West Hartford Women in Networking

West Hartford Women in Networking January meeting is around the corner! In addition to Networking, Introductions and Breakfast treats, this morning we will be welcoming the new CEO of Interval House as our guest speaker.She will be speaking about Interval House, its history and services, and domestic violence. Meeting fee:$2 Info: www.westhartfordwomeninnetworking.com RSVP to dianne.rechel@westhartfordwomeninnetworking.com Mary-Jane Foster became the CEO and President of Hartford’s Interval House in January of 2017. Interval House is Connecticut’s largest domestic violence agency and in 2017 celebrated 40 years of service. Foster is just the second CEO of the agency. She served as Vice-President of University Relations at the University of Bridgeport, from May 2009 until June of 2016. She is an attorney admitted to practice in Connecticut and New York. She is a co-founder and former co-owner and CEO of the Bridgeport Bluefish Professional Baseball Club and Westchester Baseball, LLC. Ms. Foster was a candidate for mayor of Bridgeport in the 2011 Democratic primary and the 2015 general election. Ms. Foster served nine years on the Board of Directors of The Center for Women and Families (now the Family Justice Center). Her tenure included three years as president of the Board and four years as the chair of the Investment Committee. She was certified in Domestic Violence, volunteered as a Court Advocate for victims and served on the Mayor’s Commission Against Violence in the Home. In 1995, she was honored as YWCA Volunteer of the Year by the Conference of Women’s Organizations and in 1999 received the Philip Morris Companies Doors of Hope Outstanding Volunteer Award for her work in the field of domestic violence. Ms. Foster has also received the United Way Community Builder Award and was honored as a 2003 Woman in Motion by the Arthritis Foundation and the Connecticut Post as the 2003 Woman of the Year. In 2006, she was inducted into the Junior Achievement of Connecticut Hall of Fame and in 2007 received the Good Scout Award from the Yankee Council of the Boy Scouts of America. In 2009, she was inducted into the Quinnipiac University Business Leaders Hall of Fame. Ms. Foster is a former member of the Advisory Board of BNY/Mellon, Putnam Trust Division and a former Trustee of Quinnipiac University. She co-chaired for 6 years the United Way of Eastern Fairfield County’s Success by Six early childhood education initiative. Ms. Foster is an original member of the Advisory Board of the Fairfield County Fund for Women and Girls and was on the Fairfield County Community Foundation Board for 4 years. From 2008-2015, she was a Director of Hudson Valley Bank. She serves on the board of the CT Open, Connecticut’s internationally acclaimed professional women’s tennis tournament, as a Corporator of iQuilt and is an Advisory Council member of the CT Against Gun Violence Coalition. Before attending law school, Ms. Foster was an actress in New York. She has performed on stage, film, television and radio and has appeared in over two hundred television and radio commercials.