The Women’s Association of NJPAC has announced the appointment of academic leader and community advocate Marcia Wilson Brown as President of the WA’s Board of Trustees, effective Jan. 1. A trustee since 2012, Brown succeeds Mary Beth O’Connor, and will serve a two-year term in her new role.
Supported by the efforts of more than 2,000 diverse volunteers, the WA is the single largest fundraising organization and promoter of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, New Jersey’s cultural anchor institution.
An attorney who lives in Long Branch, Brown has dedicated more than 30 years to serving the Newark community. She is currently Vice Chancellor for External and Governmental Relations under Chancellor Nancy Cantor of Rutgers University-Newark. In 1999, Brown was appointed Philanthropic Manager for the Lucent Technologies Foundation, where she was responsible for providing counsel and oversight for its multimillion-dollar funding initiatives aimed at the City of Newark. Her community advocacy helped lead to the founding of the Student Ambassadors Outreach Program at Rutgers-Newark, which builds bridges between the campus and Newark high school students, the South Ward Junior Crimefighters, Harriet Tubman Girls Club, and the Women of Imani, a charitable organization serving families in need.
After graduating from Rutgers Newark Law School, Brown clerked for the Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court and practiced in the area of employment and civil rights. She is a poet and the founder of Dare to Fly Productions and the Newark Repertory Theater company. She also serves as Co-Chair of the Board of Trustees of Newark School of Theology.
The Women’s Association is also proud to announce the following five women have been appointed to the Board of Trustees:
- Deborah Q. Belfatto of Summit, co-founder and former Executive Director of the North Jersey affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation
- Sherri-Ann P. Butterfield, Ph.D of West Orange, Executive Vice Chancellor and Associate Professor of Sociology at Rutgers-Newark
- Carol Chartouni of Essex Fells, community leader and advocate for education
- Melissa A. Honohan of Madison, Vice President, Corporate Work Study Program at Cristo Rey Newark
- Lisa Osofsky, CPA/PFS, CFP MST of Cranford, Partner Private Client Services Practice Leader at Mazars USA LLP
