HAAC Award Brings Jessica Grullon Full Circle: Former Scholarship Honoree Now Its Distinguished Service Recipient
Jessica Grullon, from FRNJ files
BY MADISON JOLLEY | For AC JosepH Media
ATLANTIC CITY – When Jessica Grullón was 15 years old, she was a scholarship recipient with the Hispanic Association of Atlantic County, a young woman being guided by a village of mentors, community leaders, and family.
On Thursday, July 10, she’ll return to the very stage she once helped build, not as a volunteer or event planner, but as one of the community’s most celebrated honorees.
Grullón is this year’s recipient of HAAC’s Distinguished Service Award, a recognition of her decades-long commitment to advocacy, equity, and service in Atlantic County. She will be honored with other winners at the 2025 Nuestro Pueblo Awards at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino Atlantic City.
For someone so accustomed to being behind the scenes, planning the same awards ceremony for years, it came as a genuine surprise.
Read the biographies of 2025 Nuestro Pueblo Award honorees HERE
“I was shocked,” Grullón told Front Runner New Jersey. “I’ve always been in service… helping, volunteering, giving back. I never expected to be in the spotlight.”
She served as chair of the Nuestro Pueblo Awards for several years, managing everything from the menu to the selection of honorees. Last year, she stepped away from the role to focus on her career and her daughter.
Grullon, one of the inaugural recipients of FRNJ’s 30 Under 40 Top Latino Leaders of South Jersey in 2021, said that she had planned to attend simply as a guest, to celebrate the work of others. Instead, the spotlight turned to her.
“It’s really humbling,” she said. “I was once a scholarship recipient through HAAC. And now, I’ve spent years helping raise those same scholarship funds for the next generation. It feels like a full-circle moment.”
Grullón’s dedication to community uplift runs deep. Raised in a single-parent household with three siblings, she credits her mother and an extended “village” of support for instilling her values early on. Her upbringing taught her the importance of community care, and it’s that same principle that continues to guide her today.
After graduating from Egg Harbor Township High School, Grullón knew college was her next step, even if she didn’t have the full roadmap. She studied communications and advocacy before launching a 14-year career at Stockton University.
There, she worked to help students, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, overcome barriers to higher education. Financial aid, access to resources, and mentorship were central to her work.
Eventually, she began thinking beyond the classroom. Many of the people she served weren’t pursuing college degrees, but they still deserved pathways to financial independence. That shift led her to workforce development, where she currently serves as the public affairs manager at Grant Associates, and formerly directed the Atlantic County One-Stop Career Center.
“There’s a large population in our community that doesn’t see themselves as college-bound,” she said. “Now, I help them meet their career goals in other ways, through job training, through opportunity.”
Through her public affairs work, she partners with government agencies and nonprofits to connect people with meaningful employment, training grants, and long-term stability. But her mission has always been broader than job placement, it’s about dignity, representation, and equity.
“As a Latina, I’m often the only person who looks like me at the table,” she said. “But I bring my culture with me, and I try to make sure there’s always another seat open next to me.”
Her daughter, who is half Vietnamese, inspires Jessica to lead with cultural inclusion in mind.
“You can’t just be selfish in life,” she said. “You have to lean on your village and give back, if you’re blessed with the ability to do so.”
Mentorship has been a constant thread in her story. Just as HAAC once guided her, she now pays it forward to others. Whether helping someone navigate housing insecurity, translation services, or immigration-related fears, she leads with empathy and connection.
“They taught me never to forget the people who lifted me up,” she said. “Now, it’s my turn to do the same for others.”
Today, Grullón is also making space for personal growth. After years of non-stop work and service, she is prioritizing time with her daughter, traveling, and creating memories that matter.
“You can’t pour from an empty cup,” she said. “Right now, I’m focused on filling mine.”
Still, her long-term vision hasn’t wavered.
“My legacy?” she said. “I want people to remember me as a warrior. Someone who never stopped fighting for her people. Someone who created opportunities and always brought others along.”
As she prepares to accept the Distinguished Service Award, Grullón reflects not only on her own journey but on the village that shaped her. From receiving a scholarship at 15, to raising scholarship funds as a board member, her story is one of resilience, purpose, and coming full circle.
“Everyone is deserving,” she said. “Whatever your dream is—whether it’s a home, a job, or just peace of mind—you’re deserving of that. And there’s always someone out there willing to help you get there.”
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