Courtney Wicks

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Courtney Wicks has served as the Executive Director of IASJ since October 2021. Wicks is an experienced professional with proven management skills and a strong record of accomplishment in the development and implementation of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) strategies, policies, and objectives.  She assumed her duties on October 18, 2021.

Courtney Wicks has 15 years of experience in the development and implementation of strategies, policies, and practices that advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DE&I”). She has a track record of driving transformational change and creates meaningful impact that helps attract, retain, and engage a diverse community while building DE&I leadership capabilities across the organization.

Courtney began her career as a community organizer. She was most effective at building consensus and bridges between community organizations and institutional leadership on public policy initiatives concerning criminal justice reform, economic inclusion, environmental justice, health equity, and school equity and access.  Courtney’s ability to work with diverse constituencies and translate community-based issues to government and institutional leaders landed her a Chief of Staff role within the State of New Jersey’s General Assembly.

One of Courtney’s most notable achievements was working with the Ramopough Indians leadership to galvanize support from members of NJ’s Congressional delegation and the Governor’s office for state and federal resources concerning an environmental disaster caused by Ford Motor Company’s illegal dumping on Ramapough lands. Courtney also received the Barack Obama Leadership award from the NAACP in 2014 for her work on criminal justice reform and school equity and access public policy initiatives. Franklin Walker, Superintendent of Jersey City Public Schools, appreciated her assistance in the development of the Athletes’ Academy, a college readiness program for athletes across the Jersey City school district. “Courtney Wicks is an individual who can be presented with a problem, size it up quickly, and develop a solution.”

Most recently, Wicks held the position of Senior Vice President for Community Development at the Peyser Real Estate Group. At Peyser, she worked across departments to assure that the company’s real estate development projects and investment strategy were aligned with the diverse needs of communities in underinvested areas.

Courtney Wicks earned a B.S. in Business Management at Saint Peter’s University and is currently earning an M.S. in Organizational Leadership and Development at Columbia University (2022).

Contact Courtney at cwicks@iasj.org