Harriette Cohen
 Chairperson

Harriette Cohen, Chairperson

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Harriette and her husband Alan and two daughters relocated to Willingboro in 1973 and resided there until moving to Mt. Laurel in 1998.  She received her Bachelor’s Degree from Penn State University and her Master’s Degree in Social Work from Rutgers University, while at the same time helping her children with their homework and while her husband was completing his studies toward a Ph.D.  During her career of 35 years she worked as a School Social Worker in both Burlington and Camden Counties and directed an Adult Medical Day Center.  Always active in the community, Harriette was a member of the Willingboro Township Local Assistance Board, serving as chairperson for 15 years, and a member of Temple Adath Emanuel, where she served on the Board of Trustees for 25 years and was the first woman president of the synagogue.  She was instrumental in moving the temple from Willingboro to Mt. Laurel in 1997.  For many years Harriette was an adjunct instructor at The College of New Jersey teaching a variety of courses in the departments of Guidance and Counseling, Special Education and Sociology.  A lover of history she has been a volunteer at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.  She also volunteers as a Democratic Committeewoman and serves as President of the Mt. Laurel Democratic Club.  In addition to reading, hiking, and relaxing on the beach, Harriette’s greatest joy is spending time with her family and six wonderful grandchildren.  She has been a BCBSS member since 2019.

Sarah W. Holley
Vice Chairperson

Sarah Holley…wife, mother, educator, community advocate.
Sarah Holley was born and raised in Gates, North Carolina. A graduate of Elizabeth State
University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and a Minor in African American Studies,
Sarah began her career as a seventh grade Social Studies teacher in Plymouth, North
Carolina. Her love and dedication to youth and education served her well, and she maintains
this dedication and has remained an educator throughout her lifetime. Sarah has devoted
her life to the betterment of the hundreds of students she has affected and affected. She is
a retired public-school educator; ending her professional career in Hamilton Township NJ
(Mercer County). However, she remains a cutting-edge innovator with acquired
supplementary training in Effective Schools; Strategies of Differentiation in Instruction;
Instructional Theory into Practice (ITIP). Sarah is a skilled Diversity Trainer and has served
as a school Affirmative Action Officer and a member of Grice Middle School (Hamilton, NJ)
Management Team.
Sarah met her husband Ed, a Vietnam Veteran returning home from the war, her junior year
in college, and married him soon after graduation. The union was blessed with two children,
Ashanti and Darvis, both stellar products of the Willingboro Public School District. Sarah takes particular pride, and rightly so, in the accomplishments of her children. Ashanti, an Assistant Superintendent of a school district in New Jersey has earned two Master Degrees, one in Educational Leadership and another in School Counseling. Furthermore, Ashanti holds a PhD from Rowan University. Darvis, a Principal in a South Jersey school district has a
Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership and has recently completed an Educational
Leadership Certification from Harvard University. Currently, Darvis is enrolled in a PhD
program at Stockton University. Although she has been the recipient of multiple citations and
awards, one she holds dear is the Distinguished Mother Award from the Burlington –
Willingboro Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Incorporated.
As a very out-spoken and outgoing member of the Willingboro Township for over 44 years,
Sarah has served on the Willingboro Board of Education for 13 years, holding the office of
President for four of those years. In this role, she implemented a plethora of initiatives to
better the District, including the Early Childhood Program for the three and four-year-old
learners and has worked to increase technology-based school security. Sarah was honored
by former Congressman Tom McArthur as a certified board member.
Additionally, Sarah is a member of several organizations including, Delta Sigma Theta
Sorority, Incorporated; serving as Social Action Chair of the Rancocas Valley Alumnae
Chapter, Vice Chair of the Burlington County Library Board, member of the Burlington
County Board of Social Services, Democratic Committeewoman; serving as Vice Chair of
the Willingboro Democratic Committee, Vice Chair of the Burlington County Federation of
Democratic Women; an active member of Women, Words and Wisdom; Former
Commissioner of the Willingboro Planning Board, Former Commissioner of the Willingboro
Zoning Board; Former Secretary of the Willingboro and Vicinity NAACP; Former President
of Burlington-Willingboro Chapter of Jack and Jill of America, Incorporated and Former
Recording Secretary, Willingboro Democratic Club, just to name a few.  She was appointed a member of the BCBSS in 2020.

