CEO Lita Abele honored for her $10K endowment scholarship to Rowan College
Rowan College of South Jersey (RCSJ) hosted a ceremony that celebrated the establishment of the Lita Marcelo Abele (LMA) Women’s Institute for Business Studies at the college. The event took place on March 6, at the Rastelli Business and Corporate Center, located on the college’s Gloucester campus.
The Women’s Institute for Business Studies was named after Abele, an American of Filipino descent, and president and CEO of US Lumber, Inc., a multi-million dollar building material distributor based in Woodbury Heights, Gloucester County.
“It’s always been my dream to help students and to help women who are starting a small business,” said Abele, who is also a member of the college’s Board of Trustees. “It is important to me to give them an opportunity to compete with others because I did not have that opportunity when I was in college. Now that I have a little something, I want to share that with women, especially minority and nontraditional students.”
Abele was born in the Philippines and became a teacher as an adult. Her wages were minimal and that made it a struggle to support her family, which consisted of herself and two children. Rather than wallow in the muck of poverty, she set an intention that eventually came to fruition.
“I always dream[ed] to [go] to the United States, because it is a land of opportunity,” she revealed. How she made it to the U.S. – and the initial harrowing experiences she endured once she got here – are eye-opening. You can learn a lot more about those adventures by reading her book “A Journey to Now.”
Abele established a $10,000 endowment to support minority women scholars. The Rowan College Foundation matched her endowment with a $10,000 donation of its own.
The intent of the Institute is to develop leadership skills, foster empowerment, and provide professional growth for women and minority women students at RCSJ whose goals are to enter and advance their careers in the field of business. The Institute is part of RCSJ’s Division of Business Studies.
“The overall goal of this Institute is to directly connect our students who are currently enrolled with women and minority women in the field,” said Brendan Rickards, provost/vice president for Academic Services, RCSJ.
“By connecting our students with individuals who are successful in business … we can then allow those partnerships between the students, our faculty and staff, and our external business partners to thrive so that our students can develop into the leaders of tomorrow,” he said.
The event was well-attended and included a special appearance from Consul General Senen Mangalile.
“I was invited to witness the inauguration of the Lita Marcelo Abele Women’s Institute for Business [Studies] so that immediately made it a priority on my calendar,” said Mangalile. The consul general took note that the ceremony coincided with the commemoration of Women’s History Month in March and International Women’s Day, which is celebrated on March 8.
“The most important thing that the LMA Women’s Institute will do is open the horizons of the students and all the participants in it to the many possibilities available to them to succeed in business and to give them the confidence to look for partners that will help shape their future,” he said. “It’s about empowering women to make them ready and successful in business.”
Abele, a philanthropist, has received high-profile recognition for her business savvy and acumen and has won numerous awards including: one of the 100 Most Influential Filipina Women in the United States in the category of Building and Emerging Leaders, in 2009; one of the 100 Most Influential Filipina Women Globally, in 2017; SJ Magazine’s 2017 Women of Excellence Inspiration Award; the National Association of Women Business Owners South Jersey Woman Business Owner of the Year.
