The New Community Board of Directors has four new members: Diane Johnson, Anthony Marchetta, Ingrid Rasmussen and Jerome St. John.
The expansion to 11 board members is part of ongoing board development. NCC Board President Dr. A. Zachary Yamba is excited to move forward in 2019 with a larger board.
“We are delighted to have dedicated and qualified individuals who have agreed to join the board to help carry out the mission of NCC,” he said.
Several of the new members have long histories with New Community and all are committed to the organization’s mission: To help residents of inner cities improve the quality of their lives to reflect individual God-given dignity and personal achievement.
“We have been very fortunate to have attracted four accomplished and well respected new board members to NCC. Each has a specific skill, experience and contacts to help propel NCC into its bright future,” said New Community CEO Richard Rohrman. “We have a rich mix of skills and community involved leadership in our board that will be a benefit for years to come. This is a major step in positioning ourselves to be a force in Newark’s future and I am thankful for their commitment to our mission.”
Johnson, who is the retired director of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Newark Field Office, interacted with New Community and Founder Monsignor William J. Linder for decades in that role. She became a consultant for NCC in 2015.
“I joined the board because I’ve always believed in the mission and the programs of New Community and the various activities that they do to assist residents in the city of Newark,” Johnson said. “Whether it is families or seniors or children, New Community has touched the lives of all facets of those individuals.”
Marchetta, who formed and currently serves as the principal of ALM Consulting Group, worked with Monsignor Linder when he was the executive director of the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency (NJHMFA) from 2010 to 2017. Monsignor Linder was a board member of NJHMFA for 43 years and New Community also worked with NJHMFA on several projects.
“I’m honored to be part of this organization, which is legendary, and I’m happy it’s taking place with their financial house in order and with the town that they’re based in starting to see progress moving towards a more stable and positive future,” Marchetta said.
St. John is a retired judge, having served 10 years as a New Jersey Superior Court Judge, five of those years in the Appellate Division. He was also a councilman and mayor of Essex Fells and has been a volunteer for New Community since 1985. He and his family became close friends with Monsignor Linder over the years.
“When I was asked to join the board, I knew that Monsignor was looking down on me and I couldn’t turn it down,” St. John said. “I want to continue Monsignor’s vision for New Community and do whatever I can to keep that vision going.”
Rasmussen is more of a newcomer to New Community. She is the vice president of Finance and Operations for the Heron Foundation, a private foundation based in Manhattan with the mission to help people and communities help themselves out of poverty. As a Jersey City resident, she was interested in volunteering for an organization closer to where she lives so she contacted the Victoria Foundation, which put her in contact with New Community.
“My day job is nonprofit finance, but it’s what I do in my free time as well because I just really enjoy it,” she said. “Being able to work with good organizations and be helpful in whatever way I can has always been my goal and in this case in particular, I really wanted something that was closer to home.”
The New Community Board of Directors is made up of the following members: Barry Baker, Fernando Colon, Diane Johnson, Anthony Marchetta, Migdalia Martinez, Edgar Nemorin, Ingrid Rasmussen, Newton Richards, Jerome St. John, Madge Wilson and Dr. A. Zachary Yamba.
New NCC Board members Diane Johnson, Anthony Marchetta, Ingrid Rasmussen and Jerome St. John, left to right.
