Prior to Art of Procurement, Philip led procurement transformation, category management, and sourcing programs for clients of Procurian and Accenture. Previously, Philip was Head of International Procurement, Sourcing & Third Party Risk Management at Ally Financial.

Please join us for the 12th Annual Women & Leadership Virtual Conference, which will be held on October 1, 8 and 15th for 90 minute sessions. Tickets can be purchased on our website: https://www.ismnj.org for 1 or all 3 sessions. Continuing educational credit will be available for all attendees.

#weareismnj #ismnj2020 #ismnjwl2020

Spotlight on Katherin Nukk-Freeman

Katherin Nukk-Freeman, Co-Founder & President, Shift HR Compliance Training

Katherin Nukk-Freeman is an extraordinary woman! She balances dual careers, practicing law and running an eLearning firm while serving on several boards and raising three children. Her can-do attitude for life has made her a force to be reckoned with, because she believes there is a solution for every problem. Katherin uses her laser focus to find solutions, including strategies for creating organizational awareness about unconscious bias. She shares how recognizing our unconscious bias and then learning strategies to interrupt and/or neutralize these biases can make us better leaders. Inclusive organizations create successful/inclusive workplaces, attract/retain employees, and have been shown to be more profitable. This change can occur only when leaders are open to feedback and have the desire to improve. Katherin created SHIFT HR Compliance Training to help organizations engage employees to consider their own behavior and take proactive steps to impact positive change in the workplace. She will share the secret sauce with other passionate leaders and advocates for diverse, inclusive and, ultimately, successful workplaces at the ISM-NJ Women and Leadership Conference, October 23-24th!

Register today at https://www.ismnj.org to attend the ISM-NJ Women & Leadership Conference!

Author: Suzanne Weston, IW Consulting Group

Spotlight on Bofta Yimam

Bofta Yimam will be a featured keynote speaker during the ISM-NJ Women and Leadership Conference, October 23-24th!

Meet Bofta Yimam, Emmy & Edward R. Murrow Award-Winning journalist, Speaker, DC-based National News Correspondent, and CEO.  Bofta shares how owning your story can help boost your confidence — and help you create deep impact, connection, and transformation on any platform, including the stage.  

It’s not always easy to dig into our story and extract the best parts, but when we do, the connection and results are amazing.  

Sometimes, we don’t want to own the “messy” parts of our story because we feel embarrassment or shame.  For years, Bofta hesitated to acknowledge that she had struggled with teenage depression and poverty.  It was a phase of her life where she felt defeated and confused.  At the time, Bofta couldn’t see how sharing her struggle could help provide hope to others…  Thankfully, she overcame the depression and later, took action to pursue her dreams.

Today, Bofta is an inspirational force.  She’s not only open about that time of her life but also, her journey in broadcast journalism and as a self-made woman who’s created her own brand.  She believes adversity has its advantages — and helps her clients see that, too.

Bofta reminds us how patience, persistence, and grit can help us achieve the life we desire. 

As for Bofta, she continues riding the waves, enjoying the process along the way.  And her journey will inspire you to reach higher than ever before!

You can register for the Women & Leadership Conference at https://www.ismnj.org

Author: Suzanne Weston, IW Consulting Group

Spotlight on Helene Klaassens….The Power to Think Differently

Helene Klaassens began her corporate career-building high-functioning market research teams to support business operations in the healthcare and pharma industries. While her teams’ focus was understanding customer behaviors, Helene was investing in her people, helping them find their inner strengths. She wanted them to become the best that they could be, which lead her to discover her true passion of developing people. Helene is the founder and principle of A.R.E. Coaching + Mentoring, where she empowers others to think differently. During her corporate life, she would leave a meeting thinking ‘That was 20 minutes of my life that I’ll never get back.’ Helene offers guidance on how to invest time and energy to drive meaningful results and win at the ‘corporate game.’ She stresses that ‘we all have choices,’ sometimes all it takes is flipping the lens to find solutions that will get you where you want to be. 

