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Kristine Palazzo Dunbar
By: Kasey Dunbar
Guilderland High School
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Abstract
This report is about the life, so far, of Kristine Palazzo Dunbar. It goes in depth about
her childhood, young adult life, and her adult life. It has details on her family life as well as her
professional life at work. This biography states the good and the bad. But most of all it
describes how she grew as a person and how her life affected others.
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Citations
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Reference Page
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How did a poor Catholic girl in Jersey City become a high power executive in the largest
pharmaceutical company in the world? The short answer is hard work and a drive to become
the best that she could be. The long answer is right below what you are currently reading right
now.
On June 3rd, 1967 Kristine Palazzo Dunbar was born in Margaret Hague Hospital in Jersey
City, NJ to parents Vincent Palazzo and then Joanne Napalillo now Joanne Cirillo. Jersey City is
very urban and very close to New York City. It is made up of distinctive areas like the Jersey City
Heights, Downtown, Greenville sections etc. Margaret Hague Hospital was in the downtown
section and was named after one of the most famous mayors Frank Hague. He was famous for
showing up and performing “white glove tests” in the city facilities. If a spot of dust got on his
white gloves, all personnel were fired. Kristine lived in the Heights, which was the section of
Jersey City that bordered Union City and was above Hoboken. Kristine spent her whole
childhood living on Sherman Place her whole adolescent life. She was the second born child in
her family, she had and older brother Vincent Palazzo. Her father left the family when Kristine
was just two weeks old and wasn’t in the picture since. Her relationship with her mother was
interesting. Joanne, a hair dresser, inspired confidence in Kristine and played the mother role
well, even though she never attended games, events, or activities for her oldest daughter.
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Joanne describes Kristine in this direct quote “Kriss always had to accomplish everything
anyone else was doing. Of course she did it well.” When asked what her funniest memory of
Kristine was Joanne replied with this quote “The first time she played Wiffle Ball with her
brothers, she was 4 years old, and so determined.” Joanne also describes Kristine as well
behaved and well tempered. When asked what was something you could never give your
daughter growing up Joanne replied “enough money”. This just re-enforces that Kristine came
from a rougher background than most and turned her situation into a drive to succeed and
provide for her family. Joanne’s fondest memories with her daughter were when she would
chat with her daughter as she put her hair in braids. Her proudest moment was when Kristine
graduated from Seton Hall University and she said Kristine had always wanted to go there since
she was in grammar school.
Her Grandparents, Jim and Rose Napalillo were a constant part of her daily life since
they lived on the floor above her. Kristine had a very close relationship with them. Aunt
Marian or Aunt Bunny as she was called by her nieces and nephews was also a part of daily life
for Kristine.
Growing up in Jersey City, Kristine had her share of good and bad memories. Some of
her better ones were spending those long lazy summer days at the pool with her Aunt Bunny.
The block she grew up on had 3 huge apartment buildings on it and plenty of kids to hang
around with. She played stickball and sewer ball in the streets and played manhunt and kick
the can in the basements of the apartment buildings. One building actually had a grass back
yard dubbed the “big yard” In that yard Kristine played basketball, dribbling on dirt and
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shooting at a hoop nailed into a tree. The bad memories were those of her attending fatherdaughter dances at her school alone and almost getting knifed by hoodlums on her way home
from high school basketball practice. Not having her father Vincent in her life is still a sore spot
in Kristine’s past but did not have any noticeable effect on how she turned out to be as an
adult.
Growing up on Sherman Place Kristine had close friendships with Gigi Wassong, Dawn
Kretzmer, Jen Csontos, and John Mclennan. The Sherman Place kids would play football against
Gigi’s Hutton Street kids or take on John’s Carlton Street kids in wiffle ball. Her first kiss was
Bobby Brannigan. She grew up walking to school and heading home to Grandma’s each day for
lunch. She would eat lunch and then watch the soap opera Ryan’s Hope with Grandma and
head back to school. Jen’s mom was the school secretary and Jen and Kristine would stay after
with her as she finished her work. Life was filled with school, sports, and bike rides to the
movies at Journal Square. Her nickname was “cool breeze” and most friends and family called
her Kriss or Krissy. Kristine had ambitions of someday becoming a news broadcaster. She had a
happy childhood attending St. Nicholas grammar school and playing with friends. Kristine
fondly looks back on the Broadway plays she attended with Aunt Bunny and playing sports in
the “big yard” with all her friends.
