Janice Kovach, BBA
Board Trustee, Previous Mayor of Clinton NJ
​
Janice Kovach won election as Mayor of Clinton NJ in November 2011. She was sworn in to a four-year term on January 2, 2012. Janice’s decision to run for Mayor was two-fold. She loves the Town of Clinton and wanted to play a role in how the town was going to move forward. She brings her business savvy approach to municipal government, looking for opportunities to grow revenue and reduce costs. Her second reason came after watching the results of the 2010 midterm elections and how women were portrayed by the media and other women. She realized that until women became part of the decision-making process and “had a seat at the table”, they would forever be under-represented.
Janice spends an enormous amount of volunteer time training and mentoring women who want to run for office, giving them the resources necessary to play in the political arena. Previously, Janice had been appointed Director of the New Jersey Division on Women in August 2006 and served until September 2010. As the former Director, Ms. Kovach was a member of the New Jersey Commission on the Status of Women, Domestic Violence Fatality and Near Fatality Review Board, Governor’s Advisory Council Against Sexual Assault, Governor’s Advisory Council on Domestic Violence, Gender Parity Council and the NJ Commission on Women Veterans. Prior to joining state government, she was a Councilwoman in the Town of Clinton, serving as the Planning Board Liaison, Chair of the COAH committee and the Historic Preservation Commission. She resigned her Town Council seat when she assumed the Director’s job of the Division on Women.
Richard "Rick" LaFrance, CIC
Board Trustee
​
Rick LaFrance specializes in Business Insurance & Risk Management for Franchise Quick Service Restaurants such as Burger King, KFC, Dunkin Donuts,Taco Bell, Auntie Anne’s, Starbucks, Haagen Dazs, etc. He has over 29 years of experience helping Franchisee’s build and strengthen their Insurance Programs. This coupled with Proactive Claims Management and Safety Risk Consulting
Has built the MMA Franchise Team a large base of loyal clients and growing.
Rick is a graduate of Rutgers University and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in English. He is a Certified Insurance
Consultant (CIC) and began his career in 1987 at Prudential then moved into Property and Casualty in 1992 and has been with Marsh & McLennan since 2002. He is an Eagle Scout and a Foreign Exchange Student travelling to Sri Lanka. He is a founding Board Member of “In Awe Foundation” a nonprofit dedicated to helping families who are victims of Abuse and Addiction.
​
Rick is married and lives in Hunterdon County, NJ with his Wife Ele and their extended family.
Kathleen Lawence, BA
Board Secretary, Assistant to Executive Director
​
As owner of Gizmo Design Creations, and highly active board member to the Foundation, Kathy brings great experience, energy, and ideas that the entire team can feed off of and build upon. Being in recovery and now sober for 25 years has shown true perseverance and set a prime example of true will power towards overcoming adversity.
Kathy has previously served as Administrator of Developmental Disabilities Association of New Jersey Inc. for 25 years. This type of commitment speaks volumes of her devotion and loyalty to any organization. Her prompt and reliable actions have kept In Awe Foundation organized and capable of having access to crucial documents which Kathy has implemented a great system through electronic filing and data storing applications.
Gene Tick
Board Member, Director of Sales and Marketing
​
Owner of SOB Marketing. A veteran in the world of marketing and advertising Gene Tick turned to helping small businesses grow. Realizing that small businesses needed help to grow but did not have the resources or knowledge of how to get the biggest bang for their buck in marketing Gene Tick set out to become a central source for all their marketing needs. -Small businesses are struggling to compete. Small business owners do not have the time, knowledge or resources to put together a good marketing/advertising campaign. Sob-Marketing was created to help those businesses.
Recently retired from the day to day work of marketing, Gene Tick has followed another passion of his (though does marketing work on a referral basis only), Gene has used his years of volunteer experience within his community to become a Community Manager running the day to day operations of a private community within the Poconos. “it is not just about the business operations of the community, it is about improving the life style of the people within the community” This new position though very demanding has given Gene more time to spend on personal goals and hobbies and being very close to home, something he was not always able to do
Meena Vashi-Moore(formerly, Meena Singh) , BS, ELI-MP
Founder & Executive Director, In Awe Foundation
​
Meena has over 24 years of retail experience that ranges in a myriad of industries, starting from banking to insurance to entrepreneurship. She was highly recognized by upper management in her role as an Associate Manager when she ended her journey from the insurance industry after an 8 year career in corporate America. Reflecting her insightful follow-up skills, she was consistently commended by the VP of Everest Reinsurance for being a key contributor to the company by saving thousands of dollars in claims expenses.
It is with this experience in the business world which Meena brings to her personal vision - to build coaching centers worldwide for individuals affected by Abuse, Addiction or Anger. Meena's story, "Face Your Fears", demonstrates how a life lived in fear can be transformed and is a clear reflection that nothing stops you - but you yourself. It is this idea which is incorporated in the coaching.
She has the knack to present a "centering" exercise, which aids clients to gain clarity, direction, and focus, regardless of the confusion. This life-long journey has brought about immense gratitude which compelled Meena to establish In Awe Foundation, Inc.
Meet our Board
In Awe Foundation has been focused on building a team of Professionals and Interns that have a variety of skills and attributes to seperate them from other non-profit organizations.
​
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." ~ by Anthropologist, Margaret Meade.