Donna Drewes, Co-Director
B.S. in Soil Science from Rutgers University
M.S. in City and Regional Planning from Rutgers University
Ms. Drewes is a professional planner with nearly 30 years’ experience in sustainable development and natural resource management planning. Ms. Drewes has worked as a professional planning consultant in the private sector and for both public agencies and non-governmental organizations. Her experience includes extensive work in the development of regional watershed plans, community sustainability planning, as well as rural and environmental resource management issues. Since 2004, Ms. Drewes has been with the Municipal Land Use Center at The College of New Jersey. She currently serves as the Co-Director of the newly-formed Sustainability Institute. Ms. Drewes is the co-creator of the Sustainable Jersey municipal certification program.
(609) 771-2833 drewes@tcnj.eduRandall Solomon, Co-Director
B.S. in Biology from Rutgers University
M.S. in Public Policy from Rutgers University
Doctoral candidate in Planning and Policy at Rutgers University
Mr. Solomon is one of the principals that founded and directs the Sustainable Jersey Certification program. Prior to this he was the founder and Executive Director of the New Jersey Sustainable State Institute at Rutgers where he worked to expand the capacity of public decision making to address sustainability. In 2010, NJSSI merged with elements of the Municipal Land Use Center to form the Institute for Sustainability and Governance (which has now been absorbed by the Sustainability Institute). Mr. Solomon’s policy experience includes positions as a policy advisor on sustainable development for the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities integrating land use and energy policy, director of the States Campaign for the Resource Renewal Institute in San Francisco, and policy director for the non-profit New Jersey Future. Other jobs include a stint as a national Park Ranger and serving in the inaugural class of AmeriCorps volunteers. He has participated on advisory boards for federal and state government, civic organizations, and has advised major corporations. He writes and speaks frequently on sustainable development, land use policy, using indicators in public decision making, and governance issues.
(609) 771-2290 solomonr@tcnj.edu
Winnie Fatton, Program Manager
B.A. Creative Writing from the University of Missouri
Ms. Fatton has been an educator for over 30 years. Her experience ranges from teaching 4th grade to high school English. She held a variety of jobs, from writer’s assistant to private tutor, during the years when her main focus was raising her 2 children. Ms. Fatton was formerly the Director of Education for the South Branch Watershed Association, Inc. in Flemington, NJ where she helped to develop “The Waterways Stewardship Group” program which teaches students how to conduct biological monitoring of waterways in order to assess water quality. Ms. Fatton has been a Project Manager at the Sustainability Institute at The College of New Jersey (formerly known as the Municipal Land Use Center at TCNJ) for 6 years. She has worked on “Green Jobs for NJ,” a project to infuse sustainability into the curricula of Career and Technical Schools. She currently organizes trainings and workshops for the Sustainable Jersey program, which allows her to combine her interests in education, the environment and sustainability.
(609) 771-2855 fatton@tcnj.eduSustainability Research
Anthony O’Donnell, Project Coordinator
B.S. Environmental & Business Economics from Cook College-Rutgers University
M. S. Food & Business Economics from Rutgers University
M.S. City & Regional Studies fromBloustein School of Planning
Mr. O’Donnell is an Economist and Project Specialist at the Sustainability Institute. Mr. O’Donnell is currently the project coordinator for the EPA Climate Showcase Communities program and deals with highly specialized technical, economic, and policy topics associated with research and outreach on energy and sustainable development. He also lends support to the Sustainable Jersey program at the Institute as the co-chair of several task forces. From 2004 to 2010, Mr. O’Donnell was employed as the staff economist at the New Jersey Pinelands Commission, where he was responsible for managing the Long Term Economic Monitoring Program. In addition to compiling, maintaining, and analyzing a large and diverse database for more than 50 municipalities covering over 900,000 acres in South Jersey, Mr. O’Donnell also published an annual report on the regional economy. Prior to that, he worked as the State Plan Director at the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions (ANJEC) coordinating strategies for local Environmental Commissions during the cross-acceptance process.
(609) 771-2921 odonnela@tcnj.eduSamantha McGraw, Project Coordinator
B.S. Meteorology, Millersville University
M.A. Political Science, Colorado State University
Ms. McGraw assists New Jersey municipalities with the Sustainable Jersey certification process. She answers questions from outside organizations about the Sustainable Jersey program, and conducts research and policy development with a variety of task forces. Samantha brings both a science and policy background to the Sustainable Jersey team, along with experience working in local government as an intern with the City of Fort Collins Environmental Services Department. Her graduate thesis analyzed the role Sustainable Jersey plays in municipal sustainability action, and she is excited to bring these research and practical experiences to the Sustainable Jersey organization.
(609) 771-2938 mcgraws@tcnj.eduJohn Loyer, Project Coordinator
B.A. Economics and Sociology from The College of New Jersey
Mr. Loyer manages the Sustainable Jersey Small Grants program, overseeing the application and selection process as well as the reporting for the small grants’ communities. He provides support for the Diversity and Equity and Greening Historic Preservation Task Forces. He is also coordinating an effort to identify solar photovoltaic siting issues in New Jersey and develop resources for New Jersey municipalities to be proactive with solar photovoltaic development in their communities. Mr. Loyer interned at MLUC at TCNJ (now the Sustainability Institute) supporting both Sustainable Jersey and Mobility and Community Form, as well as PlanSmart NJ.
(609) 771-2836 loyer3@tcnj.eduTransportation and Land Use Program
Carmen V. Valentin, Program Manager
B.A. Biology, Rutgers University
Certificate in Project Management, American Management Association
Before joining The College of New Jersey, Ms. Valentin worked as the Operations Manager at the NJ Department of Community Affairs’ Office of Smart Growth where she was responsible for overseeing and coordinating the activities of various work units including the project teams that analyzed issues of statewide importance submitted by stakeholders, as mandated by the State Plan. In 2000, Ms. Valentin was part of the team that coordinated State Plan implementation efforts in various state departments. Ms. Valentin is a trained facilitator and a former member of the NJ Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Facilitator Corps. She has provided facilitation services for various state departments, counties and universities. She was the Public Outreach and Education Coordinator for the DEP’s Pesticide Control Program for over 10 years, where she developed and delivered interactive pesticide safety education programs for the general public and compliance training to over 2000 pesticide applicators and farmers annually.
(609) 771-2865 cvalenti@tcnj.eduJennifer Sontupe, Office Manager
A.A. Graphic Design, Mercer County Community College
Ms. Sontupe plays many roles at the Sustainability Institute at the College of New Jersey. She is responsible for maintaining the Institute’s programmatic budgets which includes tracking income and expenses for over a dozen grants and programs and maintaining financial records for staff. As Office Manager, Ms. Sontupe facilitates the hiring of employees, student interns, consultants and subcontractors; keeps track of timesheets and coordinates meetings for staff. In addition, she serves as executive assistant to Senior Staff, maintains the Institute website, and serves as the liaison between the Institute and various departments at The College of New Jersey including Finance and Business Services, Human Resources, and Grants and Sponsored Research. Prior to working at the Institute, Ms. Sontupe worked for the State of New Jersey Office of Economic Growth as a confidential secretary to the Deputy Chief of staff during the Corzine administration.
(609) 771-2832 sontupe@tcnj.edu