Steve Cook Receives Executive Excellence Award at Arc of New Jersey’s Annual Ceremony

On May 20th, 2025, the Arc of New Jersey honored Steve Cook, Executive Director of the Arc Mercer, with its prestigious Executive Excellence Award at its Annual Awards Ceremony. The event recognized Cook’s nearly 20 years of transformative leadership and unwavering commitment to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD).

The Arc Mercer team showed up in full support, with staff, board members, and leadership all present to celebrate. Former New Jersey Senator Peter Inverso presented Cook with a formal Senate Resolution, commending his advocacy and leadership on behalf of the IDD community.

Tom Baffuto, Executive Director of the Arc of New Jersey, shared his admiration:

“There’s a lot of things I can call Steve… an innovator, a leader, an expert on staff recruiting… I can go on and on but there's just not enough time to talk about all the things Steve has done.”

In his acceptance speech, Cook redirected the spotlight to his team:

“While this award bears my name, let's be clear, this is recognition of the efforts of the entire team that supports Arc Mercer.”

He highlighted key milestones under his leadership, including becoming the largest employer of people with disabilities in Mercer County, eliminating subminimum wage, and expanding statewide healthcare services through the Arc Mercer Healthcare Center. Cook also emphasized a landmark achievement:

“We developed the nation’s first clinical group specifically supporting LGBTQ+ individuals in the IDD community.”

In recognizing success, Cook credited the agency’s frontline workers, stating:

“Our mission-critical staff are the most important asset that Arc Mercer has… this recognition tonight is because of you.”

He also paid tribute to the late Beverly Roberts, who helped make the Arc Mercer Healthcare Center a reality, and acknowledged the critical support of community partners and vendors.

One of the most powerful moments came when Cook spoke about the agency’s international efforts:

“Our DSP staff have actually engaged in a pay-it-forward program. This initiative is to form IDD service agencies in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and in Nigeria.”

The agency aspires to help create the first international Arc chapter, and in a symbolic moment, Zeogar Wilson, former Liberian government minister and CEO of one of the Arc Mercer’s two partner agencies in Liberia, was present to witness the recognition.

Cook closed with deep appreciation:

“The Arc staff, families, and consumers owe you a huge debt of gratitude for your contribution, time, and energy to our mission. And I owe you a personal thank you for always being there for me… Tom Baffuto, our vendors, our leadership team, board, and our DSPs—this award is a testament to your great success. You’ve helped to make Arc Mercer a progressive, successful, mission-focused chapter that joins the list of all the other successful chapters in New Jersey.”

This award not only celebrates Steve Cook’s leadership—it reflects the dedication, innovation, and collective spirit of the entire Arc Mercer community.