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They grew up outside the U.S. and overcame a struggle — growing up in a not-well-off family or in a country not very open to women as business leaders; transcending a disability; conquering failure. Despite the challenges they faced, these women became successful entrepreneurs. Hear their stories about how they became entrepreneurs, and how they overcame obstacles in their home country and in the U.S.

Event features a keynote address by Narjis Ali, president of OPEN (Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs of North America) DC. Ali will talk about her life and journey as an entrepreneur, including how she got started, the risks she took, lessons learned and where she is headed.

The event also features a panel of women entrepreneurs who grew up in a foreign country, overcame a struggle and are now successful entrepreneurs in New Jersey.

Panelists include:
Yewande Adebayo, founder of Bella Works
Iram Ganju, president and CEO of IKG Global Consultants
Zora Kassaii, CEO and president of Rush Graphics Inc.
Jatinder Singh, owner of Account Vision
Moderator: Sally Glick, principal at Sobel & Co.

This event is a partnership with Montclair State’s Women and Gender Studies program. The event is supported by Montclair State Residence Life. 

Event is free, but please pre-register. If you decide later you can't make it, please update your RSVP.

Agenda:
6:00-6:45 p.m. Networking with pizza
6:45-7:00 p.m. Welcome and 1-minute pitches from the audience
7:00-7:30 p.m. Narjis Ali 20-minute talk with 10 minutes Q&A
7:30-8:30 p.m. Panel discussion with 20 minutes Q&A

Directions and parking info:
http://www.montclair.edu/conferencecenter/campus_parking_directions.pdf

Join the conversation on Twitter and Instagram: #MSUmeetup and @FelicianoCenter

Speaker bios:  
Narjis Ali is president of OPEN (Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs of North America) DC. She is also CEO and president of Sure Secure Solutions, which provides end-to-end information technology services to its federal customers. Ali has more than 30 years of extensive knowledge of IT solution development. She founded Sure Secure Solutions in 2004 to provide information security services to the Department of Homeland Security. Previously, Ali worked as a contractor at the Department of Homeland Security / Customs and Border Protection on modernization efforts and was deeply involved in security engineering and architecture, identity and access management and security requirements and policy at the Cargo and Passenger Systems Program Offices.

Yewande Adebayo is the founder of Bella Works. She was born in the former war-torn city of Monrovia, Liberia. She migrated with her family to the U.S. a few months shy of the civil war that would devastate the country to present. Her family found new life in Brooklyn and eventually settled in Newark. With faith and determination, Adebayo overcame a myriad of challenges adjusting to life as an immigrant and inner city youth. As part of her adjustment, she delved into her passion for the arts and music. Adebayo holds a Bachelor's of Arts in Biology from Berea College and a Master's in Public Administration from New York University with a focus on Nonprofit Management with an International Concentration. In March 2015, she began her Doctorate in Human Services - Family Studies & Intervention Strategies with Walden University, and expects to complete her studies by 2019. Her work experience spans the fields of micro-finance, youth development, immigrant and refugee advocacy work and education. Adebayo is also the proud mother of 3 young sons. It was during her journey to motherhood that her trajectory was altered and she became acquainted with the severe impacts of domestic violence and the hardships many women face in the aftermath. Her experiences led to a shift in focus - away from the field of international development - towards work that can help mitigate the impacts of domestic violence in urban communities. She founded Bella Works, to create opportunities for domestic violence survivors. 

Iram Ganju is president/CEO of IKG Global Consultants, a full-service agency providing international and domestic relocation services; intercultural training for expatriating executives, families and organizations for pre-departure and re-entry; destination services; human resource services; global payroll management and supply chain management, as well as supplier assessment and sourcing worldwide (United States, London, Canada, Hong Kong, India and Singapore). Ganju is also a blogger at the Huffington Post. Ganju studied economics and psychology at St. Joseph’s College, and human resource management at Villanova University. Ganju grew up in Pakistan.

Zora Kassaii is CEO and president of Rush Graphics Inc. After growing up in Iran, Kassaii came to the U.S. in January of 1977, after high school. She studied art at the New York Institute of Technology, received her BA at the Jersey City University in advertising design and photography in 1981, and earned her MA from William Paterson University in 1982. Kassaii first worked as a commercial photographer and videographer. In 1985 she created Rush Graphics, a New Jersey certified women business enterprise. The mission of Rush Graphics is to bring highly professional pre-press and precise color separations to advertising agencies, printers, publishers and independent designers.  Rush Graphics has served clients like the New York Giants, Godiva, Fuji Photo Film USA and Nikon.

Jatinder Singh is the owner of Account Vision and is a certified public accountant licensed in New Jersey and South Dakota, with clients all over the United States. She also is a certified global management accountant. Singh is president of New Jersey Society of CPAs for South Jersey, and a member of Business Networking International. Her clients include not-for-profits funded by federal and state governments, professional service organizations, retail businesses, federal contractors and high-income individuals. Singh is a graduate of Drexel University, and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and New Jersey Board of Accountancy. Singh is married and resides in Marlton, with her husband and two daughters. Her hobbies include running marathons, gardening, cooking, reading and writing Urdu poetry. Jatinder grew up in India.

Panel moderator: Sally Glick is a principal of the firm and the chief growth strategist at Sobel & Co. In that role she is responsible for the development and implementation of the firm’s branding, marketing communications and business development strategies. A leader in her field, Glick was named Accounting Marketer of the Year for 2003, was listed on Accounting Today’s list of Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting for 2004, 2005 and 2006, and in 2007 was inducted into the Association for Accounting Marketing’s Hall of Fame. In 2014 Practice Advisor named her one of the top 25 women in the field of accounting in the United States. Glick was selected as one of NJBIZ’s “Top 50 Women in Business” in 2008. In January 2010 she was named as the Garden State Foundation’s Woman of the Year - Professional Services category. More recently, Glick was honored by Tri-County Scholarship Fund as a Woman of Achievement and was the William Paterson Foundation Legacy Award Honoree for Friendship and Community Leadership. Glick serves on local and national boards, including being the president of the NJ chapter of the Association of Corporate Growth. She is a board member for Commerce and Industry Association of New Jersey, serves on the Morris County Chamber of Commerce Members’ Council and is a member of the board of the NJ Center for Nonprofits. She is on the Fairleigh Dickinson Center of Excellence Advisory Board and is an instructor within their NFP certificate program. Glick earned her undergraduate degree from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois where she was given the Alumni Merit Award in 2008, and her MBA from The Lake Forest Graduate School of Business Management in Lake Forest, Illinois.