Our Team

George Sowa, Founding CEO

George Sowa, whose family history in Trenton dates back over 100 years, brings a successful 30+ year career in real estate development to his role as founding CEO of Greater Trenton.

For 18 years prior to joining Greater Trenton, Mr. Sowa was with Brandywine Realty Trust, one of the nation’s largest publicly traded, full-service, real estate companies. Most recently, he served as Brandywine’s executive vice president and senior managing director and was responsible for overseeing all aspects of the company’s New Jersey and Delaware operations and development.

Sowa has substantial experience in urban development including leading Brandywine’s selection by Campbell Soup Company to be the developer of the Camden Gateway District — a transformative 1.5 million square foot, mixed-use project for that city. As a result, Mr. Sowa played a key role in Subaru’s selection of Camden as the site for its $118 million North American headquarters.

Prior to joining Brandywine, Mr. Sowa was director of development for Keating Development Company and was also director of development and operations for Linpro/LCOR. He has served as Vice Chairman of the National Board and Executive Committee of the Commercial Real Estate Development Association (NAIOP), and is a past President of NAIOP’s New Jersey chapter. He is also the past Chairman of the Board of the Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey. Mr. Sowa currently serves as a Trustee and Executive Committee member of the Capital City Redevelopment Corporation (“CCRC”). The CCRC is a state agency, in but not of, the Department of Treasury. Created by statute in 1988, CCRC is charged with facilitating redevelopment in the Capital District of the City of Trenton.

A native to Trenton, New Jersey, Mr. Sowa holds a B.S. Degree from Cornell University.

Bryan Evans, Vice President

Bryan Evans joined Greater Trenton in 2017 as Vice President of Marketing and Communications with more than 20 years of experience leading major marketing efforts for companies in economic development, real estate, non-profit, technology, and business/financial arenas. He is Founder and Editor-in-Chief of TrentonDaily, a popular online news publication highlighting people, organizations, initiatives, historic moments, events, arts & culture, and business attractions that make Trenton, NJ a unique and inspiring place to live, work and play. 

Prior to joining Greater Trenton, Evans served as Vice President of Marketing for a prominent real estate development firm promoting the company’s existing real estate assets and philanthropic organization. Prior to that, he served as Director of Public Relations and Publications at Select Greater Philadelphia, where he was instrumental in promoting the 11-County Greater Philadelphia Region as a premier business destination. He also served as Director of Policy Communications for The Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce. 

Prior to the Chamber, Evans served as the Director of Public Affairs for the Alliance for Downtown New York, where he worked with the mayor’s office and other city, state and private agencies to help boost the region’s economy by promoting the businesses, cultural institutions landmark attractions, and real estate incentives after the devastation of 9/11. He also headed up public relations and communications for a number of start-up companies after managing several key client relationships at Burson-Marsteller in New York City. 

Earlier in his career, Evans served as Manager of Special Events for the Central Park Conservancy, where he led large-scale events at New York City’s prominent Central Park. Evans is a 2020 Lead New Jersey Fellow and serves on the boards of Trenton Downtown Association, The Father Center of New Jersey, and United Way of Northern New Jersey. He earned his BA in Communications and Psychology at Hunter College, NY and completed his MBA in Computer Information Systems at Baruch College, NY.

Shirley Michael, Office Manager

Chelsey Johnstone, Project Manager

Chelsey Johnstone joined Greater Trenton in 2020 as Project Manager with a varied set of skills.

Prior to joining Greater Trenton, Ms. Johnstone worked as a Coordinator for Mercer County Community College’s Student Life & Leadership Department. There, she helped to organize established clubs, arrange leadership and educational development programs, and assisted with the planning of campus-wide events. While in her previous position, Johnstone worked with the college and its partners at TDI Connect on their Free Computer Program that helped to provide desktop computers to students in need.

Prior to her time at Mercer County Community College, Ms. Johnstone studied both Music and Communication at the university and was the Editor-in-Chief of The College VOICE newspaper. Throughout her time period as editor, Johnstone received over 8 awards from the New Jersey Collegiate Press Association for her various writings, photographs and interviewing skills.

In the summer of 2019, Johnstone flew out to La Jolla, California to present a seminar on journalistic interviewing skills to aspiring writers at the Associated Collegiate Press Midwinter National College Media Convention. That same year, Johnstone received the David West Memorial Scholarship given by the New Jersey Press Foundation for her excellence in the journalistic atmosphere.

Currently, Ms. Johnstone is finishing up her BA in Journalism at Montclair State University.

Charlene Richards, Contributing Writer

Charlene Richards, a graduating senior at Trenton Central High School, completed Greater Trenton’s Annual Journalism and Communications Internship and Scholarship Program in August of 2020. Richards is currently pursuing her college education at The George Washington University. 

“Since launching this internship and scholarship initiative last summer, we have been thoroughly impressed with the caliber of talent and professionalism displayed by these graduating Trenton Central High School students,” said Bryan Evans, Vice President at Greater Trenton. “While Charlene completed her internship with us, she continues to provide positive narratives about our resilient Capital City as a contributing writer.”

Emily De Jesus, Contributing Writer