Cornell Brooks
Executive Director
Mr. Brooks previously worked as a Senior Counsel with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), where he worked on legal and policy matters promoting small business and media ownership diversity and also directed the FCC’s Office of Communication Business Opportunities. Serving in this capacity, he led efforts to increase financing available to small, minority- and woman-owned businesses through regulatory and industry initiatives. Prior to his FCC service, as a U.S. Department of Justice trial attorney, Mr. Brooks secured the then largest government settlement for victims of housing discrimination based on testing and filed the government’s first law suit against a nursing home alleging housing discrimination based on race. His civil rights experience includes serving as Executive Director of the Fair Housing Council of Greater Washington and as trial attorney with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. As the Executive Director of the Fair Housing Council, Mr. Brooks oversaw a regional program of fair housing testing and public education in Washington, DC, Northern Virginia, and metropolitan Maryland that served as the basis of impact litigation. In 1998, Mr. Brooks ran as the Democratic Nominee for U.S. Congress for the 10th District of Virginia. As a graduate of both Head Start and Yale, he campaigned as an advocate for public education, affordable healthcare, and fiscal responsibility.
A fourth-generation ordained minister, Mr. Brooks earned a Bachelor of Arts, with honors, in political science from Jackson State University and a Master of Divinity from Boston University School of Theology, with a concentration in social ethics and systematic theology. After seminary, Mr. Brooks earned a Juris Doctorate from Yale Law School, where he served as a Senior Editor of the Yale Law Journal and Member of the Yale Law and Policy Review. He served a judicial clerkship with then Chief Judge Sam J. Ervin, III, on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. While studying at Boston University as a Martin Luther King Scholar, Mr. Brooks was awarded both the Oxnam-Leibman Fellowship for outstanding scholarship and promoting racial harmony and the Jefferson Fellowship for outstanding scholarship and excellence in preaching.
As an attorney, activist, congressional candidate, and pastor, Mr. Brooks has spoken before congregations of diverse faiths, as well as the United Nations Sub-Committee on Discrimination, business organizations, bar associations, labor unions, civil rights groups, schools, and colleges in the U.S. and Europe. As a columnist, he has written for several newspapers on contemporary politics, ethics, and faith.
Ellen Brown
Chief Operating Officer
Ms. Brown is the Chief Operating Officer for the Institute. Previously, she served as an economic development and development finance program officer for the Ford Foundation in the United States and South Africa using grants, program-related investments and equity investments to strengthen small, job creating firms in inner city and rural areas in both countries. She administered a $15 million budget over several years.
Previously, she worked as an investment manager in the corporate finance division of PruCapital, Inc., an investment subsidiary of The Prudential Insurance Company of America completing over $500 million in high-risk private placements and direct investments.
She received her undergraduate degree from the University of California at Los Angeles and her Masters of Business Administration from Columbia University.
Craig Levine
Senior Counsel & Policy Director
Craig Levine, Senior Counsel and Policy Director for the Institute, has been working on issues involving vulnerable children and families for over sixteen years. Prior to joining the Institute, Craig worked as an attorney with Children's Rights, Inc., as Counsel to the Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals of the State of New York, and as an attorney and Skadden Fellow with the Appalachian Research and Defense Fund. Craig also has taught in the graduate school at Princeton University.
Craig holds a J. D. from the New York University School of Law, where he was a Root-Tilden-Snow Public Interest Scholar and the co-founder of Public Service Fellowship Fund. Craig also holds an M.P.A. from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and a B. A. from Yale University.
Laurel Dumont
Legal & Policy Counsel
Laurel is Legal & Policy Counsel for the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. She worked previously as a housing attorney at Essex-Newark Legal Services and, before that, a 5th Grade teacher at Thirteenth Avenue School in Newark (where she is currently collaborating with parents, teachers and administrators to open a school-based health clinic). She is an active Newark resident and community member, volunteering for and serving on the boards of several charter schools and other organizations. She presently chairs the Newark Reentry Legal Services (ReLeSe) Steering Committee and serves on the board of the Prodigal Sons and Daughters (prisoner re-entry and prevention services). Laurel holds a B. A. in Government from Wesleyan University and a Masters in Social Work and Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan.
