For Immediate Release: Newark, NJ; Jennifer Rowland, CFO of Girls with Impact, Theresa Edelstein, senior vice president center for partnerships transforming health, New Jersey Hospital Association (NJHA) and Tom Wisniewski, managing partner at Newark Venture Partners have joined the Board of Directors at the New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII), a non-profit corporation of New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT).
“We are thrilled to have these individuals join NJII’s board of directors at a time of rapid growth and growing interest in our programming and services” said Simon Nynens, CEO of NJII.
Rowland, who is a Certified Public Account and Certified Management Accountant, is a long-time New Jersey resident with years of experience in professional services and has held leadership roles in accounting and finance in the retail, consumer goods and media industries. She has done work in over 50 countries and serves/has served on the boards of Girls with Impact, The All Stars Project of New Jersey and the Chatham Education Foundation. She is a member of the Chief Women’s network, The Executive Forum and FENG.
When introducing herself to her fellow members Rowland said “I am honored to join you all and look forward to identifying new opportunities as well as contributing to the work already underway by introducing my network to NJII and sharing my expertise whenever needed.”
Edelstein has worked at the NJHA for more than 23 years and led programs that foster collaboration and coordination to improve the health of the people of New Jersey. She also supervises the Association’s insurance and managed care initiatives, helps lead advocacy and education efforts and establishes and maintains relationships with state, regional and national policymakers, regulators, legislators, and associations.
“One thing the pandemic has shown us is that health and healthcare are essential to New Jersey’s overall well-being. Innovation will be a critical part of our road ahead in improving the health of the people of our state. It’s an honor to bring the important perspective of healthcare organizations to key initiatives like the New Jersey Health Information Network and other NJII programs.” said Edelstein.
Wisniewski, who has been an enthusiastic advisor to the team at NJII’s VentureLink@NJIT is a managing partner at Newark Venture Partners (NVP), an early-stage venture fund based in downtown Newark, NJ. NVP is backed by Audible (an Amazon company), RWJBarnabas, Prudential and several other engaged corporate partners, as it seeks to find, invest in and support best in class B2B software founders from all backgrounds. Tom leads investments for NVP and mentors the dozens of entrepreneurs within their portfolio. Prior to NVP, he managed his family office RosePaul Ventures with investments in 30+ tech start-ups and 12 Seed/Series-A venture capital funds.
“Start-ups and growing businesses have a real opportunity to leverage the resources and intellectual capital of NJIT and the programming and space available through NJII. The relationship between the City of Newark and its entrepreneurs is a win-win, each helping the other to grow and succeed. I look forward to further building a bridge for NJII entrepreneurs to NVP and the greater New York-New Jersey Venture Capital community to continue the growth of their businesses,” Wisniewski said as he joined the group.
NJII’s board of directors includes leaders from businesses, industry associations and academic institutions across New Jersey. The board is led by NJIT President Joel Bloom. View members here.
The appointment of three new members coincides with the retirement from the board of Rochelle Hendricks, Former NJ Commissioner of Higher Education, John Pyrovolakis, Founder & CEO of Innovation Accelerator and Emily DeRocco, CEO of E3 Consulting. “We want to thank Rochelle, John and Emily for their support, perspective and contributions.” said Simon Nynens, CEO of NJII.
About NJII
The New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII) was founded in 2014 and combines the vast resources of NJIT, strong industry and government relationships, and proven methods to drive innovation and deliver transformative products and services. To achieve this, NJII is organized into six innovative divisions that guide our activities: biopharma, data and advanced technology, defense and homeland security, entrepreneurship, healthcare delivery and professional and corporate education. Learn more at www.njii.com.
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