- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been provided by NJ Best, New Jersey’s five-two-nine college savings plan.

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- This is One-On-One.

- I'm an equal American just like you are.

- The way we change Presidents in this country is by voting.

- A quartet is already a jawn, it’s just The New Jawn.

- January 6th was not some sort of violent, crazy outlier.

- I don't care how good you are or how good you think you are, there is always something to learn.

- I mean what other country sends comedians over to embedded military to make them feel better.

- People call me 'cause they feel nobody's paying attention.

_ It’s not all about memorizing and getting information, it’s what you do with that information.

- (slowly) Start talking right now.

- That's a good question, high five.

(upbeat music) - Hi everyone.

Steve Adubato.

We are honored to welcome our good friend and colleague, Michele Siekerka, who's president and CEO of the New Jersey Business and Industry Association.

Good to see you, Michele, - As always, Steve, great to see you as well.

Thank you.

- Lemme disclose that BIA is a longtime media partner of ours.

We cross-promote each other's content.

Michele, hey, let's tee up what we're about to see.

There are two interviews that are coming up with two leaders who are women leaders in the state, and they're tied to the 11th Annual Women Business Leaders Forum that happened in September of 2025.

What is that forum and why is it so important - That forum is significant.

So, as I just said, our 11th annual, over 550 women, leaders from every level of their organizations, entrepreneurs, all the way up to c-suite, coming together to share ideas on leadership, share how we build our skills as female leaders, and then how we create the visibility to ensure that everybody out there knows what these women have to offer to our job creators across the state of New Jersey.

- The other thing you do, which is fascinating to me, you know, Michele and I have talked leadership all the time offline, and also check out their website and ours as well for some one-on-one interviews Michele and I have done in front of a live audience on leadership.

But talking about, I'm fascinated by younger leaders, those who choose to in these challenging times, step up and try to lead.

You recognized folks, it's called the Rising Star Award.

What's the award?

Who won it, and why does it matter?

- So we go to our higher ed institutions and we ask them to nominate up and coming future leaders that they can see today in their institutions, and we call them the rising stars.

Now, how many times do we say, you know, we wanna be fearful for our future, and where are the leaders?

My gosh, if you heard the resonates of the five women that we honored back in September, you'd be bowled over and you'd be like, Hey, our future's in great hands.

- Okay.

But here's what I'm curious about.

When you were recognized, and you worked with different colleges and universities across the state, - Correct, Rutgers, NJIT, Bergen Community College, Hudson County College.

That's an example of where some of the award winners came from.

- Okay.

What kind of leadership qualities did you find in these young women?

- Oh, proactivity.

The ability to put themselves out there.

Good, if not even excellent communication.

The ability to step up and command, and the most important was passion and vision for their future.

- That's interesting.

I'm gonna embarrass one of our, we have so many women leaders in our organization, top executive producers and across the board and my colleague Mary Gamba, who helps us run the company every day.

But along those lines, this particular segment is produced by a young, talented producer, Chloe Swift, who right away, when I interviewed her, I knew she was not just talented, but proactive, assertive, follow up, follow through.

But I would be lying if I did not say to you, Michele, she stood out and she stands out because sometimes I think it's the exception, not the rule.

You say what?

- Well, I say I agree, and that's why the whole idea of mentoring and mentorship and leaning back and helping those women come along is significantly important.

Look, you know, through my life, I never had a formal mentor, but I certainly deemed mentorship through the filter of people who I wanted to emulate coming up through leadership.

And I said, Hey, how does that person carry themself?

Hey, how did that handle that situation?

How can I be more like them?

And then try to absorb those types of skills?

We, we need to do that and go back and help to bring our next generation along.

- Stay on the issue of mentorship.

I often think, as a student of leadership, as a coach, as someone you know who's written about and tries to understand it, and mostly just makes a lot of mistakes as a leader, which is part of- - We all do.

- Yeah, that part of being a good leader is knowing what you don't know and knowing when you make mistakes and being honest enough to acknowledge them.

You don't find that much, and nevermind, I'm not gonna go there.

So how about this, Michele?

I believe it's a responsibility, not some sort of side thing you do.

It would be nice if you mentored this young, talented woman coming up, or young man, but this is about women business leaders, but it's not some extra thing you're doing.

It's the thing you need to be doing.

It's at the core.

So I'll get off my soapbox and then let let you talk about this.

It is not some side thing if you have time to mentor, correct?

- No, it's part of being a good leader.

Right?

One of the most important attributes of being good leader is bringing people up behind you.

Whether it's succession planning in your own organization, whether it's ensuring that around your C-suite, you've got the diversity of thought leadership so that you can get all the information you need from people who have different filters in life to help you to make the best decisions.

