Ragini Goel awarded Phenomenal Woman of Year

Ragini "Regina" Goel

NEW JERSEY: Ragini "Regina" Goel, a New Jersey realtor has been presented with a joint resolution by the New Jersey Senate and General Assembly in recognition of her being awarded the 'Phenomenal Woman of the Year' award by the Morristown Neighborhood House in New Jersey, recently.

The resolution recognizes Goel's remarkable record of professional achievement and community service that includes her work at the Parsipanny-Troy Hills Board of Education and Parents, at the County College of Morris, the Morris County Human Relations Commission and the Morris County Historical Society.

Goel was presented the award at the Annual Phenomenal Women Dinner, which celebrates Women's History Month at the House. Goel epitomizes the American dream of a successful immigrant who, since her arrival in the United States, has not only integrated herself but given of her talents and caring to her new "home" in the United States.  Her principal goal has been to increase learning and communication in the Asian-Indian community with other cultural groups.

She immigrated to the US in 1968 and initially lived in Delaware until 1980 when she moved with her family to Morris County, New Jersey.  Although new to our community, she became involved with the Parsippany-Troy Hills Board of Education and Parent Teachers Association where she held numerous volunteer leadership positions from 1977 to 1993, including volunteer liaison to the Board of Education.

She was named Volunteer of the Year for her dedication not only to the children and teachers but to the Town of Parsippany-Troy Hills.

Active in Indian and Asian-American relations, Goel has been an involved and deeply committed member of the Association of Asians in America (AIA) and since 2003 has served as Vice President.  One of the principal projects which she has helped to coordinate is an oral history project to document the history of Asian-Indian immigration in New Jersey.

Goel was elected to the Morris County Human Relations Commission in 1994 and has served as the Indo-American Representative to this important and vital organization whose goals are to promote tolerance and understanding amongst the many diverse groups who live and work in Morris County.  She has held many leadership roles with the Morris County Human Relations Commission, including a two year term as Chairperson.  As a community leader, she has also served on the "Morris Tomorrow" Committee, focusing her attention on Building Cross-Cultural Communities, an effort to have our youth develop understanding, tolerance and communication between the multi-cultural ethnicities represented throughout Morris County.

Goel, who initially trained as an educator, was an adjunct professor of English as a Second Language at the County College of Morris in 2007 and also offers free English lessons to the Indian community.