Helene will be our featured opening keynote speaker, during the 11th Annual Women & Leadership Conference, October 23-24, 2019 to be held at the Palace at Somerset, Somerset, NJ. Tickets can be purchased at https://www.ismnj.org

Author: Suzanne Weston, IW Consulting Group

Click here to learn more about ISM-New Jersey

ISM-NJ Women and Leadership Spotlight with Camille Bastite

• 

Let me share some highlights from Camille Bastite’s journey from engineer to president, Nutrition Optimization at Archer Daniels Midland Company. Camille studied engineering, entering the labor market when there were very few women engineers. The first woman engineer at a mining company in rural Louisiana, she was not accepted by colleagues and found it difficult to find her place. Even in her second engineering role, where she worked with a diverse group of men and women, she still had a hard time speaking up. But as she observed her ideas were being accepted when offered by others, she found the courage to share and contribute.  Through listening and providing thoughtful insights, people began to see her talent.  This powerful lesson shaped her leadership style. When she formed her team as a first-time manager, she hired ‘people who were nothing like me.’ Then she set targets and challenged them to find solutions. Camille selected talent across all age-ranges, experiences, and ethnicities. By developing this eclectic diversity of thought, her team produced unparalleled results. According to Camille ‘an inspirational leader lets people find out what they are capable of.’ Throughout her career, she always took roles to stretch herself, taking additional responsibility and learning.   

Camille will be a featured speaker during the 2019 ISM-NJ Women and Leadership Conference, held on October 23-24, 2019, The Palace at Somerset Park, Somerset, New Jersey. Tickets are available for purchase at https://www.ismnj.org.

Register for the ISM-NJ Women & Leadership Conference

Author: Suzanne Weston, IW Consulting Group

April ISM-NJ Blog

Deborah Augustus, CPSM, C.P.M., A.P.P., President

How excited are you that spring is finally upon us?  I know I’m very excited for warmer weather, flowers blooming, and sun shining!  As we exit the more challenging weather in NJ and look toward our future, I am struck by the other changes before me.  For instance, my eldest is thinking/talking about college!  How did that happen?  My little guy will be leaving elementary school; really?  What does all of this have to do with ISM-NJ?  Change, change is everywhere.  It’s expected and yet we’re still surprised.  I point this obvious notion out to you as we at ISM-NJ are faced with more changes coming from ISM Global.  You’ll be hearing more about these changes in the coming weeks, but I wanted you to hear it from your board first.  I’ll be addressing these changes via a live webinar in the next month and will be sending a letter that will include the link to the recording.  Your board is here to answer any questions you may have.  Feel free to reach out to any one of us to support you during these changes.

As professionals, we are members of ISM-NJ to help build our network and continue learning through monthly breakfast/dinner meetings, webinars, and conferences managed and facilitated by your board members.  We celebrate the good in our profession and build one another up.  We are roughly 450 strong.  We need more of you to bring your co-workers to help us be stronger together.  Our Membership Committee has networking events all over NJ looking to introduce ISM-NJ membership benefits to potential new members.  We have an Emerging Professional Committee bringing networking to those new to the profession; and our Mentoring Committee supports introductions for Mentees to meet someone to Mentor them and vice versa.  These two committees, run by our team of volunteers, are working in support of our mission to make our membership stronger – together.  Participate; go to a networking event or dinner meeting.  Get involved; volunteer if you can spare a few hours.  We do this for you, our members.  But we need more of you to bring these ideas to fruition.

What’s the hot topic you are burning to learn more about?  Is it something in the digital world?  Is AI key to your future?  Are you in Supply Chain and have a desire to learn more about Global Trade, Tariffs and Free Trade Agreements? Or are you in procurement supporting Human Resources which makes you want to learn more about labor trends and new ways to identify candidates?  Let us know what you want to hear more about; our Program Committee is out there looking for the right topics with the best speakers to bring to ISM-NJ.

