NORTH BERGEN, NJ (June 10, 2026) The Mo’Hair Foundation, a unique and loving charitable foundation whose mission is to provide services to women, men and children in the tri-state area who suffer from hair loss due to various medical conditions, will honor Mary-Elizabeth Jaeger, the ILA’s Assistant Controller and Executive Assistant to the International President, with the “Men and Women of Distinction Award” at their 2026 Gala, scheduled for Thursday, June 11th, 2026 at 6 PM and held at the exclusive Libert House in Jersey City, New Jersey.
“We are so proud of Mary Jaeger and grateful to the Mo’Hair Foundation for recognizing her with their ‘Woman of Distinction’ Award,” said International President Harold J. Daggett. “I am blessed that Mary is my beautiful niece, but also an important part of our ILA’s International staff. Mary continues a long tradition of the Daggett family’s involvement with the ILA.”
Mary Jaeger is a fourth-generation member of the ILA. Her late father, Richard Charles Jager, was a career ILA longshoreman with Local 1804-1. Her late mother, Bettejane, Dorothy Jager was the sister of current International President Daggett.
Mary Jaeger joined the ILA in August 2018, as Assistant Controller. She was instrumental in modernizing many financial data systems for the ILA. She played a major role assisting the ILA’s President, Secretary-Treasurer, and ILA Controller with the 2019 and 2023 International Quadrennial Conventions. She will oversee all housing for ILA delegates, family and guests at the upcoming 2027 International and Atlantic Coast District Conventions in Hollywood, Florida.
She belongs to ILA Local 512, where she was unanimously elected Vice President/Recording Secretary in October 2025.
Mary Jaeger is married to Todd Milliken, and the couple reside in Sparta, New Jersey. She is the proud mother of two daughters, Justine and Devyn, who have followed in their mother’s footsteps as fifth-generation ILA members. For more than a year, Mary Jaeger has enjoyed her most cherished occupation – as grandmother to Emersyn Elizabeth.
In her spare time, Mary Jaeger enjoys Pilates; traveling and attending musical concerts.
A capacity crowd is expected at the Liberty House for the 2026 Gala. In addition to Mary Jaeger, other honorees include: Nancy Aleman; Tami Weaver-Henry; Madeline Fiadini Lore; Joel Morales; and Akbar Prey.
Operation under the motto of “Uplifting the lives of those we serve,” the Mo’ Hair Foundation, Inc. a 501c3, nonprofit organization based in New Jersey that provides complimentary nonsurgical hair replacements to adults and children that are experiencing hair loss due to all medical conditions.
A licensed master hairstylist with decades of experience, Monique Smith-Andrews founded the Mo’ Hair Foundation, Inc., in 2008 to honor and pay tribute to her beloved mother, Josephine Smith, who courageously battled cancer and experienced hair loss during her treatment. What started as a personal tribute became a powerful mission to bless others, restore self-esteem and to make one feel whole again.
“As a Hairstylist, I’ve seen the emotional toll how hair loss can take on an individual. My calling is to bless others walking in this journey with dignity, beauty, self-esteem, and blessing individuals with 100% human wigs, because they deserve to feel like themselves again,” Monique Smith-Andrews said.