SPAA Alumni Spotlight: Jimmy Small (MPA'83)

Full Name: Jimmy Small
SPAA MPA Graduation Year: 1983

Please briefly describe your career path:
At the start of my journey, I was working as a food service manager running kitchens in health care facilities and I served as PTA president at the schools my children attended.

Serving as a PTA officer gave me the know-how to handle working with people in the decision-making process. When problems arose at the schools, I would go to the board of education meetings and complain about the conditions. I was also selected at my block association president about the same time. Just as I did with the board of ed, I would go to city council meetings to complain about conditions. City functionaries decided to put me in an official decision-making position. I was thus appointed to the board of education. What I learned about budgeting, local, state, and federal laws was made a bit easier because of the training I received in the MPA program.

I served for seven years as school board member, the last two years as its president. During my tenure I was able to decide on the building and renovations of the schools. Test scores began to rise. A new stadium was built. East Orange became the second community in the country to add Muslim holidays to the official school calendar. In the spring of 1993, I was asked to run for the city council. I won the election and served two terms (1994-2002). In 1999, I was the president of the city council. From this point onward, I served in numerous positions within the community. A second term as the block association president, democratic ward chair, library board president, president of the Muslim League of Voters, co-chair of the New Jersey Muslim Democratic Caucus, Newark Interfaith Alliance, Faith Allies, and numerous other activities.

The most rewarding thing on my journey was getting elected to the city council when I was not supposed to win. This gave me the opportunity to assist my community by getting new laws passed and upgrading existing laws. Helping citizens fulfilled my dream of always wanting to improve the lives of people.

Having an MPA was motivated by the era I grew up in. I was active with the civil rights movement and the Black Power movement of the '60s and '70s. I was also drafted into the military because this was the Vietnam era. I was able to meet Americans from all 50 states and got to know what makes people tick as a Navy enlisted man. I served as the affirmative action officer at the various commands I was stationed at. While stationed in Iceland, I convinced the commanding officer to add African American periodicals, radio and TV to the choices that the Navy already offered to the choices already available. So, I think the military was a good motivator that made me decide to pursue a degree higher than a political science degree.

The defining moment in the MPA program was a class where I was able to set the standard of what other students had to follow. That showed me I could create an atmosphere for progress that has motivated me to work in a positive manner through the political system.

I am a proud Rutgers-Newark graduate because of the family atmosphere I still find here. It shows when I work with a multitude of groups of people from all backgrounds.

Hopefully, the future of SPAA will teach students to work in a unified way with people to improve the nation. In the 1960s a lot of political decisions were made in a bi-partisan way. We need to return to that. The1964 Civil Rights Bill and Voter Rights Act of 1965 are good examples. Graduates need to work to strive to make America better. Work with people of all backgrounds and look for the good in people. Do not try to upend things from the past that are serving people in a positive way.

The greatest event in my life is being married for 52 years to my wife Denise. We have two children, six grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. We met at Rutgers University.