Raymond G. Chambers (born August 7, 1942) is a philanthropist and humanitarian who is the World Health Organization Ambassador for Global Strategy. Chambers' philanthropic efforts are diverse, with major focus areas in global health, mentoring, and revitalizing his home city of Newark, New Jersey.
Born and raised in the West Ward of Newark, Chambers attended West Side High School. [1]
Chambers attended Rutgers University–Newark where he was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and earned an MBA from Seton Hall University in 1968. [2]
Chambers is the former Chairman of Wesray Capital Corporation, a private equity holding company which he co-founded with William E. Simon, the former United States Secretary of the Treasury. The "WES" in the firm's name represented Simon's initials and "RAY" was for Chamber's first name. [3] Their first big coup was the leveraged buyout of Gibson Greetings from RCA in 1981 for $80 million, with each partner contributing $330,000 and the balance paid for with loans; After taking Gibson public in 1984, each partner walked away with a profit exceeding $70 million. [4]
After Simon ended his active involvement in the firm's management, Chambers was responsible for deals including the 1985 purchase of Avis Rent a Car System, which was sold 14 months later to an employee stock ownership plan for $1.75 billion along with the sale of other Avis assets for $674 million, netting a profit of $740 million on a $10 million capital outlay. [5]
Chambers and Wesray were early investors in buyout firm Vestar Capital Partners, investing in the first Vestar fund in 1988. [6]
Chambers has played an active role in revitalizing Newark, working with organizations and schools throughout the city, including in the West Ward where he grew up. He is a longtime supporter of the Boys & Girls Club of Newark, which he had belonged to as a child in the 1950s. He has funded college educations for hundreds of Newark public school students served by the Club.
Chambers was the founding Chairman of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, helping obtain contributions from local corporations and contributing his own money, with the goal of creating a cultural center for Newark modeled after New York City's Lincoln Center and Washington, D.C.'s John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
As a partner in YankeeNets, Chambers played a critical role in bringing the New Jersey Devils to what is now the Prudential Center, with YankeeNets contributing $105 million to construct the publicly owned facility. Chambers' name was engraved on the Stanley Cup as President of 2003 New Jersey Devils [2] Chambers was an early supporter of Cory Booker, helping to convince him that he had a future in politics. [7]
In February 2008, the Secretary-General of the United Nations appointed Mr. Chambers as his first Special Envoy for Malaria. [8] During his tenure, visibility, awareness, and funding for malaria each increased exponentially, contributing to the distribution of over 1 billion life-saving mosquito nets to sub-Saharan Africa and averting over 6.2 million malaria-related deaths, most of which were children under 5 years of age.
In February 2013 the Secretary-General expanded Mr. Chambers’ mandate as his first Special Envoy for Financing the Health Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – the internationally agreed set of humanitarian targets. [9] Mr. Chambers worked with key funding partners—including governments, financial institutions and the private sector—to secure adequate resources to provide the essential supplies, delivery mechanisms, systems support and measurement tools needed to attain the health MDGs. In addition to his Special Envoy role, Mr. Chambers served as one of the UN Secretary-General's MDG Advocates.
With the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals, Mr. Chambers was appointed by the Secretary-General as his Special Envoy for Health in Agenda 2030. In this role he was tasked with catalyzing efforts and commitments required for the successful implementation of the health-related goals in Agenda 2030—which included ending the epidemics of AIDS, TB, and malaria.
In 2018, Mr. Chambers transitioned his focus to supporting the World Health Organization (WHO), the specialized agency of the United Nations that is concerned with international public health. The WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus appointed Mr. Chambers as the WHO Ambassador for Global Strategy [10] to advise him in mobilizing the international community to advance the global health agenda. Regarding Mr. Chambers’ appointment, Dr. Tedros said “Ray Chambers is a giant of public health who understands as well as anyone the critical need to prioritize the health and wellbeing of all people on the planet.”
Chambers was a member of the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation. He is the Founding Chairman of the Points of Light Foundation and co-founded America's Promise Alliance with Colin Powell. Chambers is also the co-founder of the MENTOR / National Mentoring Partnership and served as Chairman of the Millennium Promise Alliance. With Peter Chernin, he co-founded Malaria No More and served as its co-chairman until being named UN Special Envoy for Malaria.
