:: Biographies ::

## 87 | P71-16 | B73-14 ##


ADRIANNA HARDAWAY
Rebuilding Together NYC
http://rebuildingtogethernyc.org/

Adrianna Hardaway joined Rebuilding Together NYC in August 2014 and is currently serving as the AmeriCorps Outreach Coordinator. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and Anthropology from Drew University. While at Drew, Adrianna played rugby for the Drew Women's Rugby Football Club and even served as team captain her senior year. After her service ends, Adrianna hopes to receive her Master's Degree in International Relations. A New Jersey native, Adrianna hopes to explore New York City during her term of service and take advantage of all that NYC has to offer.

AL HUANG
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
http://www.nrdc.org/

Al Huang is a senior attorney in NRDC's urban program in New York. Al coordinates the environmental justice work at NRDC. He litigates and advocates on behalf of low-income communities throughout the country who are fighting environmental hazards, utilizing a model that emphasizes community-based organizing and litigation. Al also helps to coordinate the marshalling of NRDC technical and legal resources in support of environmental justice communities. His work involves litigation and policy advocacy at the local, state, and federal levels.

ALICIA BARKSDALE
3333 Broadway Tenant Association

Alicia Diana Barksdale was born and raised in Harlem with her large family. Alicia is a Community Advocate and currently is the Vice Chair of West Harlem Empowerment Coalition (WHEC), Chair of Housing Coalition Against Downsizing -Tenant Helping Tenants (H CAD-THT), Co-Chair of NAACP Mid-Manhattan Branch Housing Committee, Volunteer for CB9 Youth, 30th Precinct Community Council, WE ACT Member and 3333 Broadway Tenant Association President. Alicia has an Associate's Degree in Business from Boricua College and is working on her Bachelor's degree.

ALYSSA CREIGHTON
Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH)
http://ccceh.org/

Alyssa Creighton is the Community Outreach and Translation Program Coordinator at Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health. Her work includes collaborating with community partners, building educational materials and translating the findings of the Center's researchers. Her previous experience includes leading community asthma education workshops. She received her Master of Public Health in environmental health policy from Columbia University and her BA in International Development from American University.

ANA PARKS
WE ACT for Environmental Justice
http://weact.org/

ANHTHU HOANG
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - Region 2
http://www2.epa.gov/aboutepa/epa-region-2

Anhthu Hoang is currently an Environmental Justice Integration Specialist at the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Region 2.

From 2005-2011, Anhthu was the General Counsel at WE ACT for Environmental Justice.

ARTURO GARCIA-COSTAS
New York Community Trust
http://www.nycommunitytrust.org/

Arturo Garcia-Costas is a program officer at the New York Community Trust. He oversees the national and New York City environmental grantmaking process. Mr. Garcia-Costas, who has worked for state and federal environmental agencies as well as for a U.S. Congressman and the United Nations, brings more than 20 years of experience. Mr. Garcia-Costas has a Bachelor's from the City University of New York in International Affairs and Theater, and a J.D. from Stanford Law School, where he focused on international and environmental law.

ASHLINN QUINN
Mailman School of Public Health
http://www.mailman.columbia.edu/

Ashlinn Quinn is a Ph.D candidate in Environmental Health Sciences at the Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University. Her work focuses on the health impacts of climate change and on interventions that can simultaneously provide benefits for the environment and for human health. She is currently focusing her dissertation on two research projects having to do with modifiable air quality issues at the household level. The first is a New York City-based project investigating linkages between indoor temperature and humidity in New York City housing and health outcomes such as colds, flus, and heat stress. The second project is located in Ghana, West Africa, and examines the health ramifications of exposure to air pollution as a consequence of cooking using wood fuel. Ashlinn completed a B.A. with dual majors in Psychology and Music at UC Berkeley and an M.A. in Anthropology at the University of Chicago. Prior to beginning her doctoral studies she worked in outreach and education at organizations including the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum in Chicago, public television station Thirteen/WNET in New York, and Columbia University's Center for New Media Teaching and Learning.

AURASH KHAWARZAD
WE ACT for Environmental Justice
http://weact.org/

BILL SOTHERN
Microecologies®, Inc.
http://www.microecologies.com/

Bill is a Certified Industrial Hygienist and has been an industrial hygiene practitioner for the past 20 years, with a concentration on indoor environmental issues. In 1993, Bill founded Microecologies®, Inc. to provide environmental evaluations and clean-up solutions for clients in the New York City area. Microecologies® has conducted health based investigations for over 3,000 clients and have performed or directly supervised the decontamination work or the implementation of engineering controls for over 2,000 of these clients, many of whom Microecologies® continues to serve.

BILL WALSH
Healthy Building Network (HBN)
http://www.healthybuilding.net/

Bill Walsh is the Founder and Executive Director of the Healthy Building Network (HBN). Since 2000 HBN has been defining the leading edge of healthy building practices that increase transparency in the building products industry, reduce human exposures to chemicals in building materials, and create market incentives for healthier innovations in manufacturing. He is a Visiting Professor at Parsons The New School for Design, and a founding Board Member of the Health Product Declaration (HPD) Collaborative. The HPD is the first open, standard format for reporting building product contents and associated health hazards. In 2012 Bill received the US Green Building Council's Leadership In Advocacy Award and was named a Fellow at the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production at the University of Massachusetts. In 2013 Bill was awarded the Healthy Schools Hero by the Healthy Schools Network. Previously he served as a national campaign director at Greenpeace USA, and held staff attorney positions with the US Public Interest Research Group and the Institute for Public Representation at Georgetown University Law Center. He holds a J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law and LLM in Public Interest Advocacy from Georgetown University.

BRANDON KIELBASA
Cooper Square Committee
http://coopersquare.org/

Brandon Kielbasa is a Tenant Organizer and Housing Counselor. He has worked for the Cooper Square Committee in New York City's Lower East Side for the last eight years and now serves as Lead Organizer.

Brandon has a Bachelor of Arts from Hunter College and a Certificate of Completion in Advanced Community Organizing from the Center for Neighborhood Leadership.

He sees himself as a Social Change Practitioner and practices community organizing because he believes that it is essential for individuals and communities to be engaged in solving their own problems and for them to gain strength and knowledge by doing so.

DR. CARRIE BETH LASLEY
Center for Urban Studies at Wayne State
http://www.cus.wayne.edu/

Dr. Carrie Beth Lasley, PhD joined the Center for Urban Studies at Wayne State University in August 2013. Dr. Lasley's research focuses on the intersection of environmental risk and the built environment. At the Center, Dr. Lasley has focused on Healthy Homes research and urban safety as well as the environmental and health impacts of demolitions. Dr. Lasley oversees the Healthy Homes Case Management System, manages data analysis for the HHRS Three-City Survey project, and contributes her GIS analysis skills to projects as needed. She has presented preliminary findings on the HHRS Three-City Survey project at the 2014 Urban Affairs Association conference (with Dr. Lyke Thompson) and at the 2014 National Healthy Homes Conference. Her work prior to joining the Center included examining rebuilding efforts and residual risk as it relates to extreme weather in post-Katrina, New Orleans with the Rebuilding Information Center, the City of New Orleans, State of Louisiana and FEMA. In relation to natural disasters, she has examined critical infrastructure failure and community-level resilience. Dr. Lasley has also worked on research related to dispersed public-housing redevelopment, temporary housing and rebuilding for resilience and energy efficiency, and the environmental impact of Deepwater Horizon toxic releases related to the petrochemical industry. She has also worked on a wide range of projects related to water hazards, storm water management, and improving federal programming related to disasters including the anticipated impact of climate change.

