“A Celebration of Justice for Women”

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. – The Women’s Justice Center of Pace Law School will honor Dee DelBello, CEO and Publisher of Westfair Communications Inc., Joseph Danisi, Writer and Producer of KPI for Court TV, and John Tolomer, Senior Vice President of Commerce Bank, at “A Celebration of Justice for Women,” the Center’s annual benefit dinner, to be held at Abigail Kirsch at Tappan Hill in Tarrytown on Thursday, September 29, 2005.

“In the United States a woman is battered by a man – usually an intimate partner—every 15 seconds, raped every two minutes, and murdered by a spouse or boyfriend every six hours,” said Pace Women’s Justice Center Executive Director Susan L. Pollet, Esq. “The Pace Women’s Justice Center has become a national leader in addressing these problems and we need financial support to build on our successes.”

Tables are available from $1,500 to $10,000. Individual tickets are $150 to $1,000. For reservations or more information about the dinner, please contact James Bavero at (914) 422-4069.

Dee DelBello, Chief Executive Officer and Publisher of Westfair Communications Inc. (Westfair), a publishing firm headquartered in White Plains, serves as the publisher of the company's publications - Westchester County Business Journal, Fairfield County Business Journal and Westchester Generations. A graduate of The College of New Rochelle, Ms. DelBello also holds a master's degree from Seton Hall University. Her former professional experiences include teaching, administrative positions at two universities and regional public relations director for Bloomingdale's.

Ms. DelBello became an entrepreneur in 1990 when she purchased two moribund newspapers on the verge of bankruptcy - the Business Journals. Today, the Journals are flourishing and bring local business news to more than 60,000 readers in New York's Westchester County and Connecticut's Fairfield County. Westchester Generations is a co-venture with the Westchester County Department of Senior Programs and Services. Published bi-monthly, the newspaper reaches more than 150,000 readers.

Through the years, Ms. DelBello has served on many charitable and professional boards. She has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors for her efforts and achievements from such organizations as Women in Communications, Visiting Nurse Service of Westchester, Westchester ARC, Westchester Chapter of the American Red Cross, March of Dimes, Bridgeport Regional Business Council, Bar'Ilan University in Israel, Westchester Advertising Club, WAWBO and Westchester Community College.

Appointed by former New York State Governor Hugh Carey, she was Commissioner for 17 years on the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct and was awarded the 1996 Samuel Dubroff Award from the New York State Fund for Modern Courts.

Presently, Ms. DelBello serves on the advisory boards of the Westchester Association of Women Business Owners (WAWBO), The Women's Business Development Center, Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) and is a member of The National Association for Female Executives and the Westchester Venture Group.

Ms. DelBello resides in Waccabuc with her husband Alfred DelBello, a former Yonkers Mayor, Westchester County Executive, and New York State Lieutenant Governor. Her son Damon is an orthopedic surgeon in a private partnership in Rye.

Joseph Danisi is a writer and television producer based in New York. Working primarily in long-format documentary, he has created programming for networks such as A&E, Bravo, MSNBC, Court TV and Lifetime. Mr. Danisi wrote and produced a show about domestic violence for Court TV in which the Women’s Justice Center was mentioned. Additionally, he is active in New York theater as a playwright and producer. Mr. Danisi is currently the Creative Director of the Naked Angels Theater Company’s play and screenplay development series, “Tuesdays @ 9.” His plays have been produced by Naked Angels, Expanded Arts, The Westbeth Theater Center and others.

Mr. Danisi attended the State University of New York at Oneonta and the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute in New York.

John Tolomer, a Senior Vice President and Market Manager for Commerce Bank, leads all retail and business banking activity for Commerce Bank in Westchester County, New York, and Fairfield County, Connecticut. Mr. Tolomer has been a local banker for more than 25 years. Prior to joining Commerce Bank, he was a Senior Vice President at Bank of New York, where he managed the commercial banking group. Before that, John managed several retail and commercial banking businesses for 17 years at Citibank.

A resident of Chappaqua, New York, John is active in several local organizations. He is a board member of the Westchester County Association, The Leukemia Society of America and United Way. John is an advisory board member of LEAKE and WATTS, and a board member of Food-Patch.

John earned his BA degree from Iona College in 1977 and completed an Executive Education Program at Penn State University in 1984.  

Before the dinner, a Silent Auction in the Pavilion Promenade will offer more than 200 donated items, including a stay at a beautiful country Bed and Breakfast, stays at a variety of four-star hotels, spa treatments, jewelry, private figure skating lessons, dinners at many popular Westchester restaurants, and enough sporting event tickets and signed sports memorabilia to keep attendees’ favorite sports fans happy for an entire year.  

Proceeds from the dinner and silent auction support the Pace Women’s Justice Center, a non-profit organization that annually conducts trainings for thousands of judges, law enforcement officers, attorneys, and law students. Each year the PWJC provides direct representation to more than 1,500 victims of domestic violence and their children. Annually, the PWJC conducts more than 100 training programs on domestic violence, elder abuse and sexual assault, and other topics. It also has produced public service announcements for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Violence Against Women’s Office concerning domestic violence, written judicial training manuals, and published many articles on gender violence. Its Help Line answers over 1,400 calls per year.

Founded in 1976, Pace Law School is a New York Law School with a suburban campus in White Plains, NY, 20 miles north of New York City. Part of Pace University, the school offers the JD program for full-time and part-time day and evening students. Its postgraduate program includes the LLM and SJD degrees in Environmental Law and an LLM in Comparative Legal Studies. Pace has one of the nation's top-rated Environmental Law programs and its Clinical Education program also is nationally ranked, offering clinics in domestic violence prosecution, environmental law, securities arbitration, criminal justice and disability rights. www.law.pace.edu 

Pace is a comprehensive, independent university with campuses in New York City, Pleasantville and White Plains, NY, and a Hudson Valley Center at Stewart International Airport in New Windsor, NY. More than 14,000 students are enrolled in undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs in the Dyson College of Arts and Sciences, Lubin School of Business, School of Computer Science and Information Systems, School of Education, Lienhard School of Nursing and Pace Law School. www.pace.edu