New staff at NJCF

Laura Szwak

Laura Szwak joined NJCF in April as Statewide Greenways Director and is responsible for promoting and implementing the Garden State Greenways project. Over the past year, Laura served as Land Preservation Coordinator for the New Jersey Highlands Council. In this position, she wrote draft technical reports for the Highlands Regional Master Plan on Land Preservation and Historic Preservation, and communicated land preservation options to Highlands landowners. Prior to her service with the Council, she served for 10 years as Morris Land Conservancy's Assistant Director. Laura managed the Conservancy's open space planning and advising program for municipalities. From 1979-1991, Laura worked for the National Park Service as an outdoor recreation planner, including a two-year service with the President's Commission on American Outdoors. Laura earned a Masters of Science degree in Recreation and Park Administration from the Pennsylvania State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Georgia. She lives in Mt. Olive Township, currently serving on the town's recreation advisory committee and served over 10 years on the town's open space advisory committee.

Jennifer Hayden

Jennifer Hayden joined NJCF in February as Receptionist/Administrative Assistant. As the front desk receptionist, Jennifer is responsible for greeting and directing all incoming calls and walk-ins. She also provides general administrative support to the office. Jennifer comes to NJCF with eight years of retail/customer service experience, most recently as the manager of a homeware boutique in SoHo. She holds a B.A. in Communication from William Paterson University, and is currently working on an M.A. in Media Ecology at NYU. Her research interests are in the environmental impacts of media driven consumer culture. She resides in Bernardsville, Somerset County.