CATALINA GARZÓN
Ditching Dirty Diesel Collaborative (DDDC)
http://www.ditchingdirtydiesel.org/

Catalina Garzón has over fifteen years of experience in leadership development, popular education, training and technical assistance on environmental health and justice issues in partnership with community-based organizations and coalitions. Her work has included coordinating community-based planning, participatory action research, and participatory curriculum development partnerships with community-based organizations and coalitions on issues ranging from youth justice to freight transport planning and climate change adaptation. Previously Ms. Garzón worked as a community redevelopment researcher with the Community Partnerships Office at the Institute of Urban and Regional Development, served as project coordinator of Urban Habitat's Leadership Institute for Sustainable Communities, and directed the Community Strategies for Sustainability and Justice Program at the Pacific Institute. She holds a Master's Degree in City and Regional Planning from UC Berkeley and is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management at UCB, where she is focusing her action research dissertation on assessing the role of participatory research in environmental justice activism in the East Bay Area. In addition to co-authoring research reports and curriculum guides with community partners, she has co-authored publications with community partners in several peer-reviewed academic journals including the American Journal of Public Health and the Environmental Justice Journal. Ms. Garzón is the 2010 recipient of the Thomas I. Yamashita Prize, which honors a young scholar-activist whose work serves as a bridge between the academy and community.

CECIL CORBIN-MARK
WE ACT for Environmental Justice
http://weact.org/

Cecil D. Corbin-Mark holds a BA in political science from Hunter College and an Mphil. in International Studies from Oxford University in the U.K. He currently serves as Deputy Director of WE ACT for Environmental Justice (WE ACT), Co-coordinator of the Just Green Partnership, a member of Governor Paterson's Renewable Energy Task Force and a Commissioner on the MTA Blue Ribbon Commission on Sustainability.

CECIL HOUSE
New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA)
http://www.nyc.gov/nycha

Cecil House is the New York City Housing Authority's General Manager and Chief operating officer for North America's largest public housing authority, managing 178,895 apartments in 334 developments throughout New York City in 2,597 residential buildings. The General Manager manages approximately 11,563 employees and has budgetary responsibility for more than $3 Billion. A total of 629,345 New Yorkers are served by NYCHA's Public Housing and Section 8 Programs.

COLLEEN FLYNN
LISC New York City
http://www.lisc.org/nyc/

Colleen Flynn is the Green and Healthy Neighborhoods Director at LISC New York City, an organization that combines corporate, government and philanthropic resources to help nonprofit community development corporations revitalize distressed neighborhoods. The Green and Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative seeks to create healthier, more energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable housing and communities. Before coming to LISC NYC, Colleen worked for PolicyLink, a national institute advancing economic and social equity. Prior to PolicyLink, she worked in San Francisco with the Neighborhood Parks Council (NPC), a nonprofit advocate for parks and open space. At NPC, Colleen led efforts to leverage community-driven park improvements and partnered with the City to implement innovative park financing tools. Colleen also served as a Municipal Development Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala, creating community advisory councils to facilitate decision-making between local government, community leaders and international development organizations. Colleen holds a master's degree in Community and Regional Planning from the University of Texas, Austin and a bachelor's degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

COREY D. JOHNSON
New York City Council, Health Committee Chair
http://council.nyc.gov/

Corey Johnson is a New York City Councilmember for District 3, representing the Manhattan's West Side. Corey led Community Board 4 in negotiating for thousands of new units of permanent affordable family housing, educational scholarships for underserved children, and pressuring New York State to protect our watershed from hydrofracking. Corey stood up for protecting our parks and recreational facilities from over development, reducing class sizes in our public schools, and restoring the Mayor's proposed cuts to senior centers and meal programs.

DAN COHEN
Housing Partnership
http://housingpartnership.com/

DAN RIEBER
Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation
http://www.nmic.org/

Daniel Rieber has 26 years experience working in the field of energy efficiency. For four years Mr. Rieber performed energy audits and was a construction manager, in multi-family buildings for the Weatherization Department of New York City Housing Preservation and Development's Energy Conservation Division. Currently, Mr. Rieber serves as the Weatherization Director at Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation (NMIC). In that capacity he continues conducting energy audits and construction management for the Weatherization Assistance Program at NMIC. Dan is also an active board member of the Association For Energy Affordability (AEA) for the last 19 years and for the past 6 years a member of the NYSWDA board of directors. Dan is certified as an EPA Lead Paint Supervisor and has a BA degree from The State University of New York at Stony Brook. Dan has presented at past ACI conferences, National and Regional WAP conferences, NESEA Boston / NYC and at each of the Multifamily Conferences held in NYC and Chicago.

DANIEL KASS
New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH)
http://www.nyc.gov/health

Daniel Kass is the Deputy Commissioner for the Division of Environmental Health Service at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. He is the Chair of the CDC Board of Scientific Counselors for the National Center for Environmental Health/ATSDR, and serves on the advisory committee for the Columbia University Children's Environmental Health Center. He holds a Sc.B. degree from Brown University and M.S.P.H degree from the UCLA School of Public Health, and completed doctoral studies in Public Administration at NYU.

DAVID D. FUKUZAWA
The Kresge Foundation
http://kresge.org/

David D. Fukuzawa, is the managing director of Kresge's Health Program, has more than 20 years of experience in philanthropy, with a special focus on vulnerable children and youth.

His experience as a youth worker and community organizer in Detroit and Chicago taught him that health and well-being are profoundly affected by the condition of the communities, schools and environment in which people live. Those lessons inform the efforts he has led to re-envision and redesign Kresge's approach to health grantmaking.

David joined Kresge in 2000 and has served as a program officer and senior program officer. In 2002, he helped develop the Special Opportunities Initiative. The initiative focused on building the capacity of high-impact organizations that reached underserved populations, but were uncompetitive in the foundation's historic bricks-and-mortar challenge program. He then managed the initiative.

He was a program officer at The Skillman Foundation in Detroit from 1990 to 1999. At Skillman, David focused on child and youth health. He was responsible for a major initiative to address the lack of safe and accessible out-of-school opportunities for Detroit youth, a major factor in the city's high incidence of violence, delinquency, substance abuse, and teen pregnancy. He also helped develop Michigan's first statewide childhood immunization registry.

Before his career in philanthropy, David served as director of human needs at New Detroit, Inc. (NDI), where he was responsible for policy analysis and development, particularly in the areas of welfare reform and health care reform. He drafted NDI's policy statement for health care reform and was NDI's liaison to the Michigan Legislature regarding liability/tort reform and its effect on physicians in Detroit. He also administered a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant, which established the first school-based health centers in the Detroit Public Schools.

