Rosa “Rose” Farias is a senior public-sector executive with more than 18 years of experience advancing urban redevelopment, community revitalization, and public-sector operations across New Jersey. Her work has focused on aligning government resources, redevelopment finance, and legislative policy to strengthen cities, expand economic opportunity, and support equitable community development.
Most recently, Ms. Farias served as Deputy Executive Director and Senior Policy Advisor to Senate Leadership for the New Jersey Senate Majority Office, where she oversaw internal operations and administration, and strategic policy coordination supporting Senate leadership. In this role, she managed Senate operational oversight for legislative functions while advising on senior level policy areas central to urban communities, including housing, education access, workforce development, and economic mobility for disenfranchised communities.
Prior to this role, Ms. Farias served as Deputy Executive Director of the New Jersey Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA), a state authority responsible for driving redevelopment and economic investment in Atlantic City and across New Jersey. There, she facilitated daily operations of the agency and worked closely with executive leadership, board members, and municipal partners to structure and oversee public-private redevelopment initiatives. Her work included advancing projects focused on housing, community revitalization, maternal health equity, youth services, and neighborhood investment in underserved communities.
Earlier, Ms. Farias served as Deputy Executive Director and Director of Policy for the Atlantic City Initiatives Project Office (ACIPO), a state office established to guide Atlantic City’s fiscal recovery and redevelopment strategy following the city’s state takeover. In that role, she helped build the office from the ground up and co-authored the city’s transition implementation plan, aligning governance reforms, redevelopment financing strategies, and community development initiatives designed to stabilize and revitalize the city.
Ms. Farias previously served as Director of Urban Policy for the New Jersey Senate Majority Office, where she was the lead policy advisor to Senate leadership on community development, housing policy, municipal governance, and higher education. Her work included legislative initiatives addressing foreclosure prevention, Atlantic City stabilization policy, disaster recovery following Superstorm Sandy, higher education affordability, and expanding access to driver’s licenses for immigrant residents.
Earlier in her career, Ms. Farias worked in the City of Newark’s Department of Law, where she managed municipal long and short term tax abatement programs and coordinated complex legal and financial matters involving bankruptcy proceedings and redevelopment-related fiscal policy.
In addition to her government service, Ms. Farias served as an adjunct faculty member at her Alma matter, Rutgers University’s School of Public Affairs and Administration, where she taught courses in public administration, urban policy, and community development.
She holds a Master of Public Administration from Rutgers University’s School of Public Affairs and Administration in Newark, graduating with high honors, with a concentration in community development and social capital building, and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Rutgers University–New Brunswick. She is currently enrolled in the Doctoral program in Organizational Leadership, Culture and Change (Ed.D.) at Thomas Edison State University.
Ms. Farias has been widely recognized for her leadership in public service and community impact. She has been named to ROI-NJ’s Influencers lists for Women in Business and People of Color, the New Jersey Women’s Power List, and has received honors from organizations including Latinas United for Political Empowerment (LUPE), Volunteers of America, and Stockton University. She is a LeadNJ Fellow and a member of the Pi Alpha National Honor Society for Public Administration.
Raised in Wildwood, New Jersey, Ms. Farias remains deeply committed to strengthening cities through equitable redevelopment, strategic investment, and policies that expand opportunity for historically underserved communities.