Allen James
Director, New Careers Project
Allen has twenty years of experience as an organizational manager specializing in the design and implementation of prevention, personal development and behavior change initiatives for young people and adults. Before joining NJISJ, he was Executive Director of YouthBASE, Inc. in Brooklyn, NY. YouthBASE, Inc. designed and implemented school-based HIV, STD and teen pregnancy prevention and violence prevention programs in New York City public high schools and was a vanguard advocate for comprehensive sex and reproductive health education in New York City schools. Allen also served as Executive Director of Playing 2 Win, Inc. in NYC from 1992 to 1996 and as Deputy Executive Director of The Fortune Society in New York City before that. As a private consultant he has developed and directed projects for Common Ground Community, Inc. HDFC, Non-traditional Employment for Women, NYC, the Single Parent Resource Center, NYC and other organizations.
Allen was a Charles H. Revson fellow at Columbia University in 2003-2004.
Albert Williams
Project Director, N/ECCC
Mr. Williams is the Project Director of the Newark/Essex Construction Careers Consortium N/ECCC). Prior to joining the Institute, Albert was an Apprenticeship Training Coordinator with the District of Columbia’s Department of Employment Services, the Office of Apprenticeship, Information and Training. In this capacity, he was responsible for the development and management of pre-apprenticeship program, as well as liaison between state agencies, unions, community organizations, institutions and the private sector on matters of apprenticeship and training.
Most notable in Albert’s career is his work as the Program Management Administrator with the Washington Convention Center Authority. Albert managed a pre-apprenticeship initiative specifically designed to train and employ District residents during the construction phases of the New Washington Convention Center Project, which at that time was the largest commercial building project on the entire east coast.
Albert holds a Bachelors of Science in Psychology from Hampton University and post-graduate studies at American University Kogod College of Business Administration.
Amy Eisenstein
Director of Development
Amy M. Eisenstein serves as the Institute’s first Director of Development. Prior to joining the Institute staff, Amy served as Director of Development for Douglass College at Rutgers University, and previously served as Development Director for Bergen County’s Battered Women’s Shelter, Shelter Our sisters. From 2000-2005, Amy volunteered on the executive committee and/or conference committee of the New Jersey Association of Fundraising Professionals.
Amy holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration and Non-Profit Management from the Wagner Graduate School at New York University. She received a Bachelor’s Degree from Douglass College at Rutgers University in Political Science and Labor Studies. In 2004, Amy received her CFRE (Certified Fund Raising Executive).
Kelly Dougherty
Director of Administration & Human Resources
Kelly Dougherty, Director of Administration and Human Resources at NJISJ, joins the Institute after serving nine years as the Director of Finance and Administration with New Jersey SEEDS, a statewide nonprofit organization the provides educational opportunity to academically talented, financially limited students.
Kelly holds a Master of Public Administration from Seton Hall University, a BA in Art History from Drew University, Certification in Arts Administration from New York University, and is a Certified Massage Therapist.
Rita Simmons
Office Manager
Ms. Simmons has worked for various organizations during her career. Prior to joining the Institute, Ms Simmons worked for Seton Hall University, and the Commission for Racial Justice.
Ms. Simmons received an A. A. degree from Elizabeth Seton College.
Mariana Giraudo
Community Development Fellow
Mariana Giraudo is the Institute’s new Community Development Fellow. She previously worked as an analyst for the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation to improve government efficiency and to measure performance. Her life-long commitment to social justice has ranged from social work and political activism in her native Argentina to her interest in immigration issues and environmental policy as well as government transparency and accountability.
Mariana holds a Master in Public Administration from the School of Public Affairs and Administration, Rutgers State University in Newark, and a B. A. in Political Science and Sociology from Hunter College, the City University of New York.