David moved to Detroit in 1981, fresh from seminary, to work with youth on the streets, where he learned firsthand about the roots of urban drug-related violence. That experience directly informed a booklet, which he co-wrote while at NDI titled Drug Free Neighborhoods: How we can do it. The Michigan Substance Abuse and Traffic Safety Information Center reprinted the booklet in 1993 with a new title, Creating Drug Free Neighborhoods in Michigan: How we can do it.

A Yale University graduate, David also holds a master of divinity degree from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and a master of science in administration degree from Central Michigan University. He has published articles about urban issues and population health, including "Achieving Healthy Communities through Community-centered Health Systems" in the Winter 2013 edition of National Civic Review.

DAVID EVANS
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

http://ps.columbia.edu/
http://www.mailman.columbia.edu/

Dr. Evans is Professor of Clinical Sociomedical Sciences at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Dr. Evans has extensive experience conducting research to improve the health status of minority children and reduce asthma morbidity through the development of educational programs for both patients and health professionals. He directs the Community-Based Intervention Research Project which is testing the effectiveness of integrated pest management to reduce pests in New York City public housing.

DAVID NEWMAN
New York Committee for Occupational Safety & Health (NYCOSH)
http://nycosh.org/

DEBORAH NAGIN
New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH)
http://www.nyc.gov/health

Deborah is currently the Director of the Lead Poisoning Prevention Program for the New York City Department of Health.

DEIDRE SULLY
NYC Coalition for a Smoke-Free City
http://www.nycsmokefree.org/

Deidre Sully, MPH, is the Deputy Director of the NYC Coalition for a Smoke-Free City (the Coalition), a program of Public Health Solutions. Ms. Sully studied at Boston University, obtaining a Master's Degree in Public Health specializing in Health Policy and Management. Her 10 years in the healthcare industry is leveraged by her diverse experience in public health issues (oncology, diabetes and tobacco control), and ever-expanding portfolio of qualifications including, program and budget management, research, data analysis, and community outreach. Prior to joining the Coalition, Ms. Sully was a Research Study Specialist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, managing a multi-center Gastric Cancer Consortium which included nine major medical institutions nationwide. In her current role as Deputy Director, she oversees many of the Coalition's administrative and programmatic obligations, as well as the allocation of resources to help drive the Coalition's mission to promote a tobacco-free society in NYC. The NYC Coalition for a Smoke-Free City is a health advocacy group working to increase awareness around tobacco control in New York City. Partnering with community members, legislators, and health advocates, The Coalition supports local efforts for long term change throughout NYC, to ensure that every New Yorker have the right to breathe clean, smoke-free air where they live, work and play.

DELSENIA GLOVER
Tenants & Neighbors
http://www.tenantsandneighbors.org/

Delsenia Glover, Rent Regulation Organizer, is a long-time member of Tenants & Neighbors. She is also leader of the tenant association in her rent stabilized development in Harlem. She is currently playing a lead role in the planning of the pilotTenant Leadership Institute that launched in January of 2014.

DENNIS DERRYCK
The New School for Public Engagement
Corbin Hill Food Project

http://www.newschool.edu/public-engagement/
http://corbinhillfoodproject.org/

Dennis Derryck's primary area of interest is on innovative policies and strategies impacting on the economic sustainability of nonprofit organizations. His background includes holding leadership positions in organizations involved in community economic development; operations and fiscal management and research and policy analysis. His leadership in organizing the Community Development Practicum with the New School: Parsons School of Architecture, Design and Lighting is one model of bridging themes with other schools within the University.

Mr. Derryck is also the founder of the Corbin Hill Food Project (CHFP), a network of rural farms and urban communities in New York. Corbin Hill works with farmers from upstate New York and community groups in New York City to deliver fresh, local produce to places that need it most like Harlem and the Bronx.

DR. DIANA HERNÁNDEZ
Mailman School of Public Health
http://www.mailman.columbia.edu/

Diana Hernández, PhD is an Assistant Professor of Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. Her research examines the intersections between the built environment (housing and neighborhoods), poverty and health with a particular emphasis on energy insecurity.

DONOVAN RICHARDS
New York City Council, Environmental Protection Committee Chair
http://council.nyc.gov/

Donovan Richards is a New York City Councilmember for District 31, representing the borough of Queens. The 31st Council District encompasses the communities of Laurelton, Rosedale, parts of Springfield Gardens, Bayswater, Hammels, Arverne, Edgemere, and Far Rockaway. In 2014, Councilman Richards was appointed by Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito to chair the committee on Environmental Protection which will help shape policies to create a cleaner, safer, and more sustainable city.

DOUG BRUGGE
Tufts University
http://www.tufts.edu/

Doug Brugge, has a PhD in cellular and developmental biology from Harvard University and a MS in industrial hygiene from the Harvard School of Public Health. He is a professor in the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine with secondary appointments at the Jonathan M. Tisch College of Citizenship and Public service, the Sackler School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Engineering. He is currently director of the Community Assessment of Freeway Exposure and Health study, a community-based participatory research project funded by NIEHS, NHLBI, NLM, EPA, HUD and the Kresge Foundation. He also directs the Tufts Community Research Center. He was an activist and organizer before settling into an academic career and since then has worked in community-collaborations with many neighborhoods of Boston, including Chinatown, which is a partner to CAFEH. His research has largely employed the model of community-based participatory research. He has over 140 academic and popular publications and is the Associate Editor of the Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health.

ELLEN TOHN
Tohn Environmental Strategies
http://www.tohnenvironmental.com/

Ellen Tohn is an environmental and health consultant with over 25 years of experience. She is the founder and principal of Tohn Environmental Strategies and a nationally recognized expert in housing based environmental health threats, green and healthy housing, indoor air quality, and lead poisoning prevention. Ms. Tohn works with housing developers, owners and managers to create green and healthy housing and develop the nationally recognized "One Touch" approach. She has assisted health advocates catalyze effective policy solutions; designed green and energy efficient programs that incorporate health protections; developed Federal and local training courses; and managed environmental health research studies. Ms. Tohn served as an advisor on indoor air quality issues to the US Green Building Council's LEED program, Enterprise Green Communities, EPA, the Department of Energy, and numerous other green building programs. Ms. Tohn is a nationally recognized trainer on green and healthy housing; having provided professional development to over 7,000 industry professionals. She received her BA from Cornell University and holds a Masters of City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). She is a member of the Wayland MA Energy Initiatives Advisory Committee.

ERIC WALKER
Environmental Justice Action Group of Western New York

Eric Walker has nearly a decade of experience working at the intersection of community organizing, neighborhood revitalization, sustainability, and economic justice. As co-founder of People United for Sustainable Housing (PUSH) in Buffalo, NY, his advocacy work with grassroots leaders led to targeted investment of Weatherization Assistance Program and Green and Healthy Homes Initiative dollars in PUSH's Green Development Zone, multi-million dollar transfers of state resources into low-income energy efficiency programs, and the implementation of Green Jobs/Green NY - the nation's first statewide energy efficiency program to use CBOs in demand generation and workforce recruitment.

