Monica Coffey of Margate was inducted into the Atlantic County Women’s Hall of Fame.
LINWOOD – A Margate resident who has contributed so much to the environmental stability of the Downbeach area has been recognized as one of Atlantic County’s most prominent women.
Former Sustainable Downbeach Chairwoman Monica Coffey, who lives on the city’s border with Ventnor, was inducted along with five other women into the Atlantic County Women’s Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony was held Thursday, March 21 at Linwood Country Club.
Coffey, who spent 27 years as communication director at the Atlantic County Utilities Authority and now works as communication manager at Orsted, a Danish offshore wind and renewable energy company, was inducted along with Jennifer. D. Couthen of Atlantic City, Audrey Fischer and Nanette C. Stuart of Egg Harbor Township, Terri L. Schieder-Rann of Somers Point and Melanie Rice of Galloway Township.
In her role at ACUA, Coffey developed educational programs and materials that increased environmental awareness of recycling, water conservation and energy efficiency.
She was chairwoman of Sustainable Margate and advocated for the city to become the first shore town in Atlantic County to ban the release of lighter-than-air balloons. She collaborated with other Downbeach communities to create Sustainable Downbeach, which is comprised of green teams from Ventnor, Margate and Longport. The group received Sustainable Jersey’s 2017 Collaboration Award, which recognizes municipal green teams that have advanced sustainability by building strong partnerships.
“I was humbled and very honored to be among the honorees who are all amazing women,” Coffey said. “Just to be included with them is very humbling.”
The mother of four girls ages 9-16, including 13-year-old twins, has a busy life managing a household, carting her girls off to school and activities and traveling nationally and internationally to promote wind energy for Orsted.
“I am so grateful for the opportunities I received at the ACUA for so many years, and now I have my dream job,” she said. “I say that because there is no bigger issue to me than climate change, and advocating for renewable energy is part of the solution.”
Coffey said although she stepped down from chairing Margate’s green team, she intends to stay involved in environmental issues in all three Downbeach towns and in Atlantic City where the Orsted office is located.
“I’m feeling invigorated because it’s no longer an uphill battle with environmental issues. There’s a lot going on in Downbeach towns and I am looking forward to contributing to the effort,” she said.
Gina Roche/From left, Audrey Fischer, Melanie Rice, Terri L. Schieder-Rann, Monica Coffey and Jennifer Couthen. Not pictured, Nanette C. Stuart.
Couthen received recognition for her volunteer efforts in the Atlantic City community. A teacher of English as a Second Language, she used her language skills to help clients at the Social Security Administration and trained those entering the food service industry. One letter of recommendation described her as “an ordinary woman doing extraordinary things.”
Fischer has an extensive volunteer resume. She is involved with B’nai Brith, Pink Ladies of AtlantiCare Medical Center, Miss America Organization and ARC of Atlantic County. She was president of the Ruth Newman Shapira Cancer Fund, chairwoman of the medical center’s Auxiliary and an active member of Congregation Beth Israel.
Stuart is a social worker who mentors the mentally ill and abused and terminally ill children. She was a reading and language arts teacher, and later principal in the Pleasantville schools, where she taught theater arts and poetry. She has followed the footsteps of her grandmother Margaret Cresswell Hiawatha, who was posthumously inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1996 for being the first female law enforcement officer in New Jersey.
Schieder-Rimm is a surgical nurse at AtlantiCare where she has held numerous leadership positions, including vice-president of Business Development, administrator of Clinical Services and assistant director of Nursing. She had devoted most of her professional life improving the health of children and adults in South Jersey. Her volunteer activities include chairing the ShopRite LPGA Classic for 20 years, and as a board member of CASA of Atlantic and Cape May Counties, which supports children in the foster care system.
Rice, a musician who offers her talents for good causes, has performed at the annual MANNA at the Shore benefit at no charge for 24 years. She co-produced the Hansen Foundations annual Street Life Concert to raise money to help people recovering from addiction. She also mentors young musicians, singers and songwriters.
