Youth advocate chosen to administer $100M Facebook grant to Newark schools

A big appointment in Newark as well:

In September, Newark was the surprise recipient of a $100 million gift from Facebook to help fix its beleaguered schools.

Now, it's chosen someone to help figure out how to best spend all that money.

Gregory Taylor, a lawyer, educator and veteran advocate for at-risk youth, has been chosen as the chief executive officer of the Foundation for Newark's Future, the organization that will administer the $100 million from Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, as well as $100 million in matching pledges, all to be spread over five years. He is to start June 13.

Taylor, 43, of Ann Arbor, Mich. is coming to Newark from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, a philanthropic organization, where he was the vice president of programs. At Kellogg, Taylor also worked as the national director of an early childhood program and he was the past senior director and chief program officer for the Fannie Mae Foundation.

Taylor says the foundation is still working on how the money will be spent, but said the foundation will emphasize improving early childhood education, teacher quality, school governance. He said the money will also go towards exploring new school models, which will include charter schools and creating partnerships with universities.

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http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/05/chief_executive_chosen_to_admi.html

Youth advocate chosen to administer $100M Facebook grant to Newark schools

Published: Monday, May 16, 2011, 9:12 PM     Updated: Monday, May 16, 2011, 9:12 PM

By Victoria St. Martin/The Star-Ledger The Star-Ledger