Lizette Delgado Polanco is Chief Executive Officer of the New Jersey Schools Development Authority (SDA) and is responsible for overseeing the $12.5 billion in funding for SDA projects ($8.9 billion for SDA Districts, $3.45 billion for RODs and $150 million for vocational schools). She is the first female and the first Hispanic to lead the Authority.
Prior to becoming CEO, Delgado Polanco served as the Political Director of the Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters (NRCC) from 2017-2018, where she oversaw the Political Program of the
Council in New Jersey, New York, Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
Prior to the NRCC, she served as the Executive Director of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) New Jersey State Council. The Council coordinates the legislative and political agenda for seven SEIU locals representing more than 40,000 members across New Jersey. The organization represents members in four major industries, including health and long‐term care, property services, municipal workers and resident physicians.
In 2002, she was named Assistant Secretary of State, the first Hispanic to hold that position and was one of state government’s highest-ranking Hispanics. In 2001, she spearheaded James E. McGreevey's Statewide Latino Base Voter Program, resulting in the largest percentage of Latino votes ever cast for a gubernatorial candidate in New Jersey. She also served as Director of Special Projects for former U.S. Senator Jon S. Corzine.
Delgado Polanco, a first‐generation Hispanic American, has a long and distinguished career in government and labor relations, policy development, public affairs, and business and community development.
She previously served on the State of New Jersey Local Finance Board and now sits on numerous boards including: New Jersey Working Families Alliance; New Jersey Citizen Action; Blue Wave NJ, LUPE PAC (Latinas United for Political Empowerment); Jersey City Re-Entry; Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey, Emerge NJ; and DUSA (Dominicans USA).
She has a B.A. in Labor Studies from the National Labor College in Maryland. She is the proud mother of four and grandmother of two and lives in Mercer County.