Solomon Steplight, a Newark native and veteran public-sector executive who has overseen billions in municipal development, has been named the new CEO of the Newark Alliance, BINJE has learned.
Steplight will take over the influential economic development organization on Sept. 8, succeeding Evan Weiss, who left the role at the beginning of the year to serve as the CEO of the N.J. Economic Development Authority.
The Alliance, founded in 1999, has had a number of top-level CEOs in its history, including Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell, Audible executive Aisha Glover, the late great Al Koeppe and Weiss. Steplight has a resume that shows he’s worthy of the role.
Steplight has spent the better part of two decades moving between city halls across Essex County and Hudson County. He’s served as East Orange’s city administrator since 2018, appointed by Mayor Ted Green to oversee a workforce of roughly 1,100 employees and an annual operating budget of about $180 million.
Before that, he was an assistant business administrator in Newark under Mayor Ras Baraka and an assistant finance director under former Mayor Cory Booker, and he served as finance director for the City of Hoboken under Mayor Dawn Zimmer. While in Newark, he helped work on the city’s bid for Amazon’s HQ2 headquarters, which made the company’s 20-city short list in 2018.
Steplight founded Prepfoleo, a platform connecting parents with after-school and summer enrichment programs. And he previously served as chief operating officer and chief financial officer of Girls Who Code, where he helped scale the nonprofit’s operational and financial infrastructure during a period of rapid national growth.
For Steplight, the role carries personal weight.
“Growing up, Newark was where I first connected with diverse cultures and robotics — experiences that shaped my interest in building and improving complex systems,” he said. “Newark has never lacked talent, creativity or ambition. The opportunity before us now is to connect those assets — to bring together technology, business, government, universities, culture and community — to capture more of the value being created in Newark and turn it into more jobs, businesses, investment and opportunity.”
Lata Reddy, senior vice president of inclusive solutions at Prudential Financial and chair of the Newark Alliance’s governing board, said Steplight’s background positions him well to lead the organization’s next chapter.
“Solomon’s deep understanding of the city, proven leadership and ability to forge meaningful partnerships position him exceptionally well to lead the Alliance’s next chapter and accelerate our shared vision of a stronger, more vibrant and more inclusive Newark,” she said.
Steplight, who holds multiple degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and serves on the boards of Braven and Montclair Kimberley Academy, steps into an organization that has changed shape significantly over the past year.
In 2025, the Newark Alliance absorbed both the Newark Downtown District and the Greater Newark Convention and Visitors Bureau, consolidating economic development, downtown management and tourism marketing under one roof for the first time. The restructuring, advised by Bloomberg Associates, created an expanded executive team and 15-person governing board, with Weiss initially staying on to lead the newly unified organization before his move to the EDA.
The Alliance itself dates back to the turn of the century, founded to tackle education, public safety and economic development in a city that, at the time, badly needed all three. Its influence has often shown up less in ribbon-cuttings than in the relationships it’s quietly brokered — from helping introduce a newly elected Baraka to the business community in 2014, to programs like Newark Beth Israel’s “Hire Newark” initiative, which CEO Darrell Terry has credited with reshaping both the hospital’s workforce and its bottom line.
Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said Steplight is the right person at the right time to lead the organization.
“Solomon brings a rare combination of deep knowledge of Newark, proven executive leadership and a track record of bringing people and institutions together to get things done,” he said. “He understands the opportunities before our city and the importance of building strong partnerships across the public, private and nonprofit sectors, which is essential to advance Newark’s economic revitalization.”
