New Jersey Policy Perspective Adds Three New Board Members

Janice Fine, Adriana Abizadeh, and Julia Sass Rubin join the NJPP Board of Trustees 

July 10, 2020 – New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP) has announced the election of three new members to its Board of Trustees. Joining the NJPP board are Rutgers University Department of Labor Studies and Employment Relations Professor Janice Fine, Kensington Corridor Trust Executive Director Adriana Abizadeh, and Rutgers University Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy Associate Professor Julia Sass Rubin.

“We are incredibly fortunate to have such talented and intelligent women join New Jersey Policy Perspective’s governing body,” said Marcia Marley, Chair of NJPP’s Board of Trustees. “I am thrilled to welcome Janice, Adriana, and Julia to the board.”

Janice Fine is a nationally renowned scholar and teacher of economic justice and labor movements with broad experience in academia, research organizations, and labor and community organizing. Janice is currently a Professor at the Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations, where she writes and teaches about unions, worker centers, community organizing groups, labor standards enforcement, privatization, and more. She is also the Director of Research and Strategy at the Center for Innovation in Worker Organization (CIWO) at Rutgers, a national think-and-do tank that works to strengthen worker organizations.

Prior to joining Rutgers, Janice worked as a labor, community, and political organizer and trainer for over twenty years. She holds a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Political Science and a bachelor’s degree in Labor Studies/Community Planning from the University of Massachusetts, Boston.

“It is a great honor to be asked to serve on the board of NJPP, the premier progressive policy organization in New Jersey,” said NJPP Board Trustee Janice Fine. “NJPP’s research and analysis on economic and budgetary policy, public education and immigration has been so essential to informed policymaking and governance in our state.”

Adriana Abizadeh is a nonprofit leader who is deeply committed to building community power, with a focus on the intersection of immigration status, housing, poverty, and race. Adriana is currently the Executive Director of the Kensington Corridor Trust (KCT) in Philadelphia, where she promotes sustainable, community-driven development that helps residents prosper. The KCT ensures that local neighborhoods have control over and benefit from economic development.

Prior to joining KCT, Adriana was the Executive Director of the Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund (LALDEF) in Trenton, where she expanded the organization’s direct services by increasing staff fourfold and tripled its operating budget. Adriana holds a Masters of Science in Public Policy from Drexel University and a bachelor’s from Rutgers University in Political Science.

“I am so honored to join the board of New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP), particularly at a time when our nation and our state should turn to policy solutions to fight systemic injustices that disproportionately impact communities of color,” said NJPP Trustee Adriana Abizadeh. “NJPP’s focus on equitable tax policies exemplifies how the correction of a broken tax code and system can support communities in achieving economic justice. I look forward to working alongside the board and staff of NJPP to advance progressive policies in the Garden State for the benefit of historically marginalized communities.”

Julia Sass Rubin is a scholar who has researched and written in the fields of developmental finance and the use of tax credits for economic development, nonprofit and governmental organizations and processes, and education policy. Julia currently is an Associate Professor at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University and an Associate Visiting Professor at the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs. She has advised a number of nonprofit and governmental organizations, including the U.S. Small Business Administration, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority.

Previously, Julia consulted for McKinsey & Company and worked in brand management for the Procter & Gamble and Eastman Kodak Companies. Julia earned her Ph.D. and master’s from Harvard University, an MBA with distinction from Harvard Business School, and a bachelor’s degree with honors from Harvard-Radcliffe College. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the Alfred A. Taubman Center for Public Policy at Brown University, and spent a year as a Henry Luce Scholar in Bangkok, Thailand.

“I am very excited to join the New Jersey Policy Perspectives’ Board of Directors,” said NJPP Trustee Julia Sass Rubin. “NJPP takes on issues that directly impact economic and social justice, always punches above its weight, and is never afraid to speak truth to power. The staff and board members are smart, savvy and talented. It is a real privilege to be associated with this extraordinary organization!”

“New Jersey Policy Perspective is incredibly fortunate to have Janice, Adriana, and Julia on board to help us grow and continue to research ways to advance racial and economic justice,” said NJPP President Brandon McKoy. “Our three new board members personify NJPP’s mission that policy decisions should be based on sound research and center impacted communities and those who have been historically pushed behind.”

New Jersey Policy Perspective (NJPP) is a nonpartisan think tank that drives policy change to advance economic, social, and racial justice through evidence-based, independent research, analysis, and advocacy.