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New Jersey’s largest philanthropic association has named longtime social sector leader Maria Vizcarrondo as its president.

“Maria has been a trailblazer throughout her career,” said Council of New Jersey Grantmakers Board Chair William V. Engel. “We turn to her to help the state’s diverse and dedicated philanthropies to be even more effective in their quest to make this a better place.”

The Council of New Jersey Grantmakers is a nonprofit organization of over 130 members representing the philanthropic community in the state. Members include family, private, community, independent and corporate foundations, and corporate giving programs. 

The Council exists to strengthen and promote effective philanthropy throughout New Jersey. CNJG’s programs and resources increase the impact of organized philanthropy’s support for adequate health care, quality education, a cleaner environment, community development, historical preservation, disaster response and relief, research, recreation, culture, and other areas crucial to the fabric of New Jersey's communities.  

“I am very excited about joining the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers as its CEO and working with dynamic individuals — many of whom I have known and respected throughout my nonprofit career,” Ms. Vizcarrondo said. “Most importantly, I look forward to forging partnerships that will advance the Council’s social impact as a sector leader in New Jersey communities, the region, and nation.”

Ms. Vizcarrondo, who spent most of her career in northern New Jersey, comes to the Council from Cabrini University in Philadelphia, where she most recently was Director of Community Development and External Relations. She was inaugural Executive Director of the school’s Nerney Leadership Institute, launched in 2013.

Ms. Vizcarrondo brings more than 25 years of experience transforming service organizations and has served her communities as both an appointed and elected official. 

In 2006, when he was first elected Mayor of Newark Cory Booker tapped Ms. Vizcarrondo to head Newark’s Health and Human Service Department, the largest of its kind in New Jersey. One of her first actions in that role was to develop a Children’s Bill of Rights to benchmark improvements in the lives of children and families throughout the city. Her accomplishments included securing state funding to establish Family Success Centers to provide neighborhood- based services, and launching a major citywide campaign to raise the immunization rates of Newark’s children.

Prior to her mayoral appointment, Ms. Vizcarrondo served as the first woman president and CEO of United Way of Essex and West Hudson. Her pioneer work in re-engineering the organization’s mission into community building was documented in the United Way Transformation Diaries. In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, Ms. Vizcarrondo led the New Jersey United Ways in a statewide coordination of services for affected families and managed the distribution of corporate funding for these efforts.

She was elected Essex County Surrogate in 1993 and served four years of a five-year term before leaving to join United Way.

Ms. Vizcarrondo has been listed among the “100 Most Influential People in New Jersey” and was a founding member of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. 

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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.

They did so not to dispute the findings in Dale Russakoff’s book, “The Prize,” but rather to expound upon the progress and challenges that have occurred during the period since Mark Zuckerberg’s $100-million-dollar gift was announced in September 2010 and to paint a fuller, more nuanced picture.

The process of putting together the panel was a learning experience for all of us who participated. It helped us to clarify our own thinking about what the gift enabled Newark to accomplish, how we as local funders have come to work together more effectively, and how we might advise national foundations interested in place-based impact to engage with the community and with local funders.

In September 2010, Mark Zuckerberg announced a $100 million gift, to be matched dollar for dollar, to transform education in Newark in five years. The Foundation for Newark’s Future was created as a local foundation that would manage a then-undetermined portion of the gift.

The Prize, by Dale Russakoff, documents the first five few years of this reform effort. As Russakoff illustrates, there were strong personalities involved in the reform effort who had or have now moved to new positions. Also, this was the donor’s first foray into philanthropy and despite efforts at community engagement, many community leaders and activists felt that district and state leaders and national foundation representatives did not invite or respect authentic community participation in its decisions. The book and subsequent book tour largely focused on these themes.

The narrative in philanthropy is that “this bold effort largely failed.” With the benefit of time, we would write a different narrative: there were missteps along the way, and some philanthropic overreach, but Newark is moving forward, education outcomes are improving, and some of the work that was started because of this initiative has had sustained positive impact. Most importantly, there is a robust education dialogue in the city that has moved from vigorous disagreement to an agreement to collaborate even when we disagree. So, the hashtag for this work seven years on might be: #notfinishedyet or #needapart2.

oday New Jersey Community Capital, a leading national community development financial institution, committed $50,000 to nonprofits chosen by mayors and a county leader who are deeply committed to furthering formative economic impact efforts in their respective communities. Each leader will have $10,000 to award to a local nonprofit doing groundbreaking work. NJCC awards the grants at the close of Black History Month annually to mark the commemoration's focus on creating economic equity for divested populations.

This year, NJCC's grants will go to nonprofits chosen by the mayors of Dallas, Texas, New York City, New York and Newark and New Brunswick, New Jersey, and the economic opportunity director of Los Angeles County. Supporting nonprofits in urban communities throughout the nation is in keeping with NJCC's goal to foster sustainable economic development and wealth creation in overlooked communities from coast to coast.

"These grants achieve several of our objectives," NJCC President and CEO Bernel Hall said. "First, it champions the principles behind Black History Month and underscores NJCC's dedication to creating social and economic parity. By contributing to initiatives important to the leaders of these municipalities, we are supporting their efforts to create thriving, equitable communities.

"Our second objective is to support projects that can benefit from our unique, expansive initiatives. We've been extremely effective because our programs are both entrepreneurial and augmentative," explained Hall. This is especially relevant today given our nation's dire need for more affordable housing, small business expansion and high-quality school systems."