The Tri-County Scholarship Fund will host its 45th Annual Awards Dinner recognizing Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney and two other distinguished honorees for their commitment to providing educational opportunity to financially disadvantaged New Jersey children and for their many other contributions to the community.
The Awards Dinner will be held at the Legacy Castle in Pompton Plains, N.J., on Monday, Nov. 2, starting at 6 p.m. That evening, Tri-County will also honor Lindsay Hans, president and co-head of Merrill Wealth Management and a member of Bank of America Corporation’s executive management team, and Deidre Meehan, worldwide vice president and general counsel, Innovative Medicine at Johnson & Johnson.
The honorees were nominated for their leadership, exceptional accomplishments, and commitment to Tri-County’s mission of making quality, values-based, independent and parochial education accessible to the most financially disadvantaged children.
Founded in 1981, Tri-County Scholarship Fund addresses educational inequities by providing partial scholarships to financially disadvantaged K-12 New Jersey students. The organization partners with accredited, independent elementary and secondary schools to offer students safe, values-based educational opportunities that foster academic and personal growth. Tri-County’s scholarships ensure that deserving students can achieve their full potential.
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The Annual Awards Dinner is the largest fundraiser for the New Jersey nonprofit, which has provided over $44 million in scholarships to more than 40,000 students since its inception in 1981. To learn more about Tri-County Scholarship Fund, visit tcsfund.org.
Bishop Sweeney will be presented with Tri-County’s Making a Difference Award for his dedicated life of ministry to the community and vocational leadership throughout the New York and New Jersey area. He has served as the eighth Bishop of the Diocese of Paterson since his installation on July 1, 2020, following his appointment by Pope Francis.
A native of Queens, N.Y., Bishop Sweeney was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Brooklyn in 1997. He went on to serve as vocation director and pastor of St. Michael’s Parish in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, for a decade before his elevation to bishop. There, Bishop Sweeney became fluent in Spanish.
Bishop Sweeney has been a Tri-County board member since becoming Bishop of Paterson. A large part of his focus has been on Catholic education, youth, and addressing the needs of financially vulnerable families in our community.
“The opportunity for our children to obtain a quality, values-based Catholic education – the sort of education provided by our diocesan schools – this is key to their futures, and vital to the future of our Church,” said Bishop Sweeney. Tri-County Scholarship Fund provides the K-12th grade scholarships that make it possible for hundreds of children to receive this educational opportunity every school year,” he said.
The Tri-County Hall of Fame Award will be presented to Lindsay Hans of Merrill Wealth Management/Bank of America and Deidre Meehan of Johnson & Johnson.
Lindsay Hans is president and co-head of Merrill Wealth Management and a member of Bank of America Corporation’s executive management team. Alongside co-head Eric Schimpf, Hans oversees more than 25,000 employees managing $4.1 trillion in client balances, making Merrill one of the world’s largest wealth management businesses.
Before this role, Hans held leadership positions across Merrill’s Private Wealth Management, International, and Institutional groups, and spent more than a decade at UBS before joining Bank of America in 2014. Her community support includes serving on the board of the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, N.J.
Deidre Meehan is worldwide vice president and general counsel of Innovative Medicine at Johnson & Johnson, where she serves on the company’s Legal Leadership Team and Group Operating Committee. In her nearly 20-year career at J&J, she has held roles of increasing responsibility across regulatory law, healthcare compliance, policy, and enterprise legal leadership, and currently chairs PhRMA’s Law Section Executive Committee.
The daughter of two educators, Meehan credits them with instilling the values —hard work, integrity, and the belief that education creates opportunity — that continue to guide her commitment to expanding access to healthcare and education. She is a graduate of Wellesley College and Notre Dame Law School.
“We are thrilled to recognize Bishop Sweeney, Lindsay Hans, and Deidre Meehan for their exceptional leadership and commitment to educational opportunity,” said Prudence Pigott, Tri-County’s president. “Their professional achievements and dedication to community serve as an inspiration to our scholarship students and embody the values we strive to promote,” she said.
To purchase a sponsorship, table, or ticket, please visit https://give.tcsfund.org/2026gala.
