Meet NJEA ESP of the Year Mark Richards
By Kathryn Coulibaly
For 35 years, Mark Richards has been improving and enhancing the lives of students and staff in East Orange Public Schools. Like many educational support professionals, the work he does is often behind the scenes, but the care and attention he puts into his work shines through.
Born and raised in East Orange, Richards currently serves as a buildings and grounds employee, but he has worked in many capacities over the past four decades, including security and maintenance. In short, whatever East Orange needs, Richards works to provide. But his current position is particularly meaningful to him.
“I take pride in making the outdoor spaces inviting and beautiful,” Richards says. “I stay on site until every detail is perfect. I get the fields ready for various sporting activities, but my favorite time of year is preparing for graduation. I see the students’ hope and the possibilities for the future. That feeling of optimism and excitement never wears off. Every year, I get emotional preparing the space where students will walk into their futures.”

Richards and his team take pride in ensuring the buildings and grounds are beautifully maintained, but his favorite time of year is graduation and preparing the space where students will walk into their futures.
A fighter for justice in trying times
Richards has served as the president of the East Orange Maintenance Association (EOMA) for the past four years. In addition to negotiations, grievances, membership recruitment and problem-solving, Richards and his team have been focused on economic justice for his members.
Since 2020, Richards and EOMA, with the support of NJEA staff and legal services, have been fighting to enforce the contractual obligations of the district to fairly compensate staff during the global pandemic.
“During the pandemic, members of the East Orange Educational Support Professional Association (EOESPA) and the EOMA, including custodians, maintenance and security personnel, stayed on site to maintain and disinfect the schools,” Richards says. “We worked under challenging conditions and our contracts include provisions for emergency compensation that overrides standard overtime rules.
“ESPs are accustomed to working under difficult conditions, including potential danger,” Richards continues. “None of us anticipated the pandemic, but we continued to fulfill our duties. With the support of NJEA field representatives and attorneys, we filed grievances for our bargaining units. These grievances are based on the same issue: the district needs to honor the contract.”
After a lengthy process, an arbitrator agreed with the unions and ruled in their favor on most of the union’s positions.
The total awarded was between $4 and 5 million, but the board of education delayed payment. NJEA continued to fight on behalf of the unions to ensure they were fairly compensated. In September 2022, the EOSPA, EOMA, NJEA, the district and the board met. The district provided a list of members who were retroactively paid, but there were issues, including:
- The list excluded those who had left or retired.
- The district argued that summer school did not count toward the award.
- Incorrect salary formulas were used.
- Attendance records were unavailable due to issues with the card swipe system.
After much back and forth, in March 2023 a judge found the board in contempt, ruled to enforce the penalties and ordered the district to cover NJEA’s attorney fees. The judge also considered sanctions against individual board members for their noncompliance.
While there are still issues with noncompliance, EOSPA, EOMA and NJEA are standing firm and using every avenue at their disposal to ensure justice for their members.
“To ESPs nationwide, I offer this advice,” Richards says. “Although we have not yet been fully compensated for our sacrifices, nor do we agree with all of the arbitrator’s findings, the struggle is a testament to our resilience. Fighting for what’s right can be exhausting, but persistence is crucial.”

Throughout his career in East Orange, Richards has continuously worked to provide impeccable service to the district, in every capacity in which he is asked to serve. At the same time, he is a dedicated coach and mentor in his community.
A father, coach and mentor
Persistence is a common theme in Richards’s life. He and his wife, Maritza, raised their family in nearby Bloomfield where Richards has been a basketball coach and mentor to hundreds of children for the past 20 years. He takes the time to get to know the students as people and as athletes, and he has stepped up for them when they needed him.
“A few years ago, we had three sisters who were in foster care in our program,” Richards says. “They were adopted by a single mother who needed help with transportation. Everyone wanted to make sure the girls could continue to participate in the program, so I worked with their mother and the recreation director to ensure they got to games and practices. I became a father figure in their lives. All three girls went on to play high school basketball and two of them played college basketball. It warmed my heart to be able to give them an opportunity they might have otherwise missed out on.”
Richards and Maritza have two daughters who are now 29 and 26. Throughout their lives, their parents have been an oasis for people who needed them. Richards credits their daughters with making them more involved in their community.
“As the proud father of two now-grown daughters, family and community mean the world to me,” Richards recalls. “They were the reason that I got more involved with my community. Growing up, I faced economic and racial disadvantages. As an adult, I saw the need to get more involved and to help others. I have donated food, clothing and school supplies to dozens of families over the years.”
Richards and Maritza also welcomed exchange students from Denmark and Japan into their family ultimately becoming part of their families, as well.
“We were happy to welcome Emma from Denmark while she was working on her master’s degree,” Richards says. “She is now back in Denmark working on government policy. Kaori, from Japan, was studying mental health at Seton Hall University. We helped her practice her English and took her camping and to visit Washington, D.C. After she graduated and moved back to Japan, we stayed in touch. Her parents flew our family to Hawaii so we could celebrate Kaori’s wedding with them.”
Richards also combines his interest in motorcycles with his charitable work.
“I’m a member of a community motorcycle group,” Richards says. “We support each other’s families by escorting kids to prom with a motorcade, showing up for each other’s family milestones and holding family gatherings. Over the years, we have donated backpacks to children in need. We ride to Newark’s Penn Station every year to distribute food to the homeless, as well as sponsor children from our local women’s shelter for victims of domestic violence. We also sponsor local children to make sure they have presents for Christmas.”

An advocate beyond East Orange
In addition to serving as the president of EOMA, Richards is an NEA Director. In this role, he advocates for national employment conditions and racial and social justice initiatives. He has previously served as the Essex County Education Association Health and Safety Chair and as a member of the NJEA Delegate Assembly.
Advocating for ESPs is always close to Richards’s heart. He is proud to serve as a county captain for the Educational Support Professionals Advocacy Network (ESPAN).
One of Richards’s newest commitments is as a member of the NEA Local Presidents Training Cadre.
“This role matches my passion for people working together and providing guidance and mentorship,” Richards says. “I have been fortunate throughout my career in union work to have had people guiding me, helping me and supporting my efforts. I have been surrounded by an executive board who helps me with my vision, and I have benefited from mentors at the county, state and national levels. I am very interested in mentorship and helping local leaders the way that I have been helped.”
Richards was surprised and honored to be named the Essex County ESP of the Year and the NJEA ESP of the Year.
“I am so focused and busy with my current positions that it’s hard to stop and reflect on accomplishments!” Richards says. “It is so important to me to see a male ESP of the Year and a man of color in this position. I represent just one of thousands of men and women doing important things throughout the state, but I think it is necessary to see the faces of diversity in this role. I can’t remember a recent recipient of this honor who worked in the maintenance department, and I think it is refreshing to see.”
As the 2025 NJEA ESP of the Year, Richards has already been nominated for the NEA ESP of the Year award. He will attend the NEA ESP Conference and is entitled to a Disney vacation, funded by NJEA. Richards will also receive an ESP of the Year ring and will be a featured speaker at the NJEA ESP Conference.
Kathryn Coulibaly is the associate editor of the NJEA Review and provides content and support to njea.org. She can be reached at kcoulibaly@njea.org.