Celia M. King, Co-Chair

Executive Director, Leadership Newark

“It is an honor and a privilege to be able to contribute as a board member of the Newark Trust for Education. As an independent organization, we work diligently on behalf of the students of Newark, and our focus is high student achievement and academic excellence for all students.”

Robert Clark, Co-Chair

Executive Director, Newark Opportunity Youth Network 

With over 22 years of experience in youth development, Robert Clark is the first YouthBuild graduate to found a YouthBuild program in a major city--Newark, NJ. Since launching YBN in 2003, Mr. Clark has been instrumental in establishing its national reputation for promoting juvenile justice reform, re-entry programming for school-aged young people, and vocational training. He is also the leading visionary behind the Newark Opportunity Youth Network (NOYN), a cross-sectoral city-wide initiative launched in 2016, that manages a collective of organizations committed to supporting Opportunity Youth, Including NJ's first Alternative Charter school: LEAD.

The Hon. Ras J. Baraka, Ex-Officio Member

Mayor, City of Newark

Mayor Ras J. Baraka was elected Mayor of the City of Newark in May 2014, becoming Newark's 40th Chief Executive since the City's incorporation in 1836.

Nancy Cantor

Chancellor, Rutgers-Newark

"As an educational leader I have devoted my advocacy to making more real the promise of higher education as the road to social mobility, a context for democratic practice, and a participant in community building and public problem-solving."

Jacqueline Cusack, Ed.D.

Executive Director, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT)

Dr. Cusack is Executive Director of the Center for Pre-College Programs at NJIT. Prior to her 2015 appointment, she served NJIT as a Consultant to the President, Interim Executive Manager of the Center for Pre-College Programs, and Consultant to the Vice President for Academic Support and Student Affairs.

Shané Harris

Vice President, Prudential Foundation

“As a local education fund, The Trust works to reduce fragmentation of efforts and mobilize civic leadership.”

Dawn Haynes

President, Newark Board of Education

Dawn was born in Newark NJ, surrounded by a family full of colorful personalities. She was held together by love from a great-grandmother who migrated to the north from South Carolina. Dawn attended several schools and graduated from William H. Brown Academy and later Malcolm X Shabazz High school in the year 2001. During her time in high school, Dawn was introduced to the ROTC program and later joined the US Air Force. Since her grandparents were both veterans, they took pride in her career choice. After her time in the Air Force, she enrolled and later graduated from Lincoln Technical Institute, as a certified electronic systems technician. She was the first Muslim woman working as a technician for Direct TV. Hard work, dedication and fearlessness, were admirable traits for Dawn as she installed satellites.

Robyn Ince

Executive Director, Newark City of Learning Collaborative 

Robyn Brady Ince, Ed.M. is the Executive Director of the Newark City of Learning Collaborative (NCLC), Assistant Professor of Professional Practice in the Department of Urban Education, and Affiliated Faculty in the Department of Africana Studies at Rutgers University–Newark. Robyn joined the University from the National Urban League where, as Vice President of Education policy, advocacy, and engagement, she led the Equity and Excellence Project and the annual Youth Leadership Summit. She previously held posts at Youth About Business, the Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, and Prep for Prep. She has also worked in higher education, serving as adjunct faculty at Hunter College and holding a progression of positions in admissions at Vassar College. Robyn earned her B.A. in English at Spelman College and Ed.M. at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education. 

Superintendent Roger León

Newark Public Schools

Roger León was born in the city of Newark, grew up in the city of Newark, remains a proud product of the Newark Board of Education, dedicated 25 years of service to the children in the Newark Public Schools, and still lives in Newark.

Charles Payne, Ph.D.

Director, Joseph C. Cornwall Center for Metropolitan Studies

Dr. Charles M. Payne directs the Cornwall Center and is the Henry Rutgers Distinguished Professor of Africana Studies. His interests include urban education and school reform, social inequality, social change and modern African American history. His books include So Much Reform, So Little Change, (Harvard Education Publishing Group, 2008) which examines the persistence of failure in urban schools, and a co-edited anthology, Teach Freedom: The African American Tradition of Education for Liberation (Teachers College Press, 2008), which is concerned with education as a tool for liberation from Reconstruction through Black Panther Liberation Schools. He is also the author of Getting What We Ask For: The Ambiguity of Success and Failure in Urban Education (Greenwood, 1984) and I’ve Got the Light of Freedom: The Organizing Tradition in the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement (University of California, 1995). The latter has won awards from the Southern Regional Council, Choice Magazine, the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights in North America. 

Peter Rosario

President, La Casa De Don Pedro

Kyle Rosenkrans

Executive Director, New Jersey Children’s Foundation

Kyle is a first-generation college graduate from New Jersey who went on to become a civil rights attorney, law professor, and public policy advocate. Kyle’s career has covered a variety of social justice initiatives in Newark: K-12 education reform, low-income housing preservation, assisting victims of foreclosure scams and related research about the impact of foreclosures on Newark communities, LGBT rights and police brutality, anti-bullying policy, and prisoner reentry. He is a successful fundraiser who spent the last two years helping KIPP New Jersey build and launch a multi-million dollar fundraising campaign–raising millions in pledges for the non-profit organization.

Jennifer Tsukayama

Vice President, Arts Education, New Jersey Performing Arts Center

Jennifer Tsukayama is the Vice President of Arts Education at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) and responsible for the overall programming and operations for the department. She is an active member of several citywide initiatives that provide equitable access to high-quality arts including membership of the Steering Committee to develop the Newark Arts and Culture Plan. Prior to NJPAC, Jennifer was the Director of Strategic Partnerships and the Director of Performing Arts for the Arizona Commission on the Arts (ACA). For the ACA, she provided statewide technical assistance to the grantees, managed the agency’s $2M grant portfolio and developed partnerships and programs across government and community sectors.