How Ferlanda Fox Nixon Became Newark Regional Business Partnership’s President and CEO

When Ferlanda Fox Nixon was in high school, she helped her father by being his bookkeeper for a number of his businesses.  One day, he asked wouldn’t it be great if she were his business attorney.

That question planted the seed that would lead Nixon to law school and then an 18-year career as an attorney, five years for a law firm and 13 years in-house for a finance company.

Now, she is the first Black CEO of the Newark Regional Business Partnership (NRBP).  

Nixon began her entrepreneurial journey as a leadership consultant, where she did executive, career, and college coaching, supplying leadership wherever needed for small non-profit organizations as an executive or interim director, fundraising, program development, and professional development workshops. 

When several positions opened up in the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey, Nixon was nominated to serve on the Board of Directors for two and a half years before she was asked to come on staff as Chief of Policy and Government Affairs and later of External Affairs.  

Nixon became certified for the NRBP by the Institute for Organization Management from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, an elite four-week professional development program

Currently, Nixon says some of the challenges in bringing new businesses to Newark are justifying the value of chambers of commerce, noting it is especially harder to do with the younger generations.  

“The chambers provide networking opportunities for the business community to connect with one another in person,” says Nixon. 

“The younger generation relies on social media to make connections and not truly value face-to-face meetings. I think Covid put an additional layer on people’s reticence to engage with each other face to face.”

For Nixon, one of the benefits of being CEO of the NRBP is that the seat for the organization is the City of Newark, granting them access to the 30-mile radius that includes Morris, Union, and Hudson counties. 

“With Newark being the largest city in New Jersey, it’s a minority majority city,” she says.

“Currently, the largest population here is African American, followed by the Hispanic community. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) hasn’t been an issue since we are fully immersed in it. You would have to try really hard not to be inclusive at this point,” she added.

 “Even with that, so much diversity in the city itself, you may still have some people who think the opportunity of advancement is closed off to people of color or women only. In the realm of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, that may be an issue.” 

Other challenges include institutional discrimination issues such as access to capital for people who may not have the opportunity to tap into capital easily, getting their finances in order, or winning contracts.  

Challenges with DEI from a business perspective include doing business with the state and municipalities, where studies show that there are disparities like minorities and women being excluded from opportunities.  

“The pool of available and qualified businesses is here in Newark, but when you go outside of Newark, that’s when the challenge becomes greater,” says Nixon. “But the City of Newark has always done well with DEI.” 

When facing these challenges outside of Newark, that’s where the chambers of commerce come into play. 

“There’s always strength in numbers,” she says. “If you have a membership with ‘x’ number of businesses who want you to advocate on a pro business agenda, then you get heard. We also educate people on legislatures, support good laws and bills that are pro-business, and oppose bills that are erroneous for business owners.”  

Nixon became CEO on Sept. 16, 2024. 

She grew up in upstate New York, in the Albany area. As an undergraduate, she attended Syracuse University, where she double majored in Political Science and Communications. 

She went on to law school at Georgetown University Law Center. She then moved to New Jersey, where she has spent most of her life, and is now living in the Morris County area. 

Nixon hopes to increase membership in the organization. 

The NRBP serves as the premier chamber of commerce in the greater Newark region. Its roster includes a whole spectrum of sectors, including small, medium, and large businesses, public interest institutions, Essex County universities, non-profits, and hospitals. 

“This runs the gamut of representation in the economic development within the Newark Region,” says Nixon. “My goal is to create a community of like-minded businesses and nonprofits to uplift the Newark Economy.” 

To create that community, the NRBP has created benefits for its members, including its Engage and Exchange Initiative, where members can meet and engage with one another while also exchanging information and resources to help each other.  

It also publishes a newsletter that includes a feature for members to share information about promotions, events, and media mentions.  

A virtual members-only monthly meeting takes place on the last Thursday of every month. This meeting includes an educational component and allows chamber members to engage with each other.  

The NRBP is currently also preparing to launch its bi-weekly Engage and Exchange podcast, featuring 15-minute episodes where Nixon interviews a member of the NRBP and learns about their business. 

The first episode will launch at the end of March. Additional episodes will include NJIT, Main Street Advisory LLC, Brantley Brothers Moving & Storage, and Imagine: A Center for Coping with Loss.  

NJIT serves as the Podcast host and sponsors include the Martin Tuchman School of Management at NJIT.  

Information about the NRBP and its programs can be found online at https://www.newarkrbp.org.