By Anne Levin

Rose Wong

Rose Wong has left her post as executive director of Princeton Nursery School to become chief operating officer of the YWCA Princeton. Wong’s last day at the nursery school was Tuesday, January 18, and she stepped into her new role at the YWCA the following day.

“I love the Princeton Nursery School, its mission and its rich history,” Wong said this week. “However, I was looking for a new challenge, to have a broader impact on the community across the county, helping those who are marginalized with some impactful programs. The YWCA has such an amazing mission. The programming is very solid and it has opportunities for expansion. To be a part of that, working aside [CEO] Tay Walker, was a challenge and an opportunity I didn’t want to say no to. And it means I can help the school in a more impactful way.”

Wong will oversee the YWCA’s early childhood programs and will work with the directors of the Breast Cancer Resource Center and the English as a Second Language program.

“All three of these programs are great already,” she said. “But I’ll be looking at how the pandemic has impacted them, and how to make sure these services and much-needed resources can still be provided to the community that needs them the most.”

Wong will also work on the YWCA’s mission to eliminate racism. The organization “advances its mission through programs that promote equity by creating opportunity, and support women and girls through every age and every stage of life,” according to a press release.

A native of Australia with 30 years of experience in nonprofit management and education, Wong began as an economics and history teacher in independent schools. She moved quickly into administrative roles to support teachers with their curriculum development and classroom management skills. 

Upon moving to the United States, she continued to hold administrative positions in independent schools in New York and New Jersey including middle school division head, assistant headmaster, director of curriculum and faculty, director of strategic initiatives, and head of school. Wong was instrumental in beginning the STEM programming and finance and economics initiatives at Stuart Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, and has experience in capital campaigns and securing funding for new programs and scholarship funds.

At Princeton Nursery School, she led the expansion of several programs including health and wellness, hunger prevention, and preschool literacy. She also developed comprehensive fundraising strategies to increase individual, corporate, and foundation giving for both scholarship and capital needs.

At the YWCA, Wong succeeds Julie Sullivan-Crowley, who was with the organization for five years. “Julie helped lead YWCA Princeton through a period of incredible growth amidst the unprecedented challenges brought on by COVID-19,” said Walker, in a press release. “Similarly, Rose Wong is a recognized community leader with a passion for empowering children and families — she’s a natural fit for our organization. We’re fortunate to have them both in our organization’s growing legacy.”