Entrepreneurial American Leadership Award

A community leader who has fought to preserve and revitalize the rich cultural past of Paterson, New Jersey.

Alexander Hamilton’s first bold step in transforming a rural agrarian society based in slavery into a modern industrial economy based in freedom relied on the power of the Great Falls in New Jersey, then recognized as the most forceful waterfall in America. Founded by our first Treasury Secretary in 1792 to harness the power of the Great Falls, the City of Paterson, New Jersey has experienced a rise and fall as a major industrial power, leaving the city one of the poorest in the nation—with one of the richest histories. To one Paterson native in particular, this history was worth celebrating, preserving and using as a critical tool in revitalizing a gritty city.

Leading the charge with incredible dedication, unyielding enthusiasm and remarkable effectiveness, Leonard A. Zax managed to turn this faded industrial town into the home of America’s newest National Historical Park.

With degrees in law and city planning from Harvard University, Zax has worked for more than thirty years on community development projects across the country. After success in many cities in the U.S. and abroad, community leaders in Paterson asked him to come home. In 2008, after two years of pro bono work to make the Great Falls a part of the National Park System, Zax left the law firm of Latham & Watkins to spearhead the project and launched the Hamilton Partnership to build a diverse bi-partisan team that will help create a unique national park and maximize its benefits for the city and the nation.

Putting his talents to work, Zax built a compelling case for the creation of the park, arguing that it would not only highlight Paterson’s role in economic history, but also improve the quality of life and give the predominantly Latino, African American and Muslim American population of Paterson a deeper connection to the past, a better life today and inspiration for the future. The New York Times described one of Zax’s writings submitted to the Secretary of the Interior as a “38-page tour de force… putting together political and industrial history, art and literature, to argue for adding Paterson’s old industrial heart to the National Park System.” In the spring of 2009, President Obama signed into law the Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park Act.

Through his civic leadership and devotion to the Great Falls effort, Leonard A. Zax has provided the 160,000 residents of Paterson, New Jersey—a city that one federal agency ranked as the most distressed city in America—a great source of pride and a tremendous leap forward in the city’s return to economic vitality, hope and opportunity.

For more information: Paterson Great Falls National Park