FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 1, 2021

ATNJ EDUCATION FUND WELCOMES MATUTE-BROWN AS TRUSTEE

MADISON, NJ – ATNJ Education Fund (ATNJEF), a leader in vote by mail (VBM) education and election infrastructure advancement in New Jersey, announces the election of Cindy Matute-Brown to the Board of Trustees.

Founded in 2018, ATNJEF is focused on providing voter education and expanding access to New Jerseyans who have difficulty voting on Election Day, such as individuals without transportation; with accessibility needs; and who cannot take off work to vote. Known as the leading experts of vote by mail in New Jersey, ATNJEF has been the driving force in educating voters on correctly returning VBM ballots to avoid rejections through a number of initiatives, including its website: www.votebymailNJ.org.

Bringing on Cindy Matute-Brown aligns with ATNJEF’s mission to educate to increase voter participation. When preliminary data (using the 2010 Census) showed there was a positive correlation between mail-in ballot rejections for Spanish-speaking households, ATNJEF worked to translate all voting information and graphics into Spanish. Matute-Brown, whose family is from Ecuador, is fully fluent in Spanish and appreciates the mission of ATNJEF to reduce this inequity. Serving as the Associate Director for NJEA’s Human and Civil Rights, Equity and Governance Division, Matute-Brown is also currently in her first term as West Orange Township Council President, governing with transparency and through a social, equity, and inclusion lens.

Matute-Brown says, “I am honored to be joining the Board of Trustees to help the organization in its mission to increase voter participation. The threat to our democracy is great and with two statewide elections every year, New Jersey voters do not get a year off. We cannot be complacent. It is especially important for households where English is not the primary language. We will start with Spanish speakers and my fluency will be an asset. With the Fourth of July less than a week away, I think this is part of my patriotic duty: to serve New Jersey by educating the voters.”

Matute-Brown joins a majority-women and POC board led by an AAPI refugee: ATNJEF Founder and Executive Director Uyen Khuong, who emigrated from Vietnam as a child. Also on the Board are Ahmed Al-Shehab, co-founder of CAIR NJ and Treasurer on the CAIR National Board of Directors; Samantha Bobila, a fundraising and communications executive for a sexual and reproductive health care organization; and Scott Salmon, Counsel at Jardim, Meisner & Susser, P.C., specializing in employment law, election law, and governmental representation.

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ATNJ Education Fund (ATNJEF) is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization based in New Jersey. ATNJEF envisions a state of citizens who are informed and engaged in democracy; where the power lies with working class people; and where elected officials form policies that create and maintain a just, fair, and inclusive community. Visit www.ATNJEF.org.