Newark Alliance
Model & Strategy
The Newark Alliance aligns and catalyzes public, private, and government resources to improve essential economic and social systems that benefit Newark’s most impoverished communities, alongside all residents, visitors, workers, and students. The Alliance currently serves approximately 38,000 low-income Newarkers through comprehensive, impact-first initiatives.
The Problem
Despite being home to multinational companies and several major university campuses, Newark, New Jersey, faces deep economic inequities, particularly among communities of color. In a majority Black and Latinx city with a population of 306,000, one in four Newark residents live in poverty — a rate three times higher than the statewide average and more than double the national average. Similar to other distressed U.S. cities, in Newark, New Jersey, private companies, public agencies, community organizations, and alliances that oversee billions of dollars in resources lack the agility and alignment necessary to deploy effective local strategies. As a result, the most impoverished people in a city suffer the most and lack access to family-wage-sustaining jobs, social services, and investment in their businesses — the very elements that make a city a desirable place to live and work.
The Solution
The Newark Alliance is a membership-based organization, including more than 45 of the city’s most prominent private and public sector players, who commit to collaboratively working on projects that positively shape Newark’s economic trajectory, driving it toward a brighter, stronger, and more equitable future. The Alliance is an organization of diverse leaders from arts, culture, education, business, real estate, technology, and healthcare sectors. Together, they collaborate to cement Newark’s status as one of America’s most diverse, prosperous, exciting, and equitable cities, serving as a national model for inclusive economic growth.
The Alliance drives transformative change in Newark through equity-focused initiatives aimed at addressing health, housing, climate, economic, education, and infrastructure equity. Under the “Hire Buy Live Newark” framework, the Alliance activates their members’ vast human and financial capital to develop and implement innovative strategies to train and match Newarkers for high-quality jobs, develop localized procurement strategies and supply chains, and encourage existing residents and local talent to live, learn, work, and play in Newark. Additionally, the Alliance has implemented strategies that have helped reduce Newark’s rate of unsheltered homelessness by 56%, while also focusing on decreasing heat-related illnesses by expanding the city’s tree canopy and increasing enrollment in community solar and electrification programs. The Alliance is also working to increase internet adoption among vulnerable residents and expand broadband access to support Newark’s technology hub, which currently serves 75 businesses.
By 2028, the Alliance aims to significantly expand these initiatives to reach a meaningful percentage of vulnerable Newarkers. Through this expansion, the Alliance is committed to creating lasting, transformative change that benefits the most marginalized communities in the city.
Evan assumed his role at Newark Alliance in December 2021. He is also a member of the board of directors of New Jersey Transit, the largest statewide public transit agency in the United States. Previously, Evan served as senior advisor for finance and major projects to Governor Phil Murphy, where he managed New Jersey’s fiscal response to COVID-19, established the state as the U.S. offshore wind hub, and led key city initiatives in Newark, Trenton, and Atlantic City. A University of Chicago graduate, Evan has published articles on economic development, tax policy, and corporate social responsibility.
