Two Victoria Foundation Board of Trustees Receive Recognition at NJPAC MLK Awards Celebration

MLK AWARDS CELEBRATION – Pictured from left: Sherri-Ann P. Butterfield, Ph.D., NJPAC senior vice president of social impact; Robert Clark, founder and executive director of Newark Opportunity Youth Network; Denise V. Rodgers, M.D., vice chancellor for interprofessional programs, Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences; John Schreiber, NJPAC president and CEO; and Eyesha Marable, NJPAC assistant vice president of community engagement.

Two members of Victoria Foundation's Board of Trustees were honored at the New Jersey Performing Arts (NJPAC) Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Awards Celebration on Jan. 16, 2025. Denise V. Rodgers, M.D., received the Steward of the Dream honors, and Robert Clark was recognized as a Visionary of the Future.

"Dr. Rodgers and Mr. Clark, with people like you demonstrating the powerful ways community should, and must, come together for the greater good, I too have faith and I can still sing," said Sherri-Ann P. Butterfield, Ph.D., NJPAC's senior vice president of social impact, during her remarks at the event. "You both have shown that we cannot wait for the rest of the nation, that we have to continue doing the work because our very freedoms depend on it. Thank you for being our North Stars – we are forever indebted to you!"

Each year, NJPAC honors two leaders from Newark who have made a significant impact on the Black community through their life's work. These individuals are recognized for their commitment to social justice as embraced by Dr. King.

Dr. Rodgers has had a long and illustrious career in health education. She works as the vice chancellor for interprofessional programs at Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences. She is also a professor at the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health at Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and serves as its chair in Interprofessional Education.

Dr. Rodgers uses her knowledge in the field as a way of giving back to the Newark community. She heads the Believe in a Healthy Newark program, a nonprofit funded in part by Victoria Foundation grantee United Way of Greater Newark. The program focuses on health and wellness advocacy by providing information and resources to marginalized communities.

In addition to her trustee role at Victoria Foundation, Dr. Rodgers serves as co-chair at the Health Subcommittee of the New Jersey Reparations Council. She has previously served as board chair for the Greater Newark Health Care Coalition and the Newark Homelessness Commission.

Robert Clark, founder and executive director of Newark Opportunity Youth Network (NOYN), made history as the first YouthBuild graduate to  found a YouthBuild program in a major city. He launched YouthBuild Newark (later renamed NOYN) in 2002, which provided an opportunity for youth ages 16- to 24-years-old to earn a high school equivalency diploma while gaining on-the-job training for in-demand careers.

In response to President Barak Obama's call to action after the tragic, racially motivated death of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin in 2014, Clark became a founding member of My Brother's Keeper Newark (MBKN). In 2019, MBKN, an organization that collaborates with nonprofits across Newark with the goal of developing a safe and supportive community for boys and young men of color, was integrated into NOYN to lead the organization's policy and systems change work.

Clark serves as a trustee at Victoria Foundation, and also as a board member for the Newark Workforce Development Board and the Newark Trust for Education.

Victoria Foundation Executive Officer Craig Drinkard recognized Dr. Rodgers and Clark for their commitment to envisioning a thriving Newark where residents are self-determining, liberated, and connected, with plentiful opportunities to advance community voices and visions, which is also the Foundation's mission.

"Our Board of Trustees is comprised of leaders who continuously advocate for Black and Brown communities in Newark," he said. "They live out the Foundation's focus areas – strengthening community power, fostering economic justice, and promoting youth self-determination – every single day with the work they do. Dr. Rodgers and Mr. Clark are prime examples of this. We congratulate them on these well-deserved honors."

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