Foundation Leadership
Mollie Smith, President & Co-Founder
Prior to co-founding the Foundation, Mollie served for six years as Chairperson for the Brookdale Park Conservancy, a membership-based nonprofit that supports the third largest park in the historic Essex County Park System. Working as a digital marketing professional that specializes in services for authors and book publishers, Mollie lives in Bloomfield with her husband and three children, all of whom are avid readers and love to visit the Library.
Linda Warnasch, Secretary & Co-Founder
A US Army veteran with a background in journalism, Linda has worked as an editor in the finance sector for the past 20 years. Linda is a native of Satellite Beach, FL, where she spent a good portion of her childhood checking out piles of books from her town library. She and her husband Scott have been residents of Bloomfield's Watsessing Heights neighborhood since 2005.
John B. Nance, Treasurer & Co-Founder
As a practicing attorney, John generally takes the lead on legal matters for the Foundation. He received his law degree from Rutgers University and his Master’s degree in public and nonprofit administration from NYU. John works at a small firm in Newark and lives in Bloomfield with his wife and two young children. He recently joined the board of the Brookdale Park Conservancy and volunteers as a Bloomfield Soccer Club coach.
Jaynellen Behre Jenkins, Co-Founder & Trustee At-large
Jaynellen is a career educator with twenty years experience in K-12 school administration. She was raised in Bloomfield and is a 1986 alumna of Bloomfield High School. Jaynellen earned her Bachelor’s degree at East Stroudsburg University and her Master’s degree at Montclair State University, and is currently a doctoral student at ESU. She has served on a number of committees with the NJ Department of Education. Jaynellen resides in Bloomfield with her husband Steven and two children.