MEET THE STAFF
Ferlanda Fox Nixon, Esq., IOM
Chief of Policy and External Affairs
As Chief of Policy and External Affairs for the African American Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey, Ms. Nixon leads the organization’s policy, government, and public affairs agenda, supporting the success of the chamber and achieving multi-stakeholder goals for improved economic and financial status for members of New Jersey’s Black community. Ms. Nixon is tasked with building relationships with elected and government officials, policy makers, industry leaders, influencers, and stakeholders; fostering community relations; and developing strategic partnerships. She also is responsible for identifying strategic policy risks and opportunities and providing trusted analysis, insights, and recommended strategies to AACCNJ teams/professionals.
Ms. Nixon also is an entrepreneur. She is the founder and chief executive officer of Ferlanda(TM). Through an array of customized services, Ms. Nixon provides total leadership consultancy to businesses, organizations, and individuals in the areas of diversity and inclusion; leadership and professional development; communication, presentation and meeting facilitation skills; event planning; marketing; new business development; and general business strategy and administration. Her services have been retained by Wakefern Food Corporation, the largest retailer-owned cooperative in the United States; Hope Chest Scholarship Foundation, a nonprofit organization that provides college scholarships and leadership training and development to minority students who reside in New Jersey; Academic Resource Center, a company that provided tutoring and other academic enrichment services to students of all ages; and various individuals residing in the United States and abroad. Ms. Nixon’s services include providing one-on-one coaching, designing and facilitating workshops, and delivering motivational speeches.
Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Ms. Nixon practiced corporate law for 18 years – five years at Whitman & Ransom, a midsize Manhattan law firm, and 13 years at CIT Group Inc. (CIT), a leading commercial and consumer finance company. At CIT, Ms. Nixon held the position of vice president, managing chief counsel, and assistant secretary. In that capacity, she managed the legal function for five operating business units and supervised a staff of eight professionals consisting of five senior attorneys, two paralegals, and one administrative assistant. She structured sophisticated transactions and advised senior management on issues affecting corporations and financial institutions. For nearly 10 years, Ms. Nixon ranked as the highest African-American woman officer at CIT.
Ms. Nixon served as an adjunct professor at the School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers University–Newark. She taught one course on ethics and another on leadership
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A graduate of S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University, Ms. Nixon received her law degree from Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C. At Georgetown, she served as an editor ofThe Tax Lawyer, the official publication of the American Bar Association’s Section of Taxation.
