Staff

Policy Analyst

Alex Ambrose

Alex Ambrose, Policy Analyst, researches policies with a focus on climate justice and transportation.

Prior to NJPP, Alex served as Policy Associate at the Association of NJ Environmental Commissions (ANJEC) and Policy Assistant at New Jersey League of Conservation Voters (NJLCV). In those roles, she worked on policy and legislation to protect clean water, preserve open space, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions with an emphasis on equity. Most recently, she worked to pass plastic pollution legislation including the statewide single-use bag ban.

Alex currently serves as the Chair of Clinton Township Environmental Commission and is pursuing her Master’s in Public Administration at Rutgers University. She received her Bachelor of Science in Ecology, Evolution, and Natural Resources from Rutgers University with a minor in Environmental Geomatics.

Digital Communications Manager

Erica Boland

Erica Boland, Digital Communications Manager, develops and executes NJPP’s digital and video strategy, translating complex policy topics into stories that entertain as much as they inform.

Erica works closely with the entire NJPP team as well as outside partners on events, press conferences, and other speaking engagements, and creates social media posts, graphics, videos, and blog posts.

Prior to joining NJPP in 2021, Erica worked for the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, where she led and executed dynamic digital campaigns promoting programs and events that benefit New Jersey residents. Erica has also worked as a graphic designer and art director for private marketing agencies designing websites, email campaigns and social media campaigns. Erica graduated from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University with her Bachelor’s of Science in Art Education.

Senior Policy Analyst

Peter Chen

Peter Chen, Esq., Senior Policy Analyst, has worked on child and family policy advocacy in New Jersey since 2014. Most recently, he coordinated New Jersey’s nonprofit campaign for a complete count of the 2020 Census. Additionally, Peter has written reports on topics including childhood lead poisoning prevention, chronic absenteeism from school, teacher certification, and summer meals.

Prior to New Jersey Policy Perspective, Peter was Policy Counsel at Advocates for Children of New Jersey, where he also served as a Skadden Fellow from 2014-16. Peter received his JD from Yale Law School and his Bachelors of Arts from Indiana University-Bloomington. He served as a law clerk for Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Communications Director

Louis Di Paolo

Louis Di Paolo, Communications Director, develops and directs communications strategies to promote NJPP’s research and shape the public debate across a range of policy issues.

Louis works closely with the media and other key stakeholders, edits reports and publications, manages social media accounts, and acts as spokesperson for the organization.

Before joining NJPP in 2018, Louis was the Legislative Director for the New Jersey Working Families Alliance. He also served as a councilman in his hometown, Dumont, New Jersey, from 2016 through 2019. A proud product of New Jersey’s public schools, Louis received his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Ramapo College of New Jersey.

Development Director

Jennifer Fekete-Donners

Jennifer Fekete-Donners, Development Director,  oversees donor communications and manages the organization’s fund development. Jennifer is an experienced development and fundraising professional, with over fifteen years of experience working in nonprofit and higher education. She is a skilled development writer and communicator, with particular expertise in annual giving, fundraising event management, and donor cultivation.

Prior to joining the staff at New Jersey Policy Perspective, Jennifer was the Associate Director of Advancement at the Michener Art Museum, a cultural institution devoted to preserving, interpreting and displaying the rich artistic legacy of Bucks County and the surrounding region. During her tenure, Jennifer executed successful fundraising campaigns, seamlessly weaving together a comprehensive, multi-channel strategy that encompassed annual support, fundraising events, individual and corporate membership, and exhibition and program sponsorship, as well as laying the groundwork for a reinvigorated planned giving program. Prior to her time at the Michener, Jennifer was Development Director at One Simple Wish, an innovative nonprofit which provides support and wish fulfillment for children living in the foster care system, and the Manager of Membership and Annual Support at the Princeton University Art Museum.

She received her Bachelor of Arts and Sciences in History of Art from Cornell University.

Senior Policy Analyst

Brittany L. Holom-Trundy

Dr. Brittany L. Holom-Trundy, Senior Policy Analyst, is a researcher and lecturer whose interests include health care system reform, the differential impact of health policies across socioeconomic groups, and the role of social and cultural factors in the access to and use of health care services, as well as health outcomes.

Prior to joining NJPP in May 2020, Brittany taught classes on human security, health care systems, post-Soviet politics, human rights, and development at the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and in the Department of Political Science at The College of New Jersey. She also served as an AmeriCorps VISTA member at the Puerto Rican Action Board in New Brunswick and has recently volunteered at one of New Jersey’s COVID-19 testing sites as part of the Medical Reserve Corps.

Brittany received her Ph.D. in Politics from Princeton University in 2018, where her dissertation explored healthcare reforms in the former Soviet countries and the impact of decision making at critical junctures on long-term institutional trajectories. She received her Master’s in Politics from Princeton in 2013 and her Bachelor of Arts in Russian Language and Literature and Political Science from the University of Notre Dame in 2011.

