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Message from our President
Sallie Petrucci George

I am honored to serve as your President for 2009. I'd like to thank Mitchel Rosen for all of his leadership and dedication to the organization during his tenure as president. He laid the groundwork to help NJPHA prepare for the future, working to build the organization's capacity, increase student representation, and garnered foundation resources to support those efforts. In addition, he has positioned NJPHA as a vital member of the Public Health Associations' Collaborative Effort, a group of representatives from all of the major public health organizations in the state, focused on advancing New Jersey's public health capacity.

My objective for 2009 is to build on this foundation of collaboration and momentum and operationalize NJPHA's important mission--to advocate and support the cause of public health in NJ. We are facing a unique time in American history. Our nation's leadership is changing; our states and our country are facing the deepest financial crises since the Great Depression; and the potential for health reform is high. It will be more important than ever to work together to ensure that the public health needs of New Jersey residents are met head-on and that public health is an issue that is at the forefront of health reform discussions.

My vision for NJPHA is to position the association as an information resource to help the people and policymakers of New Jersey understand what public health is and why it is important to New Jersey. This includes supporting and building a pipeline of engaged public health professionals and most importantly, establishing a voice and position on important public health issues facing our state. As one of the longest running public health associations in the nation with a diverse membership, NJPHA and its members can lend our experience and expertise to inform health policy and education decision. Through our partnerships with other organizations and non-profits, we can once again proactively advocate for policy change that improves the lives of all New Jerseyans. Over the next few months, the NJPHA board will undertake a strategic planning process to lay the groundwork for the next few years. Your insight and support is a critical part of this process designed to strengthen NJPHA. Thus, we will be identifying ways to involve our members and supporters in the strategic planning process and implementation of the plan.

To further build capacity in the infrastructure of NJPHA, I am committed to improving the way we communicate with our members and constituents, developing more opportunities to support knowledge and skill acquisition of our members and creating an active student section for the association.

Join me and the leadership of NJPHA in forging this journey. We hope that you will consider nominating yourself or someone you know to the few remaining board positions or becoming more active in NJPHA by joining one of our committees. For a complete listing of committees and openings, please visit www.njpha.org. Please contact me with suggestions at njphapresident2009@yahoo.com. Thank you.

I hope you enjoy the rest of the summer. I look forward to seeing many of you in the fall, and at our annual meeting.

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Call for Nominations and Awards

Call for Nominations
Nominations for NJPHA officer positions is currently open. Additional information can be found here. Please contact Parvin AhmadKhanlou (parvin.ahmadkhanlou@doh.state.nj.us) for more information.

Call for Awards
Nominations for NJPHA awards is currently open. Additional information can be found here. Please contact Jim Brown (jbrown@ocean.edu) for more information.

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Need for Committee Members

Please, reach out to the Chair of the Committee of your interest and share your thoughts and ideas. As we develop our two-year strategic plan, we will take your feedback and support seriously. We also would like to extend an invitation to our sister public health organizations for planning joint activities.

If you are interested in participating on a committee, helping with a special task such as the newsletter, tracking a specific legislation or advocacy let me know. This will be an exciting, and challenging year and everyone who wants to take part in our organization, has an opportunity to do so. To get involved, simply contact the appropriate chairperson, the Executive Board Chair, Dr. Jim Brown at jbrown@ocean.edu or Parvin Ahmadkhanlou at njphapresident@gmail.com. We look forward to hearing from you soon!