My name is Karima Jackson, owner and operator of Exquisite Property Services (EPS). I am a doctoral candidate at the School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers University-Newark. With a research focus in administrative law and social/environmental justice, EPS is the result of years of research and industry examination to best understand how to provide quality, environmentally friendly, and affordable property care services to property owners in communities where those services are currently out of reach. My research includes quantitative and qualitative design and analysis in such courses as Urban Planning, Study of Public Organizations, Leadership Equity and Diversity, Government Budgeting and Resource Acquisition, Legal Foundations and Public Administration, and Performance Measurement and Management. I have taught undergraduate and graduate courses at Rutgers University-Newark in Navigating Space,Place and Identity; Introduction to Nonprofit Management; and Technology and Public Administration. I am published in the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory on research around the theory of symbolic representative bureaucracy and the importance of institutions being representative of the communities they serve.
EPS is also the product of my experience as a life long resident of Newark, NJ who was taught very young that I have a responsibility to my community. My siblings and I were charged with the responsibility of not only cleaning up behind ourselves in the house, but we were reared to take pride in our community and keep it clean. I watched as my aunt advocated for our neighborhood through her civic engagement and her insistence to hold public officials accountable to residents. I understand that healthy families require healthy communities and healthy communities require a committed, collaborative coalition of stakeholders to uphold their responsibility to the community. Through my work at the nonprofit, Organize Change Inc., I have the experience of collaborating with local and state government, private corporations, religious and nonprofit organizations, and community residents to organize local clean up events and improve the quality of life in a South Ward neighborhood in Newark, NJ.