Beverlyn Grissom
With a degree in Maritime Law Beverlyn Grissom serves as the CEO
of The Camden Shipping Corporation®. Although she always had a
passion for maritime transportation, she spent much of her working
life gaining experience in other areas.
Beverlyn grew up in East Orange, New Jersey and graduated from Rutgers University, Newark with a Bachelors Degree in Business Management. After Rutgers, Beverlyn went on to New Orleans, Louisiana, where she was the first African American female, in the history of the United States, to graduate from Tulane University with a Maritime Law Certificate.
Upon graduating from law school, she served as Development Director for her all-girls Catholic high school, Benedictine Academy, which was in jeopardy of closing, when Beverlyn agreed to delay her professional career and raised close to 1 million dollars for the school.
Shortly thereafter, Beverlyn was hired by Acting Governor Donald T. DiFrancesco to work with the Republican Senate Caucus. Beverlyn served as an aide to the Senate Education Committee. In that capacity, she most notably helped develop New Jersey’s multi billion dollar School Construction initiative. Also, she worked extensively on developing urban education reform policies.
Using her experience as an Education Committee Aide, Beverlyn formed a consulting company – Abbottlinks, Inc. to provide direct consultative guidance to school districts, universities, private providers, and construction companies with respect to New Jersey Supreme Court ordered urban education reform mandates.
As an outgrowth of her consulting activities, Beverlyn saw a tremendous need in inner city communities to have health care and early childhood education combined. She went on to co-found Horizon Pediatric Systems, Inc. to provide a safety net for low income families with small medically fragile children. Beverlyn serves as Vice President.
Then one day, while standing on a dock in Camden, a poor city with an artery to the world market, Beverlyn was inspired to co-found the Camden Shipping Corporation®. There has never been a minority female-owned ocean transportation company in the history of the United States. Moreover, female-owned ocean transportation companies are virtually non-existent worldwide. The Camden Shipping Corporation® was formed to fill a void in the maritime industry by expanding opportunities for women and minorities to meaningfully participate in the maritime trades.
Camden Shipping Corporation® now serves as a trailblazer for women and minorities nationwide, and as a magnet for the international market to bring economic revival to the City of Camden.
Community Involvement
In her personal time, Beverlyn has helped countless individuals go to college and realize their dreams by assisting them with career counseling, the acquisition of scholarships and student loans. She also assists struggling college students with finding the academic assistance they need to be successful in school.
Beverlyn devotes the lion’s share of her spare time to the developmentally disabled. She often identifies developmentally disabled persons in need of help when navigating the State’s social services programs. She’s often assisted individuals financially and otherwise with finding housing, employment, legal services, transportation, and most of all compassion. Her advocacy has also led her to sit in on meetings to ensure that developmentally disabled persons fully understand their entitlements.
She has also volunteered time with school districts to assist them with expanding their school construction plans to jumpstart citywide development.
Beverlyn is a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and is also the Vice President of the National Association of Women Business Owners, South Jersey Chapter. She is also a member of the following organizations: Healthcare Businesswoman’s Association, the National Association of Child Care Professionals (NACCP), the Women’s President’s Organization, The American and African Business Women’s Alliance (AABWA), The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and the Southern Jersey Association for the Education of Young Children.
Awards and Milestones
- 2007 – Certified Cutter Suction Dredge Operator, Texas A & M University
- Certificate of Special Recognition – Congressman Saxton
- Proclamation (Women Business Owners Advocacy) – Gloucester County Board of Chosen Freeholders
- Joint Senate Resolution (Women Business Owners Advocacy) – New Jersey Senate and New Jersey Assembly
- The Network Journal's 40 Under 40 Achievement Award
