The Newark Alliance has existed, in its current incorporated form, since 2000. However, its history as an institutional type is much longer. The Alliance is only the most recent in a long line of Newark organizations that attempt to serve as intermediaries between significant Newark institutions, including businesses, non-profits, and the government. In the recent past, various intermediaries—e.g., the Greater Newark Urban Coalition—were established in the wake of the 1967 Newark Rebellion in an attempt to create more economic opportunity for Black and Brown Newarkers through neighborhood affordable housing development/preservation, job training (particularly in the building trades and at the air/port), and enhanced social services like childcare and Pre-K. Deeper into history, towards the turn of the 20^th Century, chambers of commerce, boards of trade, and real estate boards undertook efforts to encourage infrastructure investment (e.g., the watershed and air/port), change the City’s form of government, and develop vocational programming in the public school and library systems. In considering this history, special attention should be paid to the role of the City of Newark and Prudential Financial throughout this history.

As the Alliance itself approaches its 25^th year, we are interested in creating a written narrative of the Alliance’s activities since 2000, along with an accounting of its leadership, staff, major initiatives, Members, and partners. The Alliance further wishes to place itself in this historical context, drawing parallels between previous efforts and today’s. In terms of time allocation, the priority will be on the Alliance’s most recent history, 2000-2022, with the next priority being Newark’s economic history running from 1960-1980, and the final priority running from 1890-1939.

The primary deliverable is a master narrative history, which would be approximately 25 to 35-pages in length. The narrative should focus on the themes that are common throughout the Alliance and its predecessors’ history and could recommend an area for deeper study, should there be evidence of lessons learned from the past that could be useful for the Alliance, the City, and its Members today (e.g., workforce development). The narrative would then be the basis for an interactive portion of the Alliance’s website, as well as various promotional materials that would be distributed to new, prospective, and existing Members. The purpose of this exercise is to, first, better inform the Alliance’s present and future activities and, second, to give its Members, the City, and partners a sense of being part of something that has, in turn, been part of the history of Newark.

The contributions will be a combination of archival research (digital and physical archives of the Alliance and the City), as well as interviews with stakeholders. The Alliance would provide access to its papers and make introductions to relevant public and private City stakeholders. The President and CEO of the Alliance, Chief of Policy and Impact, and Chief Operating Officer would work closely with the Fellow on this project and will regularly include the Fellow in the Alliance’s activities to give the Fellow a better sense of current organizational goals and behavior.

The Fellow should not only have strong research skills, but the ability to synthesize research into forms and media appropriate for a variety of audiences, including the senior leadership of governmental, corporate, higher educational, arts, cultural, and non-profit organizations. As such, the ability to write clearly and concisely will be paramount. Experience engaging with web and other design software would be a plus.

The position will be hybrid and can be tailored to the Fellow’s needs and desires for the role.