Zachary Lewis

Working Group: Land (Chairman)

Zachary D. Lewis, the founder and President of LCG has over 30 years of experience providing comprehensive project management services.

He is responsible for state and federal compliance of environmental laws and regulations, conducts phase I & II environmental assessments, Brownfields redevelopment, site remediation, due diligence and business development. Mr. Lewis provides both internal and external consulting services, specifically addressing current and pending legislative actions and regulations governing the environmental industry. He has provided expert testimony, report preparation and litigation support services for oil companies and land owners. Zach is the former chairman of EJAC and has served since 2016.

Theodore Carrington

Working Group: EEC

Theodore “Ted” Carrington is a consultant, social and environmental justice consultant. He is the former vice president of the NJ NAACP and a long-time civil rights and environmental activist and former director of GreenFaith’s environmental Justice Program. Ted is particularly skilled at speaking with African American and Latino congregations about environmental concerns. In his role a Green Faith, he engaged faith-based and environmental groups about issues of environmental racism and injustice. He is a board member of the New Jersey Environmental Justice Alliance. Ted as served on EJAC since 2004.

Gantry Fox

Working Group: EEC

Gantry has 18 years of experience in the criminal justice/public health field and currently serves as director of several diversionary court programs in Philadelphia. He is a Drexel MPH graduate and racial justice advocate currently serving as: Phi Beta Sigma Inc. Director of Social Action for Gloucester County Alumni Chapter, an affiliate of NJ Environmental Justice Alliance, and Police Accountability Director for Salvation and Social Justice. Gantry has been a council member since Sept. 2018.

Colandus "Kelly" Francis

Working Groups: Land, Air

Colandus “Kelly” Francis is a retired federal employee who spent 34 years of service in the field of automation, electronics and computer technology. He has been a resident of the City of Camden since 1949.

He is currently serving as a volunteer with several organizations: Vice President, Camden County NAACP, after having served as president for 18 years; Chairman, Fair Share Housing Center; Treasurer, PBCIP(CDC); member, NJ Work Environment Council and President, Camden City Taxpayers Association. Kelly has been a council member since October 2016.

Leilani Holgado

Working Groups: Land, Water, Air, EEC

Associate Environmental Counsel providing advice and legal counsel for New Jersey’s largest provider of electric, gas and nuclear energy services including a diverse plant portfolio operating primarily in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions with solar energy facilities throughout the United States. Leilani has been a council member since July 2018.

Andrew Kricun

Working Groups: Water (Chairman), Air

Andrew "Andy" Kricun has 35 years of wastewater management experience. He served as the Executive Director of the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority. He graduated from Princeton with a degree in chemical engineering. He serves as the chair of the national association of clean water agency’s environmental justice committee and he has served on the NJ Environmental Justice Advisory Council since 2016.

Melissa Miles

Working Group: Air (Vice-Chairman)

Melissa Miles is the Environmental Justice Manager at the Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC), a 50 year old service and advocacy organization located in the East Ward of Newark, NJ. She has her M.A. in Anthropology from the New School for Social Research and has spent considerable time in Brazil which inspired her to make her home in the largely Portuguese speaking Ironbound neighborhood of Newark. After her then one-year old son was diagnosed with asthma in 2013, she discovered that air pollution was linked to many cases of childhood asthma in the city. Following this toxic trail she learned of the legacy of environmental injustice in the Ironbound which ultimately led her into activism. That activism was a precursor to her becoming a community-based organizer with the ICC. Her focus is on mitigating air pollution related to the transportation, energy and waste infrastructure concentrated in the City of Newark. In addition to engaging Ironbound residents in creating a more just community from the ground up, she works on issues related to Climate Justice, Energy Democracy and Just Transition in collaboration with local, national and international partner organizations. Melissa sits on the Environmental Justice Council to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection as the Vice-Chair of the Air Committee. She is also part of the steering committee of the Coalition for Healthy Ports and is a Regional Representative for the Moving Forward Network. Melissa has served on the council since 2018.

Phyllis Reich

Working Group: Air

Phyllis Reich has been employed by the City of Elizabeth in Planning and Community Development, Economic Development as a Project Coordinator, Redevelopment since 2003. Prior to government, she was employed in the corporate sector. Her other responsibilities include liaison for Sustainable Jersey, Brownfield liaison, appointed by the Mayor to establish an Economic Development Arts Council, recommended by the Mayor of the City of Elizabeth to represent the City on the Environmental Justice Advisory Council. Phyllis is a member of the board of directors for: Groundwork Elizabeth, Elizabeth Rotary Club, Jewish Family Service, and the YWCA. Phyllis has served on the Council since July 2018.