Our April breakfast meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, April 3, 2019.  We will be taking a tour of the UPS Innovation Center in Parsippany.  Come join us to see what UPS is doing!  The Supplier Diversity night takes place on Wednesday, May 8^th at the Hanover Marriott in Whippany.  Be a part of meeting key players in different fields representing diversity at its best!  We are also soliciting your nominations for the Crystal Award and Emerging Professional.  Is there someone in your organization that represents Supply Chain and moves the function forward?  Take time to nominate them; this is the best way to show others in the field how to be better and take part in celebrating our profession.

ISM-NJ is committed to you, our members.  With changes coming from ISM Global, we want to hear from you.  Stay connected, ask questions, be a part of us in shaping our future.  Most importantly, remember we are right beside you, supporting your professional needs.  Spring is in the air; dance, sing, learn, be a part of making us the best membership group we can be for you.

To learn more about ISM-New Jersey see our website: https://www.ismnj.org

ISM-NJ Blog

Tamra Pawloski,
Immediate Past President

Happy New Year to you, our members!! Between changing pricing models, new negotiation position by vendors, increase data security issues, etc., our profession will continue to have to increase our knowledge and core competencies. So, what are you doing this year? I am fortune that my company is willing to pay for my professional development but I also take the time to research core topics. I have committed to read at least one technical book or article to continue to enhance my knowledge.

2019 is shaping up to be another great year of events here at ISM NJ. I do hope you are taking advantage of the professional development and networking. We kicked off our January with a joint meeting with APICS. During this meeting, Ms. Rao presented on the mentoring program at Rutgers. I have been participating in this program for many years now and would highly recommend it. I get just as much out of it as the students I am mentoring. So, if you have the time to commit, it would be very beneficial for you. 

In February, we will be having another joint meeting with APICS where Mark Grieco will be talking to us about project management and techniques for managing supplier’s contract performance. This is great to do in the beginning of the year so that you have a full year to adjust/correct scope. In March, we will be having our Supply Management Forum hosted by Princeton University. The theme for this event will be “Sustainable Impact”. The sessions will include a discussion on corporate social responsibility, lesson learned from a global perspective, and a discussion on the hydrogen economy. We will wrap up the day with a tour at the Hydrogen House in Princeton.  I would recommend making time to attend this forum as I always learn something new and something to share with our companies.

I look forward to seeing you all at our events! Have a great year!!

Click Here to learn more about the Institute for Supply Management – NJ Chapter

Holiday Greetings from ISM-NJ

        Maria Kiwalle, CPSM, CPSD, C.P.M., Vice President, Finance

On behalf of the ISM Board of Directors, we want to wish each of our members a joyous holiday season.

Take the time to relax and also reflect on your year of accomplishments!

After you relax a bit (which is a very rare task these days) and when you start to get ‘restless after your relaxation period’, reflect on the upcoming year and what you would like to accomplish.  Our greatest growth comes from continuing to improve.  Taking the first step is always the hardest, but once you get going you are amazed how far you have come.

• Is your goal to increase your networking circle for 2019?  Ways to achieve this include attending our January membership meeting.  Start the first month of the year with members you have not seen in awhile and those members you don’t know yet!  There is also the Supplier Management Forum on March 21^st at Princeton University where you can spend the day with your professional colleagues and even earn CEU credits!
• Is your goal to contribute to your professional organization?  As ISM – NJ is an organization for its members, if there is a program or area of interest that is currently not being addressed, please feel free to let one of the Board Members know.  ISM is always looking for ‘new blood’ – new volunteers.  There are many different committees that could use your innovative ideas.  Rest assured, we have not yet ‘killed a volunteer’ with hard labor!

We look forward to seeing you at our events and thank you for your membership!  Continued success and health in 2019!

Click here to learn more about the Institute for Supply Management – New Jersey

Training and Webinar Programs