Leslie Anderson is retiring after leading the N.J. Redevelopment Authority for three decades.
Don’t know her? Or her impact? You should. She has been as influential in housing and economic development as anyone else in a generation.
Here are 10 things you need to know about Anderson:
10. She helped write the law that created the agency she’d later lead
As a policy advisor to Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, Anderson worked on the urban economic strategy that became the New Jersey Urban Redevelopment Act in 1996 — the statute that established the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority.
9. She is believed to be the only Black woman in the nation to run an independent redevelopment finance authority
As president and CEO of NJRA, Anderson leads a standalone public financing authority focused on urban communities. Her performance has earned reappointments from four consecutive governors, a rare bipartisan endorsement.
8. Her deals have turned millions into billions
Under her leadership, NJRA has committed nearly $500 million in direct investments that have leveraged close to $4 billion in total project costs — funding more than 15,000 housing units and over 10 million square feet of commercial and retail space.
7. She thinks of NJRA as a first mover, not a gap‑filler
Anderson’s mantra, “We’re there first,” reflects a willingness to fund early, risky stages — site acquisition, environmental work, predevelopment — so that conventional lenders and other agencies can follow rather than watch from the sidelines.
6. She turned “too risky” neighborhoods into a statewide investment thesis
Under Anderson, the NJRA was explicitly structured to go into communities that had been written off as bad bets — places where “too risky” often meant “too poor” or “too Black and brown.” By proving those deals could work and recycling repayments into new projects, she built a repeatable model for financing in disinvested neighborhoods instead of avoiding them.
5. She built a redevelopment school inside a redevelopment agency
The NJRA Redevelopment Training Institute, launched in 2006, has trained thousands of attorneys, planners, officials and developers, and is certified by AICP, NEDA and the New Jersey Supreme Court’s CLE program, spreading know‑how far beyond NJRA’s staff.
4. Her COVID response reached the businesses most other programs missed
The Small Business Lease Emergency Assistance Grant Program she championed deployed $30 million in rent relief, sold out in under 30 minutes and reached a pool of applicants that was 90% minority‑owned, most of whom had received no other pandemic aid.
3. Her redevelopment instincts were forged in Plainfield
Anderson began her career in her hometown’s economic development office, eventually serving as Executive Director. Working block by block in a mid‑sized city gave her a ground‑level view of how capital — or the lack of it — shapes neighborhoods.
2. Her civic life is as dense as her project list
Anderson is a Leadership NJ Fellow and a longtime member and leader within Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., including as president of the Central Jersey Alumnae Chapter. She also stays active with the Penn State Alumni Association, the Council of Finance Development Agencies, the Free Global Foundation and other groups.
1. She’s leaving the NJRA, not redevelopment
While she’s stepping away from day‑to‑day leadership at the authority, Anderson says she’ll continue working through executive coaching and consulting. In her words, the real goal has always been to build a legacy of impact that keeps going — with or without her name on the door.