Movement Communications Strategist

Hera Mir

Hera Mir (they/she), Movement Communications Strategist, develops and executes communications strategy with NJPP’s partners and grassroots organizations to achieve racial justice across the state.

Hera builds communications infrastructure to increase access to news, policy, and political information for Black, Indigenous and People of Color in New Jersey.

Prior to joining NJPP in 2021, Hera worked for the New Jersey Alliance for Immigrant Justice, where they coordinated press and digital campaigns advocating for inclusion of all immigrants in society and supported communications for the Alliance’s grassroots member organizations. During their time as communications coordinator, the Alliance led and won access to driver’s licenses for immigrants regardless of status, and legislation to phase out all immigration detention contracts in the state.

Hera began their career as an advocate for survivors of gender-based violence which led to a passion for community organizing and policy for the people. In 2015, as a Seeding Change fellow, they supported Asian American youth in Portland, Oregon organizing for inclusion of ethnic studies in Portland’s high school curriculum, and led initiatives to organize the South Asian American community in the city.

Hera holds a Masters in Public Policy from the Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University, New Brunswick and currently serves as a communications advisor for New Jersey Prison Justice Watch (NJPJW).Email: mir@njpp.org

Director of Operations and Finance

David Nelson

David Nelson, Director of Operations and Finance, joined NJPP in 2016 as Operations Specialist and served as Director of Operations and Development before his current role. David is also a Master’s of Public Administration student in the Graduate School of Arts and Science at Rutgers Camden. He is focusing his studies on state and local budgeting and financing practices and intergovernmental nature of government funding. He previously worked for Princeton AlumniCorps, an alumni association committed to engaging the Princeton University community in civic service work, and Left Forum, a New York City-based non-profit organization that brings progressive people together to share radical ideas for social change. David plans to combine his passion for equity and justice with his interest in government budgeting to help build progressive budgets in New Jersey. He is the proud recipient of an Eagleton Fellowship and a New Leaders Council Fellowship.

Senior Policy Analyst

Sheila Reynertson

Sheila Reynertson, Senior Policy Analyst, focuses on budget and tax issues with an emphasis on advocating for state fiscal policies that benefit working families of New Jersey.

Sheila’s research interests include: budget planning, corporate taxation, progressive taxation policy, supportive work/family policies and women’s economic empowerment.

Before joining NJPP in October 2014, Sheila worked as an advocacy coordinator at MergerWatch, a national women’s health advocacy organization. Previously, Sheila worked in the health care sector as a private childbirth coach in New York City. She currently serves as President of the Board of Health in Hopewell.

President

Nicole Rodriguez

Nicole Rodriguez, President, is an experienced public policy leader who advocates for equitable solutions that center communities’ needs with racial, social, and economic justice.

Before joining New Jersey Policy Perspective as Research Director, Nicole was senior researcher at Community Labor United (CLU) — an organization that brings community and labor partners together to speak in one voice on issues affecting working families throughout Greater Boston. Nicole drove strategic campaigns with rigorous research and leadership that stabilized and strengthened low-paid families and communities of color.

Before that, Nicole worked as senior policy analyst for the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center, an independent research organization that produces nonpartisan policy research, analysis, and data-driven recommendations to improve the lives of low- and middle-income residents and strengthen the state’s economy. Nicole wrote numerous reports focusing on family economic security and the state budget.

She has also worked for foundations, nonprofits, and state and local governments. She holds a Master of Public Policy from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Villanova University.

Policy Analyst and State Policy Fellow

Marleina Ubel

Marleina Ubel, Policy Analyst and State Policy Fellow, researches the criminal legal system with a focus on alternatives to policing that center restorative justice.

Previously, Marleina was NJPP’s 2020-2021 Kathleen Crotty Fellow where she analyzed the state budget process and researched public spending on state and local law enforcement.

Marleina began her undergraduate work at Valencia College and earned a transfer scholarship to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where she earned a B.A. in Philosophy. As a PIKSI fellow, she spent a summer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology challenging demographic disparities in institutions of higher learning. In 2021, she earned her M.S.W. in Management and Policy at Rutgers University and served as an Eagleton Fellow in the New Jersey Assembly Majority Office. Marleina lives in Lambertville with her husband and daughter.

2021 Kathleen Crotty Fellow

Kimberly Thomson

Kimberly Thomson, 2021 Kathleen Crotty Fellow, is a researcher focusing on Universal Basic Income (UBI). The Kathleen Crotty Fellowship honors the legacy of NJPP’s late board chair, Kathleen Crotty, by giving the next generation of New Jersey policy leaders an intensive summer experience in policy analysis and advocacy.

Kimberly began her career in clinical genetics, providing counseling services to both prenatal and pediatric patients. With a desire to expand her focus to population health, she recently completed a master’s degree in Public Health Policy and Administration at Montclair State University. Since graduating, she has worked in the policy office of the All of Us genomics research program at the NIH. Projects included review and analysis of ethical, legal, and social issues in areas such as consent, data access, and pediatric participation. Professional interests include the role of public policy in addressing social determinants of health to reduce health inequities and disparities.