Joyce Wilson Harley, Esq.

Joyce Harley is an attorney specializing in community development, economic development, and public policy initiatives. She is the Essex County Administrator appointed to the post by Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo in March, 2005. The County Executive made history by appointing Joyce … the fist woman ever to the hold the position. Prior to joining Essex County, Ms. Harley served as the Executive Director of the Newark Downtown District, New Jersey’s largest Special Improvement District.

She is an honors graduate of Douglass College and Rutgers Law School. She has won many awards for her work as the Director of Community Development for First Union Bank and Fleet Bank in New Jersey where she held the corporate title of Senior Vice President.

Joyce Harley was the first African ~ American elected to the South Orange City Council where she also served as Mayor. She has been cited twice by the New Jersey State Legislature for her work in community and economic development in targeted urban areas in the State.

Before joining the Newark Downtown District, Ms. Harley was the Executive Director of the New Jersey Multi City LISC where he oversaw community and economic development projects in 14 of New Jersey’s most economically challenged municipalities. Under her leadership, the New Jersey Multi City LISC program nearly doubled its investment in the 14 cities it served through a combination of grants, recoverable grants, and loans to community development corporations engaged in the development of affordable housing and commercial and community facilities. Her emphasis on public policy engagement was instrumental in getting the Governor of New Jersey to implement a new Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit law which generated $20MM in new investment in New Jersey’s most distressed cities.

In 2004, Ms. Harley was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Essex County Economic Development Corporation where she chaired the Legal and Finance Committee. The EDC is responsible for providing financing and technical assistance to businesses that are located in or relocating to Essex County. Shortly thereafter, Ms. Harley was chosen by Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo to Chair the County’s Disparity Study Commission which charted the County’s course of action with respect to bringing into fruition the County Executive’s goal of providing equal opportunity in all aspects of the County’s employment and contracting practices.

Joyce’s commitment to empowering women of color to seek public office was made clear by her participation in the design and implementation of The Center for American Women in Politics’ training initiative called “Run Sister Run” . The initiative brought over 100 African~ American women to The Eagleton Institute for Politics for a 2 day session on “everything they need to know about running for political office but were afraid to ask”! 

Having served as an Adjunct Professor at Rutgers University in 2001 and 2002, Ms. Harley developed a keen interest in and love for working with students in higher education. In 2005 Joyce was honored to serve as a member of the Faculty in Residence for the Center for American Women in Politics New Leadership Program which introduces and trains women attending college in New Jersey who are interested in politics and public policy. Consistent with those experiences, Ms. Harley was tapped by Rutgers to serve as a Visiting Associate at the Eagleton Institute of Politics for the 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 academic years.

Ms. Harley is the recipient of numerous awards and honors including the 2006 Award for Excellence in government service from the North Jersey Unit of the Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, and the Essex County Martin Luther King Jr. Leadership Award for 2005.

Joyce was inducted into the Douglass Society in 2003. This is Douglass College’s highest honor conferred on its most distinguished graduates.  In addition, the New Jersey State Council on the Humanities chose Joyce to receive its first ever Civic Leadership Award in 2002. And, the Leadership New Jersey Graduate Organization awarded her its 2001 Educational Leadership Award for her leadership role in getting the Educational Facilities Construction and Financing Act adopted by the New Jersey State Legislature in 2000 while at the same time raising public awareness about the need to leverage the $8B dollars that will be spent on school construction to promote economic development and neighborhood revitalization.

In November, 2003 The Women in Support of the Million Man March, honored Joyce with their much coveted 2003 Community Relations Award for her outstanding leadership in helping community groups gain access to capital for a wide variety of neighborhood revitalization projects in Newark and throughout the State.

She was selected to serve on the Judge’s Panel for the New Jersey Smart Growth Awards in both 2004 and again for 2005. On June 10, 2005, The New Jersey State Association of the Improved Benevolent Protective Order of the Elks conferred their 2005 Community Service award to Joyce at their annual Civil Liberties Luncheon. In May of 2006 the New Jersey State Federation of Women’s Clubs named Joyce Harley as one of it Women of Achievement. Shortly thereafter, the International Congress of Black Women conferred their much coveted 2006 Trailblazer Award on Ms. Harley for her outstanding work in government on behalf of women in general, and women of color in particular,  Likewise, The North Jersey Unit of the Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs selected Joyce to receive their 2006 Leadership Award.

The Essex County Board of Chosen Freeholders honored Ms. Harley with their 2007 Women’s History Month Award. In April, 2007, the Girl Scout Council of Greater Essex and Hudson Counties named Joyce Harley as their 2007 Woman of Achievement. And, The National Council of Negro Women graced her with their 2007 Mary McLeod Bethune recognition award. Most recently, Joyce was honored with the 2008 Shirley Chisholm Empowerment of Women Award presented by New Jersey State Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver and the 2008 Executive Women of New Jersey’s Salute to the Policymakers Award.

Ms. Harley is the Immediate Past President of the Board of Trustees of the Newark Emergency Services for Families. She is a Past President of The Association of Black Women Lawyers of New Jersey and was appointed to serve as the President of the organization’s President’s Council which is composed of all of the Past Presidents of The Association. Joyce is also the Past President of the Montclair Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority where she created Operation Big Vote and led her Chapter to the distinction of registering more people to vote in Essex County than ever before. She is a Founder of THE BIBLIOPHILES: An African~American Reading Group which is the oldest, continuously operating, incorporated, African American book club in the country.

Ms. Harley was recently appointed by New Jersey State Senate President Richard Codey to serve as a Commissioner on the New Jersey Amistad Commission which is charged with the responsibility of infusing African American history into the core curriculum of all of New Jersey’s public schools.