Boards of Trustees

NJAI Board of Trustees Mission Statement: The protection and advancement of the organization’s mission, creating policies and a strategic plan to accomplish the mission, overseeing the financial stability of the organization, raising money to sustain the organization, and recruiting new Board Members.

Honorary Chairman Governor Brendan Byrne, Short Hills, NJ
Governor Brendan Byrne was born in West Orange, New Jersey and graduated from West Orange High School. After discharge from the Army in 1945 he attended Princeton University and received his law degree at Harvard University. Byrne served as Essex County Prosecutor from 1959 – 1964. Byrne served as the President of the Board of Public Utilities in 1968 and Superior Court Judge 1970-1973. Byrne served as Governor from 1973-1982.

Byrne is a senior partner with the law firm Carella, Byrne, Bain, Gilfillan, Cecchi, Stewart & Olstein in Roseland and on the board of directors of a number of major corporations, foundations and organizations.

Chairwoman Amy B. Simon, West Orange, NJ - as@njai.org
Amy B. Simon is the President of A Simon Says, LLC a Public and Community Relations and Public Information firm based in West Orange, New Jersey specializing presentation and media training and, proactive and reactive information services for public figures, business, government, education, entertainment and the arts.

A Simon Says, LLC provides services in Public and Community Relations, Marketing, Print and Radio Spokesperson services, Media and Presentation Training, Public Speaking and Voice and Speech Coaching, Broadcast and Radio Production, Print Design, Copy, Feature and Commercial Writing for all mediums, Web Design and Content Building, Strategic Media and Communications Planning and Placement, Emergency and Crisis Communication, Information Management, Press Conferences, Event Planning, Publicist Services, and public-private partnership consulting.

Amy B. Simon has a Bachelors of Arts Degree from the State University of New York and an advanced education degree from the National Shakespeare Company Conservatory. Amy has earned certificates in crisis and emergency information management, including Incident Command for Executives, ICS 17, ICS 200, Incident Response to Terrorist Bombings, Community Emergency Response Team and the State of NJ Department of Law and Safety Public Information Officers Course. Her affiliations include Public Relations Association of America, the National Information Officers Association, Women in Communications, 3CMA – city-county communications and marketing association, New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners, the NJ Chamber of Commerce, the West Orange Chamber of Commerce and the Screen Actor’s Guild.

Amy is a published author and editorial writer, a radio host and cable television producer. She began her career as an actor and writer in NYC appearing in theater, television, commercials and film and writing for theater, radio and comedy troupes.

Amy is Executive Director of the New Jersey Arts Incubator, a member of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a Legislative Aide to Assemblyman John F. McKeon D27 and a 2008 NJ Biz recipient of the New Jersey’s Best 50 Women in Business award.

Vice Chairperson Lisa Scalora, West Orange, NJ
Ms. Scalora lives in West Orange, is a graduate of West Orange High School has a bachelors degree from Rutgers University, a Masters Degree from Rutgers University in Human Resource Management and a certification from the Cornell University Executive Program.

Scalora is currently the Director of Human Resources for American Export Lines and has served on many non-profit boards and as Chairwoman of the West Orange Public Relations Commission.

Treasurer Edward P. Bond, West Orange, NJ
Edward P. Bond attended New York University and the New York School of Finance, and received a BS degree from Seton Hall University.  A member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) and the New Jersey State Society of Certified Public Accountants, he is certified in New York and New Jersey.  From 1969 to 1974, he was partner and later President of the New York and American Stock Exchange member firm. Ed has maintained a leadership position in the financial and business communities for more than 35 years, including serving ten years as a member of the New Jersey State Board of Accountancy and two years as President.

Renowned for significant contributions in the field of insolvency and reorganization, Ed is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute, the Association of Insolvency Accountants, and the National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees.  In addition, he is dually licensed as a Certified Insolvency and Reorganization Accountant (CIRA) by the Association of Insolvency Accountants and as a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) by the National Association of Fraud Examiners

Mr. Bond currently serves as the Chairman of Bederson and Company, a financial firm located in West Orange, New Jersey. And is a newly appointed member of the Board and Chairman of the Development Committee for the West Orange Chamber of Commerce, Ed serves on the Mayors Business Advisory Council.

Trustee Members

In June ’05, Goldberg was Executive Producer of the WCBS-FM morning show “Micky Dolenz In The Morning” .Executive Producer/ Creative Director for NY’s new JACK-FM affiliate. Executive Producer of the WPLJ-FM New York’s morning show. During his tenure, Scott Shannon and Todd Pettengill’s “Scott & Todd In The Morning” producing the most successful syndicated music show of all time “American Top 40”, launching radio’s #1 comedy service “The Premiere Comedy Network”, and co-creating the very first multi-radio live station satellite remote – now an industry standard. Mr. Goldberg’s 20 year career in radio includes VP/ Creative at HOMERUN RADIO, Sony’s SW NETWORKS, VP / Creative Marketing at PREMIERE and VP / Creative Development for the entertainment marketing firm UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT.

Laura Lab, West Orange, NJ
Laura has a Masters of Arts degree in Criminal Justice from John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice Administration and Planny from John Jay College. She is co-founder and co-president of Parents Advocating Special Services in Education and a member of the West Orange Board of Education.

Edward Robertson, Jackson, NJ
Edward James Robertson Jr. earned his BA in business from Jersey City State in 1983. In 1985 received his certification from the Center of Media Arts. He served as a Community Access Technician to (Suburban Cablevision) Comcast for 18 years. In 2006 Robertson launched his small business career providing video technician services to broadcast facilities.

Robertson, an expert in the latest broadcasting equipment, has extensive experience with building and maintaining Mobil production units. Robertson acts as an advisor to school districts and their educators, and municipalities utilizing access stations and/or creating signature access channels. Robertson specialty is the training of students and/or community access members in all ‘behind the camera’ aspects of producing programming for broadcast.

Mr. Robertson’s clients include school districts and municipalities across the State and all of the major broadcasting services. His favorite productions include the US Open, the Belmont Stakes and the Baseball World Series.

Kip Rowan, West Orange, NJ – wkrowan@gmail.com
Mr. Rowan is a life long West Orange resident with a long career in multi media production and education. He is the winner of the National Ace Award — “New Visions Music Series”, DuPont/Columbia Award — “Right to Know” and the Ten – Ace Awards — Suburban Cablevision.

Rowan attended Rutgers University, B. A., Theater Arts & Television – Phi Beta Kappa, Rutgers University, Master of Arts, English Literature.

Rowan currently teaches and produces at the New Jersey Institute of Technology:

Instructional Media Services – Multi-Media Producer, Communication and Humanities Departments – Adjunct Professor, Co-Owner: Coral Bay Media, LLC (Multi-Media Production Company)

Matthew Schwartz (bio pending)

Christine Wolff-Strassman, West Orange, NJ – cwstrassman@comcast.net
Ms. Strassman is the Vice President of Publicity for Interscope Geffen A&M Records in New York City where she is responsible for securing national media exposure for the label’s recording artists including, Sheryl Crow, The Cure, B.B. King, Rise Against, Puddle of Mudd, Lifehouse, The Like and others.

During her 18 years as a music publicist Ms. Wolff-Strassman has worked at some of the biggest record labels in the business including, Warner Bros. Records and MCA Records. She got her start as a programming coordinator for Westwood One Radio Networks.

Ms. Strassman is a graduate of State University of New York at Stony Brook with a BA in Economics. Strassman lives in West Orange, New Jersey.