Currently, Eric is a board member of the Environmental Justice Action Group of WNY and the inaugural Racial Equity Fellow for the Center for Social Inclusion's Energy Democracy project. At the center, he uses his advocacy and policy experience to identify ways to open energy policymaking tables to the voices of communities of color and low-income communities across New York State.

FELIX ZEMEL
Tufts University School of Medicine
http://medicine.tufts.edu/

Felix Zemel is the Health Administrator and Inspector at the Cohasset Board of Health. He is an experienced environmental health specialist with primary specialization in housing and food safety. His interests include all aspect of local public health and the interface between local public health, city planning, and engineering.

HONORABLE GAIL A. BREWER
Manhattan Borough President
http://manhattanbp.nyc.gov/

Gale A. Brewer is the 27th Manhattan Borough President, responsible for advising the Mayor and City Council on borough concerns, commenting on all land-use matters in the borough, advocating for the borough in the municipal budget process, and appointing members of Manhattan's 12 Community Boards. Ms. Brewer previously served on the City Council for 12 years. Brewer has an MPA from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, and did her undergraduate work at Columbia University and Bennington College.

GAVIN KEARNEY, ESQ.
New York Lawyers for the Public Interest
http://www.nylpi.org/

Gavin Kearney is the Director of the Environmental Justice Program at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. He provides legal assistance to low-income communities and communities of color in NYC on environmental and land use issues. These communities are disproportionately burdened by noxious and undesirable land uses and deprived of beneficial land uses. We work to strengthen communities' ability to assert their right to a healthy environment, while at the same time promoting community-driven economic development, affordable housing, open space, and community services.

ADMINISTRATOR GINA MCCARTHY
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
http://www.epa.gov/

Gina McCarthy is the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Appointed by President Obama in 2009 as Assistant Administrator for EPA's Office of Air and Radiation, Gina McCarthy has been a leading advocate for common-sense strategies to protect public health and the environment. She has worked at both the state and local levels on critical environmental issues and helped coordinate policies on economic growth, energy, transportation and the environment. McCarthy received a Bachelor of Arts in Social Anthropology from the University of Massachusetts at Boston and a joint Master of Science in Environmental Health Engineering and Planning and Policy from Tufts University.

HARVEY EPSTEIN
Urban Justice Center
https://www.urbanjustice.org/

Harvey Epstein is the Associate Director of the Urban Justice Center. In addition, he is the Project Director of the Community Development Project at the Urban Justice Center which supports dozens of community-based organizations to win legal cases, publish community driven research reports, assist with the formation of new organizations and cooperatives, and provide technical and transactional assistance in support of their work towards social justice. These cases are litigated in both state and federal court and are usually on behalf of groups of individuals organized by the community-based organization. Prior to working at UJC, Harvey was the Associate Director/Managing Attorney for Housing Conservation Coordinators ("HCC"), a community based Not-For-Profit organization which works to preserve decent affordable housing. Prior to working for HCC, Harvey was a staff attorney at the Community Law Offices for The Legal Aid Society. As a staff attorney, Harvey worked in the Housing Development Unit which represented tenant associations in affirmative litigation including rent strikes, and group actions seeking repairs. In addition, Harvey worked with numerous tenant associations in obtaining ownership of their buildings. Harvey was also instrumental in creating a Community Economic Development Project at The Legal Aid Society which assists small businesses and Not-For-Profits with transactional legal matters including incorporation, applications for tax exemption, negotiating commercial leases and loan agreements. Harvey is a graduate of Ithaca College and CUNY School of Law.

IRIS MELENDEZ
New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH)
http://www.nyc.gov/health

JACKLYN MICHELLE HOLMES
WE ACT Member
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weiOQYOCao0
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOK3BGFPzZg

Jacklyn Michelle Holmes is a WE ACT member who has spent her entire life in Harlem, including 21 years of her adult life living in a mold infested apartment located in the Polo Grounds. In 2005, at the vibrant age of 44, Michelle was forced to leave work permanently and go on disability. In 2013 she was diagnosed with Neuropathy, a disease stemming from "nerve damage, often causing issues such as weakness, numbness and pain, usually in your hands and feet." With the help of WE ACT, Michelle hopes to get her community involved in Environmental Justice issues, while educating others on the dangers of mold and indoor pollutants.

DR. JALONNE WHITE-NEWSOME
WE ACT for Environmental Justice
Environmental Justice Leadership Forum on Climate Change

http://weact.org/
http://www.ejleadershipforum.org/

JOEL GREGORY
Housing Authority of Kings County
http://www.hakc.com/

Starting at King County Housing Authority as a Weatherization Energy Auditor he broadened his scope becoming certified in the Master Home Environmentalist (MHE) program through the American Lung Association of Washington. His interest in sustainability led him to the Sustainable Building Advisor program where he conceived of and co-developed a sustainability program in the Housing Authority. He applied his Weatherization and MHE knowledge to manage a HUD Healthy Homes Asthma Study for three years and is back in Weatherization managing the single family division in King County.

JOHN LEE
Mayor's Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability (OLTPS)
http://www.nyc.gov/oltps

John Lee is the Deputy Director for Buildings and Energy Efficiency at the NYC Mayor's Office of Long Term Planning and Sustainability. In this capacity, he is leading the city's policy and legislative efforts driving the built environment to unprecedented energy efficiency standards. John's previous public sector service was with the NYC Department of Buildings as Senior Architect in the codes development division, and with the Department of City Planning where he served as an Urban Designer. He is a New York state licensed architect and a graduate of Rice University and Harvard University.

JONATHAN WILSON
National Center for Healthy Housing
http://www.nchh.org/

Jonathan Wilson has worked at NCHH for 22 years, most recently as the deputy director. He serves as the Coordinating Center Director for the Healthy Homes, Happy Kids green renovation study for Enterprise Community Partners. Previously, Mr. Wilson was director of Co-op Services for Worcester Common Ground, a community land trust in Worcester, MA. During his tenure at NCHH, Mr. Wilson has served as a program manager for research, technical assistance and policy work. He helped coordinate the Evaluation of the HUD Lead Hazard Control Grant Program: the largest and most comprehensive study of lead hazard control in housing ever undertaken in the United States. From 2005-2006, he managed a post-Katrina flood clean-up demonstration project in New Orleans with support from Enterprise Community Partners and NeighborWorks. Mr. Wilson also served as the NCHH representative to the federal Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention. He is the principal author of many reports and journal articles and has a BA in Government from Wesleyan University and a Master's in Public Policy from Duke University.

JUMAANE WILLIAMS
New York City Council, Housing and Buildings Committee Chair
http://council.nyc.gov/

Jumaane D. Williams (D-Brooklyn) represents the people of the 45th Council District in Brooklyn, having originally been elected in 2009, and re-elected in 2013. Williams serves as Deputy Leader of the New York City Council, and chair of the council's Committee on Housing and Buildings. Williams is co-chair of the council's Task Force to Combat Gun Violence, a co-founding member of the Progressive Caucus, and a member of the Black, Latino & Asian Caucus. He earned his Bachelor's Degree in Political Science and Master's Degree in Urban Policy and Administration at Brooklyn College.

