New Award for Excellence in Community Leadership

The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation announces the creation of a new annual award to recognize outstanding community leaders in North Jersey. Beginning this year, the annual  North Jersey Changemaker awards will honor five individuals or organizations, who have done a great deal to make their communities better places to live, work and be.

The awards will be presented at the Foundation’s inaugural Community Changemaker Night on June 5 at Forte Restaurant in Hackensack. The event is a fundraiser supporting the Foundation’s programming that benefits North Jersey communities.

The awards recognize excellence in three of the Foundation’s focus areas and in overall community leadership. The Green and Healthy Places Leadership Award honors a recipient for their work in protecting the environment or advancing public health. The Creative Communities Leadership Award honors a recipient for their work in helping communities through the arts, supporting artists, or enhancing cultural ecosystems. The Belonging and Opportunity Leadership Award honors a recipient for their work in supporting inclusive communities or economic opportunity. The Visionary Leadership Award honors a recipient, whose work has made significant contributions to the betterment of at least one North Jersey community.

The 2025 award recipients are:

• Visionary Leadership Award – Mayor Sheena C. Collum of South Orange.
• Green and Healthy Places Leadership Award –  Dr. Marion McClary, Professor of Biology and Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences at Fairleigh Dickinson University.
• Creative Communities Leadership Award – New Jersey Assemblyman Clinton Calabrese, District 36
• Belonging and Opportunity Leadership Award – Gina Wilson and Lisa De Dominicis, Fund Advisors for the Andrea Tilbian Halejian Memorial Fund

About the Awardees

Sheena Collum

The Honorable Sheena C. Collum is a visionary leader whose transformative impact on local government is redefining what is possible in municipal leadership. Making history at just 31 years old, she became the 49^th Mayor of South Orange, the first woman to hold this distinguished office. She leads a dynamic, engaged community of 18,500 residents, home to the Seton Hall University Pirates, with an unwavering commitment to progress, innovation, and inclusivity.

From day one, Mayor Collum has championed an ambitious and future-focused agenda, prioritizing economic development, infrastructure revitalization, and strategic capital planning. Her leadership is marked by a deep commitment to civic engagement, volunteerism, and the modernization of municipal operations—ensuring that South Orange remains a vibrant, sustainable, and welcoming place to live and work.

Under her stewardship, South Orange has secured over $500 million in commercial and mixed-use investments, with a strong emphasis on inclusionary affordable housing and groundbreaking community benefits agreements. A bold advocate for equitable growth, she has spearheaded the creation of a downtown business incubator and artist hub, fostering economic opportunity while enhancing the cultural fabric of the community.

Mayor Collum also led a sweeping overhaul of the town’s outdated master plan, engaging a diverse coalition of volunteers and thousands of residents to reimagine the future of South Orange. Demonstrating her ability to turn challenges into opportunities, she successfully negotiated the sale of an underutilized and costly Town Hall, transforming it into a thriving restaurant and banquet venue. Additionally, she has realigned capital spending to prioritize projects that directly benefit residents, including a renovated recreation center featuring a café and art gallery and the upcoming state-of-the-art 21st-century library, set to break ground this year.

Understanding the power of collaboration, Mayor Collum played a pivotal role in consolidating fire services with the neighboring town of Maplewood, a landmark shared-services agreement that has become a statewide model for improving efficiency, reducing long-term costs, and enhancing public safety. Overcoming significant political and legal hurdles, she delivered one of the most impactful regional agreements in the state, proving that bold leadership can break down municipal barriers for the greater good.

A steadfast advocate for gender equity in leadership, Mayor Collum has worked tirelessly to increase female representation in government. Under her leadership, the Village Council expanded from two to five women elected officials, setting a new precedent for inclusion and representation. Her dedication to empowering women in public service earned her the Women in Municipal Government Award from the New Jersey State League of Municipalities in 2022.

Beyond her role as Mayor, Sheena Collum is the Executive Director of the American Planning Association – New Jersey Chapter, where she drives policy innovation to build stronger, more inclusive communities statewide. Collaborating with local and state officials, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies, she has been instrumental in advancing critical initiatives in smart growth, transportation, sustainability, public health, economic development, and affordable housing.

Most notably, she secured a $1.5 million grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to integrate public health into municipal master plans, ensuring that cities and towns across New Jersey prioritize the well-being of their residents in future development. This groundbreaking initiative underscores her commitment to creating healthier, more resilient communities—a vision that continues to shape the landscape of urban planning.

A proud alumna of Seton Hall University, Mayor Collum graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in political science before earning her master’s degree in public administration, specializing in public policy.

When she is not leading transformative initiatives, Mayor Collum enjoys golfing, playing word games, cooking her grandmother’s Korean recipes, and spending time with her beloved maltipoo, “Democracy.”