Rasheed Jackson
Employment Specialist, New Careers Project
Rasheed Jackson, Employment Specialist for the New
Careers Project, is a Newark native. Before coming to NJISJ, Rasheed was employed with the City of Newark Mayor's Office of Employment and Training (MOET) for over 10 years. At MOET, Rasheed worked with the New Jersey Employment Services Representative to help place over 2,200 Newark residents in jobs. He was also responsible for identifying employment opportunities for participants in the Newark One Stop Project Access Program; planning and implementing the screening process for applicants to work in the newly built Home Depot in Newark; and working with NJISJ and the New Jersey School Construction Corporation to help expedite the enrollment of qualified applicants into construction trades.
Rasheed earned a Bachelor's Degree in Hospitality Management with a minor in Business Administration from Delaware State University (DSU). At DSU, Rasheed was selected by the National Association of College and University Food Services to attend a Food Service Management internship program at Pennsylvania State University.
Nichele Wilson
Case Manager, New Careers Project
A native of Newark, Nichele has worked on behalf of the city’s residents for most of her life. Prior to coming to the Institute, Nichele worked at Healthy Mothers/Healthy Babies of Essex as an Outreach Worker and Newark Family Resource Network as a liaison for high-risk parents with DYFS cases. At New Community Corporation, the world’s largest community development corporation, she worked in both the Finance and the Community Arts departments. She also helped produce The Priory Jazz Series 1997-1999.
Nichele has attended Virginia State University and Upsala College, where she studied Psychology. She will graduate from Saint Peter’s College in spring 2007 with a degree in Urban Studies, and a concentration in Public Policy.
Elizabeth Reynoso
Coordinator of Planning & Community Partnerships,
New Careers Project
After beginning her career in advocacy at Human Rights Watch, Elizabeth Reynoso produced documentary films for ABC News and PBS/Frontline. Covering subjects such as US drug policy and the reentry journey of former prisoners led to her desire to work directly with families and communities beleaguered by the criminal justice system.
Elizabeth's commitment to healthier communities in New Jersey extends to promoting food and environmental justice through her work with Genesis Farm and Purple Dragon Co-op.
Elizabeth received her BA from Wellesley College and studied film and journalism at the New School for Social Research and Columbia University, respectively.
Arielle Cohen
Skadden Fellow
Arielle Cohen returned to the Institute and to Newark in the fall of 2007 as a Skadden Fellow, focusing on creating and preserving opportunities for affordable, economically and racially integrated housing in New Jersey. Previously, she spent two summers as a legal intern with the Institute and also used her Masters Thesis as a vehicle for conducting research for the Institute on issues related to affordable housing provision. Arielle also spent a summer with Essex-Newark Legal Services representing tenants in eviction proceedings.
Arielle has a long-standing commitment to public service. Before returning to school to pursue degrees in law and public policy, she worked in her home state of West Virginia at a shelter and advocacy program for victims of domestic violence and helped start one of the State’s first Child Advocacy Centers.
Arielle received her J. D.Cum Laude from New York University, where she was a Law and Economics Fellow and recipient of a Dean’s Scholarship. She has a Masters Degree from the Goldman School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. Last year, Arielle clerked for the Honorable Lawrence M. Baskir of the United States Court of Federal Claims.
Rebecca Doggett
Senior Fellow
Ms. Doggett has been active in community and economic development efforts in Newark for over thirty years.
Prior to her work with ECCCP, she served as special assistant for Community Development for the Newark Public Schools, Director for the Office of Business and Job Opportunity at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and as the Executive Director for the Tri-City Citizens Union for Progress in Newark, NJ.
Richard Greenberg
Director of Strategic Communications & Equal Justice Fellow
Richard Greenberg, Director of Strategic Communications & Equal Justice Fellow at the Institute, has been working on justice-related community development issues for over ten years. Prior to joining the Institute, Mr. Greenberg served as the Executive Vice President at Marga Incorporated, a New York City-based consulting firm that advises the grant-making of national foundations, including Annie E. Casey, Ford, and Kellogg. He has also held positions at Mentoring USA, a youth development agency founded by Matilda Cuomo, and Greenwich House, a settlement house in Lower Manhattan.
Mr. Greenberg serves on the Township of Maplewood's Planning Board and Affordable Housing Board and as a trustee at Columbia Community Impact and YouthNet, Inc. Mr. Greenberg received a Masters Degree in Public Administration from Columbia University and a B. A. from Cornell University.
