Britnee Timberlake

President Britnee N. Timberlake has answered the call to serve as the legislative leader of one of the largest counties in the State of New Jersey with a budget of over $700 million dollars. President Timberlake is the youngest Freeholder elected in the state of New Jersey and the only current sitting African-American female president. As President, she has targeted and addressed several key issues affecting her fellow citizens including home ownership assistance, small business financing, foreclosures, immigration, and public safety. She wrote the “Establishing the Essex County Banking Review Program” requiring banks the county has tax payer deposits with to come before the board to show proof of their efforts to reduce foreclosures, provide loans to entrepreneurs, assist low- to moderate-income communities, and maintain vacant homes. Furthermore, in response to the rising cost of living and stagnant wages, President Timberlake was the first elected in New Jersey to take action by working with the board and Working Families to unanimously pass a resolution in “Support of the State Raising the Minimum Wage to $15.00 an hour”. Outside of being an elected official, she is the founding Executive Director of a nonprofit affordable housing organization called the Essex Community Land Trust (ECLT), which strengthens communities by providing permanently affordable housing and financial empowerment opportunities for working families and individuals throughout Essex County. In response to the rising costs of education, she piloted College Bound Cookies (CBC) which helped children raise money for their very own 529 College Savings Accounts. President Timberlake has served as an AmeriCorps Member in Union County, past housing chair of her local NAACP and graduated from EmergeNJ class of 2014.