NJ NAACP Honors Melissa Fox With Shirley Chisholm Award at Conference
Photo of Melissa Fox courtesy of NJ State NAACP Conference
U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver, Others Also Recognized at WIN Gala
BY CLYDE HUGHES | AC JosepH Media
PLAINSBORO TOWNSHIP — Melissa Fox, the chief operations officer with Acenda Integrated Health in Glassboro, was awarded the Shirley Chisholm Leadership and Liberation Award during the New Jersey State Conference of the NAACP this weekend.
Fox, who has been recognized by numerous other organizations for her leadership work in the healthcare field, received the honor at the WIN (Women In the NAACP) Gala during the conference at the Crowne Plaza Princeton in Plainsboro Township.
“I am so honored and humbled,” Fox told Front Runner New Jersey.com on Friday about the award. “Shirley Chisholm was a trailblazer in so many different way in so many ways I’m still working to achieve.
“Because this award is being presented to me, all I can do in all openness of my heart and spirit, accepted it and feel proud to be in the space of these other women. This is an amazing time to be recognized in this way is mind-blowing and I’m so thankful.”
The NAACP also recognized Fox for her work with the organization at the local and state level in empowering African American women.
“As lead organizer of WIN With Black Women, she has galvanized sisters across this state, uplifted Black women candidates, and reminded us all that when Black women organize, they don’t just make history — they change the future.
“This award celebrates fearless political leadership, and Melissa embodies it fully — advancing the vision of a democracy shaped by our collective power.”
Other awardees at the NAACP state conference included:
*U.S. Rep. LaMonica McIver, who was given the Sojourner Truth Fearless Advocacy Award.
*Dr. Nastassia Harris, who received the Mary McLeod Bethune Nurture and Nourishment Award for her in Black maternal health equity.
*Yoshi Donato, who was given the Civic Engagement Award.
McIver made national headlines during an oversight visit to an ICE facility in Newark where she, U.S. Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman and Mayor Ras Baraka were resisted by federal authorities in May. Since then, the Justice Department filed charges against McIver for assaulting federal officers while her legal team has filed motions for the charge to be dismissed.
“Like Sojourner, Congresswoman LaMonica McIver has refused to be silenced,” the NAACP said on Instagram. “Even when faced with retribution, she stood boldly, demanding justice for those unseen and unheard. During our gala we will honor her not only for her courage, but for her defiance — her fearless insistence that the work of liberation cannot be paused, delayed, or denied.”
The NAACP said Harris’s service embodied Bethune’s “timeless lesson” that “nourishment, education and health are the foundations of freedom.”
“Through her uncompromising leadership in Black breastfeeding and maternal health equity, she nurtures families, empowers communities, and ensures the future of our people is nourished with both dignity and possibility,” the NAACP said of Harris.
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