Educational Opportunity Fund Professional Association of New Jersey, Inc.
Advancing College Access, Affordability & Success for Underrepresented Scholars
Mission
The Mission of the Educational Opportunity Fund Professional Association of New Jersey, a non-profit organization, is to be the official liaison between the Educational Opportunity Fund (EOF) campus based programs, the Office of the Secretary of Higher Education in New Jersey. EOFPANJ advocates on behalf of EOF Programs, which serve educationally and economically, disadvantaged students. The EOFPANJ keeps abreast of and monitors legislation and policy decisions that may have a direct or indirect effect upon the EOF constituency. The EOFPANJ provides a venue for professional development of its members and a clearinghouse of resources relevant to the achievement of our mission.
History
EOF’s history is rooted in the civil rights movement. Through protests and legislative advocacy, young students used their voices to earn access to educational opportunities.
In November 1967, in the aftermath of the Newark riots, New Jersey’s Chancellor of Higher Education, Ralph A. Dungan, directed a memorandum to the presidents of all the state’s higher education institutions. He proposed a program of special assistance to young men and women from economically and educationally disadvantaged backgrounds.
The Select Commission on Civil Disorders (the Lilly Commission) made its report to the Governor and to the New Jersey State Legislature, calling for a broad range of programs to address the basic conditions that contributed to the protests. Among those programs was the Educational Opportunity Fund, established by legislation in 1968, sponsored by legislator Thomas Kean.
EOF set the pace for many initiatives which are widely incorporated into college life. Among the many powerful strategies implemented by EOF are pre-college articulation, basic skills testing and remediation, systematic retention efforts, peer counseling and peer tutoring, academic support courses, multicultural curricula and human relations programming, student leadership development, and outcomes-based program evaluation.
Today, the EOF program serves low-income, first-generation students who have demonstrated commitment, motivation, and potential for success in every county of the state.
Source: State of New Jersey Office of the Secretary of Higher Education
2025 - 2027 Executive Board
Mr. Al-Lateef Farmer
President
president@eofpanewjersey.org
Mr. Jason Oliveira
Treasurer
treasurer@eofpanewjersey.org
Ms. Jocelyn Merino
Financial Secretary
financialsecretary@eofpanewjersey.org
Ms. Florangel Cabrera
Corresponding Secretary
corsecretary@eofpanewjersey.org
Dr. Andre Turner
Public Relations Officer
publicrelations@eofpanewjersey.org
Mr. Jose Rodas
Parliamentarian
parliamentarian@eofpanewjersey.org
Mr. Alan Manzueta
AESNJ Advisor
aesnj1@eofpanewjersey.org
Mr. Dominic Bowman
EOFSAA Advisor
eofsaa@gmail.com
Members at Large
Ms. Christine Millien
Special Initiatives
mal_specialinitiatives@eofpanewjersey.org
Dr. Alexis Delgado
Technology
mal_technology@eofpanewjersey.org
Mr. Ruben Melendez
Assessment
mal_assessment@eofpanewjersey.org
Ms. Viviana Zambrano
Emergency Fund
mal_scholarship@eofpanewjersey.org
Dr. Brett Pulliam
Member-at-Large
Dr. Jenice Sabb-Dumas
Ambassador Coordinator
Ms. Kim Quick
Arrigo O. Rogers Scholarship Chair
Mrs. Liz O'Brien
Member-at-Large
Sector Representatives
Ms. Denys Sanchez
State Colleges/Universities (North)
statesector@eofpanewjersey.org
Mr. Khayriy Tilghman
State College/Universities (Central/South)
statesector2@eofpanewjersey.org
Mr. Hamza Ghani
Public Research Colleges/Universities (North)
researchsector@eofpanewjersey.org
Mr. Malik Howard
Public Research Colleges/Universities (Central/South)
researchsector2@eofpanewjersey.org
Ms. Ivory Luke
Community Colleges (North)
ccsector1@eofpanewjersey.org
Ms. Katelyn Good
Community Colleges (Central/South)
ccsector2@eofpanewjersey.org
Ms. Aniyah Parks
Member-at-Large
Dr. Melissa Jones
Independent College/Universities (North)
independentsector2@eofpanewjersey.org
Mr. Ray Bernard
Independent Colleges/Universities (Central/South)
independentsector@eofpanewjersey.org
2025 - 2027 Executive Board Meetings
Friday, October 10, 2025 at Mercer County Community College
Friday, November 14, 2025 at Salem County Community College
Friday, December 12, 2025 at Rowan University
Friday, January 9, 2026 at Seton Hall University
Friday, February 13, 2026 at Saint Elizabeth University
March 2026 meeting will be hosted at the Spring Conference
Friday, April 10, 2026 at Ramapo College of New Jersey
Friday, May 8, 2026 at Montclair State University
Past EOFPANJ Presidents
2023-2025: Al-Lateef Farmer
2021-2023: Dr. Andre Turner
2019-2021: Dr. Jenice Sabb-Dumas
2017-2019: Dr. Brett Pulliam
2015-2017: Dr. Alexis Delgado
2013-2015: Maretta Hodges
2011-2013: Richard Morales-Wright
2009-2011: Dr. Hasani Carter
2007-2009: Dr. Barbara Harmon-Francis
Partnerships
The EOFPANJ is Proud to Partner With the Following Groups and Organizations!
New Jersey's Office of the Secretary of Higher Education - EOF Central Office
EOFPANJ works closely with the State of New Jersey's Office of the Secretary of Higher Education EOF office to develop student programs and professional events.
The Tri-State Consortium represents educational institutions, state education agencies and others involved in the administration of state-supported educational opportunity programs in post-secondary education in New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. At these institutions, opportunity programs serve tens of thousands of college students from educationally and financially disadvantaged backgrounds.
It is our goal to produce a cadre of educated citizens who will be well versed, sensitive to issues of cultural diversity, and have a heightened sense of social responsibility as they set forth to enhance the quality of life in the respective communities they serve.
The National Association of State Coordinators for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth (NASCEHCY) was established in 1989 to ensure that children and youth residing in temporary living situations received equitable and excellent services through the public schools across the country. The Association also encouraged the development and dissemination of strategies for effective instruction, pupil services, and research.
For more information on NAEHCY's Higher Education Networks, contact NAEHCY’s National Higher Education Liaison, Cyekeia Lee, at clee@naehcy.org