Leadership

Rashan Prailow

Rashan Prailow

Co-chair

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Rashan Prailow is a finance consultant, speaker, community servant, and founder of consulting agency THINK Group. Formerly, Rashan served in the White House during the Obama Administration within the Office of Management & Budget and the Presidential Personnel Office. Through his community service efforts, Rashan has collaborated with the New Jersey Department of Education, New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission, and New Jersey Courts to name a few. Rashan holds an associate degree from Camden County College, bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a master of finance degree from Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business

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Debbie Mans

Debbie Mans

Co-chair

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Debbie most recently served as the Deputy Commissioner at the NJ Department of Environmental Protection, where she provided leadership and direction for many of the Department’s climate change, renewable energy, and environmental justice efforts. Previously, Debbie served as Baykeeper of the NY/NJ Baykeeper, as well as an environmental and energy policy adviser to former governor Jon S. Corzine. She is the former chair of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, former trustee of New Jersey Future, and current member of the Borough Council in Glen Ridge. Debbie earned a certification from the International Association for Public Participation in Foundations in Public Participation.

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Staci Berger

Staci Berger

President and CEO, Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey

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As the President and CEO of the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey, Staci Berger directs this statewide association of over 150 community-based development organizations, created in 1989 to enhance efforts to create affordable housing, revitalize communities, and improve the climate for community development in New Jersey. Prior to joining the Network, Staci worked for nine years with New Jersey Citizen Action, where she went from being an organizer to the Political and Legislative Director. She received her master’s degree in Public Affairs and Politics from Rutgers University in 2004. Staci has served as an associate trainer for the Midwest Academy, a leading national training institute for the progressive movement, and worked as a labor organizer with the AFL-CIO Organizing Institute and the Health Professionals and Allied Employees/AFT/AFL-CIO.

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Peter Chen

Peter Chen

Senior Policy Analyst
New Jersey Policy Perspective

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Peter’s work at Advocates for Children of New Jersey (ACNJ) has included the coordination of non-profit and community-based organizations in 2020 Census outreach. In addition to Census work, Peter is responsible for policy analysis and advocacy at the state and local levels, in areas such as childhood lead poisoning prevention, chronic absenteeism, paid family leave, and early intervention services for very young children with disabilities. Peter began working at ACNJ as a 2014 Skadden Fellow. Prior to joining ACNJ, Peter clerked for Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson of the Wisconsin Supreme Court and taught high school English in Chicago. He received his J.D. from Yale Law School and his B.A. from Indiana University-Bloomington.

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Lupe Flores LFNJ Leadership Headshot

Anthony Diaz

Co-founder & Executive Director
Newark Water Coalition

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Anthony Diaz was born and raised in Newark, NJ where he currently resides and is the oldest of 4 boys. He is the co-founder and executive director of the Newark Water Coalition, an organization dedicated to raising awareness about the city’s lead water crisis and other social justice issues. The Newark Water Coalition has given out over 100,000 gallons of water and over 90,000 lbs of food. He has traveled nationally and internationally to work on water issues on indigenous lands and rural communities. Anthony was able to represent Newark at the United Nations Climate Conference in Glasgow, Scotland. He believes that people power can win against the interconnected struggles of humanity. He is an avid Star Wars and Anime fan.

Lupe Flores LFNJ Leadership Headshot

Lupe Flores

Program Officer,
The Fund for New Jersey

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Lupe is the Program Officer for The Fund for New Jersey and also was The Fund’s Lieberman Philanthropy Fellow (2016-2018) working as a Program Associate. Previously, Lupe was a Finance Fellow at the Cook County Comptroller’s Office and gained direct service experience at Osborne Association working at Rikers Island Jail, West Care Foundation, and Cook County Jail Day Reporting Center. She graduated from the University of Chicago with a B.A. in public policy and is pursuing a Ph.D. in criminal justice at Rutgers University, Newark, where she has continued racial equity analysis of New Jersey’s parole, bail, and sentencing processes.

Catherine Klinger

Yvette Jordan

Newark Education Workers Caucus

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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.

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Scott Millard

Scott Millard

Chief Executive Officer
Paterson Habitat for Humanity

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Scott joined Paterson Habitat for Humanity as Chief Executive Officer in June 2019. He is an experienced leader, strategist, program manager, and communicator with an established global track record of turning vision into strategy–and strategy into reality–across industries and sectors. Scott has over 20 years of experience across the corporate, non-profit, and faith sectors, delivering operational success and programmatic change at the confluence of people, process, and technology. He has worked as Global Program Manager at Accenture, Managing Director of Three C Solutions LLC, President & Co-founder of Connor’s House, and Transitional Lead Pastor of Bethlehem Church. Scott has served as a Guest Lecturer and Speaker at universities and hospitals from Philadelphia to Boston, as well as an Adjunct Professor at Seton Hall University. He has served as a member of the Family Promise of Morris County Coordinators Advisory Team and the New Jersey Statewide Pediatric Palliative Care Coalition, as well as the Vice Chair of United Cerebral Palsy of Northern, Central and Southern NJ. Scott holds a Bachelor of Science in Commerce & Engineering Sciences from Drexel University.

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Ruth Ann Norton LFNJ Leadership Headshot

Ruth Ann Norton

President & CEO
Green & Healthy Homes Initiative

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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 Pivnick

Elyse Pivnick

Senior Director, Environmental Health

Isles, Inc.

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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.

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Diane Schrauth LFNJ Leadership Headshot

Diane Schrauth

Policy Director,
New Jersey Future

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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.

Shereyl Snider

Shereyl Snider

Community Organizer,
East Trenton Collaborative

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Shereyl Snider joined the East Trenton Collaborative (ETC) in 2019 as a Community Organizer. Originally a New Yorker, she has lived in East Trenton since 2003. As an ETC staff member, Shereyl provides dynamic leadership, amplifies the voices of the marginalized, facilitates collaboration among individuals from diverse backgrounds, and develops a robust commercial and residential community. After moving to Trenton, she earned an associate’s degree in Early Child Care from Mercer County Community College and worked as a substitute teacher in the Hamilton School District for five years. As a neighborhood resident and volunteer at the ETC, she learned how to organize in her local community. In addition to her work in the East Trenton neighborhood, Shereyl is also a member of The City of Trenton American Rescue Plan Committee championing for a lead safe Trenton.

Staci Berger

Tiffany Stewart

Assistant Director and Attorney, City of Newark Department of Water Utilities

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Tiffany Stewart is a Newark native who holds a Bachelor’s degree in Public Health from George Washington University and a Juris Doctor degree from Seton Hall University School of Law. She continued her career in public service at the City of Newark as Attorney for the Department of Water and Sewer Utilities. In her current role, Ms. Stewart handles regulatory compliance and various legal aspects of the Department’s operations, as well as administrative, personnel, procurement, contract management, capital improvement, and infrastructure projects. She also assists the Department’s director with managing the Utility’s budget. Ms. Stewart was responsible for the development, creation, and launch of the Department’s first educational program for students of Newark, the Newark Watershed Science and Leadership Academy. She continues her career in public service and looks forward to making her mark in the community in which she was raised.

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Chris Sturm

Shevone Torres

Community ORganizer,
Black Lives Matter, NJ

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Shevone Torres is a 41-year-old mother of two and grandmother of two. Torres has been involved in social justice and equity work for more than 20 years. She was born in South Jersey and lived most of her life there. After being directly impacted by lead, Torres decided to use her negative experience as an opportunity to educate and advocate for others in similar situations.

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