Our Founders

J. Michael Nolan, Jr. - Founder and President

Since founding Kids Corporation with his wife in 1971, Mr. Nolan has become a passionate advocate for the children of Newark and a leader in educational reform initiatives.  His efforts have included the development of a network of after-school and summer academic programs that benefit children throughout the City and the implementation of the Schools of Promise Initiative in Newark to focus community-wide attention on the delivery of fundamental resources to children.  In 2000-01, he co-chaired Governor McGreevey’s Department of Education Transition Team. 

In 2004 Mr. Nolan retired from Lowenstein Sandler, New Jersey’s second largest law firm, where he was a prominent trial attorney serving in the Litigation Department.  Over the course of his distinguished career, Mr. Nolan served as Assistant Prosecutor in Essex County and as Special Counsel designated by the New Jersey Supreme Court to seek the removal of a judge.  Mr. Nolan has been honored for his philanthropic work many times, including the Prudential Prize for Non-Profit Leadership 1993, the University of Notre Dame Exemplar Award 1999, St. Benedict’s  Community Service Award 2000, and the Local Heroes Award from Bank of America 2004.

Kathleen Murray-Nolan - Founder and Vice President

Mrs. Murray-Nolan co-founded Kids Corporation with her husband Michael in 1971, just one step in a lifetime of dedication to social justice and education reform. She has served as Pastoral Minister at Our Lady of Perpetual Help and has volunteered with her local Battered Women's Shelter in addition to raising four children and taking in several foster children.

Known as the "soul" of Kids Corporation, Mrs. Murray-Nolan's responsibilities include program oversight, staff hiring, communal living counseling and staff relations, and special event planning. Her stringent focus on our mission and vision has kept Kids Corporation on track for over 30 years. She has been honored with the Community Service Leader Award from the Newark YMWCA, the Child Advocate Award from Quest Ink, Inc. of Newark, and recently, the Humanitarian Award from the American Conference on Diversity.

Our History

The original Kids Corporation was founded in 1971 by Mike Nolan and his then-girlfriend Kathleen Murray while they were in college.  After spending several summers working with church groups in Newark and substitute teaching in Newark public schools, they saw the desperate need for a better educational system.  Kids Corporation I was a labor of love that had big dreams but small resources in a city decimated by the 1967 riots and largely abandoned by the corporate and government powers-that-be in New Jersey.  While individual children and neighborhoods were benefiting, the institutional structures of corruption, poverty and failure remain intact, and grew worse throughout the seventies and into the eighties.

In the mid-eighties, Mike and Kathleen made the difficult decision to shut down the corporation until they were in a position to truly affect the city’s educational system.  For six years, they raised a family and Mike concentrated on building a legal career, at the same time making contacts and friends with the major players in business and politics.  In 1992, they felt it was time to begin again in earnest, and launched Kids Corporation II. 

At present, Kids Corp provides summer schools, after-schools, medical and dental exams, medical follow-up care, clothing, school supplies, books, toys, an environmental science and leadership camp, educational field trips, hot meals and mentors for over 4,800 Newark kids in over 70 schools, churches and community centers.  Our founders and our positive impact has been recognized by leaders in the corporate, education and philanthropic sectors.  We always strive to do more, but our long-term goal is to be put out of business by institutional changes that render us obsolete.  When Kids Corporation is no longer needed, our mission will be accomplished.