Meet Our Panelists

February 2023 Membership Meeting

At the Lead-Free NJ (LFNJ) Membership Meeting we will have:

• • A panel with Lead-Free NJ Partners: Community Efforts & Opportunities for Support
  • Incorporating Equity into Lead-Free NJ
  • Sharing of Resources

Kelvin is responsible for collaborative development projects involving crime prevention, healthy housing, and local advocacy/empowerment. Specially, he works on Healthy Homes and Communities, the Community Reinvestment Act, Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, and numerous other projects that increase the capacity of the Network. Prior to working with the Network, Kelvin was a recent graduate of Rutgers-Camden with a BA in History, and has since become one of the leading figures on matters of CPTED, through the creation and presentation of educational workshops, seminars, and field exercises involving the subject.

Yvette Jordan is a high school History teacher in Newark Public Schools and an Activist for environmental and social justice. She is a sought after public speaker on the effects of environmental justice on urban centers and has a keen interest in educating her community on the importance of advocating for safe water.

Jordan was born and raised in New York City and worked in New York City government for over 20 years.  She served as a Policy Analyst for the Dinkins Administration; her area of expertise was youth services.  Following the fall of apartheid, Yvette went to South Africa to serve as a Consultant to NGOs (non-governmental organizations) on governance for two (2) years.  Following her sojourn to the ‘motherland’, Jordan realized she enjoyed imparting information and training constituencies.  She applied to Newark Public Schools and became a History teacher in 2005.  Since that time, Yvette has enjoyed teaching high school students African American and US History as well as Social Justice.

Her activism in Newark began as a founding member of Newark Education Workers Caucus (NEW Caucus), a group of educators committed to fighting for social justice issues within education for all educators, students and their families. Since the lead water crisis in Newark, she has been a fierce advocate for environmental justice.

Jordan and her husband, Frank, are homeowners in Newark, NJ.

Ruth Ann Norton is President & CEO of the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to advancing racial and health equity and opportunity through healthy housing. A national expert and advocate on green and healthy homes, she directs GHHI’s groundbreaking work across the United States where 65 cities, counties and states are using housing as a platform for improved health and social outcomes. Through the implementation of the GHHI comprehensive housing intervention model and its best practices Toolbox that she helped develop, cities are improving the ability of children to arrive in the classroom healthy and ready to learn and to stay in school through reduced asthma related absences.

The architect of the State of Maryland’s 99% reduction in childhood lead poisoning, Ms. Norton has developed over 45 pieces of successful healthy housing legislation that focus on reducing health disparities. Through its current feasibility and development work with healthcare partners and jurisdictions nationally, she heads a GHHI technical assistance team that is creating sustainable models for Medicaid reimbursement for preventive asthma and household injury services.

Ms. Norton serves as a member of the: EPA Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee, National Leadership Academy for the Public’s Health (NLAPH), National Council of State Housing Agencies’ National Advisory Group, Ohio Asthma Council, and Maryland Lead Poisoning Prevention Commission, and was previously a federally appointed liaison to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention. A founding member of the NEWHAB Advisory Board, she provides a leading voice to articulate the significant health and social benefits of weatherization investments through her advisory role with Energy Efficiency for All (EEFA) and has authored research publications on the non-energy benefits of energy efficiency.

Ms. Norton is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Community Health Leader, a Weinberg Foundation Fellow, a WE ACT Environmental and Social Justice awardee, and received the Tony Woods Award for Excellence from the Building Performance Industry in 2016 for her efforts to integrate energy efficiency upgrades with healthy homes interventions on a national scale. Under her leadership, GHHI has been awarded the HUD Secretary’s Award for Healthy Homes and the EPA’s National Environmental Leadership Award in Asthma Management for its innovative programs.

Elyse has over 25 years of experience in developing and managing environmental health projects in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. In 1999, she created Isles’ Environmental Health Initiative with funds from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The program has since grown to address a broad range of policy and practice challenges in the areas of lead poisoning, asthma, pest management, healthy schools, open space needs, exercise, and nutrition. Elyse has presented extensively on lead, health issues, and the need to work across sectors to achieve healthier homes and better services for those already affected by lead. Prior to joining Isles, Ms. Pivnick was a project manager for a civil engineering firm in Austin, TX, where she also served as a member of the Austin Environmental Commission. Additionally, she was the founding executive director of a community development organization in Philadelphia and later became the project coordinator for Philadelphia’s Office of Housing and Community Development, overseeing projects that included housing rehabilitation, infrastructure reconstruction, community planning, and organizing. Elyse is board chair of the National Center for Healthy Housing. She has a master’s degree in city planning from the University of Pennsylvania.

Diane manages program staff responsible for New Jersey Future’s Mainstreaming Green Infrastructure program, stormwater utilities, lead in drinking water policy, and general water policy. Diane plays a leadership role in policy development and advocacy, provides technical assistance, and works to advance program goals. She has over 20 years of experience in water and sustainability issues. In addition to her work as a consultant for organizations and agencies focused on water resources and sustainable development, Diane also served as a program officer at the William Penn Foundation. She holds a B.A. in anthropology and geology from Vanderbilt University, as well as a Master of Regional Planning with a concentration in land use and environmental planning from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Email Diane or reach her by phone at 609-393-0008 ext. 110.

Resources