KATRINA KORFMACHER
University of Rochester
http://www.rochester.edu/

Katrina Korfmacher, PhD is Associate Professor and Director of Community Outreach in University of Rochester Medical Center's Environmental Health Sciences Center (EHSC). She holds a MS in Water Quality Management and PhD in Environmental Studies from Duke University's Nicholas School of the Environment. The primary focus of her outreach work is addressing environmental health and justice issues of the communities in and around Rochester through policy change. Dr. Korfmacher has developed, participated in, supported, and evaluated many community partnerships related to childhood lead poisoning prevention, subsistence fish consumption, and healthy homes in Rochester over the past 13 years. For the past three years, she has worked with communities, government agencies, and interest groups to increase capacity in Health Impacts Assessment in upstate New York. She also works on regional/state issues including chemicals policy reform and hydrofracking. Dr. Korfmacher coordinates the EHSC's Community Advisory Board and participates in local, state, and national organizations related to community environmental health. Her research as a policy scientist explores the use of science by community groups trying to solve environmental problems. She is co-author of Collaborative Environmental Management: What roles for Government? as well as numerous journal articles on environmental health, communities, and policy.

DR. KAYLAN BABAN
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
http://icahn.mssm.edu/

Dr. Kaylan Baban is Chief Resident Physician in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS). She is Co-Principle Investigator of qualitative and quantitative research into the health impact of Active Design in affordable housing, and is faculty in the ISMMS Academy for the Humanities and Medicine, and Mount Sinai Graduate Program in Public Health. She received her bachelor's degree from Columbia University, and her Medical Degree and Masters of Public Health from Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

DR. LATORIA WHITEHEAD
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
http://www.cdc.gov/

Dr. LaToria Whitehead currently serves as the Environmental Justice Officer, of the Division of Emergency and Environmental Health Services at CDC's National Center for Environmental Health, and an Adjunct Professor in the Political Science Department at Clark Atlanta University (CAU) and Spelman College. Dr. Whitehead received her B.S.H. and M.P.H. degrees in health science and public health from the University of North Florida and Mercer University School of Medicine, and her Ph.D. in Political Science from Clark Atlanta University. In her prior position at CDC, as a Public Health Advisor, Dr. Whitehead was instrumental in collaborating state programs and environmental justice organizations, to reduce and mitigate, environmental health disparities experienced by underserved populations. Dr. Whitehead has presented various national lectures on environmental justice, including Tulane University's Anna Julia Cooper Project on Gender, Race, Class, and Politics in the South, led by MSNBC's host, Melissa Harris-Perry, of the Melissa Harris-Perry show. She is the lead author and co-author on several environmental justice publications, and was honored in 2013, by the E.P.A. as a visionary and innovative leader in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) field. Dr. Whitehead's research interests include environmental justice, public/urban policy, theory and methods, and American government. Dr. Whitehead has a wonderful 13 year old son, Kelly Thompson II.

HONORABLE LETITIA JAMES
Public Advocate for the City of New York
http://pubadvocate.nyc.gov/

LUIS A. HENRIQUEZ CARRERO
Make the Road NY
http://www.maketheroad.org/

Luis A. Henriquez Carrero is a Supervising Attorney at Make the Road New York, where he leads a team of 7 lawyers and caseworkers that provide housing and public benefits services to immigrant community residents, adult literacy students, and Sandy affected individuals. Prior to Make the Road New York, Luis worked for three years as a Staff Attorney for Goddard Riverside's SRO Law Project, where he represented low-income SRO tenants in Manhattan Housing Court. Luis started his legal career as a prisoners' rights attorney at the Civil Action and Education Corporation in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where for five years he was co-counsel for the plaintiff class in a long-standing Federal class action lawsuit involving the conditions of confinement of the Island's prison population.

LUKE IPPOLITO
Meet Each Need with Dignity (MEND)
http://mendpoverty.org/

DR. MAIDA GALVEZ
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
http://icahn.mssm.edu/

Dr. Maida Galvez, a board certified Pediatrician, completed the Academic Pediatric Association sponsored fellowship in Environmental Pediatrics at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Departments of Preventive Medicine and Pediatrics. She directs Mount Sinai's Region 2 Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit and practices General Pediatrics. She is Co-Principal Investigator and a designated New Investigator entitled "Growing Up Healthy in East Harlem," a community based research project examining childhood obesity.

MARA BLITZER
United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
http://www.hud.gov/

MARGARET GORDON
Ditching Dirty Diesel Collaborative (DDDC)
http://www.ditchingdirtydiesel.org/

MARY WATSON
New School for Public Engagement
http://www.newschool.edu/public-engagement/

Mary R. Watson is the Executive Dean of the New School for Public Engagement. She has served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs for the Milano School of International Affairs, Management, and Urban Policy, and she was previously the Chair of the graduate programs in Organizational Change and Nonprofit Management. Watson is a recipient of The New School's Distinguished University Teaching Award. She earned her PhD in organization studies from Vanderbilt University.

MATT CHACHERE
Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation
http://www.nmic.org/

Matt Chachere is a Staff Attorney at the Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation. He is one of New York City's top lead paint experts, spearheaded class action lawsuits to protect children from lead poisoning. In 2011, he was awarded the United Neighborhood Houses (UNH) Award for Civic Advocacy.

MICHAEL COLGROVE
New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)
http://www.nyserda.ny.gov/

Michael Colgrove is the Director of Energy Programs in NYSERDA's New York City office. His primary responsibility is to ensure that NYSERDA's energy efficiency programs work to effectively meet the energy needs of New York City, Westchester and Long Island across a wide range of sectors including new construction, existing buildings, residential, commercial, industrial, and institutional. In addition to these responsibilities, Michael also oversees NYSERDA's suite of multifamily programs, the Multifamily Energy Performance Portfolio, and various behavioral and market transformation programs. He has been with NYSERDA since the opening of the NYC office in 2001.

Prior to his work with NYSERDA, Michael spent nearly 6 years working with low-income multifamily programs throughout NYC including implementing a program to encourage the installation of electricity reduction measures, developing environmental education programs for inner-city youth, and providing building energy assessments with the Weatherization Assistance Program. He is a graduate of the New York Institute of Technology's Energy Management masters program and earned his Bachelor's of Science degree in Environmental Science at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

MICHELLE DE LA UZ
Fifth Avenue Committee (FAC) - Neighbors Helping Neighbors (NHN)
http://thefifthavenuecommittee.org/
http://www.nhnhome.org/

Michelle de la Uz has over twenty years experience in public and community service and became Executive Director of Fifth Avenue Committee (FAC) in January 2004, after serving as Co-Chair of FAC's Board of Directors. Michelle oversees the organization's mission of advancing economic and social justice and comprehensive programs serving more than 5,000 low and moderate income people directly through the Fifth Avenue Committee. Michelle is an alumna of Connecticut College, Columbia University and of Harvard Kennedy School's Executive Education Program.

MONIQUE "MO" GEORGE
Community Voices Heard (CVH)
http://www.cvhaction.org/

Mo George joined Community Voices Heard (CVH) as the Public Housing Campaign Director and is now the Director of Individual Giving and Events. Mo holds her BA degree from SUNY New Paltz, and an MPA from Metropolitan College. Upon graduation, Mo accepted an organizer position at SEIU Local 1199 where she worked for 9 years. After leaving 1199, Mo moved on to become the Lead Organizer at the Empire state Pride Agenda, where she fought for the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. Mo is now back home in New York, and is excited to be working with CVH members on Public Housing.

