Newark Symphony Hall Hires Mack Graham As Director of Development
Graham is the inaugural hire in a new development department funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
NEWARK N.J. — January 10, 2022 – Newark Symphony Hall, one of New Jersey’s oldest and largest arts and entertainment venues, announced today the hiring of Mack Graham as its director of development, making him the first hire for a fundraising department supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Formed in 1969, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is a not-for-profit corporation that assists in building just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking. The foundation prioritizes social justice in all of its grantmaking, and awards in four core program areas: higher learning, arts and culture, public knowledge, and humanities in place.
“Mack brings with him deep expertise in social advocacy and nonprofit leadership that make him an invaluable asset to the Newark Symphony Hall team,” said Newark Symphony Hall’s President and CEO Taneshia Nash Laird. “His diverse background and knowledge of the industry will help to strategically identify funding opportunities.”
As director of development, Graham will create and steward relationships and partnerships for Newark Symphony Hall to sustain and increase contributed funding streams.
“As a community organizer, I am inspired by the Newark Symphony Hall’s legacy and its commitment to empowering the community through arts, invaluable educational programs, and outreach,” said Graham. “I am thrilled to be part of this organization and look forward to continuing the work to rejuvenate the community of Newark.”
Before joining Newark Symphony Hall, Graham was the executive director of the Long Beach Martin Luther King Center in California, development manager at iMentor, operations manager at Muslim Community Network, and director of outreach at TANO: Teas Association of Nonprofit Organizations. Graham studied psychology, with a minor in business, at Stony Brook University, where he earned his bachelor’s degree, and then nonprofit leadership at Fordham University where he received a master’s degree. Graham is also an active member of Gathering for Justice’s Justice League NYC, a New York-based task force that utilizes Kingian nonviolence as a social application for systemic change and civic engagement.
In between earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees, Graham chose a social-services path and became a foster-care planner in 2010, working as an advocate for children and families in New York City and Austin, Texas.
About Newark Symphony Hall
Born in 1925, Newark Symphony Hall (NSH) has been home to nearly a century of arts and culture in what is one of New Jersey’s oldest and largest arts and entertainment venues. NSH remains as committed as ever to providing an artistically rich experience for art lovers of all ages, while creating career pathways for people of color from around the world and bettering both its community and Greater Newark. For more information, visit: NewarkSymphonyHall.org.
About The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is the nation’s largest supporter of the arts and humanities. Since 1969, the Foundation has been guided by its core belief that the humanities and arts are essential to human understanding. The Foundation believes that the arts and humanities are where we express our complex humanity, and that everyone deserves the beauty, transcendence, and freedom that can be found there. Through our grants, we seek to build just communities enriched by meaning and empowered by critical thinking, where ideas and imagination can thrive. For more information, visit: mellon.org.