In 1993, Chambers received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. [11]
In 2002, Chambers received the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership. [12]
In December 2008, President Bush recognized Chambers with the Presidential Citizens Medal for his work helping children worldwide through the fight against malaria. [13]
In April 2011, Chambers was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. [14]
2014 New Jersey Hall of Fame inductee.
Chambers has been awarded honorary degrees from Brown University, the University of Notre Dame, and American University.
Harding Township is a township in Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located in the Passaic Valley region within the New York Metropolitan area. The township was formed as a township by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on September 1, 1922, from portions of Passaic Township, based on the results of a referendum passed on May 9, 1922. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 3,871, an increase of 33 (+0.9%) from the 2010 census count of 3,838, which in turn reflected an increase of 658 (+20.7%) from the 3,180 counted in the 2000 census.
William Edward Simon was an American businessman and philanthropist who served as the 63rd United States Secretary of the Treasury. He became the Secretary of the Treasury on May 9, 1974, during the Nixon administration. After Nixon resigned, Simon was reappointed by President Gerald Ford and served until 1977 when President Jimmy Carter took office. Outside of government, he was a successful businessman and philanthropist. The William E. Simon Foundation carries on this legacy. He styled himself as a strong advocate of laissez-faire capitalism. He wrote, "There is only one social system that reflects the sovereignty of the individual: the free-market, or capitalist, system".
In the United Nations, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 created following the Millennium Summit, following the adoption of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. These were based on the OECD DAC International Development Goals agreed by Development Ministers in the "Shaping the 21st Century Strategy". The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) succeeded the MDGs in 2016.
Yvonne Chaka Chaka OIS is a South African singer, songwriter, entrepreneur, humanitarian and teacher. Dubbed the "Princess of Africa", Chaka Chaka has been at the forefront of South African popular music for 35 years and has been popular in Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Gabon, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast. Songs such as "I'm Burning Up", "Thank You Mr. DJ", "I Cry For Freedom", "Motherland" and the ever-popular "Umqombothi" ensured Chaka Chaka's stardom. The song "Umqombothi" was featured in the opening scene of the 2004 movie Hotel Rwanda.
Marcus Lawrence Ward was an American Republican Party politician, who served as the 21st governor of New Jersey from 1866 to 1869 and represented Essex County for one term from 1873 to 1875.
An under-secretary-general of the United Nations (USG) is a senior official within the United Nations System, normally appointed by the General Assembly on the recommendation of the secretary-general for a renewable term of four years. Under-secretary-general is the third highest rank in the United Nations, after the secretary-general and the deputy secretary-general. The rank is held by the heads of different UN entities, certain high officials of the United Nations Secretariat, and high-level envoys. The United Nations regards the rank as equal to that of a cabinet minister of a member state, and under-secretaries-general have diplomatic immunity under the UN Charter.
Millennium Promise, or The Millennium Promise Alliance, Inc., is an American non-profit organization incorporated under the laws of the State of Delaware and a founding partner of the organization Malaria No More, with the stated goal of ending extreme poverty within a human lifetime. Its flagship initiative is the Millennium Villages Project. This project led to progress toward the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Raymond H. "Ray" Bateman was an American politician who represented Somerset County in the New Jersey Senate in the 1960s and 1970s and was the Republican candidate for Governor of New Jersey in 1977. He was the father of Kip Bateman, who later occupied the same Senate district he held.
World Malaria Day (WMD) is an international observance commemorated every year on 25 April and recognizes global efforts to control malaria. Globally, 3.3 billion people in 106 countries are at risk of malaria. In 2012, malaria caused an estimated 627,000 deaths, mostly among African children. Asia, Latin America, and to a lesser extent the Middle East and parts of Europe are also affected.
Mirta Roses Periago is an Argentine epidemiologist who served as Director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) from 2003 until 2013.
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Wesray Capital Corporation is a private equity firm focusing on leveraged buyout investments. The firm was founded by former US Secretary of the Treasury William E. Simon and former New Jersey Nets owner Ray Chambers.
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Newark Venture Partners (NVP) is a national seed stage venture capital firm backing bold founders building B2B software solving real-world business challenges. nvp takes a thematic approach to investing, focusing on areas where they've developed a point of view based on research, trend analysis, strong industry relationships and data. Current themes include fintech, industrial, and healthtech. nvp has offices in Newark, New Jersey and Manhattan
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