Paterson Group Hires First Director
Saturday, August 11, 2007
By HEATHER HADDON
HERALD NEWS
PATERSON -- What started as an informal coffee klatch took a
step toward becoming an institution in its own right when the
Paterson Alliance brought on its first paid staff member earlier
this week.
Board members for the six-year-old group selected Andre Sayegh
as executive director Wednesday morning to oversee the
consortium of city nonprofits. Funding for the role came as part
of a larger effort by a major state foundation to encourage civic
participation in Paterson.
Sayegh is president of the Paterson Board of Education and an
aide to state Sen. John Girgenti, D-Hawthorne. Board members
selected Sayegh from 75 other candidates. Last week, he stepped
down from his role as Girgenti's chief of staff.
"I'm exchanging an office for a cubicle," joked Sayegh, 33, a
lifelong Paterson resident.
Sayegh said he will continue to work for Girgenti part-time. He
will receive a salary of $50,000 from the Alliance.
Sayegh said he applied for the post out of love for the Silk City.
"I live, eat, breathe and sleep Paterson," he said. "They would be
hard-pressed to find someone with more enthusiasm than me."
Alliance members agreed that Sayegh was a natural fit.
"He's the perfect candidate. He knows everybody," said Sister
Gloria Perez, executive director of Eva's Village, a city social
service agency.
Sayegh's main responsibilities will be to recruit more city
nonprofits into the Alliance, raise funds, unite local organizations
around common causes, and increase the group's exposure.
"We've been a fledgling organization for a long time," Perez said.
"No one knows who we are."
The Alliance was incorporated in 2001. It sprung out of
collaboration between Paterson nonprofits when the city tore
down the Christopher Columbus housing development in 1997.
The demolition, which displaced more than 200 residents, created
a sense of urgency among social service agencies, said Irene
Sterling, executive director of the Paterson Education Fund.
"We thought, 'What can we do to help this community?'"
Sterling said.
The Alliance's 25 members comprise big institutions, including
Barnert Hospital, along with smaller ones, such as the Paterson
Youth and Photography Project.
In June, the Alliance received a two-year, $70,000 grant from the
Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation, one of the state's largest
private donors, to expand its work.
The grant is part of a bigger push by the Foundation in Paterson.
Other local groups, along with the Center for Civic
Responsibility, a national group, also received grants to
encourage residents to become more active in city government
and social issues, said Barbara Dunn, an Alliance member and
director of Paterson Habitat for Humanity.
Sayegh said he hopes to recruit at least 15 new members for the
Alliance in his first year. More than 400 registered nonprofits call
Paterson home.
Board members said that the one issue with the selection of
Sayegh is his not-so-secret political aspirations. Speculation has
grown that Sayegh will run for the 6th Ward Council seat that
will be vacated by Thomas Rooney Jr. in May.
Alliance members said that if Sayegh decides to run, they would
then evaluate if he could continue to lead the group.
Sayegh said he sincerely cares about the work and doesn't see it
as a career move.
"I don't view this as a steppingstone," he said. "I have a passion
for Paterson."
Reach Heather Haddon at 973-569-7121 or
haddon@northjersey.com.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
By HEATHER HADDON
HERALD NEWS
PATERSON -- What started as an informal coffee klatch took a
step toward becoming an institution in its own right when the
Paterson Alliance brought on its first paid staff member earlier
this week.
Board members for the six-year-old group selected Andre Sayegh
as executive director Wednesday morning to oversee the
consortium of city nonprofits. Funding for the role came as part
of a larger effort by a major state foundation to encourage civic
participation in Paterson.
Sayegh is president of the Paterson Board of Education and an
aide to state Sen. John Girgenti, D-Hawthorne. Board members
selected Sayegh from 75 other candidates. Last week, he stepped
down from his role as Girgenti's chief of staff.
"I'm exchanging an office for a cubicle," joked Sayegh, 33, a
lifelong Paterson resident.
Sayegh said he will continue to work for Girgenti part-time. He
will receive a salary of $50,000 from the Alliance.
Sayegh said he applied for the post out of love for the Silk City.
"I live, eat, breathe and sleep Paterson," he said. "They would be
hard-pressed to find someone with more enthusiasm than me."
Alliance members agreed that Sayegh was a natural fit.
"He's the perfect candidate. He knows everybody," said Sister
Gloria Perez, executive director of Eva's Village, a city social
service agency.
Sayegh's main responsibilities will be to recruit more city
nonprofits into the Alliance, raise funds, unite local organizations
around common causes, and increase the group's exposure.
"We've been a fledgling organization for a long time," Perez said.
"No one knows who we are."
The Alliance was incorporated in 2001. It sprung out of
collaboration between Paterson nonprofits when the city tore
down the Christopher Columbus housing development in 1997.
The demolition, which displaced more than 200 residents, created
a sense of urgency among social service agencies, said Irene
Sterling, executive director of the Paterson Education Fund.
"We thought, 'What can we do to help this community?'"
Sterling said.
The Alliance's 25 members comprise big institutions, including
Barnert Hospital, along with smaller ones, such as the Paterson
Youth and Photography Project.
In June, the Alliance received a two-year, $70,000 grant from the
Henry and Marilyn Taub Foundation, one of the state's largest
private donors, to expand its work.
The grant is part of a bigger push by the Foundation in Paterson.
Other local groups, along with the Center for Civic
Responsibility, a national group, also received grants to
encourage residents to become more active in city government
and social issues, said Barbara Dunn, an Alliance member and
director of Paterson Habitat for Humanity.
Sayegh said he hopes to recruit at least 15 new members for the
Alliance in his first year. More than 400 registered nonprofits call
Paterson home.
Board members said that the one issue with the selection of
Sayegh is his not-so-secret political aspirations. Speculation has
grown that Sayegh will run for the 6th Ward Council seat that
will be vacated by Thomas Rooney Jr. in May.
Alliance members said that if Sayegh decides to run, they would
then evaluate if he could continue to lead the group.
Sayegh said he sincerely cares about the work and doesn't see it
as a career move.
"I don't view this as a steppingstone," he said. "I have a passion
for Paterson."
Reach Heather Haddon at 973-569-7121 or
haddon@northjersey.com.
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ONE PURPOSE.
ONE PATERSON.
Sayegh For The Sixth
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