Inside NJ’s Economic Development Strategy

Evan Weiss became Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NJEDA in January 2026. As CEO, Evan works with Governor Mikie Sherrill and Lieutenant Governor Dr. Dale Caldwell, across state government, and with key industry and community partners to accelerate economic opportunity, make New Jersey the home of the world’s most innovative companies, expand access to capital for small and minority-owned businesses, and help ensure that economic growth delivers affordability and opportunity for families across the state.

From 2021 until his move to NJEDA, Evan was President and CEO of the Newark Alliance, a premier private sector-led economic, community, and workforce development organization. He also served as CEO of the Newark Downtown District, one of the nation’s largest Special Improvement Districts, responsible for keeping downtown Newark clean, safe, green, and fun. He was a Member of the Board of Directors of New Jersey Transit, the largest statewide public transit agency in the United States.

Previously, Evan was Senior Advisor for Finance and Major Projects to Governor Phil Murphy. He focused on finding creative solutions to New Jersey’s most pressing economic and community development problems, including managing the fiscal response to COVID-19, establishing New Jersey as the base of the US offshore wind industry, and financing affordable housing, transit, and water infrastructure projects. He was also the administration’s point person for key city initiatives in Newark, Trenton, and Atlantic City. Most recently, he helped craft the legislation to reform the Urban Enterprise Zone program and the $14+ billion suite of Economic Development Authority tax credit programs, as well as lead the Governor’s Office financial review of the Gateway Project, the largest infrastructure project in the United States.

Before joining the Murphy administration, Evan was Director at the Pennsylvania Economy League and HJA Strategies, where he specialized in developing and implementing turnaround strategies for distressed cities and school districts, including for the City of Newark, Newark Public Schools, Atlantic City, Trenton, and Scranton, PA.

In addition to his role at New Jersey Transit, he was a Member of the Board of New Jersey Community Capital, the largest Community Development Financial Institution in New Jersey, the Newark Workforce Development Board, and a Trustee of New Jersey City University. He has published several articles on economic development, tax policy, and corporate social responsibility. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago.

Todd Fisher has served in a variety of leadership roles in the public, private, and non-profit sectors. He currently serves as Senior Director Strategic Initiatives and Economic Opportunity for Governor Sherrill in the State of New Jersey, responsible for implementing her priorities in energy, housing, and permitting reform, as well as economic strategy and private sector engagement.  Prior to this role, he worked at the US Department of Commerce as the founding Chief Investment Officer for the CHIPS Program Office, responsible for creating the investment office and investing $39 billion to strengthen the US semiconductor industry. He was previously Program Director for the $3 billion American Rescue Plan programs at the Economic Development Administration. Prior to joining the US government, Fisher had a 30-year career in the investment industry, including 25 at KKR, a global publicly traded investment firm, where he was a longstanding private equity partner, Chief Administrative Officer, chair of the Management and Risk Committees, and founder of KKR’s Real Estate business. He made a proactive shift in his career to public and non-profit sector work in 2018, becoming a fellow at Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative and then a Managing Director at Year Up, a workforce-oriented non-profit. He has a BA from Brown University, an MA from Johns Hopkins SAIS, and an MBA from the Wharton School. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and has served on many boards, including 12 private sector boards, the Brown University Corporation, the SAIS Board of Advisors (chair), the US Holocaust Memorial Council, OPIC (the predecessor to the DFC), and multiple education oriented organizations.  In 2025, he was a Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Institute for Progress (co-writing a substack called Factory Settings) and a Research Fellow at the Center for Business and Government at Harvard’s Kennedy School.

Amy Herbold brings more than 20 years of experience across government and the private sector to her role as President and Chief Executive Officer of Choose New Jersey, the state’s leading nonprofit economic development organization. Ms. Herbold is widely recognized for her expertise in complex stakeholder engagement, large-scale project delivery, and intergovernmental coordination.  

Prior to joining Choose New Jersey, Ms. Herbold served as Senior Vice President of Corporate & Regulatory Affairs at Triple Five Group, where she oversaw the expansion and repositioning of one of the region’s most ambitious multibillion-dollar public-private developments into a year-round global destination. In this role, she led a range of high-profile initiatives, including regional economic development projects that supported job creation and strengthened New Jersey’s global standing.