New Jersey AAGP History
On May 25, 2006, Dena Hartigan, State Representative, invited a group of interested persons to Princeton, NJ to discuss the potential of starting a New Jersey Chapter of the American Association of Grant Professionals. This group signed a document as charter members to initiate the process. A list of charter members include: Dena Hartigan, Stacey Abate, Helena Kosoff, Virginia Mayr-Freeman, Nancy Laurelli, Shelly Richards, Dana Wilson, Michael Zaberto, Rita Parodowski-Rowe, and Tammy Peoples. Joani Sarkis, from the National membership committee, flew to Princeton to talk about the organization and help with the original chapter formation at that meeting.
The first official meeting as a chapter was held on June 27, 2006 with approximately 30 NJAAGP members registered. At this meeting the bylaws were reviewed and four volunteer NJAAGP officers were selected for the first 6 months. The President was Stacey Abate, Vice-President was Helena Kosoff, Secretary was Dana Wilson and Treasurer was Virginia Mayr Freeman. There also needed to be a new position created, the AAGP Advisory Network Representative. Mary Steinacker agreed to volunteer for the position for the first six months.
For the next year, the group met in different geographic locations throughout the state and membership continued to grow. The 1st NJAAGP Annual Conference was held on May 7, 2007 in Atlantic City, NJ. Speakers were selected from a wide range of backgrounds to meet the needs of our membership. The conference had 71 registrants including grant proposal writers, grant managers, nonprofit administrators, and consultants of all skill levels, in all areas of practice, from arts to education to homeland security.
At our June 2007 meeting we celebrated our one-year anniversary. At this meeting a gift was given to our State Representative (on behalf of the chapter) for her efforts in starting the chapter. It was a silver star with a pen engraved “To Dena Hartigan. In appreciation. NJAAGP.” Within one year the group had grown to over 40 members from 16 counties. We have representatives that include consultants, education representatives, government and non-profit.