Sadaf Jaffer, New Jersey’s first female Muslim mayor, says: ‘I want to be that person I needed to see when I was younger’

Acting Superintendent Katrina McCombs already has plans in place to address Camden’s myriad problems — from gang violence to trauma — but she also needs the top spot

Georgia native focuses on developing ‘first-class, best-in-the-nation, free community college plan’ for New Jersey

Johanna Calle, director of the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, was undocumented for 11 years

Robert Gregory rises through the school ranks as Newark regains local control

A hearing teacher, Amy Andersen has taught hundreds of mostly hearing students to be proficient in American Sign Language

Amol Sinha, head of the NJ ACLU, doesn’t just want to fight the good fight — he wants to fight all of them

Kevin Ciak, only the second New Jerseyan to lead the National School Boards Association, believes that public education is central ‘to our country’s future and stability’

Retha Onitiri doesn’t believe in setting her goals too low; she just wants to remake the state’s system of juvenile incarceration

Striving to secure good healthcare, education, and other services for her own children has helped Nicole Pratt in her work with other families

As executive director of the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, Jeffrey Brindle has his work cut out for him — and he loves it

Joseph M. Amoroso, director of the New Jersey Division of Disability Services, planned to work in finance but got waylaid

The stewardship coordinator for the Pinelands Preservation Alliance doesn’t rule out ‘direct action’ for protecting this preserve

Joan Bartl believes taxpayer-owned financial institution would be ‘logical and practical’ because of the state’s ‘significant fiscal problems’

One woman’s passion for the county’s historic Bayshore led to a restored ship, a museum, an environmental center, and renewed local pride

The executive director of the Anti-Poverty Network of New Jersey, Renee Koubiadis wants to do nothing less than solve the problem of poverty

If it’s drug addiction, gay rights, medical marijuana, clean needle exchanges, abortion, and social justice (to name a few), it must be Jay Lassiter

In an era of increasing antibiotic resistance, Dr. Bonnie Bassler’s research could revolutionize medicine by encouraging helpful bacteria and inhibiting the spread of pathogens

For more than 30 years, Kamal Khan has been providing the rigorous training and support underrepresented students need to get into and succeed in medical school

Twenty years after founding Project Re-Direct in Newark to give more opportunities to underserved children, Sharon Berry is adding a high-tech element

As head of the NJ Society of Certified Public Accountants, Ralph Albert Thomas is helping his organization take a more active role in State House issues

Chris Paladino can’t contemplate retirement when ‘there are a lot of cities to redevelop’

In era of Hillary Clinton, Susan J. Carroll says the glass is both half-empty and half-full for women in politics

Gary Rosenberg is one of the primary drivers of a new program that pairs child psychiatrists with pediatricians in a proven-successful collaboration

As Doug O’Malley points out, the threats to NJ’s environment are just as pressing as 30 years ago, when medical waste washed up on the beaches

Joseph Branin has spent his life on or around the water, and that includes building his own 50-foot trawler to fish farther offshore

Christian Fuscarino brings more than a decade of experience in LGBT activism and social service to his new post of executive director

Stephanie Hoopes melds data, compassion, and a respect for human dignity in a new methodology that reveals the hidden face of poverty -- beyond the official statistics