Beverly Bussey

Beverly A. Bussey was born and raised in the Ironbound section (“down neck”) of Newark, NJ.  She attended Oliver Street School and East Side High School. Her family moved to Montclair when she was 17 years old and she resided in town for over 30 years. Ms. Bussey’s civic and community engagement began with volunteering as a parent/teacher’s assistant at Rand School. Shortly thereafter, she served three consecutive,  two-year appointments by the town council of Montclair to the Landlord/Tenant Housing Advisory Committee. For the past 10 years, she has been a member of the Board of the Montclair Neighborhood Development Corporation. She is also a Life member of the NAACP, and has been affiliated with the Montclair branch since 1998. Since joining the branch, she has served as President, 1st Vice President, Secretary, Membership Chair and Thurgood Marshall Dinner Committee Chair.  She has also served the New Jersey State Conference of the NAACP in many capacities and attended many NAACP National Conventions as a delegate representing the Montclair Branch in New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, New Orleans and Texas.

Ms. Bussey has always been committed to the goal of promoting civil rights, social justice and advocating for the underprivileged and disenfranchised. She has received several NAACP awards and certificates for leadership and volunteerism, a few that include the 2017 Shirley Chisolm (“Unbought and Unbossed”) Award for civil and community engagement; the NAACP 2014 Thurgood Marshall Award; the NAACP 2008 Leadership Award; and the 2001 Secretary of the Year from the NAACP New Jersey State Conference.

Ms. Bussey is most proud to have earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Bloomfield College as a full-time evening student while working a full-time day job and parenting two growing children. She has also taken a number of post graduate courses towards a degree in Business Administration.

For the past 21 years Ms. Bussey has been employed as a paraprofessional at a northern New Jersey-based defense litigation firm.

Ms. Bussey is the proud mother of two children, Shatyra and Te’Niijah and two grandchildren, Aja Milan and Curtis.