No. 3: Aisha Glover

In the course of a decade, Glover has become fixture in Newark. Even her work last year to help launch Audible’s Global Center for Urban Development has its roots in New Jersey’s largest city; the company does, after all, have its headquarters there.

Under her watch, the center launched and funded a program paying dozens of primarily Black and Latino-owned restaurants to prepare meals for the city’s low-income seniors and families. The program has benefited thousands of Newark’s neediest residents.

Before joining the ranks at Audible, she spent several years at the nonprofit Newark Alliance. Glover’s background includes the redevelopment of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where she served as vice president of external affairs for the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp.

With many anchor institutions, Newark has ushered in something of an economic renaissance. Now, with many workers telecommuting, and visitor numbers cratering at the downtown, the New Jersey Performing Arts Center and several of the local universities, that revival has been thrown into uncertainty.

Glover’s voice will be key in how to ensure the city’s boom does not backslide.