We don't make decisions in the silo by ourselves.

We have to surround ourselves by good people.

And so it's an imperative that we step back and we build the skills in those coming up behind us so that they can then follow us in the future.

- I'm not gonna get into the DEI discussion, but I will say this, it's striking in this day and age, when a board, an executive board, or a board of trustees, board of directors, or an executive team of an organization, it has one woman, no women, less than 10% of the executive team or the board are women.

How the heck is that happening today?

- Yeah.

You know, it's a good question.

How does it continue to perpetuate.

Because you need the right leaders up at the top to understand that, even as men, you come back and you mentor and you sponsor your strong women coming up.

We see that each and every day.

At our Women Business Leaders Forum, we had a whole half a day where we had male leaders talking about sponsorship and mentorship and what good leadership skills are and what they look for in their next generation worker.

So that's critically, critically important, and we have to continue to build that.

- Before we are introduced.

By the way, there are two interviews and speaking of talented young women, one of the interviews, I believe the second one you'll see is with Aiysha Johnson, CEO and Executive Director of the New Jersey Certified Public Accountants Organization.

Jacqui Tricarico, talk about great women business leaders, who is one of our anchors.

She's an executive producer of "Think Tank" in our production company and the executive producer and co-anchor of "Remember Them."

Jacqui does an interview, and also it'll also be followed up by Kiran Handa-Guadioso, who's CEO of the United Way of Northern New Jersey.

Those interviews are coming up.

Before I let you go, Michele, I ask you this every time.

Number one leadership lesson you have learned over the last few years being a leader is?

- Ugh, bring your passion each and every day when you put your boots on the ground.

And you only do that if you love what you do.

If you love what you do, it's never work.

It's just part of your life.

- I have to remind myself, we have a long taping day today.

This is the first of a series of interviews.

Sometimes I have to remind myself, get to where you need to be.

Put yourself in the right head space and get everything else outta your mind.

Be present.

Do you actually do that?

- Yes.

I absolutely do.

Every once in a while I feel like I'm veering off.

I'm getting a little jaded and getting a little negative.

I literally have to do a, a mind check, a reality check, and I gotta set myself back in place or I can't be the leader that I need to be for NJBIA.

- I thought I was the only one.

Okay, that's Michele Siekerka.

By the way, one more time, let's plug the, go back and look at the NJBIA website.

It'll be up one more time right now.

Some of the highlights from the 11th Annual Women Business Leaders Forum that took place on September 25th and 26th, back in the fall of 2025.

To Michele Siekerka and the team at BIA, thank you so much for being our partner.

Thank you, Michele.

- Thanks so much, Steve.

- Women Leaders in Business.

Check it out.

- [Narrator] To watch more One on One with Steve Adubato find us online and follow us on Social media.

- We're now joined by Kiran Handa-Gaudioso, who's CEO of United Way of Northern New Jersey.

Kiran, good to see you.

- Excellent, so good to see you too.

Thank you for having me, Steve.

- You got it, website is up.

This is part of our Women Business Leaders.

We're doing a cooperation with our partners at the New Jersey Business and Industry Association, CEO, Michele Siekerka, a great friend and colleague.

Tell us what the United Way of Northern New Jersey is.

- So United Way of Northern New Jersey is part of a global network of United Way organizations.

We operate programs to support what we call ALICE Families.

ALICE stands for asset limited, income constrained, employed, and it's those households in our community, in our economy who are often working, yet struggling to make ends meet and find themselves with very, very difficult choices every week, between buying groceries, paying for medicine, car repair, childcare, really struggling.

And so our United Way operates programs to really support these families through all different aspects of their struggle.

And then what makes us really special is that we also operate a national research and analytics project that we call United for ALICE, where we have a team of researchers and writers that produce, you know, statistics and data and all kinds of research tools that are used across the country by United Ways and other stakeholders to help make life better for ALICE across the country.

- Kiran, you understand a little bit about an ALICE-related family or whatever that means, asset limited, income constrained, employed.

You grew up in such a family, did you not?

- I did, I did, and Steve, that's what really drew me to this United Way into this work almost 13 years ago when I joined the team.

The opportunity to really focus on this population really spoke to me based on my career.

I spent a lot of time working in afterschool programs in New York and New Jersey with families that were ALICE, and then myself, I very much grew up in an ALICE home.

My father immigrated here from India in the late '60s.

My mother grew up in Newark, lived in her grandmother's boarding house in the Irish section.

And so when my parents came together, they really struggled.

But fortunately, you know, they both had education, and my dad always said that, you know, "Your education is the most valuable commodity.

It's something you'll always have, and no one will be able to take that from you."

So my parents were fortunate.

Over time, they were able to achieve financial stability.

