A night to support the Foundation's mission of accelerating the pace of African American student success.

Angela Adderley

2024 Community Leader of the Year

Angela Adderley has been an entrepreneur in the fast-food industry for almost thirty (30) years. She currently owns and operates ten (10) McDonald’s franchises in Northern and Central New Jersey with over 600 employees. Prior to becoming a McDonald’s Franchisee, Angela was employed at IBM in Poughkeepsie, NY and Boca Raton, FL for ten (10) years. While at IBM, she worked as a Financial Analyst, and finished her career as an Accounting Manager.

Angela is involved in the communities where she does business. She supports the schools by hosting Ronald McDonald shows (healthy eating, bullying, and fire safety), McTeacher’s Night, and sports teams sponsorships. She has also hosted juvenile diabetes awareness programs at her restaurants. Angela is deeply passionate about her charity of choice – Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) where she served as a board trustee for eight years. She has supported the charity as well as the Ronald McDonald Houses via 5K annual ”Walk with Ronald” at Six Flags, scholarship fundraisers, and sponsored community organizations who have applied for community grants through RMHC.  Additionally, Angela is an advocate for young entrepreneurs. She was a sponsor and attended the “I Have A Dream Youth Entrepreneur Summit” at the White House in 2016. 

Angela has received numerous awards and accolades over the years. Her success at McDonald’s has been because of her great employees.  The infrastructure she has built through training and development of her staff (from crew to mid-management), has garnered her the recognition of seven “People First” awards in the last ten years.  She also received the prestigious Ronald Award (An Operator who has made outstanding contributions to the development of the McDonald’s brand-top 10%), Chamber of Commerce –Community Distinction Award, North Jersey Chapter of Jack and Jill – Outstanding Service Award, Distinguished Mother of the Year award, FAMU- Distinguished Alumni Award.   Angela was recently awarded (2020) from McDonald’s Corporation the Fred L. Turner Golden Arch Award. This award recognizes the top 1% of Owner/Operators around the world who delivers a superior customer and employee experience while passionately giving back to the community.

She currently holds membership in Jack and Jill of America (Life Member) as an Associate member, Florida A&M University National Alumni Association (Life Member) – NJ Chapter, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. (Life Member) – Beta Alpha ’77, Black McDonald’s Operators Association (Treasurer), Women Operators Association, and St Paul Baptist Church (Montclair, NJ). Angela is on the Board of Directors for Florida A&M University Foundation Board.

Angela has a B.S. in Accounting from Florida A&M University class of 1979 and an MBA in Finance from Florida Atlantic University in 1988. 

George L. Cook III

2024 Frank Bolden Honorary Award

George L. Cook III has lived in Hillside for over 40 years. He is a 1986 graduate of Hillside High School and has always maintained a connection to his community as a public servant, most recently as Councilman-At-Large.

Councilman Cook started his public service in 2010 after being elected to the Hillside Board of Education. He served two terms on the Board and during his tenure served four years as Board President and two years as Board Vice President. He was also appointed to the New Jersey School Board of Directors in 2015.

Following his service as a School Board member, Cook ran for local office and was elected to the Hillside Township Council in 2017. During his tenure on the Council, he has served as Chairman of the Personnel Committee, liaison to the Zoning Board of Adjustment and Council Vice President in 2018, 2019, and 2020.

George's public advocacy is only matched by his volunteer work, specifically, his efforts to serve the youth of Hillside. He has been a volunteer basketball and football coach for the Recreation Center and has sponsored State legislators visiting with residents. He led the Juneteenth Ceremony and African American flag raising during Black History Month in 2020.

George has been a member of the Hillside Scholarship Fund since 1986, the Lions Club since 2017, and the Union County College Foundation where he has been a tireless advocate for our students and has lead a number of fundraising efforts to support our Close the Gap campaign. He also served in the United State Army New Jersey National Guard from 1991-1994.

WHY IS THE CLOSE THE GAP FUND SO IMPORTANT?

Thanks to YOU...

Graduation Rates for African American students continue to be on the rise!

The 2015 graduating class at UCNJ was the largest in our history with a graduation rate of 15.7%. However, as every other group saw dramatic increases, the overall African American male graduation rate was only 6.9%. In the Fall of 2015, the College made increasing the graduation rate an institutional priority.

At the same time, the Union County College Foundation developed the Close the Gap Campaign to provide financial resources to the College for this initiative, as well as provide scholarship and grant support to African-American students on track to graduate on time.

SUMMARY OF SUCCESS: Since the start of the Close the Gap Campaign in 2015, the Foundation has raised approximately $500,000 to support student scholarships, emergency funding and other support services. More importantly, during the same period, the graduation rates for our African-American students have nearly quadrupled.

To support this year's efforts,

please click on the link below