MUSTAFA SANTIAGO ALI
US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - Headquarters
http://www.epa.gov/

Mustafa Santiago Ali is a founding member of the Office of Environmental Justice (OEJ) and has played major role in the design and implementation of many of EPA's most successful programs focused on environmental justice and community revitalization. Mustafa has been a National Speaker, Trainer and Facilitator on Social Justice Issues for over 20 years, with a specific focus on the issue of Environmental Justice, Sustainability, Community Revitalization and Collaborative Problem Solving. During that time Mustafa has given over 1,000 presentations including facilitations and trainings. He has also worked with over 500 communities on both the domestic and international front to secure environmental, health and economic justice.

He currently serves as the Acting Senior Advisor to the Administrator for Environmental Justice. In this role Mustafa helps to elevate EJ issues to the highest levels of the agency and works across programs to integrate and strengthen all of EPA's EJ initiatives. Mustafa's work promotes meaningful, working relationships with EJ stakeholders, as well as builds strong collaborative partnerships to address some of the country's most persistent environmental challenges.

Mustafa is the former Associate Director in the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Environmental Justice where he led the Communication and Stakeholder Involvement (CSI) team. In 2012, Mustafa created and produced the Environmental Justice in Action Blog which currently has over 100,000 followers. The blog highlights innovative actions to address environmental justice, sustainability and climate change issues. Mr. Ali served as the Environmental Justice lead in 2010 for the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Additionally, in 2009 he served as the Designated Federal Official for the Workgroup on Nationally Consistent EJ Screening Approaches of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council (NEJAC), a federal advisory committee to the U.S. EPA.

Mustafa was a Brookings Institution Congressional Fellow in the Office of Congressman John Conyers during Fiscal Year 2007-08. His portfolio focused on Foreign Policy in Africa and South America, Homeland Security, Health Care, Veterans Affairs, Appropriations and Environmental Justice.

In 2004, he was selected as the National Enforcement Training Institutes "Trainer of the Year." During that time he led the effort with other members of the EJ Training Collaborative to train approximately 4,000 stakeholders across the country in "The Fundamentals of Environmental Justice Workshop,"

Mr. Ali is a former instructor at West Virginia University and Stanford University in Washington. He guest lecturer at universities and colleges across the country including, Yale University, George Washington University, Georgetown University, Spelman College, Albany Law School and Howard University School of Law. In addition to lecturing at academic institution, Mr. Ali has presented on Capitol Hill and for the White House office of Public Engagement. He is the former Co-host of the "Spirit in Action" radio show which focused on social justice issues.

NANCY JEFFREY
New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH)
http://www.nyc.gov/health

Nancy Jeffery is the Program Manager for the Environmental Public Health Tracking Program at the NYC Health Department. She has over 20 years' experience working in the field of environmental public health and has conducted and managed numerous environmental and occupational health investigations. Ms. Jeffery has conducted risk communication in response to environmental emergencies, and has created, and overseen the development of educational materials on a wide variety of environmental health topics.

PEGGY SHEPARD
WE ACT for Environmental Justice
http://weact.org/

Peggy M. Shepard has successfully combined grassroots organizing, environmental advocacy and environmental health research to become a national leader in advancing the perspective of environmental justice in urban communities -- to ensure that the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment extends to all. Ms. Shepard was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science from Smith College in May 2014 for "two decades of leadership in environmental justice and urban sustainability.

Ms. Shepard, a former journalist and state housing official, is co-founder and executive director of WE ACT For Environmental Justice (WE ACT) -- a membership organization based in West Harlem with a federal policy office in Washington, DC -- which has a 26-year history of engaging Northern Manhattan residents in community-based planning and campaigns to affect environmental protection and environmental health policy locally and nationally. WE ACT's work demonstrates how a community based organization can positively impact local, state, and national policymaking on environmental justice, public health, and equity issues. A recipient of the Calver Award from the American Public Health Association (APHA), the 10th Annual Heinz Award for the Environment, and the Jane Jacobs Medal for Lifetime Leadership from the Rockefeller Foundation, Ms Shepard is a past chair of the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

WE ACT's advocacy and research contributed to the NY Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) retrofitting its entire diesel bus fleet. WE ACT hosts the Environmental Justice Leadership Forum on Climate Change, a national coalition of 33 organizations representing 19 states that have convened to develop a unified voice and position on climate change policies, and WE ACT coordinates the NYS Transportation Equity Alliance (NYSTEA), a statewide coalition of 100 groups working to ensure equitable transportation policy locally and nationally. WE ACT's 1st campaign achieved the retrofit of the North River Sewage Treatment Plant and a lawsuit settlement of a $1.1 million environmental benefits fund. A ten-year campaign spurred by a community-based planning process has resulted in the construction of the Harlem Piers at 125th Street on the Hudson River which opened in 2010.

PETER FLEISCHER
Empire State Future
http://www.empirestatefuture.org/

PHIL MORROW
South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation (SoBRO)
http://www.sobro.org/

Phillip Morrow joined South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation (SoBRO) in January 1996. Mr. Morrow has over 20 years of experience in housing and community development. From 1982-1995, Mr. Morrow was responsible for all of the Harlem Urban Development Corporation's housing and economic development projects. He has personally supervised the construction/rehabilitation of over 5,000 units of housing and undertaken several major community economic development initiatives including the renovation of the historic Apollo Theater and construction of an incubator retail facility on 125th Street in Harlem.

RACHELLE ROCHELLE
NYC Coalition for a Smoke-Free City
http://www.nycsmokefree.org/

RAELENE HOLMES

RAY LÓPEZ
Little Sisters of the Assumption Family Services (LSA)
http://www.littlesistersfamily.org/

Ray López is Director of Environmental Health, part of the Family Asthma Program at Little Sisters of the Assumption Family Health Service (LSA), a non-profit human-services organization based in East Harlem. Ray identifies himself as a community health worker specializing in "Healthy Homes" issues, which include the environmental triggers of asthma in the home. He and his team provide home remediation and hands-on training to families enrolled in their asthma program. Ray serves on the New York City Asthma Partnership's (NYCAP) Steering Committee and as co-chair of NYCAP's Environment Committee. As a community leader with Manhattan Together, a community organizing group affiliated with the Industrial Areas Foundation, he works on issues that affect the health and quality of life for NYC residents in all neighborhoods. Ray received the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Community Health Leaders Award in 2008 for his work assisting neighborhood residents with bed bug issues and was a 2008-2009 Revson Fellow at Columbia University. López and his LSA team are currently collaborating with the New York Academy of Medicine on a HUD-funded landmark study to measure the impact of his Environmental Health asthma program on the health of East Harlem families.

