Our Team
Felicia Taylor, MBA (Co-Leader): Association executive with more than 20 years of experience working for professional associations. She is the Chief Executive Officer of the New Jersey Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics. She currently serves on the Mid-Atlantic Society of Association Executives Board of Directors. She is also an alumni of the Diversity Executive Leadership Program (DELP), a national leadership program through the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). She is a recipient of the New York Society of Association Executives 2018 Outstanding Non-Profit Executive Award. She holds a B.A. from Rutgers University and a M.B.A. from the University of Phoenix. She earned the Certified Association Executive (CAE) credential, awarded by the American Society of Association Executives in 2018.
Dan Quinlan, MBA MS (Co-Leader): Dan is an independent consultant working on projects tied to climate change, clean energy, environmental justice and health. He previously managed a DOE nationwide consortium providing technical assistance to cities and towns spinning up clean energy programs. Dan is also the founder of SolaVida.org, a non-profit whose mission is to help widen the community of people taking action to address global warming and promote clean energy. He has a particular interest in developing new communication outreach strategies and ideas. Dan began his career as a research physicist at Bell Labs, followed by a series of senior management and finance positions for-profit and non-profit organizations. Dan holds MS and MBA degrees, has been awarded five patents, and has authored a wide range of reports, op-eds, testimony, and technical reports.
Shannon Eccles, MD (Education Team Co-Leader): Dr. Shannon Eccles is a pediatric hospitalist at Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center and an Assistant professor for the New Jersey Medical School. She is the chair of the Committee for Environmental Health and Climate Change section of the New Jersey Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.
Catherine Chen, MD (Education Team Co-Leader): Dr. Catherine Chen is an academic hospitalist and Associate Professor at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. She is the faculty lead for curriculum development in climate health and environmental sustainability at RWJMS and a core member of the Rutgers University Office of Climate Action RBHS Unit. She completed the Climate Health Organizing Fellowship program in 2023. Her work aims to bring health systems in NJ towards environmentally conscious and sustainable care delivery through quality improvement and interprofessional education.
Elizabeth Cerceo, MD, FACP, FHM (Policy Team Leader) is an associate professor of medicine and Director of Climate Health at Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, Associate Program Director of internal medicine residency, and chair of Physician Engagement and Women in Medicine. She completed her medical degree at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and residency at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. She is a board-certified general internist in the Department of Hospital Medicine and is a fellow in the American College of Physicians and the Society of Hospital Medicine. She chairs Health and Public Policy for ACP NJ, is leading a climate task force for Medical Society of NJ, and co-chairs two committees for the Medical Society Consortium on Climate and Health. She is integrating climate heath throughout medical training. Dr. Cerceo oversees educational and research initiatives for Hospital Medicine and the Internal Medicine residency and lectures regionally and nationally on healthcare sustainability and climate change.
Anita Edward: is an Administrative Assistant at the New Jersey Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics (NJAAP), bringing over a decade of healthcare experience at the practice level. She supports the chapter's Climate Change Initiative, which focuses on advocacy, education, and taking action on climate issues specific to New Jersey. Anita also contributes to the New Jersey SEEDlings program: Supporting Equity in Early Development, aimed at transforming pediatric primary care delivery for prenatal-to-five-year-old children eligible for NJ FamilyCare or uninsured. She studied Business Administration at Sheridan College, Majoring in Human Resources.
Founding Members
Jeanne Craft, MD: Board certified in Pediatric Critical Care, General Pediatrics and Medical Quality. She graduated from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia and completed her residency in General Pediatrics at the Medical Center of Delaware. She came to New Jersey following her Critical Care fellowship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and is now at Saint Barnabas Medical Center in Livingston where is the a Pediatric Intensivist. Dr. Craft is the Immediate Past President of the AAP New Jersey Chapter. She is the former co-chair of the Committee on Environmental Health and Climate Change, and founding member of the Clinicians for Climate Action New Jersey.
Shannon Eccles, MD: (See above.)
Robyn D’Oria: Chief Executive Officer of the Central Jersey Family Health Consortium a 501(c)3, not-for-profit agency. Robyn has over 35 years of experience in maternal child health in a variety of roles including Perinatal Clinical Nurse Specialist and Director of Women’s and Children’s Services; as well as faculty of pediatric and maternal child health nursing in a number of baccalaureate and associate degree programs. She is the immediate past NJ Section Chair for the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) and was a member of their Expert Panel on Maternal Mortality. Additionally, she is the co-chair of the NJ Perinatal Quality Collaborative as well as a core partner through the American College of Obstetrician/Gynecologists (ACOG) for the Alliance for Innovation in Maternal Health (AIM) a national quality improvement program aimed at improving patient safety in obstetrics. Robyn has been integrally involved in developing and promoting this quality improvement work not only locally but nationally having published about the patient safety bundles in peer-reviewed journals and speaking about efforts to reduce maternal mortality and morbidity at the state and national level.
Dan Quinlan, MS, MBA: (See above.)
Judith Schmidt (Judy): CEO of the New Jersey State Nurses Association and the Institute for Nursing. Judy has received her Associate’s Degree in Applied Science from Ocean County College, a Bachelor’s degree in the Science of Nursing from Richard Stockton State College, a Master’s degree in the Science of Nursing from Seton Hall University and a Doctoral degree in Health Care Administration/Health Policy (DHA) Program at Capella University. Judy has worked in various roles at Community Medical Center in Toms River NJ from Staff Nurse to Administrative Director. She has also worked has a Clinical Instructor in Ocean County College and Seton Hall University’s nursing programs. She has presented on various topics including nursing politics to nursing schools, nursing associations and acute care hospitals.She has been active in the community and has served as a board member for several Nursing School Advisory Boards and Community Medical Center’s Board of Directors and Community Medical Center’s Foundation Board of Trustees.
Polly Thomas, MD: general pediatrician and public health practitioner. She worked for the New York City Department of Health from 1983 until 2004, when she joined the Preventive Medicine faculty of New Jersey Medical School (now part of Rutgers). In 2010 she founded a residency in Preventive Medicine and Public Health, which will graduate its tenth class of Preventive Medicine physicians in June 2022. Raised by a woman who was concerned about the environment beginning in the 1950s, Polly participated in the first Earth Day in 1970, studied ecology in college, and continues to emphasize environmental health to patients and students. During 2007 she co-chaired the City of Summit New Jersey Sustainability Committee, helping write an action plan for Summit. She is proud to be part of the AAP New Jersey Committee on Environmental Health and Climate Change and hopes that together we can all make a difference. hhhh
Donald F. Weinbaum, MBA: Consultant to the non-profit, health, corrections and housing sectors, who specializes in areas related to social determinants of health. His 45+ years of experience spans the fields of Public Health, Behavioral Health Care, and Criminal Justice. Mr. Weinbaum began his career in health care and later transitioned into public health. His professional experience includes 24 years with the NJ Department of Health, in a wide range of roles, and additional experience with the NJ State Parole Board. Following retirement from government service, Mr. Weinbaum served as Executive Director for The Council on Compulsive Gambling of NJ, Inc. and continues to advocate for prevention and community health education. Mr. Weinbaum holds an MBA in Health Care Administration from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and is a NJ Licensed Clinical Alcohol and Drug Counselor. He is the current President of the New Jersey Public Health Association and serves on numerous other boards and professional committees.