One of Lincoln’s Newest Graduates Works to Transform Camden

By Eric Christopher Webb ’91

Throughout Lincoln University’s history, its alumni have been known for their exemplary leadership and efforts not only at changing the communities in which they lived and worked, but also the world. For Camden, New Jersey’s mayor, Dana L. Redd, one of the university’s newest graduates, the knowledge from her new master’s degree will be the latest in her toolbox to transform Camden.

Redd, who received a Master of Arts in Human Services Administration from the university’s University City campus today, has already successfully worked to restore local control from a former state takeover and has been endeavoring to transform Camden’s notorious reputation as one of the nation’s most dangerous and poorest cities.

Acting President Valerie I. Harrison, J.D., Ph.D., with Camden, New Jersey Mayor Dana Redd ’15, MHSA as she receives her degree.

“It has really been an incredible learning experience (attending Lincoln),” said Redd, whose Chief of Staff Novella Stark-Hinson, a 2002 Master of Human Services graduate, encouraged her to attend, saying she would never be the same. “I feel that I am taking away a wealth of knowledge and management theory that can be applied to my position as mayor of the city as well as my work with the community.”

Redd, who previously earned her Bachelors of Science degree in Business Studies from Rutgers University-Camden, also attended the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy as well as the Council of State Governments/Eastern Regional Conference Robert J. Thompson Eastern Leadership Academy.

“What I love about Lincoln is not only does Lincoln teach theory, but it translates theory into practice,” she said.

Recognized as “the woman warrior who just might change Camden” by SJ Magazine, she launched a capacity-building retreat for executive staff and department heads that focused on a “change model” that established the vision, mission and goals for transforming the city when she first took office. Redd was also the leading proponent for the transition from a local to a countywide police force, which led to a reported 30 percent dip in the crime rate.

In 2013, she also led a full state intervention for the public school system to improve academic outcomes for urban youth, focusing on a “cradle to college to career” pipeline offered through traditional, charter and Renaissance schools. And when Standard & Poor’s Rating Services (S&P) published the city’s BBB+ issuer credit rating, it recognized the fiscal controls Redd’s administration instituted to improve and stabilize the city’s finances. Notably, the city had not received an investment grade rating in more than 15 years.

Redd, who has held various positions from local government to the New Jersey State Senate, was first elected mayor in 2009, and was subsequently re-elected in 2013. She is an active member of the Rutgers-Camden Board of Directors, the Joint Board of Governors for Rowan-Rutgers University, and the Co-Chairman of Cooper’s Ferry Board of Directors.

“I (really) felt that the time was right (to pursue a graduate degree) particularly during my second term because of the work we’re doing in Camden to strengthen children, youth and families and improve the quality of life, especially with the designations from President Obama for the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention and the Urban Promise Zone with these designations comes the ability to apply for federal funding to help to reduce poverty, to increase academic outcomes for urban youth and enhance public safety,” Redd said. “This learning experience was so timely for the next phase of what we are doing in Camden.”

Source: http://www.lincoln.edu/

Photo Credit: Camden, New Jersey Mayor Dana Redd, ’15, MHSA