But very early on, you know, I have very vivid memories of my parents making very difficult choices.

- Kiran, I'm a student of leadership.

I write about leadership, teach, coach, as you well know.

Michele Siekerka and I talk about it all the time.

- Yep.

- The challenges of leadership, the joys, the struggles of leadership, the loneliness of leadership, and I'm not trying to make it sound like, "Oh my God, it's such a terrible life," 'cause we chose it.

Did you see yourself as a leader growing up as a kid?

Like, "I'm going to be a CEO one day," and by the way, don't have to be a CEO to be a leader.

Did you see yourself, at the core, "I'm a leader."

- I think I was always drawn to being in a role, or whenever I found myself in a situation where something needed to be done, and there was a very, you know, stark issue or problem.

I think I was always the first or second person to raise my hand and figure out a path forward, a way to solve the issue, whatever it was.

And so I think, you know, that really led me on the path to being in stages and places and rooms and tables where leadership opportunities were available and needed.

But I don't think I imagined as a young person coming up that I would be a CEO.

I really wanted to do good work, I wanted to be part of a mission-driven organization, and I wanted to be part of a strong team of really smart, dedicated, outstanding individuals.

And I'm very blessed that we have that at United Way and really across our whole sector.

- Finish this sentence for me.

Being a CEO and a mom at the same- And a wife at the same time, being CEO, mom, wife, family member is so challenging because?

- Because I think there's an expectation that's created from a variety of sources that women can do it all with the same level of performance at the same time.

So I talk a lot about the fact that we have to acknowledge we can't do it all.

Something is, always has to give.

We need help, we need support, we need resources, and we need to give ourselves grace that we can't do it all, and also give ourselves permission to let something go and know that we can't do everything at the same time.

I was fortunate enough to come into the CEO role when my children were in college and really, you know, on their path to independence.

I don't think I would've been able to work the way I do and lead the way I do when my kids were, you know, in the height of, you know, schedules and drop offs and after school and homework.

I wouldn't have been able to do it and be the kind of mom.

- Curious about this.

Discrimination toward women in the C-suite, still there?

- Yes.

- Make the case.

- I think that it kind of goes back to what we just talked about.

I think some of it is the expectations around women that are very different for men, especially at the C-suite level.

And some of that is kind of internalized, you know, expectations and pressure that we put on ourselves, but there is also just an inherent difference the way a woman CEO is treated compared to a man CEO.

We don't question whether a man is gonna get home for a baseball game or back-to-school night, but when a woman misses that, it's noticed, and there's typically some kind of comment about it, so yeah.

- Sorry for interrupt, I appreciate your point, but as we're taping, our daughter has a state tournament field hockey match as soon as we finish recording today, and I know I need to be there, I want to be there, but I will say this.

I'm glad that the pressure is a little bit more on dads and husbands, but it ain't the same, meaning there is definitely more pressure on women.

Before I let you go, I'm wanna try this.

In our nonprofit, I have to, 24/7, I'm raising money, you too?

- Yes, all day, every day.

- Can we admit that it sucks?

- It does, it's incredibly, it's very, very challenging, especially now, especially now.

- Let me ask you this from your point of view.

I find it hard, but I've been doing it for 30 plus years and I have to keep doing it, and I'm glad to do it because we get to do this work.

- Right.

- Do you think it's even harder for women to raise money in the corporate foundation world?

- I don't think so.

I don't.

- Okay.

- I don't really see that playing out there.

I think it's hard in general.

I think it's multi-year, unrestricted, general ops funding, very challenging.

I will say where we have success is when we really bring a group of partners, stakeholders, funders together to co-create, right?

You know that, Steve.

Design and build something together, that's the fun money to raise, I like to say, but it is very challenging, and we're feeling it, for sure.

- No money, no mission, but we have no choice.

That's what we signed up for.

Kiran, I wanna thank you so much.

Keep doing important work with your colleagues at the United Way.

And we thank the NJBIA, Michele Siekerka and our colleagues for helping us produce this Women Business Leader series.

Thank you, Kiran, all the best.

- Thank you, appreciate you.

- You got it.

Appreciate you.

Stay with us, we'll be right back.

- [Narrator] To watch more One on One with Steve Adubato find us online and follow us on Social media.

- Hi, I am Jacqui Tricarico, Senior Correspondent for "One-on-One."

And joining us now to round out our "Women Business Leaders Special" is Aiysha Johnson, the CEO and Executive Director of the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants.

So great to have you with us, AJ.

- Thank you.

Pleasure to be here.

- So, you know, we're taking this whole show to really talk about women who've made it to the C-Suite.

Describe for us your journey to the C-Suite and some of the obstacles you had to overcome.

- Sure, so the journey to the C-Suite I like to tell people is exactly that.

