About Us

Meet Kate Conroy

Kate Conroy is the Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, the largest employer-based business association in the United States. As a team leader with a long track record of excellence, she is responsible for the overall management of the Association's sponsorship program, which includes leading the company-wide, cross-department movement to cultivate new sponsors and partners from both within and without the membership. In the fall of 2020 Ms. Conroy's role was expanded to include overall event oversight, working across departments with her team to plan and execute events across the state virtually while working through the pandemic and then in-person. These programs underlined and solidified NJBIA's reputation for producing events that are extraordinary.

Prior to becoming Vice President, Ms. Conroy was the Director of Strategic Partnerships, a role she took on in Oct. 2016 and one that included new challenges and opportunities. In this role she exceeded her goals year after year and worked with colleagues on initiatives like the podcast Other People's Business, which promotes the organization and its members.

Before taking on partnerships, she came to NJBIA as the Director of Member Services & Programs in April 2015. As a team leader with overall responsibility for managing the development and implementation of NJBIA programs and events, she also is responsible for event budgets which account for almost one million dollars in revenue. Tasked with developing and obtaining positive financial goals for each program or event, Ms. Conroy achieved a reduction in overall expenses of approximately 20% in her first six months.

She was responsible for the management and professional development of four team members, cross-department coordination of moving parts to ensure successful events, representation of the Association to C-Suite constituents, and the cultivation of collaboration among members to create profitable relationships.

Prior to taking the position at NJBIA, Ms. Conroy worked for 11 years as Vice President of the Gateway Regional Chamber of Commerce, the largest and most active business organization in the northern New Jersey-New York metropolitan region.

Ms. Conroy was responsible for membership services and growth; website construction and content creation; local chamber meetings and event coordination; the maintenance of 17 Affinity Partner relationships, which led to increased diversification of revenue for the Chamber; and the acquisition of several new networking groups under the Chamber's umbrella, which steadily increased the Chamber's membership base. In becoming an integral and essential part of the Gateway staff, of particular note was Ms. Conroy's sustained drive in bringing new members into the Chamber.

Throughout her career with the Chamber, Ms. Conroy was a key element in the implementation of the strategic plan to revitalize the organization and make it more politically effective by taking full advantage of the grassroots capabilities of its membership.

Ms. Conroy was the driving force behind the launch of the Gateway Association of Business Women, a successful monthly gathering for lunch, networking and speakers, which has become one of the most dynamic women's groups in the state.

With an eye toward further expansion and untapped demographics, Ms. Conroy also organized the chamber's quarterly event Networking Outside the Box, which met for cocktails, hors d'oeuvres and informal networking, thereby balancing the predominantly morning schedules of the other Gateway groups. Ms. Conroy also helped launch the Irish Business Association, which looked to draw and build on the common heritage of New Jersey's Irish-American business community. Finally, Ms. Conroy initiated the organization of the Gateway Chamber's Small Business Council, to better serve the needs of the small business community within the chamber.

Ms. Conroy has been particularly active in professional development, participating as frequently as possible in the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives, as well as the Institute for Organization Management, the U.S. Chamber's premier executive training program for chamber of commerce professionals. Institute is an intense four-year program from which Ms. Conroy graduated in the summer of 2008. Ms. Conroy was consistently awarded scholarships from ACCE to help offset the cost of Institute. Since graduation, Ms. Conroy has served on the Board of Regents for Institute.

Ms. Conroy received a Master of Arts degree in history from the Armstrong campus of Georgia Southern University (Savannah, GA). She specialized in medieval Iberian (Spanish) history and the relationships between Muslims, Christians and Jews during the High Middle Ages as the Black Death swept through Europe. While doing her graduate work she was awarded an assistantship, which, in addition to a stipend, provided a tuition-free graduate school experience.

In October 2009, Ms. Conroy incorporated Quilts by Kate LLC, a small business that specializes in the design and creation of specialty quilts made out of wedding gowns, baby clothes, neck ties, t-shirts and other memorabilia.

In the spring of 2010, Ms. Conroy was named the Irish Business Association's first ever Woman of the Year, an honor of which she is very proud.

In the summer of 2016, Ms. Conroy joined the board of trustees of Bridgeway Rehabilitation, a not-for-profit in Elizabeth, NJ with a focus on helping people with mental illness rehabilitate and live normal lives in their communities. Bridgeway specializes in helping people recover from co-existing issues, such as mental illness and substance abuse. Almost from the start of her time with Bridgeway, Ms. Conroy headed up the Membership Committee and worked strategically to bring new faces to the board which fit the core competencies identified as wanting. In the spring of 2021, Ms. Conroy was invited to become secretary of the board and now serves on the executive committee.

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Blue feathers symbolize calm, peace, communication, truthfulness, and self-expression. Having a blue feather can inspire you to believe in your own ability to express yourself.