Lynda Seward

Lynda is an executive administrator demonstrating leadership practices in fulfilling organizational goals and strategic planning development with detailed experience in program and fund development. She will be responsible for overseeing the daily execution of procedures and controls ensuring operational and financial success of The Chisholm Legacy Project’s visionary leadership and strategies.

Recently, she was the Director of Development for the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice planning and directing fundraising initiatives where she rebuilt the Institute’s Development department, maintained funders and increased Gala revenue and attendance to historic numbers.

She is formerly the Grants Manager for the national office of the NAACP maintaining compliance for its nationwide advocacy program grants that cumulatively totaled a portfolio of $35m during her tenure. She brings over fifteen years’ experience in grant and program administration in addition to having previously worked with the YWCA of Bergen as well as the City of Newark Prosecutor’s Office.

As a grants administrator with the YWCA, she served as a member on the search committee for the YWCA Northeast Regional Council. She has also served as a grant reviewer for the NJ Division of Criminal Justice State Office of Victim Witness.

She managed the overall administrative and program responsibilities for the Newark Victim Witness Advocacy Program funded by the State of NJ Attorney General’s Office of Victim Witness. During this time, she administered the grant as well as monitored staff providing crisis intervention counseling and making recommendations to the Court on the victim’s behalf. She assisted Prosecutors in preparation for trial as well as resolving issues in moving cases forward with judges, prosecutors, public defenders, private attorneys and court administrators.

During her tenure with the Newark Victim Witness Program, she implemented several new citywide initiatives facilitating the first Evening with the Community Panel Discussion on victimization (later adopted in the Department of Justice/Office of Victims of Crime resource manual). She also initiated a Dating Violence Mobile Clinic to Newark high school seniors and an Elder Crime and Victimization Mobile clinic into senior citizen complexes in Newark.

In further demonstration of her commitment to social change, she currently works with community committees and serves as Board President for the Fair Housing Council of Northern NJ.