Dorothy Bayles
  Secretary/Treasurer

Dorothy Bayles, Secretary/Treasurer

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, Dorothy relocated with her husband and daughter in 1978 to Eastampton Township, and recently moved to the new 55 and older community in Eastampton. She attended BCC for computer classes and office management and Rutgers University for election law. She has always been active in the local community, where people affectionately know her as Dee. She joined Neighborhood Watch where she served as treasurer and volunteered for Citizen’s Patrol and Fun Day for several years. During her career she worked at the Children’s Home in Mount Holly and managed the vehicle donation program. Dee spent 20 years at the Board of Elections as Senior Election Clerk and Administrator. She was also appointed by the Governor as a Commissioner to the Board of Elections. Always active in the Township, she has been a member of the County Committee for 38 years serving as chairperson and/or treasurer. She was elected last year to a fourth term to the New Jersey State Committee. Dee looks forward to serving the larger community in her new role.

Karen E. Tordy
Alternate Secretary/Treasurer

Karen E. Tordy, Alternate Secretary/Treasurer

Karen earned a Bachelor’s Degree and a Master’s of Public Administration Degree with a concentration in Personnel Management from the University of Pittsburgh and was employed as a court investigator of guardianships and minor’s estates with the Orphan’s Court of Allegheny County, Court of Common Pleas, as well as an office administrator with the Liebert Corporation and assistant to the financial manager at Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.  A civic leader and community volunteer, Karen has served as PTA President at Our Lady of Good Counsel School in Moorestown, President of the Junior Women’s Club of Moorestown, chairperson and volunteer for Merion Mercy Academy, and volunteer for several ministries and committee at St. John Neumann Parish including the Parish Council, Liturgy Committee, Bereavement Ministry, Eucharistic Ministry, and Religious Education Program as a teacher.  Karen and her husband Joseph reside in Hainesport.  She was appointed to the BCBSS in 2017.

Loretta Bader
Citizen Member

A longtime resident of Browns Mills, Pemberton Township,  Loretta graduated from Rome Free Academy in Rome, New York and pursued a Bachelors’s Degree in criminal justice law from Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica, New York.  A proud mother of four and grandmother, she has owned and operated a catering and party planning business for over three decades.  She has been an enthusiastic community and civic volunteer in her hometown and in the county through her church, township schools, and her neighborhood town watch.  She was appointed a member of the BCBSS in 2016.

