The Princeton Area Community Foundation has announced that Nelida Valentin of Trenton will join its staff as vice-president of grants and programs.

“We welcome Nelida to our team with great enthusiasm,” said Jeffrey M. Vega, president and CEO of the Community Foundation. “We believe her expertise will help inform our own grantmaking and initiatives, especially as we embark upon a new strategic plan that includes addressing the issue of children living in poverty.”

Ms. Valentin has significant knowledge of the Greater Trenton area and extensive experience in grant-making, working with nonprofit organizations, and implementing social and economic development initiatives.

She was the co-chair of the Greater Trenton Initiative during its formative stages. She also previously served as a trustee on the I AM Trenton Community Foundation, where she also served on their community grants committee.

She has served as a trustee of Greater Trenton Behavioral HealthCare, past chair of Isles Inc., on the board of the local chapter of Planned Parenthood, and as a commissioner for the Trenton Parking Authority. While director of the Center for Leadership Development at Thomas Edison State College, she secured funding to launch Leadership Trenton.

Ms. Valentin has reviewed grant proposals at the local, state, and federal levels. She has participated on grant review panels for the Newark Workforce Investment Board’s Workforce Training Provider Selection Panel; the state Department of Human Services, Division of Family Development Services Grant Teams; the state Department of Education, Charter School Evaluation Committees; the federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Promise Cities Initiatives; and the state Department of Community Affairs, Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) panels. All of these grant sources fund a variety of youth, education, housing, and jobs programs.

Most recently, Ms. Valentin was a director at the Innovation Institute at NJIT in Newark, collaborating with more than 100 companies and economic development professionals statewide. From 2010 to 2014, she served as the executive director of the Newark Workforce Investment Board, where she created a new job placement center and helped launch the Newark College Institute, which provided students with paid summer work experiences at Newark-area companies.

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