This report is a second report in a series; the first report was published in 2023. For the previous report, CAWP partnered with the Center for Public Interest Polling to conduct a survey of all currently serving officials appointed to statewide and regional boards and commissions in New Jersey to collect demographic data. Our attempts to collect demographic information from over 400 New Jersey state boards and commissions revealed several systemic challenges. Without a centralized database of active boards, reliable contact information, or support from the governor’s office, comprehensive data collection proved impossible. The low survey response rate further complicated our efforts. Learning from the data collection challenges for that report, CAWP adopted a different approach for the next round.
For this report, we built upon our existing dataset, retaining demographic data for appointees who remained in office from our previous report. For new appointees, we determined gender and race/ethnicity codes by direct contact,or expert proxy coding – using public statements, and other means. Updates were made by comparing the previous list of officials to identify new appointees and remove those no longer serving. The decision was also made to continue to collect data for a selected list of 53 boards CAWP has tracked throughout the years as part of our Bipartisan Coalition for Women’s Appointments project1. While the state has over 400 boards and commissions listed on its appointments website, current board membership and contact information are largely unavailable, even with direct outreach to department heads. Focusing on the selected list allowed us to provide a snapshot of the demographic makeup of state appointees. This is further explained in the findings section.
1The original Bipartisan Coalition for Women’s Appointments list of boards and commissions included 63 boards; only 54 of those boards are currently active.