When Kristine was around 6 her mom re-married. Kristine gained Marcel Bizien an
alcoholic, abusive, ex-professional boxer step father and 3 step brothers. At times one stepbrother Louie lived with them. At other times all 3 step-brothers lived with them. 5 kids and
two adults all living in a one bathroom apartment was difficult. Thank God for the
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Grandparents living next store. Kristine found a refuge in them and started spending her weekends sleeping at their place. Eventually her brother Vinny moved in there permanently. Joelle,
Kristine’s half sister, was born when Kristine was 8. It added to the chaos but it was nice to add
a female into the structure. Joelle and Kristine were forced to share a room and a bed. Strange
considering they were 8 years apart.
Joelle said Kristine was a good older sister and she saw her as a role model. She
remembers Kristine was very into basketball and softball and describes her in one word as
ambitious. Her fondest memory was when Kris was her sponsor for confirmation. When asked
if she attended any of Kristine’s athletic events she replied “Yes, I used to go with our
grandfather to watch her play softball.”
Joelle and Kristine are close today and Joelle is Godmother to Kristine’s second daughter
Madison. Kristine’s oldest step brother Marcel lives in South Jersey but his son goes to college
in the town that Aunt Bunny lives in. Her step brother Louie lives in that town with his wife and
two kids. Step brother Evie died of a drug overdose in a Jersey City laundry mat and real
brother Vinny is a truck driver and still lives in Jersey City.
Kristine attended St. Dominic Academy for High School which is an all girls private school
within Jersey City. Her grandparents paid for both her elementary education and high school
education but when she was in high school they told her they couldn’t pay for college. Kristine,
already an excellent student, took this as an initiative to push herself even more academically.
She knew if she was going to attend college it would have to be by scholarship.
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Some of Kristine’s best high school memories at SDA where hanging out at the Colgate
Piers with her friends and playing on the varsity softball and basketball teams all four years that
she attended SDA. During high school she participated in numerous clubs, activities, and
teams. Some of which are school newspaper, history club, NHS, basketball, softball, and
student council. Her favorite administrators/teachers were Principle Jane Albert and Ms.
Bednarski. Sister Jane was very strict but also very fair. She loved teaching and inspired the girls
of SDA to excel. She and Kristine are still friends today. They communicate through Facebook
and visit each other a few times each year. Sister Jane would love for Kristine to move back to
New Jersey and send her girls to SDA. Ms. Bednarski taught English and ran the school
newspaper. Kristine liked her because she challenged her to never settle. She also inspired
Kristine to apply to a bunch of different colleges. The colleges offered Kristine Academic and
Athletic scholarships. In 1985 Kristine Palazzo Dunbar graduated 9th in her class.
Despite getting several scholarship offers from various colleges across the northeast
Kristine decide to attend Seton Hall University right in her home state of New Jersey. Kristine
received Academic scholarships from Syracuse and Villanova and received an Athletic
Scholarship to Allegheny University. The catholic university in South Orange, NJ offered her
both academic/athletic scholarships to play softball for them. She had to maintain a certain
average to keep her academic scholarship and of course had to excel on the diamond to keep
her athletic scholarship.
At Seton Hall she majored in communications and ended up being the top
communications major in her class for the University. Her roommate of all four years at college
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was Carolyn Thierfelder. Carolyn was on a basketball scholarship at the university and was
from a little town in suburban central Jersey called Branchburg. Her parents resided in the
town but were originally from Jersey City like Kristine. This was an instant connection for the
dorm mates. They got along great even though their sides of the room were polar opposites.
Kristine’s side was neat, tidy, and clean while Carolyn’s was a dirty mess with mounds of
clothes. She would pick something up, smell it, and then wear it around campus that day.
Kristine and Carolyn balanced both athletics, academics, and fun as they lived together those
four years of college. Their freshman year was spent on an all girls floor and they are both still
friends with several of them. The roommates are still friends to this day and eventually Kristine
and husband Ken moved back to Carolyn’s home town of Branchburg where Carolyn’s mother
helped Kristine to find a house. Carolyn is the Godmother of Kristine’s third born child Brett.
During her years at SHU Kristine wrote for the University’s paper and won an award for
the article she wrote about the crane that collapsed and killed a worker while the University
was building a new dorm. She also worked through college in the sales field and at the
recreation center. One month before college began Kristine met Kenneth Dunbar and they
began dating, even though he was 10 years older than her. They got engaged the summer
before junior year and married a year after college ended.
During her career playing softball at Seton Hall Kristine never missed a game. Her first
three years she was the starting 3rd basemen and her senior year she became the starting
center fielder. She was a power hitter that led the Pirates in Homeruns and Runs Batted In
(RBI’s) each year. She always batted either 3rd or 4th in the line up and was the Big East Player
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of the Year her senior season. She was also an Academic All American for her sport. There is a
plaque in her honor on the Seton Hall campus.
