Robert Clark

executive director, YouthBuild Newark

Robert Clark is the founding director of YouthBuild Newark. He is the first YouthBuild graduate to start up a YouthBuild program. After completing the YouthBuild Boston AmeriCorps program, Clark joined Public Allies, an AmeriCorps community service program for emerging community leaders. At Public Allies, Clark continued to develop his natural gifts as a leader and public speaker. Clark declared his intention to start and operate his own YouthBuild program in his application to Rutgers University in Newark, New Jersey, in 1993. He attended Rutgers and earned his bachelor's degree at UMass Boston. After working at a community organization in Boston, he became a leadership development advisor at YouthBuild USA, where he worked with young people from across the country. One of his last assignments at YouthBuild USA was to support the formation of YouthBuild Newark by training a cadre of young people to play an active role in its creation. The sponsoring agency, Episcopal Community Development, was so impressed with Clark that they hired him as the program's founding director. YouthBuild Newark opened its doors in 2002 and is now an independent nonprofit that continues to enjoy a close relationship and financial support from Episcopal Diocese of Newark. YouthBuild Newark currently serves 65 students, and has 820 young people on its waiting list. Under Clark's leadership, the program produces consistently high outcomes in terms of student retention, GED attainment, college placement, and job placement, as well as passionate graduates who call YouthBuild home.