2025 Community Changemaker Night at Forte Ristorante in Hackensack

The Northern New Jersey Community Foundation (NNJCF) announces its inaugural Community Changemaker Night, a special event honoring five exemplary community leaders, who have made significant contributions to the betterment of life in North Jersey. The celebration takes place on Thursday, June 5, 2025 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at a cocktail reception at Forte Ristorante, 160 Prospect Avenue in Hackensack, New Jersey. The NNJCF is a 501( c ) (3) not-for-profit headquartered in Hackensack, serving North Jersey.

The festivities will be emceed by humorist and Bergen Record columnist Bill Ervolino performing, in conjunction with a fun, interactive game-show awards ceremony presented by Ryan Huban of Howdy Stranger. Attendees will also have an opportunity to network with more than 100 leaders and advocates dedicated to making North Jersey a better place to live, work and be, while enjoying artisanal bites and a selection of wines and beers in a vibrant atmosphere.

Community Leaders to be Honored

The NNJCF honors local heroes, who have made their communities better places to live, work and be. These 2025 award recipients exemplify excellence in the Foundation’s focus areas – green and healthy places, creative communities, and belonging and opportunity – as well as overall community leadership.

• South Orange Mayor (and Lt. Governor candidate) Sheena Collum – Visionary Leadership Award for significant contributions to the betterment of a North Jersey community.
• New Jersey Assemblyman (District 36) Clinton Calabrese – Creative Communities Award for helping communities through the arts, supporting artists, or enhancing cultural ecosystems.
• Fairleigh Dickinson University Professor and Biology Department Chair Dr. Marion McClary – Green and Healthy Places Leadership Award for protecting the environment or advancing public health.
• Fund Advisors for the Andrea Tilbian Halejian Memorial Fund, Gina Wilson and Lisa De Dominicis – Belonging and Opportunity Award for supporting inclusive communities or economic opportunity.

 “The  proceeds from this celebration will help the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation enhance North Jersey communities. By working together, we can build community partnerships that achieve more impact than any organization can do alone,” said Leonardo Vazquez, Executive Director of the Foundation.

Registration and Sponsorship Opportunities

Tickets are $130 per person. Special ticket rates are available for parties of three, five, and ten. Tickets can be purchased online.

Sponsorship levels, ranging from $125 to $5,000, provide opportunities for individuals and businesses to participate. Digital ads for the event’s digital journal may also be purchased, ranging from $125 to $500, can be purchased that will be featured in a digital journal shown the night of the celebration and also on the Community Changemaker Night’s website. Funds raised from the sponsorships will be used to build alliances, support programs that protect the environment and produce public art. To date, sponsors for the event include Nishuane Group. For information about sponsorship opportunities and relevant marketing opportunities, click here.   

A silent auction will also offer a range of products to bid upon. Some of the items available to bid upon include tickets to a performance at the Mayo Performing Arts Center in Morristown, tickets to a performance at the South Orange Performing Arts Center in South Orange, tickets to a performance at the Barrymore Film Center in Fort Lee, and a personalized one-hour consultation on landscape design by Teaneck-based Sprout Farms and Gardens.  

Not able to attend? Donations are welcome and appreciated. Donations can be made by sending a check payable to The Northern NJ Community Foundation (NNJCF), 1 University Plaza Drive, Suite 128, Hackensack, NJ 07601. Donations can also be made online.

With the motto ‘What can we do together, that we can’t do alone?”, the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation helps communities in North Jersey become better places to live, work, and enjoy by bringing people together to address pressing issues, such as public health, environmental protection, civil society and education. The Foundation works to enhance quality of life in the eight northern counties of New Jersey – Bergen, Essex, Hudson, Morris, Passaic, Sussex, Warren and Union. Founded in 1998, the NNJCF has awarded over $1 million in grants to nonprofit organizations and scholarships to local residents, developed diverse alliances to tackle critical quality of life issues, connected people to valuable resources, and produced catalytic public art and environmental projects to benefit all residents.

To get involved in the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation’s work, call 201-568-5608 or send an e-mail to [email protected].

Northern New Jersey Community Foundation

Founded in 1998, the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation, a not-for-profit 501(c) 3 organization based in Hackensack, New Jersey, works with local governments, school districts, businesses, non-profit organizations, and citizen groups to improve community life.  Through collaborative partnerships, regional problems are identified and resolved.  Opportunities are discovered and explored by talking and learning from each other and sharing ideas, best practices, services and resources. The Foundation works to grow more creative and inspiring places, greener and healthier places, and more places of belonging and opportunity. For more information, visit www.nnjcf.org, send an email to [email protected], or call 201-568-5608.