Saima Abrar Bhutta
Citizen Member

Saima Abrar Bhutta, Citizen Member

Saima Bhutta is a health care provider by profession and a community activist, volunteer, and political leader by passion. Saima is passionate about the fight against social and racial injustices and all inequalities towards vulnerable population. She has participated in several Black Lives Matter marches and other events organized by Burlington County NAACP. In the past 25 years, her volunteerism has spanned, grab-and-go meals for homeless, soup kitchens for food insecure, clothing drives for refugees and other needy communities. She is also involved in Moorestown local schools, coaching clubs such as the Lego Robotic Club, and volunteered in Wrestling and Swimming teams. Since 2000, she has also been a teacher in Sunday schools. From 2005 to 2006 she provided health care services for antenatal and postnatal care to mother and child through Project H.O.P.E and the Catholic Charities of Camden County. In 2006 she was the recipient of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Freedom Medal in recognition for her services to the Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA) sites in Camden NJ. Saima is passionate regarding climate change issues and environmental preservation and currently is serving a 2nd term on the Sustainable Moorestown Committee. 
She has been founder member of several organizations in the South Jersey area, building bridges of understanding and peace between different communities. After the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Saima saw the need to build bridges and understanding of Pakistani culture through social activities. Saima founded Pakistan American Society of South Jersey (PASSJ) in 2001. Through PASSJ, she worked on sharing values, culture, and religious understanding between the local community and the Muslim and Pakistani communities of South Jersey. In 2015, with the help of other Muslim leaders in the South Jersey region, Saima founded the Muslim Federation of South Jersey (MFOSJ), which seeks to build connections with local, state, and federal government officials so that the interests and views of the South Jersey’s diverse Muslim community are represented in mainstream political environments. MFSOJ is actively involved in outreach work, distributes food and care packages to vulnerable communities and backpacks to inner-city schools. She currently serves on the Board of Trustees of PASSJ and is Vice President of MFOSJ.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, she not only provided health care support to Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), but also privately collected and distributed PPEs to businesses, first responders, and vulnerable population. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, she got involved in establishing COVID testing sites in Moorestown and volunteered as a health care provider and arranged health fairs and worked with organizations to identify vulnerable population of Southern New Jersey and helped them with COVID related education. During the COVID-19 pandemic, in her role as Outreach Liaison of MFOSJ, she coordinated with businesses who were hit hardest especially the mom-and-pop restaurants and Deli’s, offering support by organizing and distributing thousands of meals out of those sites and hundreds of rations to communities identified as Food-Insecure. In 2021, in recognition for her work, she was presented with the New Jersey Governor’s Jefferson Award in the area of Health Care Service.
In 2022, she was appointed by the Governor of the State of New Jersey to the New Jersey Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Commission within the Department of State. Members of AAPI reflect the diverse perspectives of the New Jersey AAPI community and the state’s commitment to expanding equity and inclusion in New Jersey.
Since 2000, Saima has been actively involved in voter registration drives, educating voters on political issues, and helping candidates with their political campaigns at local, state and federal level. She leads the Muslim Voter Project in South Jersey and co-leads the Muslim Caucus of New Jersey and American Muslims for Democracy. In 2021 she organized voter registration and vote by mail events at the two largest area mosques GCLEA (Camden County, NJ) and Bait Al Qayem (Burlington County, NJ). Additionally, she also volunteered in the 2020 Census Complete Count Committee in Burlington County, educating community members about the benefits of participating in the census, and dedicated her time to aiding as many people as possible complete it, so that communities in New Jersey could reap the benefits.
She is an active member of Sisterhood of Salam Shalom and the Jewish Christian Muslim Dialogue of Southern Jersey. She was also selected by the Mayor and the Town Council to be on the Task Force to form a Diversity and Inclusion committee for Moorestown NJ. In recognition of her work, she was awarded the Outstanding Women of Burlington County in the area of Diversity and Inclusion. She is also a recipient of US House of Representative’s Certificate of Congressional Recognition for her work on Diversity and Inclusion.
In 2021she organized an Eid banquet for the elected town council members with the Muslim community of Moorestown. For the first time ever in the history of Moorestown, one hundred and eighty Muslim residents of the town were in attendance to meet with their elected members of the Town Council and the Mayor. In addition to meeting their elected leaders, the Muslim families brought items for the Mother and Child drive for the Providence House which was part of Senator Troy Singleton’s endeavors. In recognition for her services to the community and as a role model for teamwork, dedication, and inclusion, the Mayor of Moorestown presented her with a Proclamation in 2022.
She is on the Homeland Security’s Operation Allies Welcome task force, supporting efforts to coordinate the integration and resettlement of vulnerable Afghans and our Afghan allies and is a recipient of US House of Representative’s Certificate of Congressional Recognition for her efforts in Welcoming the Afghan Refugees to Liberty Village.
Saima is co-founder and chairperson of a local charity organization, United we Serve. United we Serve, a 501 (c)(3) organization, supports multiple causes including supporting food-insecure families and support minority and women rights.

Allison Eckel
County Commissioner

Allison Eckel, County Commissioner

Richard Strobel,  Chief Counsel