Susan Zelt, Dr.P.H., ARSJ President/Chair and co-founder brings more than 10 years of research experience in health policy and pharmaceuticals research and development to her work at ARSJ.For the past 4 years, her career research emphasis has been in oncology research.Her research interests include social capital, public will campaigns, translation of research into practice, and diffusion of innovation, all as they relate to improving population health and reducing health and public health disparities.Dr. Zelt has a Dr.P.H. from the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, an M.P.H. in Socio medical Sciences from Columbia University, and a B.S. in Biochemistry from the Pennsylvania State University.
Iris Rubinstein, is Vice President/Chair of ARSJ, one of the organization's founders, and has played an integral role in facilitating critical consciousness raising in community-based organizations as well as facilitating ARSJ's community-based Participatory Action Research (PAR). As an Officer for ARSJ, she currently leads the efforts of training new volunteers for WATCH NJ - both for court room observation procedures and for socio-education training within ARSJ and to outside organizations. She provides critical input on the data collection tools for the PAR, ensuring that they capture data elements that the collective has determined as descriptors / measures of the institutional oppression present in the family court system. Ms. Rubinstein has created and facilitated many ARSJ's presentations and workshops and is also a trained Grief Support Facilitator, leading a monthly grief support group in Princeton for 12 years. She previously served on ARSJ's CLC. Melissa Collins, Treasurer, Member of CLC
Melissa Collins, ARSJ Treasurer, a co-founder of ARSJ and a member of the CLC is a recent graduate of Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, where she received a B.S. in Labor Studies/Employee Relations. Her career interests in labor studies are in advocacy for immigrants, women, and minorities in the workplace. She also served as a sponsor at Affinity Counseling Group where she worked with at-risk youth to overcome recidivism in the community, to promote youth empowerment through social justice events such as voter registrations, and to provide employment-related workshops that featured resume writing sessions, job searching, and youth empowerment. She was instrumental in setting up a computer lab for the Youth Leadership Academy, utilizing funding from the state of New Jersey, which created a safe space for youth. Ms. Collins also assists ARSJ in merging technology with its social justice initiatives. Patrick Kelley, M.A., Secretary, Member of CLC
Patrick Kelley, M.A., ARSJ Secretary and member of the CLC, brings 13 years of experience in proposal and grant-writing in health care to ARSJ. He has been a member of ARSJ since 2006 and supports the social justice aims of ARSJ through participation in all of its projects. Mr. Kelley has extensive experience in analyzing requests for proposals and grant applications, proposal management, grant writing, project management, and research ethics. He has a Certificate in Public Health from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an M.A. in English from Virginia Tech. He is currently studying acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine at Pacific College of Oriental Medicine in New York.