Tom Toronto \u201979 brings heart, soul and on-the-ground leadership to the quest for affordable housing in New Jersey. As President of Bergen County\u2019s United Way, he has helped hundreds of seniors, veterans, and individuals with physical and developmental disabilities, such as autism, thrive in quality homes in good communities.<\/p>\n
But there was a time when Toronto wasn\u2019t even sure he wanted to follow his older brothers\u2019 footsteps to college. \u201cI decided to try night school and enrolled at Montclair State,\u201d he recalls. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t long, though, before my advisor helped me re-set my expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n
Toronto matriculated as a full-time student and soon came to embrace Montclair State life. \u201cI became a building manager at the Student Center,\u201d he says. \u201cAt the time, it was one of the best student jobs on campus. I got to know the administrators and learned a lot about how an institution of higher education operates. I was at the center of the action \u2013 I even got to meet Joe DiMaggio when he made a campus visit. It made for a rich college experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although Toronto majored in political science and history, he sampled a wide variety of disciplines, from Chinese language to public speaking. \u201cI was a student at a time when it was easier to experiment while earning your degree,\u201d he says. The Peace Corps was on his list of things to try.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Peace Corps was in a period of transition,\u201d he says, \u201cand the requirements were becoming more specific. I submitted my application but was wait-listed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Toronto\u2019s commitment to community and the public good continued to grow, however, and he began to consider other ways he could be of service. \u201cI took a job at Columbia University and started working toward a master\u2019s degree in public administration,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne day I found a United Way pledge card in my mailbox,\u201d he says. \u201cWithout thinking much about it I filled out the form and submitted it. My supervisor came to see me the next day \u2013 it turns out I was the only member of his team to make a pledge! He asked me to help encourage others to participate.\u201d<\/p>\n
Soon Toronto was meeting United Way executives and learning that there was a way to do good in a business-like way. He applied for an internship with the organization. \u201cI thought I would be stationed in Denver, but instead they sent me to Jersey City,\u201d he says with a laugh.<\/p>\n
Assignments in South Jersey and Philadelphia followed. \u201cEach United Way is its own organization,\u201d he explains. \u201cThis makes it possible to confront seismic changes in society and technology, and to reinvent what we\u2019re doing to address current needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI was working closely with large corporations to manage workplace giving,\u201d he continues. \u201cAside from the fun aspects \u2013 like seeing how Oreo cookies are made \u2013 it was interesting to develop marketing programs specific to each company.\u201d<\/p>\n
Toronto leaned into technology to design campaigns that encompassed corporate partners\u2019 national, and sometimes international, footprints. It was fascinating work, but ultimately drew Toronto away from his own sense of purpose.<\/p>\n
After 9\/11, Toronto decided to go all-in to address the lack of affordable housing in his home state and by 2002, he was named president of Bergen County\u2019s United Way.<\/p>\n
\u201cFew organizations working in affordable housing development had enough capital to launch projects,\u201d he notes, \u201cbut Bergen County\u2019s United Way had a healthy balance sheet and could take on the risk. We stepped in as a developer, builder and owner.\u201d<\/p>\n
Under Toronto\u2019s leadership, Bergen County\u2019s United Way has completed 34 projects and has 22 more in the pipeline, becoming in the process New Jersey\u2019s largest provider of supportive housing for seniors, veterans, and individuals with physical and developmental disabilities such as autism. Importantly, the organization has helped to demystify affordable housing and to show how these projects can benefit communities.<\/p>\n
Toronto is grateful for what his Montclair State education taught him about critical thinking, as it relates to public policy in particular. \u201cI learned the dynamics of public administration from top-notch professors,\u201d he says. \u201cThey taught me how to use public policy to achieve greater good. They inspired me to strive for something bigger than myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Toronto contributes his time to the Bergen Leads Advisory Board and has lately been considering how he might get more involved with his alma mater. He is impressed by the University\u2019s expansion and diversity and is excited to see that the Feliciano School of Business now offers tracks in real estate.<\/p>\n
For students to benefit fully from the University\u2019s excellence, he encourages them to use their undergraduate years as a time of exploration. \u201cIf you\u2019re an arts major, take a class in accounting, if you\u2019re a business major, try a course in sociology,\u201d he counsels. \u201cDo all you can to broaden your perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Changing the landscape for those in need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":233,"featured_media":210142,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-210338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-77_alumni-spotlight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/233"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=210338"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":210339,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/210338\/revisions\/210339"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/210142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=210338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=210338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=210338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}