Newark Liaison News
Newark Philanthropic Liaison, Kevin Callaghan, was featured on an episode of Newark Today on WBGO with Sukhi Samra, Executive Director of Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, to discuss the results of the Newark Movement for Economic Equity.
The Newark Philanthropic Liaison led a two-year process to develop a municipal economic empowerment blueprint that brings all sectors together in Newark to support resident’s financial health. The resulting document created a financial empowerment continuum that calls on the implementation of a tiered approach that focuses on helping residents stabilize, sustain, and secure their wealth over time. The document was created with grant funds from Cities for Financial Empowerment and in close coordination with the United Way of Greater Newark’s Asset Building Coalition.
One of our longest and most successful public-private partnerships in Newark, the Summer Youth Employment Program empowers youth each year with a job, workforce training, financial literacy, and coaching and mentoring. Thanks to the support of more than 15 funding partners, we were able to employ just over 2,000 youth in 2025 and raised over $3 million. Newark SYEP is the biggest summer program in New Jersey thanks to the collaborative leadership of the Liaison.
The NPL led a multi-year, cross-sector effort to explore, plan, and execute a guaranteed income pilot in Newark in partnership with Mayors for a Guaranteed Income and the Center for Guaranteed Income Research. On June 17, we hosted a community unveiling of the pilot’s results and laid out next steps. The NPL continues to work on the intersection of cash policy and economic stability and resilience.
Our Report to the Field for 2024 showcases an array of examples of public private partnerships launched in Newark with the collaboration of multiple partners. The Liaison led efforts to secure new funds for innovative solutions to homelessness, new approaches to economic security, increased access to programs for residents, and enhanced equity and access in our educational system.
We are pleased to share the Newark Philanthropic Liaison's latest Report to the Field. In 2023, we were proud of the multiple opportunities we had to spotlight the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers' leadership in starting and continuing this innovative model. Partners from across the country, from Philanthropy Serving Organizations (PSOs) to state and local governments, are considering the creation of a role similar to the Newark Liaison. Now more than ever, it is through partnerships that we will achieve our biggest collective goals in our sector.
We are pleased to share the 2022 Newark Philanthropic Liaison Report to the Field. The role continues to demonstrate meaningful impact in Newark while serving as a model to other cities and states across the country interested in deepening the intentionality of public-private partnerships.
From February 26-28, 2023, members of the NLC’s Mayoral Network on Community Safety and Violence Prevention, city representatives and resource guests were welcomed by Mayor Ras J. Baraka in Newark, New Jersey.
On March 9th, 2023, the City of Newark unveiled a Harriet Tubman monument in the newly re-named Harriet Tubman Square.
In September 2022, Mayors for a Guaranteed Income, Center for Guaranteed Income Research, and Stanford Basic Income Lab officially announced the launch of a dashboard that displays early data from guaranteed income pilots across the country.
Newark Philanthropic Liaison, Kevin Callaghan is featured on Episode 3 of Season 3 of Ras in 60 podcast speaking to the successes of Newark’s guaranteed income pilot program called the Newark Movement for Economic Equity.
We are pleased to share CNJG’s 2021 Newark Philanthropic Liaison Report to the Field. First established in 2007, the Liaison office represents one of the nation’s first formal partnerships between a city and the philanthropic community.
Kevin Callaghan, our Newark Philanthropic Liaison, was a guest panelist on the Urban Institute’s webinar on “Philanthropic Support for Direct Cash Assistance during the COVID-19 Crisis: What Have We Learned.”
The Newark Movement for Economic Equity was launched Monday by Mayor Ray Baraka with help from the philanthropic community in and around Newark. CNJG's Newark Philanthropic Liaison Kevin Callaghan, part of the task force, was instrumental in garnering the support from philanthropy.
Newark is one step closer to its highly anticipated Guaranteed Income Pilot Program following the release of a report by the city, the Jain Family Institute and the Economic Security Project outlining findings and recommendations that would put more cash into residents’ hands.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka and Myung Lee, Executive Director of Cities of Service, author this blog post on the benefits of addressing urgent economic and social needs in your local community.
Kevin Callaghan, CNJG’s Newark Philanthropic Liaison, along with the city of Newark, have coordinated a philanthropic response to helping the residents of Newark with their water. This two-page overview offers suggestions for how philanthropy can assist with short-term and long-term needs. To help support the efforts, please contact Kevin.
To stay up-to-date on their efforts, visit the Newark Water Challenge area of our website.
At the October Grantmakers for Education Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., the Newark Funders Education Committee presented a workshop called “How Not to Read the Prize” to a standing-room-only audience of national, regional, and local foundations.
When Mayor Ras Baraka took office in 2014, he immediately called for an expansion of the city’s Summer Youth Employment Program.
There is a growing body of evidence that youth employment programs are a positive intervention that ..
The Council of New Jersey Grantmakers (CNJG) and the City of Newark are pleased to announce the appointment of Kevin Callaghan as the Council’s new Philanthropic Liaison to the City of Newark.
The Newark City of Learning Collaborative, which has been driven by several CNJG members and Newark Philanthropic Liaison Jeremy Johnson was recently featured in national publication.
We are pleased to share Strengthening Philanthropy in Newark Report to the Field 2013 – 2014 from the Office of the Newark Philanthropic Liaison. This report highlights a number of public-private partnerships guided by Liaison Jeremy Johnson.
Newark’s 40th Mayor Ras J. Baraka (pictured, second from right) invited the Newark Funders Group to hear his vision for the city at special August meeting. Just 30 days into his term, the Mayor called on the Newark Philanthropic Liaison Jeremy Johnson (far left) to organize a convening with the Newark group, co-chaired by Etta Denk of Bank America (second from left) and Barbara Reisman of the Schumann Fund for New Jersey (third from left). Irene Cooper-Basch (far right), Chair of the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers and Executive Officer at the Victoria Foundation, introduced the Mayor to more than 50 grantmakers who attended the session at the PSEG headquarters in downtown Newark. The Lumina Foundation has announced a second cohort of communities - including Newark, NJ - to participate in an initiative to increase the number of local residents who hold postsecondary credentials.
The City of Newark and Newark Philanthropic Liaison are working closely with several consortia of nonprofits to address some of the City’s most critical challenges.