Each year Kristine’s team finished with a losing record. In the 1985 season they finished
with 13 wins and 21 losses. In her 1986 season the Pirates finished with a 16 win and 24 loss
record. Then in 1987, Kristine’s junior season the Seton Hall University Pirates finished with a
20 win and 22 loss season, their best record while Kristine attended the university. Then in her
senior season SHU went 19-22.
Seton Hall ended up being a great choice for Kristine. It was far enough away from
Jersey City that allowed her to live on campus yet close enough to home to still visit with her
family and maintain a relationship with her boyfriend. It was a Catholic University that allowed
Kristine to still stay close to her faith. She was able to learn more about the Catholic Religion
and learn more about world religions and other faiths. The four years at Seton Hall saw Kristine
mature as an athlete and mature as a woman and business person. She made many friends
there that are still part of our life. She is still friends with her room mate Carolyn and still very
close with Allison Nordman and Vivienne Carr. She still attends basketball games and softball
games and volunteers when she can.
Kristine still volunteers her time to raise money for her high school in Jersey City and
stays connected with a ton of folks from her high school. Connectedness is really strength of
hers. Her friend Kate runs the alumni association at her high school and pulls Kristine in on
many high school initiatives. Kristine’s daughter Kasey has even helped out the Jersey City
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school by photocopying old year books. Even though the family lives 4 hours from the high
school they find a way to stay connected and help out.
Kristine believes in volunteering. She is on the board of directors for the American
Cancer Society and has attended many cancer events and fundraisers. She brings her children
to many events to try and get them to participate and enjoy volunteering for a good cause. She
has asked her daughter Kasey to be on the committee to bring the ACS Relay for life back to
Guilderland High School. Kristine’s company Pfizer provides a $1,000 to organizations that
Kristine volunteers her time at. They have given donations to the American Cancer Society and
to some of the sports clubs Kristine coaches at.
Kristine loves to volunteer her time coaching. In college she used to drive back into
Jersey City to help coach basketball at St. Nicholas Grammar School. She coached Kasey’s
basketball team in New Jersey and Madison’s basketball team in Guilderland. She coached
softball teams that had Kasey and Madison on them and softball teams that had none of her
children on it. She helped coach Brett’s baseball team and would someday love to help coach
him in football and basketball. She has volunteered at various Chamber of Commerce and was
even elected as Vice President of the Parsippany Chamber of Commerce her first year out of
college. Kristine’s Aunt Bunny suffers from Scleroderma and Kristine has participated in
Scleroderma walks and rose over $16, 000 for the NJ Scleroderma Society. Kristine is currently
volunteering as the President of the High School Basketball Booster club. Her one daughter is
on the Varsity team and her other daughter is on the JV team. Her husband helps run the
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concession stand and her son helps by setting up concessions and then buying tons of candy. It
ends up being a family event but does require a lot of time and effort.
Kristine graduated in May of 1989 with a 3.89 GPA at the Meadowlands in Rutherford,
NJ. Her mother was in attendance at the ceremony as was the rest of her family. Her mom
never really set foot on the campus of Seton Hall or the high school campus of SDA. Kristine did
receive confidence from her mom who loved her and told her she can accomplish great things.
She was a loving person but never really attended Kristine’s events or games. She inspired
confidence and inspired Kristine to take chances and excel. She made bad decisions about the
men she married and let their insecurities rule some of her adult life. Kristine is apparent that
is very involve din her kids life and goes to great lengths to attend their events and games. She
is also loving and works hard to instill confidence in her children. She probably failed at
instilling a sense of adventure and risk in them. Her oldest daughter Kasey is very cautios and
conservative. Kristine is probably a tab bit too overprotective.
Right out of college Kristine was offered several jobs in the communications field of
work. These jobs were hard to obtain but did not pay well. Because she had to pay for her
wedding Kristine took a job in automatic data processing at ADP. She stated at ADP in 1989. In
1992 she was hired at GD Searle in Pharmaceutical sales. She was then recruited away by past
ADP executives to work for DSI in sales/management in 1995. In 1997 Kristine was recruited
back by GD Searle. In 2000 Searle was taken over by a company called Pharmacia and in 2005
Pharmacia was taken over by Kristine’s current company, Pfizer. Within Pfizer Kristine worked
her way up from sales, to assistant sales director, to a district manager, to sales optimization
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manager, and finally to her current position as the Oncology Director of Operations. This is a
long way considering her first job was working at Little Star Nursery when she was just 11 years
old. During her 15 year career in medical related sales Kristine has worked in various fields.
