2024 Statewide Leadership Summit

Power to the Parents Panel

Fri., 3:00 pm – 3:45 pm

The fight continues! The woke mob isn’t giving up on its efforts to indoctrinate our children and eliminate Parental Rights in our kids’ educations. You will hear from NJ Legislators, school board members, and Parental Rights advocates on how you can make a difference in your local district.

Panelists

Shawn Hyland

Shawn Hyland serves as the Director of Advocacy for the New Jersey Family Policy Center, a pro-family organization that is part of a vibrant national alliance of 40 state policy councils across the nation. Shawn is responsible for leading and directing policy strategy, political strategy, and mobilization efforts in New Jersey. He travels the state teaching on how parents can effectively advocate for their parental rights in the legislature and at local school boards. For more information about New Jersey Family Policy Center, please visit www.NJFPC.org.

He has been married to his wife Glennys Hyland for over twenty-three years. They have four children and live on the Jersey Shore.

Gerry Scharfenberger

Former Monmouth County Freeholder Gerry Scharfenberger, Ph.D., became an assemblyman in January 2020.

In addition to serving as mayor and deputy mayor of Middletown, Scharfenberger served on the Middletown Township Committee for nearly 14 years. At the state level, he was a member of Governor-elect Chris Christie’s transition team, the Executive Director of the New Jersey Business Action Center and Director of the Office for Planning Advocacy.

Prior to joining the Christie administration, Scharfenberger had a long career as a professional archaeologist, working mainly in the Northeast and lecturing throughout the United States, Canada and England. He holds a master’s degree from Hunter College and received his doctorate in 2005 from the CUNY Graduate Center with a dual focus on historical archaeology and cultural landscape studies. He is currently a member of the adjunct faculty of Monmouth University in West Long Branch.

Gerry and his wife, Geraldine, have resided in the Middletown area for more than 29 years. They have two children and are expecting their first grandchild in August.

Alexandra Bougher

Alexandra Bougher is a proud mother of 3 children. The oldest is a recent college graduate, and two are rambunctious elementary school students.

Alexandra is a Boarding School Graduate who has firsthand experience with school abuse and a lack of parental involvement. Because of this, she knew she had to be extremely devoted to her own children’s education.

After the recent peep into the daily life and curriculum of COVID virtual schooling, Bougher founded a Moms for Liberty chapter in Bergen County to fight for children and Parental Rights.

As current Chair of the group, she vows to continue fighting for every family until School Choice and Freedom is the current status for every New Jersey family.

Nikki Stouffer

Nikki Stouffer, a parent advocate and biostatistician, initiated her advocacy for children and parental rights in response to the numerous COVID mandates under Governor Murphy’s administration.

What sets her apart in her views on child development, health, and academic success is her extensive 30-year background in population health analysis and outcome-based research involving both children and adults.

Nikki is committed to the collective mission of parents who seek autonomy in raising their children and aims to liberate New Jersey students from the physical, mental, and emotional burdens unfairly imposed by bureaucratic systems.

Nikki lives in Burlington County with her husband and 2 children.

Frank Capone

Frank Capone is a highly esteemed and dedicated member of the Middletown community, having served with distinction for the last four years. He has been a proud husband to Marissa for the past 22 years and a father of five children, all of whom have attended Middletown Public Schools.

In 2020, Frank was elected to the Middletown School Board, where he has served as the Vice President in his inaugural year and President for the past three years. During his tenure, he has earned the unwavering trust of the people of Middletown, as demonstrated by his overwhelming re-election last year.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Frank has demonstrated remarkable leadership skills by spearheading efforts to keep schools open for in-person learning and ending the quarantining of healthy children before any other district in NJ.

Under Frank’s leadership, the schools in Middletown have been equipped with armed police officers to ensure the students and staff’s safety and security.

He has consistently opposed the restrictive measures Trenton and Governor Murphy have implemented during his tenure and always adopts a well-reasoned and pragmatic approach to every issue he faces.

Frank’s commendable commitment to improving the lives of children in Middletown is a testament to his unwavering dedication to the community. He is a voice of reason and a proud representative of the people of Middletown.