RAYA SALTER
Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
http://www.nrdc.org/

Raya Salter works for NRDC where she focuses on the development of new utility business models creating markets for and increasing the use of clean and renewable energy in the low income sector. Before joining NRDC, Raya was a regulatory attorney for the Environmental Defense Fund, where she worked to engage utilities, regulators, policy makers, and opinion leaders to foster clean and renewable grid modernization. Prior to becoming an environmental advocate, Raya worked as a regulatory attorney at the law firm of Dewey & LeBoeuf in New York City, representing energy industry participants in matters relating to regulation by state public utility commissions and federal agencies, transactions involving energy assets, participation in organized electric markets and inter and intra-state transmission. Before becoming a lawyer, Raya worked in youth and adult community-based organizations. In one role, she founded a community technology center located in supported housing for the formerly homeless in Yonkers, NY, where she developed after school and workforce development programs. Raya has a JD from Fordham Law School and a BA in economics from Wesleyan University.

DR. REGINA SANTELLA
Columbia's NIEHS Center for Environmental Health in Northern Manhattan
http://www.mailman.columbia.edu/academic-departments/centers/niehs-center-environmental-health

Regina M. Santella, PhD is a Professor of Environmental Health Sciences, and Director of the NIEHS Center for Environmental Health in Northern Manhattan. She has extensive experience in the area of chemical carcinogenesis and molecular epidemiology. Her research is mainly focused on the use of biomarkers of exposure and genetic susceptibility to understand risk for cancer development. Her laboratory has developed antibodies and immunoassays to a number of carcinogen-DNA and protein adducts and uses these methods to determine exposure to environmental carcinogens. Other assays have been used to understand genetic susceptibility related to DNA repair capacity. More recently, her laboratory is investigating the use of epigenetic markers to identify those at increased risk or as early biomarkers of disease.

RITCHIE TORRES
New York City Council, Public Housing Committee Chair
http://council.nyc.gov/

Ritchie Torres is currently a New York City Councilmember for District 15. In 2013, he was elected to office to represent the communities of the Central Bronx. He currently sits as the council's Public Housing Committee Chair. As Councilmember, he has organized tenant associations in dilapidated buildings throughout the district, and rallied residents to fight for building improvements and rent reductions.

ROBIN DODSON
Silent Spring Institute
http://www.silentspring.org/

Robin Dodson, Sc.D. is a Research Scientist at Silent Spring Institute, a non-profit scientific research organization that focuses on the environment and women's health. Her research centers on developing exposure measurement methods for epidemiological studies and analyzing household exposure data. She currently manages an exposure study focused on residential exposures to chemicals of emerging health interest in urban low income housing. She also holds an appointment at Harvard School of Public Health as a Visiting Scientist and as a Lecturer at Brandeis University. Dr. Dodson received her doctorate in Environmental Health in 2007 and her master's in Environmental Science and Risk Management in 2004 from Harvard School of Public Health.

ROSIE MENDEZ
New York City Council Member
http://council.nyc.gov/mendez

Rosie Mendez is currently a New York City Councilmember for District 2. She serves Manhattan neighborhoods such as Lower East Side, East Village, Gramercy Park, Rosehill, Kips Bay; southern part of Murray Hill. Rosie serves as the Chair of the Council Committee on Public Housing and is a member of the Landmarks Sub-Committee and the Housing, Land Use, Health, and Lower Manhattan Redevelopment Committees. Rosie received her B.A. in Metropolitan Studies and Political Science from New York University, and received her law degree from Rutgers School of Law in Newark.

RUSSELL UNGER
Urban Green Council
http://urbangreencouncil.org/

As Executive Director, Russell has grown Urban Green Council exponentially in both membership and organizational capacity, while establishing it as a national leader in advocacy, education, and major initiatives for the green building movement. Under his leadership, Urban Green has launched a number of new programs and initiatives, including GPRO and the EBie Awards, and released major research studies. Prior to his work at Urban Green, Russell spent five years at the New York City Council and Mayor's Office drafting and leading negotiations on major environmental laws.

RUTH ANN NORTON
Green & Healthy Homes Initiative (GHHI)
http://www.greenandhealthyhomes.org/

Ruth Ann Norton serves as President & CEO of the Green & Healthy Homes Initiative (GHHI), a national nonprofit founded in 1986 dedicated to the elimination of childhood lead poisoning and the creation of healthy, safe and energy efficient housing for America's children. A dedicated advocate for healthy housing, she broadened the mission of the organization, formerly the Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning, by designing a groundbreaking national program built on a framework of cross-sector collaboration to efficiently deliver green, healthy and safe homes in communities throughout the United States.

A founding member of the Maryland Lead Poisoning Prevention Commission, Ms. Norton has led the efforts in Maryland to reduce childhood lead poisoning by 98% and has helped develop 27 pieces of state and local legislation to prevent lead poisoning and create healthier homes. In addition, she has served as a consultant to 35 state and local governments to help design effective programs to combat unhealthy housing. Over the course of her work, she has been engaged with the management, design and technical assistance for more than 30 federally funded Green & Healthy Homes programs and has helped raised more than $250 million from the public and private sector.

Ms. Norton serves as a federally appointed liaison to the CDC's Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention and served as an expert panel member for HUD's Healthy Homes Guidance Manual. She currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Maryland Asthma Control Council, is a member of the Maryland State Innovation Model Local Health Improvement Coalition Stakeholder Group, is a member of Maryland's Workgroup for Workforce Development for Community Health Workers and formerly served on the Maryland Medicaid Advisory Committee. She also developed and implemented one of the nation's first healthy homes programs to address the multiple environmental health and safety hazards in low and very low income housing for pregnant women.

In partnership with the Council on Foundations, HUD, CDC, the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Conference of Mayors, Ms. Norton designed the national Green & Healthy Homes Initiative to cost effectively integrate energy efficiency and weatherization investments with lead hazard control and health and safety efforts. GHHI currently operates in 18 U.S. cities and, through the Clinton Global Initiative America, has pledged to create 25,000 green and healthy homes in low income communities in 60 U.S. cities by 2016. She is currently working with GHHI sites to advance social impact financing and demonstrating health and other benefits of energy efficiency improvements to create models for Medicaid reimbursement.

Ms. Norton, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Community Health Leader (2005) and a Weinberg Foundation Fellow (2003), also serves as the Chair of the Built Environment for the Sustainability Commission of Baltimore and was named as one of Maryland's Top 100 Women by The Daily Record.

SANDHYA REJU BOYD, ESQ.
Manhattan Legal Services
http://www.legalservicesnyc.org/

Sandhya Reju Boyd, Esq. is the founding Executive Director of Brooklyn Jubilee. She served as Executive Director from the inception of the organization in 2006 through December 2013. She has been a poverty lawyer for almost twelve years, helping low income tenants in Brooklyn since 2000.

SARAH LOTT
Healthy Building Network (HBN)
http://www.healthybuilding.net/

Sarah Lott, Researcher, works with Healthy Building Network (HBN)'s Senior Researcher and Data Systems Project Leader to provide critical research on building materials. She began working with HBN as a Pharos Project intern in 2010, and became a full time employee in March 2013. Sarah has a BS in Biotechnology from James Madison University where she also studied environmental management and environmental studies. Her education and work with HBN have fostered interests in Life-cycle analysis and Sustainable production systems. She is author of "Phthalate-free plasticizers in PVC," published earlier this year, and co-author of "Full Disclosure Required," HBN's analysis of asthmagens in building materials, published last December. She works from Manhattan, Kansas.

