NJIT Leaders and Faculty Named to Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill’s Transition Committees
Several leaders and faculty affiliated with New Jersey Institute of Technology and the New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII) have been named to committees supporting Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill’s transition, bringing experience in transportation, economic development, environmental law, life sciences and computing research to the advisory effort.
Among those selected is Elisa Charters ’92 ’93, co-vice chair of the NJIT Board of Trustees, who has been appointed to the Driving New Jersey Forward: Economic Development and Innovation action team. Charters is an executive strategist with extensive experience in public-sector finance, economic development and transactional leadership. She is president of Latina Surge and founder of Juego.Juegos, a software and artificial intelligence company, and has held a range of state-level leadership and advisory roles under multiple New Jersey administrations. Her work has focused on advancing innovation, expanding access to capital and strengthening public-private collaboration.
Joining Charters on the economic development and innovation action team are two members of the NJII Board of Directors. Debbie Hart helped establish BioNJ in 1994 and has since played a leading role in building New Jersey’s life sciences ecosystem. She serves as vice chair of the New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology and has held leadership positions on statewide higher-education and biotechnology task forces.
Also serving on the economic development and innovation team is Chrissy Buteas, president and CEO of the HealthCare Institute of New Jersey (HINJ), the state’s trade association for research-based biopharmaceutical and medical technology companies. Buteas has held senior leadership roles across government affairs and business advocacy in New Jersey, including as chief government affairs officer of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association and vice president of government affairs at Optimum. She has also led statewide healthcare and business organizations and serves on several public, nonprofit and higher-education boards.
Bob Medina ’75, a member and former chair of the NJIT Foundation Board of Directors, has been named to the transition’s Transportation and Infrastructure Innovation action team. Medina is the founder of Medina Consultants, PC, one of New Jersey’s largest Hispanic-owned engineering firms, and has spent decades working on complex infrastructure and transportation projects across the state. An NJIT alumnus, he has remained closely involved with the university through board service, alumni engagement and mentoring initiatives.
Also named to the transition effort is Dennis M. Toft, co-vice chair of the NJIT Board of Trustees, who is serving on the Interdisciplinary Advisory Task Force. Toft is chair of the environmental law group at CSG Law and has spent more than four decades working at the intersection of environmental science, law and public policy, contributing to major legislative frameworks governing site remediation and environmental regulation in New Jersey.
Joining the interdisciplinary advisory group as well is Michele Siekerka, a member of the NJII Board of Directors and president and CEO of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association. Siekerka leads one of the nation’s largest employer organizations and is widely recognized for her work advancing policies aimed at improving New Jersey’s economic competitiveness.
The interdisciplinary advisory group also includes Zhihao “Zephyr” Yao, an assistant professor of computer science at NJIT’s Ying Wu College of Computing. Yao’s research focuses on system security and trustworthy computing, with an emphasis on mobile and networked systems, and he has been recognized nationally for his contributions to the field.
The Governor-elect’s transition structure includes issue-focused action teams and a larger interdisciplinary advisory group intended to draw on expertise from across sectors as the administration prepares to take office.