NJEA President Marie Blistan and Vice President Sean M. Spiller were recognized for their influence within New Jersey’s political world. Blistan and Spiller, along with Secretary-Treasurer Steve Beatty have worked tirelessly as NJEA’s elected officers to ensure all school employees and students in New Jersey’s public schools remain safe during the pandemic. Their efforts to secure a safe return to the “new normal” were a driving force behind all three significant acknowledgments. The recognition of both elected officers of NJEA demonstrates the collective power that all 200,000 NJEA members have had — and will continue to have — as NJEA members navigate through the complicated task of educating children while keeping them safe during the deadliest pandemic in more than a century.
Blistan, along with fellow influential labor leader Hetty Rosenstein of CWANJ, was ranked eighth on the 2021 ROI-NJ Influencers Power List and listed in the 2021 NJ Biz Power 100 list. Spiller was ranked 41st on Insider NJ’s 2021 African American Power List, which is presented each February in honor of Black History Month.