Ellie Barbarash joined the Public Policy team of Health Professionals and Allied Employees in 2018, hired as both Education Coordinator and Health and Safety Coordinator for a labor union of 22 healthcare locals representing 14,000 nurses, healthcare technicians and professionals working in NJ and parts of Philadelphia. Since March of 2020 her focus has been COVID safety, whether through worker trainings, town halls, or supporting members documenting occupational hazards during pandemic.   Ellie has written and submitted more than 26 sets of OSHA or PEOSH complaints against HPAE employers; each complaint resulting in substantial fines and violations, moving employers to better improve infection control, OSHA compliance and worker safety.  When not working on safety issues, Ellie coordinates and collaborates on curricula revisions and delivery of HPAE’s union leadership training program.  HPAE’s heroic healthcare members have suffered countless illnesses and at least six COVID workplace fatalities to-date.

Debbie Berkowitz, NELP’s Worker Safety and Health program director, joined NELP in 2015, following six years serving as chief of staff and then a senior policy adviser for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) (2009-2015).

Debbie has a long record of achievement in the field of occupational safety and health. Her past positions include health and safety director of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union and the health and safety director of the Food and Allied Service Trades Department of the AFL-CIO.

Todd E. Vachon, PhD is Director of the Labor Education Action Research Network (LEARN) and a faculty member in the Department of Labor Studies and Employment Relations at Rutgers University’s School of Management and Labor Relations (SMLR). As the Director of Rutgers LEARN, Todd oversees the University’s labor education programs, including classes and workshops for workers, unions, and other justice-focused organizations and public programming designed to: (a) strengthen the community at work, (b) facilitate its organization on a more democratic basis, and (c) address unjustified inequalities of power and wealth in society. When the COVID pandemic hit in March of 2020, Todd and LEARN partnered with the NJ Work Environment Council and Jersey Renews to host the weekly COVID-19 Update Webinar, “Saving Lives, Protecting Workers.” The series, which ran for 59 weeks, delivered up-to-the-minute critical information to workers, health & safety professionals, and advocates across the state, and created an online community of caring, sharing and repairing that reached thousands of viewers over the course of the Pandemic Year.

The Protect NJ Workers Coalition is a diverse statewide coalition of workers, worker centers, community groups, advocacy organizations, and labor unions, dedicated to expanding worker protections for all New Jersey workers. The Protect NJ Workers Coalition organized and brought workers’ voices to the Governor’s attention, resulting in Executive Order 192 and workplace safety and health training funds.  The Coalition developed and delivered a multi-organizational state-sponsored COVID-19 Awareness and Prevention Program that trained over 80 worker-trainers that spanned across New Jersey delivering workplace and community awareness of COVID-19 training to thousands of frontline workers. Protect NJ Workers Coalition partner organizations continue to provide a space for workers to come together to strategize around enforcing labor standards and safe working conditions.

Since the birth of our organization in 2000, Occupational Health and Safety has been one of Wind of the Spirit, Immigrant Resource Center pillars. Since 2003, WotS Community Promoters have played a fundamental role in educating, organizing and mobilizing our community.

Community Promoters are workers with a holistic training including Health and Safety, infectious disease, emergency response, know your rights, human and constitutional rights, organizing, peace building, etc., that are ready to be activated when there is an emergency in our community. During the COVID 19 pandemic, following Health and Safety Protocols 30 WotS Community Promoters took to the streets and went door to door in multiple towns in the Morris & Union County area to educate thousands of immigrant families on how to prevent the COVID 19 spread and keep our communities safe. They also filled out census 2020 applications, trained marshals who participated in the BLM marches, delivered food for those who were vulnerable or sick, gave out more than 15,000 face covers and trained hundreds of people about covid 19 prevention and resiliency.

Nikki is an Instructional Assistant at Dale Avenue School in Paterson and an Educational Support Professional (ESP) chair for the Paterson Education Association (PEA). She is also a New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) Delegate Assembly Member for Passaic County Education Associations (PCEA).