Our Transformation

As the third wealthiest state in the country, New Jersey is alive with opportunity.

Despite its significant wealth and diversity, New Jersey remains one of the most inequitable states in the country. This is evident across a variety of issues such as income inequality, racial segregation, access to quality housing or health care. We believe that New Jersey has an opportunity to be a model for other states in reckoning with the ongoing harm of systemic racism and building just and equitable systems that enable all communities to thrive. Research and experience make clear that New Jersey cannot achieve its full potential without directly addressing these issues and actively supporting efforts to create more just and equitable policies, systems, and practices in our state.

But for too long, these efforts have been marginalized and under-resourced. Visionary changemakers have had to press for change without the kind of robust investment and power required to bring about the systemic–and seismic–changes needed.

Together, philanthropic institutions in New Jersey like the Dodge Foundation, can more boldly resource and shift power towards communities who have been most impacted by injustice and inequity. We can also commit to transforming our own practices, to listening to and learning from the leadership of those closest to the harms of–and solutions to–injustice, especially communities of color.

With compassionate action, thoughtfulness and resolve, we can work towards a vibrant, equitable, and just future for New Jersey and all of the communities that make us whole.

Learn more about how our commitment to transformation is currently expressed through Our Work, and how we first began to make a bold shift to imagine a new way for the Dodge Foundation, and New Jersey.