(BURLINGTON, NJ) -- Arts Ed NJ, the unifying organization and central resource for arts education information, policy and advocacy in New Jersey, has announced two new board members and a new board chair. These exciting additions to the Board of Trustees comes as the organization starts a new chapter with Wendy Liscow as the Executive Director. 

The new board members began their terms with Arts Ed NJ effective July 1. 

The two new board members are: Liz Duffy, President of the International Schools Services and Porché Hardy, Arts Administrator and Philanthropic Professional.

Arts Ed NJ also appointed Ann Marie Miller, Director of Advocacy & Public Policy at ArtPride New Jersey as its new board chair. Miller has served on the board since 2012 and most recently was the board’s vice chair. Investor, entrepreneur and philanthropist Jeremy Grunin, President of the Grunin Foundation, will now serve as the board’s vice chair.  

Ann Marie Miller stated, “we are so grateful for the leadership of our founding board chair Mary Reece from the Foundation for Educational Administration.  She guided us through a tremendous growth phase and the uncertainty of the pandemic with grace and a steady hand. She has set a high bar for our board that we aim to maintain.” 

Jeremy Grunin added, “Porché Hardy and Liz Duffy are exciting additions to Arts Ed New Jersey's Board of Trustees. Their experience in arts and international education will help us continue to meet our mission of ensuring access to Arts Education for Every Child, Every Day, Every School, Every Year.”

Liz Duffy shared, “I’m excited to join the Arts Ed NJ board, because I believe wholeheartedly in the mission of Arts Ed NJ.  Every child in NJ should have the opportunity to develop socially, emotionally and intellectually through the arts. Arts are a powerful way to engage students and prepare them to make a difference in our complex, interconnected, multicultural world.” 

“I have been a long-term advocate for Arts Education and Arts Ed NJ,” said Porché Hardy. “I look forward to taking on this new trustee role and being a part of AENJ’s work to operationalize diversity, equity, and inclusion into all internal and external practices.”

“We have the opportunity to build on Arts Ed NJ’s highly effective practices that have advanced arts education participation in our state, as documented by the 2021 Arts Education Census,” said Wendy Liscow who began her tenure July 1, 2022. “We are a strong coalition of partners, evidenced by the galvanized response to address the challenges thrust on our field by the pandemic. It is with this same unified strength, the staff, board and partners will work to create a shared strategic vision for the next five years that forwards a strong commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in arts education. Together we will ensure that arts education learning reflects our recently approved arts education standards and employs healing-centered and culturally relevant curriculum, lessons, and practices.

Arts Ed NJ is the unified voice for arts education in New Jersey. Formerly the New Jersey Arts Education Partnership, Arts Ed NJ was founded in 2007 by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, New Jersey Department of Education and Music for All Foundation, with additional support from the ArtPride New Jersey Foundation. The mission of Arts Ed NJ is to provide a unified voice for a diverse group of constituents who agree on the educational benefits and impact of the arts, specifically the contribution they make to student achievement and a civilized, sustainable society. A major component of our work is the Arts Ed Now campaign which offers customizable grassroots tools to increase participation in arts education at a local level and garner public support to ensure every NJ child receives the quality arts education mandated by the state. Arts Ed NJ’s Arts Education and Social Emotional Learning Center supports the advancement of practices that are healing centered, culturally responsive, and grounded in the best practices offered by our social emotional learning framework.