They vary from primary care sales, institution sales, specialty sales, and oncology sales. In
November of 2009 Kristine received the 15 year award from Pfizer. In the past four years she
received four promotions that generally take 12 years to achieve. One of these promotions
caused her family to move from Branchburg, NJ to Guilderland, NY where they currently reside.
Old co-workers and current ones alike have nothing but good things to say about
Kristine. Louis J. Monari said this about Kristine in a letter of recommendation “Kristine P.
Dunbar is a very gifted person and sales professional. I first met Kristine in the early 1990’s
during her ADP sales days and recognized she had unique selling skills. I made a mental note
that she would work for me one day.” Steve Sieck a Pfizer executive like Kristine has been
quoted in an email about Kristine where he commends her work as a District Manager in 2007.
He says “Kristine has had a very event filled year in 2007 and she is a new DM. She created and
got approval for a new New York Area TSR job with presentations to the Oncology VP, and GM.
She is currently managing a TSR through the Performance Management Process and her
documentation has been impeccable. Kristine has been able to effectively manage being a new
DM and focusing on her business while also looking at the Regional view and the National view
of Oncology at Pfizer to help drive us forward.”
By looking at Kristine’s career path anyone can tell that she is obviously a woman of
power and strength. Everyone has strengths its just how they use them is what makes them
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successful and effective. Kristine Palazzo Dunbar uses her strengths well. She knows her
strengths because she recently took The Gallup Organization Strengths Finder test. Her top 5
results are her most dominant skills. These top 5 strengths were Significance, Activator, Woo,
Command, and Positivity. The Gallup Organization describes Significance as: people that want
to be very important in the eyes of others. They are independent and want to be recognized.
Gallup describes Activator as: people who can make things happen by turning thoughts into
actions and they are often impatient. Woo is described as: people who love the challenge of
meeting new people and winning them over and they derive satisfaction from breaking the ice
and making a connection with another person. The Gallup Organization describes Command
as: people who have a presence and take control of situations and make decisions. Positivity is
described as: people who have and enthusiasm that is contagious and they are upbeat, they get
others excited about what they are doing.
Kristine uses these strengths especially well in the work force but she also uses them in
her personal life as well. The strength she especially uses well during social events and home
life is Woo. If she walks into a roomful of people she isn’t satisfied until she has made a
connection with each and every one of them and has won them over. And on the special
occasion that she doesn’t completely charm someone, it bothers her until she becomes friends
with them.
At work her Woo has helped her to handle her promotions into Headquarters
very easily. She set up 15 minute meetings with colleagues and top, top executives to
introduce herself and pick their minds on what made them successful. She enjoys connecting
people. When her new Oncology President Liz Barrett was struggling with the latest Gallup
results she pointed out that her former boss Steve Sieck received his MBA from the Gallup
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University and quickly set up a meeting for the two of them to talk. Steve helped Liz and
Kristine was satisfied that she helped them both.
Kristine’s strength of significance can be observed in her sports success, her academic
success and her work success. She migrates to positions that you can “win” at and that there is
a “scoreboard”. She loves seeing her name in lights and on the top of trophies. She loves to
watch her teams win and her kids win. But she is a graceful loser. She is comfortable around
boardroom executives and friends of her kids. Kasey shares a story of getting her 8 th grade year
book signed and a bunch of the kids writing how cool her mom was or writing messages to her
mom.
Kristine first met Ken Dunbar right before entering college. He was the coach of an
opposing team in the league Kristine played in. They were both from Jersey City and both loved
sports. They dated for 3 years before he proposed at a picnic in Bayonne Park on a blanket
during Memorial Day weekend. When Joanne was asked what she first thought of Ken she said
“I knew my daughter was in love with a great guy”. They married 3 years later on August 24th,
1990 in St. Nicholas Church on Ferry Street in Jersey City. When asked what advice she would
give to young couples Kristine said they should date for a long time before considering marriage
and don’t think that marriage will change the person you are with. She also states they should
never live with in-laws.
Newlyweds Kristine and Ken moved into a house in Branchburg, NJ that same year.
