Communications guru Tara Dowdell and finance executive Patrick Toussaint have joined the board of trustees of New Jersey Policy Perspective, the organization announced Wednesday.
The progressive think tank said Dowdell, founder and president of TDG Speakers and Tara Dowdell Group, and Toussaint, an executive director at JPMorgan Chase, bring a bevy of government, public relations and advocacy experience to the board.
“We are thrilled to have Tara and Patrick join the NJPP board,” President Brandon McKoy said in a prepared statement. “Tara and Patrick are incredibly talented and passionate advocates for the work of NJPP and our vision for a more economically and racially just New Jersey.”
In addition to her entrepreneurial ventures, Dowdell is a sought-after television commentator and speaker, and has held leadership roles with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the Governor’s Office and more.
“NJPP’s work and policy advocacy are more critical than ever, as our state continues to confront a brutal public health and economic crisis that is crushing our most vulnerable populations and communities,” she said in a statement. “If we are to recover and build a more just and equitable state, we need policy solutions that are evidence-based and grounded in equity, and that is at the heart of NJPP’s work.”
At JPMorgan Chase, Toussaint leads human resources strategy engagements, the most recent role in a career that has seen him hold roles in finance, operations and technology at finance companies also including Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch.
“I have always valued NJPP’s unique contributions to the policy discourse in New Jersey,” he said in a statement. “I couldn’t be more excited to join the board and help advance the mission to ensure New Jersey is a place where all residents enjoy lives of dignity, opportunity and economic security.”