It's a journey.

So really my background, my experience, I learned every aspect of an association.

How does an association run?

How do we best support our members?

I started out healthcare-specific, so I was in a policy analyst role and then I moved into management supporting our members across various areas.

So eventually I became involved in general management, policy, education meetings, sponsorship partnerships.

And then I also was able to work in global management at a global advisory services, for... Well, Global Advisory Services Association, serving independent CPA firms and advisors, so... That's been the progression prior to joining NJCPA as the CEO and Executive Director.

One thing that I would say about that is that it's important to just build on your experience so that you're ready for any opportunity.

- So talk about that experience as a woman and a person of color.

Did you feel certain barriers along the way that you really had to overcome?

- I would say that being a woman and also a woman of color, that sometimes you will be the only one in the room.

Maybe you're one of few in the room.

And to not let that intimidate you, to lead with confidence because you know that you're there for a reason and you have unique perspective to offer.

So that's one of the areas of advice that I would give to women looking to build their careers, is not to worry about being the only one in the room.

Of course, I am a huge advocate for inclusion, so I think that's very important and my goal is to really inspire other women when they see me and to make myself accessible.

- You said confidence, but I know something else that you've talked about is leaning into your intuition.

What has that meant for you along your career journey?

- Well, it's definitely helped me with decision making, to stay calm when faced with challenges and to look at myself, to reflect and to rely on that intuition because I do have experience and it may not be the same situation, but assess how am I feeling?

What's the impact to others and to really take a step back and not rush into a decision just because there may be some unfamiliar situation that crops up and I think that's really important to stay levelheaded.

And that's part of the process.

- And I know mentorship has been really important to you.

Why have you made that a personal priority to make sure you're mentoring others and essentially passing the torch?

- I think it's extremely important.

You know, I just mentioned it's important to be accessible.

So with that, I know that our presence, you know, being in the C-suite as a woman can have positive impact if I'm able to communicate my story, talk to others who may be interested in a similar journey or just looking for the next opportunity, and if I don't make myself accessible or available, then you can't really imagine what you don't see.

So that's why I like to take the time to mentor and I know how important it's been for me.

And I haven't just been mentored by women in my career.

I've also been mentored by men and those who advocate for women.

So I think it's really important to just surround yourself with the right support system, get information and build your network as well as your key strengths.

- So often, I know this as a mom, we hear about this work-life balance and sometimes I laugh at that word balance 'cause for me personally, some days it's just not balance.

You have to put a little bit time into one part of your life than the other.

What kind of advice do you have for women who are, you know, leaders in their organization or their companies, but also, you know, trying to do it all at home?

- Yeah, so I agree with you.

I don't really use the terminology work-life balance, at least not for myself because of what you just stated.

And I think it's very hard, you know, if you're trying to find the exact balance, I think that what happens is on a day-to-day basis or a week-to-week basis, we may find some opportunities to reset.

So I like that, like finding ways to reset, take a pause so that you can refresh.

It may not be a long vacation or anything like that, but what do you like to do?

Can you go out and take a 15 minute walk?

Anything that will help you to just reset a bit during your day, I think is more important than trying to aspire to this place of balance, which varies for each of us.

- Yeah, I couldn't agree more.

Finally, AJ, for you, what has been the most important lesson you've learned being a leader?

- That's a great question.

I've learned a lot of lessons and I think that with leadership, probably the biggest lesson is to be inclusive, to bring others and lift others up.

You know, not just yourself, it requires an entire team effort.

I happen to have the privilege to be able to serve the profession, to be in my role, to be surrounded by many smart and talented staff and members.

And that's what keeps me going on a day-to-day basis.

So for me, lessons learned, you know, I would say be a voice.

Share your perspective.

Don't be afraid.

Don't wait for folks to ask you a question.

Share, because we all have very unique opportunities and experiences that would allow us to be a voice in the room.

And so I really like to hear from my team.

They know that, like to hear from all levels of my team.

And I would just say be the CEO of your life.

- Well, AJ, thank you for being a voice on our program as we celebrate women business leaders in our state.

We really appreciate you joining us.

- Thank you so much.

- Thank you.

For Steve Adubato and myself, thanks for watching.

We'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by NJ Best, New Jersey’s five-two-nine college savings plan.

Seton Hall University.

Hackensack Meridian Health.

Valley Bank.

New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.

PSEG Foundation.

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

The Russell Berrie Foundation.

And by The North Ward Center.

Promotional support provided by ROI-NJ.

And by New Jersey Globe.

- (Inspirational Music) - (Narrator) Great drive fuels the leaders of tomorrow and today.

Great vision paves the way for a brighter future.

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Great empathy finds strength in kindness and in each other, working together to create something bigger than they ever imagined.

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