They found the house with the help of Mrs. Thierfelder (college room mates’ mom). The house
was a bi-level so Kristine and Ken lived in the upper part while Ken’s parents Kenneth and Helen
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lived on the lower level. Ken’s mom was very sickly and was confined to a wheel chair. Ken was
an only child who loved his parents very much and felt responsible for taking care of them. He
has a great sense of family. He is a good, loyal husband and a very caring, dependable dad. In
1991 they brought home a golden retriever puppy they named Largent after a famous NFL
football player they both liked. Largent was the king of the house for 3 years until Kristine gave
birth to a baby girl on July 12th, 1994. Weighing in at 9 lbs. 6 oz. Kasey Morgan Dunbar was
brought into the world. Kristine’s original due date was July 11th but after Kasey wouldn’t come
out for that whole day doctors had to perform a C-section on the 12th. A blonde hair, blue
eyed, healthy baby, her middle name was Morgan because that was Aunt Bunny’s last name
who also was Kasey’s Godmother. She was born during the baseball All-Star game and has been
the “All-Star” of the Dunbar family ever since. When Kristine’s maternity leave was up she
chose to go back to work. With both her and Ken working full time they had to hire a care taker
for their child during the day. Kristine put an ad in the paper for a Nanny. The ad was
answered by 87 woman and the Dunbar’s chose the best one---- Patricia Koenig. Patricia or Pat
as Kristine called her had many kids of her own but they were by that time all in college or out
of college with family’s of their own. She was retired and decided to take this job to keep busy
during the days and to be around children again. She turned out to be a perfect fit for the job.
Nanny, as she was called by the children, became a full time care taker for Kasey during the day
time hours. She would also do the laundry and make the beds and fold the clothes. Even
though this wasn’t in her job description she did it anyway. She quickly built a close connection
with the Dunbar family. This connection has never been forgotten.
The Dunbars still drive to
NJ to visit Nanny and Nanny drove out to Guilderland once to visit the Dunbars. Nanny’s son
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Mark works in NYC with Kristine. The bond is still there. Nanny was loving and caring and
provided great advice.
After 2 wonderful years with their daughter Kasey, Kristine and Ken decided it was time
for another baby. Kristine was now pregnant with her second child, a baby boy that they would
name Kyle, or so they thought. A month before the due date doctors told Kristine that their
Kyle was in fact a Madison and on August 1st, 1996 Madison Paige Dunbar was born. Kristine’s
second daughter proved to be a little tougher than the first. She was a wilder baby and made
Kasey look like the angel. She had dark brown hair and brown eyes and resembled Kristine very
closely. After maternity leave Kristine again returned to work leaving her children to their
Nanny.
Kristine enrolled Kasey into half day pre-school at the North Branch Reformed church.
All three of her children would eventually attend this school. Nanny would drop Kasey off at
school, go home and take care of Madison, then pick Kasey up in the afternoon. Sometimes
Kristine would get off work early so she could surprise Kasey and pick her up from pre-school.
On days Kasey had off from school Kristine would sometimes take her to lunches she had with
doctors and teach her the information about the product she was selling. Kasey, who has an
excellent memory, would then repeat the information to the doctors and try to sell them on it.
Who could say no to a 4 year old with curly blonde hair and big blue eyes? Kristine would also
take her children to dinner programs and family trips when ever her company allowed. Kasey
and Madison knew everything they could ever want to know about Kristine’s job and more.
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Kristine Dunbar was also a big believer in getting her children involved in athletics.
When Kasey was 5 years old Kristine started her off with soccer and softball. Ken coached her
in both. Every Saturday morning the whole family would drive to White Oak Park to watch the
kids play soccer. Kasey played recreation soccer every year with Ken as her coach until 4th
grade when she switched over to travel softball where Ken once again coached her. Sports
were so important to Kristine and it wasn’t an option that her kids played it was a necessity.
Ken coached Kasey in Recreation softball too and then Branchburg Blaze travel softball when
she was in 3rd grade. As soon as Madison was old enough she too jumped right into sports
playing soccer and softball. The girls didn’t start basketball until 3rd grade. Kristine was
assistant coach for one of Kasey’s three teams and Ken was head coach for two of Madison’s
three teams. Sports wasn’t just a way of keeping active for the kids, it was a way for them to
better connect with their parents as well.
The year was 1999, both of the girls were in school, playing sports, nanny was watching
them during the day; they spent time with their parents at night. They were a happy family of
four. But Kristine really wanted something else, she wanted a baby boy. And that is what she
got on August 22, 2000 Brett Kenneth Dunbar was born. Brett was the family’s first boy and his
middle name was Kenneth after his father. He was her third C-section baby and by this time
she thought she was and old pro at parenting. Two days after Brett was born Kristine was
coaching 3rd base for her old recreation softball team. But, Brett proved to be a little more
difficult than raising the girls. He was louder, cried more, threw things, and caused more public
scenes than Kasey and Madison did combined.
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