Meredith Taylor

Working Groups: EEC (Chairman), Land

Meredith Taylor is a Research Associate in the Office of Agriculture and Urban Programs. She received an MA in Food Studies and Nutrition from New York University and her MPH from NY Medical College School of Public Health. Meredith’s interest in food, health, and agriculture have led her to pursue academic and professional opportunities that embrace local and regional strategies for building healthy sustainable food systems. Prior to joining the faculty at Rutgers, she developed the initial phase of a hydroponic farming project in Newark and directed food and environment programs for Isles, Inc. in Trenton.

Meredith is a Cornell Cooperative Extension Master Gardener, a founding board member for the New Jersey Farm to School Network and an avid beekeeper. Meredith joined EJAC in July 2018.

Dr. Amy Tuininga

Working Groups: Land, Air, EEC

Amy Tuininga, PhD, is the Director of Montclair State University’s PSEG Institute for Sustainability Studies (PSEG ISS). She grows partnerships among faculty, students, administrators, government agencies, private corporations, and community groups to solve sustainability problems. Projects involve aspects of the environment, energy, water, food, natural resources, and economies that collectively function to build sustainable communities. She is developing the PSEG ISS as a source for innovation in sustainability and environmental management, a model of academic-corporate-community partnerships that advance sustainability science and build resilient communities that utilize informed, data-driven decision making. Dr. Tuininga joined EJAC in July 2018.

Shaniqua Biles

Working Groups: Land, Water

Born and raised in Camden, New Jersey, Shaniqua S. Biles is a project manager at Cooper’s Ferry Partnership, a private, non-profit corporation dedicated to planning and implementing high-quality urban redevelopment projects to revitalize the City of Camden. At Cooper’s Ferry Partnership, she manages the Camden Collaborative Initiative (CCI), a solutions-oriented partnership between governmental, non-profit, private, and community-based agencies formed to plan and implement innovative strategies to improve the environment and the quality of life of Camden's residents. CCI has five working groups; Air Quality, Waste, Recycling and Illegal Dumping, Land Use and Brownfields and Food Access.

Prior to coming to Cooper’s Ferry Partnership, Shaniqua spent two years as a substance abuse counselor for a community-based reentry organization in the City of Camden. She received her Master’s in Social Work with a concentration in Management and Policy from Rutgers School of Social Work. Shaniqua is also a licensed social worker in the State of New Jersey.

Jackie Park Albaum

Working Groups: Land

In her role as Director of Urban Agriculture, Jackie oversees the day-to-day operations of the Come Grow With Us! Urban Agriculture Initiative including the Groundwork Elizabeth MicroFarm, Elizabeth’s two community plot gardens, the community Partner Gardens, eight Agricultural Laboratories, the Farm & Garden Adventures education programs, the Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders Union County Means Green and Kids Dig In! Community and School Gardening grant programs (under the direction of Freeholder Chairman Sergio Granados.) and the More P.E.A.S. initiative. Jackie has an extensive background in communications, design, resource development, non-profit management, urban agriculture and sustainability. Jackie serves as co-lead on the Climate Safe Neighborhood Partnership.

Jeffrey Perlman

Workgroups: Air, Land

Jeffery Perlman currently serves as the Senior Director of Planning at the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority. He is responsible for overseeing and integrating metropolitan transportation planning initiatives for the North Jersey region. Previously, Jeffrey has worked as a planning consultant for a number of New Jersey municipalities, where he conducted a variety of planning studies including master plans, redevelopment studies, and affordable housing plans. Jeffrey holds a Master’s Degree in City and Regional Planning from Rutgers University, and a Master’s Degree in Molecular Biology from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Jeffrey is a licensed planner in the State of New Jersey and certified with the American Institute of Certified Planners at the American Planning Association.

Dr. Nancy Griffeth

Working groups: Water, Air

Dr. Nancy Griffeth is a retired computer scientist. After 48 years of programming, teaching, and research, she is applying her technical and mathematical skills to improving the environment and working for environmental justice.

She was chair of the Environmental Justice Task Force of Unitarian Universalist FaithAction NJ for two years, from fall 2017 to fall 2019, and continues as an active member. Her primary focus has been on reducing toxic emissions and greenhouse gases in low-income communities, on equity in access to renewable energy, and on the health impacts of climate change. Over the last three years, she has represented UU FaithAction in testifying and commenting on the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities Community Solar Pilot Program, the state's Energy Master Plan, and the DEP's rule-making associated with the Governor's initiative "Protecting against Climate Threats.

As a member of EJAC, she plans to continue working to reduce greenhouse gas and co-pollutants in overburdened communities; to help the effort to require cumulative impacts evaluation and mandatory emissions reductions; the associated health issues; and the economic injustices of some remedial efforts.

She also completed the coursework for the Rutgers Environmental Stewards course in 2018 and is an enthusiastic but inexperienced home gardener.