Power 100: A – M
Leslie Anderson
Anderson is the president and chief executive officer of the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority the first and only African-American woman in the nation to lead an independent redevelopment financing agency, and thanks to her effectiveness she has been reappointed to this position by four consecutive governors. Since Anderson took over more than a decade ago, the authority has leveraged nearly $4 billion in new investments – including about $500 million in direct investments – in some of the state’s most economically distressed communities. That funding has been vital to redevelopment efforts around New Jersey, with the authority claiming credit for 15,000 new housing units and more than 10 million square feet of commercial and retail space. And the authority is now poised to play a significant role in the Opportunity Zone program. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, NJRA created the Small Business Lease-Emergency Assistance Grant Program