New Leaders Council – New Jersey Announces 2023 Fellows Class
Class of 20 Up-and-coming Leaders Selected for Premier Training Institute

New Leaders Council New Jersey (NLC-NJ) announced today the selection of 20 up-and-coming leaders as the organization’s 2023 Class of Fellows. NLC-NJ is the statewide chapter of the nation’s largest organization that develops, connects, and uplifts inclusive, cross-sector leaders who transform our country through social and political change.

“On behalf of our Board of Directors and our growing alumni network, I am thrilled to welcome 20 new leaders into our NLC-NJ family,” said Mayrose Wegmann, Statewide Director of New Leaders Council – New Jersey and Northwest Region Director at New Jersey Education Association (NJEA). “The 2023 class is impressive and is already making meaningful change in a multitude of sectors.  With pressing issues of climate change, women’s reproductive rights, LGBTQ rights, and our fragile democracy on the line, NLC’s incoming class of Fellows are ready for the challenge ahead.  I am reassured that our progressive future is bright with this group of thoughtful leaders fighting for equity and justice.”

For more than 12 years, NLC-NJ has run a Fellowship Institute that provides intensive leadership development and meaningful connections with other changemakers across issues, industries, and identities. The 2023 Institute will kick off in January at The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) and will run for six months where Fellows will travel the state to get an understanding of the diverse demographics that make up the great state of New Jersey.  Each month, fellows will focus on skills building, entrepreneurial goal setting, strategic communications, organizing, finance and fundraising, coalition building, public policy, and equity and inclusion.

“This year’s cohort will bring together remarkable, like-minded individuals from across the Garden State to collaboratively cultivate the skills necessary to make progressive change permanent,” said Rob Matos-Moran, Deputy Director of NLC-NJ and Outreach Aide to Governor Phil Murphy. “Through the NLC Institute experience, the 2023 fellows will be able to develop the expertise and mindset to take their work to the next level. We congratulate the 2023 class of fellows and welcome them to the ever-growing community of progressive changemakers in New Jersey.”

NLC-NJ was founded in 2011 by Justin Braz, Chief of Staff and Assistant Commissioner for Transportation Policy at New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) and Jackie Cornell, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey. This class will join the statewide chapter of more than 230 alumni and a nationwide alumni network of more than 10,000 trained progressive leaders.

Class of 2023 NLC-NJ Fellows

Sakura Ando – PhD candidate at Rutgers School of Nursing and Rutgers Dean’s Dissertation Fellow

Ralph Betancourt – Cannabis Consultant at Longview Strategic

Karina Castrillo – Communications Coordinator at Communications Workers of America (CWA), Local 1037

Eloy Delgado – Political Organizer and Lobbyist at New Jersey Education Association (NJEA)

Andrea Garcia – Co-founder of COMMS/Nation LLC.

Julianna Heck – Field Representative and Constituent Advocate for U.S. Congressman Andy Kim

Madelaine Hicks, Esq. – Labor/employment attorney and social justice advocate

Lauren Lalicon – Policy Director to First Lady of New Jersey Tammy Murphy

Joe Marchica – Chair at Our Revolution Trenton-Mercer and Civilian Materials Engineer and Team Lead at U.S. Department of the Navy

Antoinette Miles – Political Director at New Jersey Working Families Party

A’Dorian Murray-Thomas – Founder & CEO of SHE Wins, Inc.

Rosemary Nivar – Assistant Engineer at New Jersey Turnpike Authority

Madina P. Oue draogo – Government Affairs Manager at Council on American-Islamic Relations, New Jersey Chapter (CAIR-NJ)

Samir Kamat – Medical student at Icahn School of Medicine and United States Navy Officer

James Rolle, Esq. – General Counsel, Trenton Board of Education

Shelja Touri – Chair and founder of Diversity, Equal Opportunity Network (DEON)

Larry Traylor – Aide to Mercer County Commissioner Samuel T. Frisby, Sr.

Dave Pilmenstein – Owner and President of Activate Media

Ivan Wei – Vice President of Sustainability at The Wei, LLC.

Yannick Wood – Director of Criminal Justice Reform Program at New Jersey Institute for Social Justice

Full bios are available at www.newleaderscouncil.org/chapter/new-jersey/