With her vision, tenacity, and passion for public service, Mayor Sheena Collum is shaping the future of local governance, proving that bold leadership and community-driven progress can create thriving, inclusive, and forward-thinking municipalities. She is not just a mayor—she is a catalyst for change and an inspiration to leaders everywhere.

Marion McClary

Dr. Marion McClary is a Professor of Biology and is Chair of the Department of Biological Sciences at Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU). Dr. McClary received his B.S. in Marine Science from Richard Stockton State College of New Jersey, now Stockton University, in 1990 and received his Ph.D. in Zoology from Duke University in 1997.

He serves as a member of the Hackensack River Nation Council and Steering Committee, the Hackensack Environmental Justice Alliance, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection Endangered and Nongame Species Advisory Committee, the NY/NJ Harbor & Estuary Program Science and Technical Advisory Committee, the Urban Coast Institute Advisory Committee, the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation Environmental Advisory Board, the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions Advisory Council, and the Hackensack River Greenway Advisory Board.

Dr. McClary is a behavioral/physiological ecologist. He is interested in how behavior and physiology influence ecology and how the environment influences behavior, physiology, and ecology. He has received grant money to study the effects of pollutants on detritus on which animals in the Hackensack Meadowlands feed, and to study the effectiveness of sediment caps in isolating pollutants from the water of Kearny Marsh. Dr. McClary’s work has led to community change by speaking about it at public environmental meetings, some of which he arranged for FDU to host.

He has also published by this and other bioremediation work in a book chapter entitled Biodegradation of Hazardous Contaminants and Pesticides in a book entitled Emerging Trends in Environmental Biotechnology (CRC Press, Routledge Taylor & Francis Group) in 2022.

Clinton Calabrese

Clinton Calabrese is honored to represent the 36th District in New Jersey’s General Assembly. Appointed to the General Assembly in February of 2018, he was elected in a special election in November 2018 to complete the final year of the term and then reelected continuously in each subsequent election. He represents the municipalities of Carlstadt, Cliffside Park, East Rutherford, Edgewater, Fairview, Lyndhurst, North Arlington, Passaic, Ridgefield, Rutherford, Wallington, and Wood-Ridge.

He currently serves as the Chair of the Assembly Transportation and Independent Authorities Committee and as the Vice-Chair of the Assembly Tourism, Arts, and Gaming Committee. In past sessions, he has held the position of Vice-Chair in the Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities Committee and the Assembly Oversight, Reform, and Federal Relations Committee. Additionally, he has served on the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee, the Assembly Housing Committee, and the Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.

During his first term, he served on the Assembly Higher Education Committee. He continues to serve as the Speaker of the Assembly’s appointee to the Education Commission of the States and the Intergovernmental Relations Commission. In addition, he has served on the Assembly Commerce and Economic Development Committee, remaining a member of the bipartisan New Jersey Legislative Manufacturing Caucus and the New Jersey Legislative Disability Caucus. Clinton is a principal in Alkova Companies’ Cliffside Park real estate development and investment firm.

He graduated from New York University with a Master of Science in Real Estate with a concentration in Finance and Investment. He also graduated from St. Joseph’s University, Philadelphia, where he majored in Finance and Management and earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. Clinton hails from a family with generations of commitment to public service in his hometown of Cliffside Park. He has served on the Cliffside Park Board of Education and the Cliffside Park Zoning Board of Adjustment. Clinton is a resident of Cliffside Park.

Andrea Tilbian Halejian Memorial Fund

Andrea Tilbian Halejian (1952-2014), was a vibrant and impassioned wife, mother, daughter, niece, aunt, cousin and friend, whose life ended much too soon. An active and enthusiastic leader in her church, St. Leon Armenian Church of Fair Lawn NJ, Andrea directed many valuable programs to include cooking for a community shelter, running twice-annual blood drives, co-chairing Diocesan assemblies, teaching Sunday School and supporting Camp Nubar activities and events. In her wider community, she chaired the Coolidge School (Wyckoff, NJ) bike rally, initiated an art docent program at Coolidge School, worked with the Girl Scouts, helped with many school programs and was a spirited supporter of elementary school, high school and college athletics. A kind, dedicated, loyal and compassionate person, Andrea touched many lives through her sensitivity, optimism, and boundless energy.

The Andrea Tilbian Halejian Memorial Fund is established to sustain those qualified charitable organizations that Andrea supported. Grants may also be given to a graduating high school senior of Armenian descent who best demonstrates the values that Andrea cared about so deeply, including academic achievement, community involvement, leadership, and most importantly, placing others before self.

Since the Fund’s founding, a range of organizations received grants to support various causes. These organizations include the Fund for Armenian Relief, the Center for Peace, and Justice & Reconciliation (PJR) at Bergen Community College. The NNJCF’s Fund also awarded grants to the Center for Food Action, Vitalant and Eva’s Village. Recent grants were awarded to KEYS (Kids Empowered by Your Support, Inc.), Armenian Relief Society of Eastern USA, Careers Through Culinary Arts Program and LA Family Housing.