SOMA Community Coalition On Race Leaders Names Award Recipients

Press release from the South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race:

April 28, 2023

The South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race, a nationally recognized non-profit committed to building a unique, suburban community free of racial segregation in housing patterns and community involvement, today announced that Nancy Gagnier, its executive director, and Audrey Rowe, its program director, will be presented with the 2023 Carol Buchanan Award for Outstanding Contribution to Civic and Intellectual Life.

The award is part of the Maplewood Library’s Ideas Festival, which is in its ninth year and celebrates talent and creativity of the community. As part of the ceremony, Gagnier and Rowe will be in conversation at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 19, with Dr. Katherine McCaffrey, president of the Maplewood Library Board of Trustees, discussing the Coalition’s work over the decades. The event will be held in person at Maplewood Town Hall (574 Valley Street) and is free to the public.Gagnier has served as the Coalition’s executive director for nearly 15 years. She develops pro-integrative strategies that help to build a community supportive of racial equity and inclusion. Gagnier designed anti-racism training and led research to inform areas of challenge and success in integration. She is passionate about developing a racial equity ethos among residents and within institutions for the benefit of all.Gagnier previously served on volunteer boards and strategic planning initiatives, as well as the South Orange/Maplewood School Board, where she focused on policy development. She lives in Maplewood with her husband, Pierre Gagnier, and has three adult children.“I am thrilled to accept the Carol Buchanan Award alongside my colleague and dear friend, Audrey Rowe,” said Gagnier. “It is an honor to collaborate on the Coalition’s vision of building a community where people of all races and backgrounds can participate fully in all aspects of civic life. This award reflects many years of hard work, dedication and engagement not just on our part but that of every volunteer, board member, funder and partner who has joined us on this journey.”Rowe has worked with the Coalition for more than 20 years to make racial integration, equity and inclusion a reality for Maplewood, South Orange and beyond. She also develops unique, pro-integrative programs, such as Integration through the Arts; curates the organization’s signature events, including “Conversations on Race”; and conducts training on unconscious bias facilitating discussions about race.Rowe and her husband, Abdul Alim Mubarak (Ronald) Rowe, are long-time residents of Maplewood. They have two adult daughters, Panya Rowe and Solana Rowe, professionally known as award-winning artist SZA, and one granddaughter, Savannah Rowe.“It’s truly an honor to be recognized by our community with this esteemed award,” said Rowe. “The transformation of our two towns over the years demonstrates the decades-long commitment of our community members and it’s always a work in progress. When everyone participates equally in civic affairs, schools, government and commerce, our entire community realizes measurable health, social-emotional and economic benefits.”

Previous honorees of the Carol Buchanan Award are Mary Mann and Carolyn Parisi, co-founders of local news site VillageGreenNJ.com (2020), and Nancy Solomon, senior reporter at WNYC, and founding managing editor of New Jersey Public Radio (2021).

The Ideas Festival began April 18 and will run through April 29. All programs will be in person, free and open to the public. The Ideas Festival is sponsored by the Essex County Division of Cultural Affairs, a partner of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, the New Jersey Council for the Humanities, the Maplewood Library Foundation, the Friends of the Maplewood Library, [words] Bookstore, and the Maplewood Woman’s Club.

To learn more about the South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race visit here.

This press release was produced by the South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race. The views expressed here are the author's own.