SARAH WOLF
New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH)
http://www.nyc.gov/health

Sarah Wolf, MPH, RD is the Active Design Manager for the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene's Active Living Program. She convenes partnerships with and provides training and technical assistance to affordable housing organizations, developers, and community leaders and school communities to implement Active Design strategies. Wolf was part of the New York City team that produced the award winning Active Design Guidelines: Promoting Physical Activity and Health in Design and the Active Design Supplement: Promoting Safety and led the development of the Active Design Guide for Community Groups.

SEAN I. ROBIN
New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH)
http://www.nyc.gov/health

Sean I. Robin, MCP is Director of Housing Initiatives at the New York City Health Department's Center for Health Equity. With the Agency for three years, Sean runs a citywide initiative on Smoke-free housing, and several closely related healthy housing initiatives. The smoke-free housing initiative targets all NYC residents of multifamily units, with a special focus on low income residents, and also special populations living in supportive housing. In a career spanning twenty years, Sean has worked in various policy positions within the New York City Administration, and within the nonprofit sector. As Executive Director of Community Weatherization Partners, a LISC and Enterprise collaborative, Sean directed the greening of 2,000 apartments in New York. Sean is the founding editor of Indigenous Planning Times, a publication promoting multiculturalism in the field of urban planning.

Promoting community transformation has been at the core of Sean's work - and strengthening the quality of the housing available to vulnerable populations has been a frequent theme.

DR. SYLVIA HOOD WASHINGTON
Environmental Health Research Associates, LLC
http://www.e3hra.com/

Dr. Sylvia Hood Washington is an interdisciplinary trained scholar in engineering (MS Systems Engineering), history of science, technology and the environment (Ph.D.) and natural health/medicine (ND). She has been involved in the environmental field for over 25 years and her doctoral as well as her ongoing research efforts have been deeply influenced by her experiences as a corporate/government environmental engineer, environmental activist and as a professor developing and teaching environmentally focused Science Technology and Society courses for non-science students.

THOMAS G. NELTNER
National Center for Healthy Housing
http://www.nchh.org/

Thomas G. Neltner, HHS, CHMM, Special Policy Advisory for Regulatory Affairs, is a chemical engineer and attorney who rejoined NCHH in 2014 after serving as its Director of Training and Education from 2005 to 2010. In between, he was a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council and project director with The Pew Charitable Trusts working on food additive issues where he coauthored eight peer-reviewed journal articles. His career has focused on chemical safety whether in the workplace, the environment, consumer products or food. He has worked in chemical, food additive, pesticide, and pharmaceutical manufacturing as well as state government and public interest advocacy with stints as an adjunct professor at Indiana University through many of those years.

TRISHA SHEEHAN
Moms Clean Air Force
http://www.momscleanairforce.org/

Trisha Sheehan is the Regional Field Organizer for Moms Clean Air Force, New Jersey Chapter. Trisha is a mom with two young sons who has been volunteering with Moms Clean Air Force since 2012. After her family was affected from vinyl chloride from a nearby train derailment, she knew she wanted to work towards protecting our children's rights for clean air. Trisha also helps lead her local Holistic Moms chapter, where she enjoys sharing information and resources with parents interested in holistic and green living.

TYLER HOLK
Generation Citizen
http://generationcitizen.org/

VALERIE GARRISON
University of Rochester
http://www.rochester.edu/

Valerie Garrison is Program Manager of Community Outreach and Engagement in the University of Rochester Medical Center's Environmental Health Sciences Center (EHSC). Her outreach work focuses on reducing environmental exposures for communities in and around Rochester, NY through education, capacity building and systems change. In particular, she has led the Rochester Healthy Homes Partnership for the past 5 years, and has trained hundreds of community members, housing professionals, health care providers and others in Healthy Homes Concepts.

COMMISSIONER VICKI BEEN
NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD)
http://www.nyc.gov/html/hpd/html/home/home.shtml

Vicki Been is responsible for leading the nation's largest municipal housing agency and is charged with creating and implementing Mayor Bill de Blasio's Housing New York plan, a bold initiative to create or preserve 200,000 affordable homes and apartments over 10 years. Prior to her appointment as HPD Commissioner, Ms. Been was Director for NYU's Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy, a nationally renowned academic research center devoted to the public policy aspects of land use, real estate and housing development.

WENDY SHIELDS, MPH
Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy
http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/johns-hopkins-center-for-injury-research-and-policy/

Wendy Shields is an Assistant Scientist in the Department of Health Policy and Management and a core Faculty member at the Johns Hopkins Center for Injury Research and Policy where she has worked as a research manager for the past 13 years. She completed her masters training at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Her research interests include the prevention of unintentional injuries with a focus on home and motor vehicle injuries. She has a particular interest in the intersection of housing quality and home injuries. She directed the CHASE project, which aimed to explore the relationship between housing quality and home safety practices in a sample of home from Baltimore City.

YIANICE HERNANDEZ
Enterprise Community Partners, Inc.
http://www.enterprisecommunity.com/

As Director of Enterprise Green Communities, Yianice Hernandez directs the execution of strategic programmatic priorities that advance green affordable housing. Yianice also leads Enterprise's comprehensive research and evaluation efforts with a targeted focus on health outcomes to demonstrate the positive benefits of green building practices as well as the impact of resident engagement on driving deeper resource conservation.

In addition, Yianice manages the development of tools and resources that share best practices and directs the ongoing performance tracking of Green Communities developments. She administered the research for the 2009 Incremental Cost, Measurable Savings: Enterprise Green Communities Criteria report, the first-of-its-kind study showing the cost effectiveness of meeting the Enterprise Green Communities Criteria and its subsequent report update released in 2012. She also speaks to national, regional and local audiences about the Green Communities program.

Prior to her time at Enterprise, she was a member of the construction project management team of Common Ground Community, one of the largest nonprofit supportive housing development organizations in New York City.

Yianice has a bachelor's degree in Sociology from Pace University and a master's degree in nonprofit administration from the University of Notre Dame.

YUMIKO ARATANI
Mailman School of Public Health - National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP)
http://www.nccp.org/

Yumiko Aratani, Ph.D., is an associate research scientist at Columbia University and director of the Health and Mental Health Unit at the National Center for Children in Poverty. She has more than 10 years of experience conducting research related to housing policy and child poverty. As the principal investigator of multiple federally funded projects, Dr. Aratani works closely with local and state governments to evaluate policies and interventions targeting low-income families with children and identify effective policies and programs that can positively affect child development and well-being. She is one of seven scholars in the Family Self-Sufficiency and Stability Research Network, a recently funded effort of the Office of Planning Research and Evaluation within the Administration for Children and Families in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Dr. Aratani also currently works with the New York Department of Health and Mental Hygiene as an evaluator for the New York City Project LAUNCH, which aims to promote the wellness of young children in the South Bronx and Harlem. She is also the Principal Investigator of a study to evaluate the impact of Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) on children living in public housing communities in California, funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.


 

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