New Jersey Leading the Way

Lauren Albrecht, Director of Advocacy & Organizing, Garden State Equality

Since 2019, Lauren Albrecht has served as Garden State Equality’s Policy Consultant before transitioning to the role of Director of Advocacy & Organizing in 2023. Lauren holds a B.A. in English and Art History and serves in a leadership capacity for several local and statewide political organizations. A lifelong resident of New Jersey, Lauren resides in Wall Township with her family and her dog Shelby.

Jesse Burns, Executive Director, League of Women Voters of New Jersey

Jesse has been on staff with the League of Women Voters of New Jersey since 2007, previously serving as Communications Director before becoming the organization’s executive director in 2015. Under Jesse’s leadership, the League has strengthened its position as a critical, influential, and trusted voting rights and civic engagement organization, providing nonpartisan voter education to hundreds of thousands of voters, protecting them at the polls, and advancing equitable policy reforms. The League has championed recent voting rights advancements including online voter registration, automatic voter registration, an end to prison-based gerrymandering, in-person early voting, and rights restoration for people on parole and probation, among others. Jesse has sat on two New Jersey Supreme Court committees, was named to the 2023 Insider Out 100: LGBTQ Power List, and is the recipient of LUPE Fund’s 2022 Power of Women Amiga Award. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Dickinson College and a Master of Fine Arts in Poetry from Drew University.

Crystal Charley, Senior Organizer, Salvation and Social Justice

Crystal D. Charley, MBA, CD, reproductive justice, and civil rights activist, is a respected community organizer and advocate. The proud mother is also a patient advocate for Black maternal health, and the Founder of Melanin and Maternal Wellness. She is a Certified Shafia Monroe Consulting (SMC) Full Circle Doula Birth Companion, providing perinatal doula services including, prenatal, labor and delivery, and postpartum care. A graduate of the Commonsense Childbirth Institute, Crystal is also a Childbirth Educator. She is also a proud New Jersey Birth Justice Institute Fellow, and member of Evidence-Based Birth Professionals Community, where she continues to expand her expertise in birth advocacy and hone her skill set to best serve her clients.

Crystal currently serves as the Director of Birth and Wellness Resource Hub for the Greater Mount Zion Community Development Corporation. She is also a Senior Organizer for Salvation and Social Justice, leading the organization's campaign around Black maternal health.

Crystal sits on the National Perinatal Task Force, Public Institute of New Jersey Board of Trustees, member of the Board of Directors for the Southern New Jersey Perinatal Cooperative, as well as Fair Share Housing Center.

Grounded in her activism, Crystal, a Silver Life Member, is currently serving in her second term as the 2nd Vice-President of the NAACP New Jersey State Conference.

Her dedication, activism, and advocacy has also led to print, online, and on television features in The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Burlington County Times, the Grio, The Moorestown Sun, Front Runner New Jersey, The Trentonian, Insider NJ, Fox29 and 6ABC.

Crystal Charley is also a highly sought after speaker, who regularly presents at conventions and on panels, addressing reproductive justice, Black maternal health, civil rights, systemic racism, diversity and inclusion, and health equity.

Crystal is a proud legacy, and mother member of Jack and Jill of America, Incorporated, Burlington County Chapter.

Christian Estevez, Co-Founder/President Emeritus, Latino Action Network

Born and raised in Plainfield, New Jersey, Christian Estevez is the son of immigrants from the Dominican Republic. Christian graduated with a double major in Labor Relations and Latino Studies from Rutgers University, where he later worked teaching classes focused on Latino Workers in the United States. He was an activist while in college, serving in leadership positions of several organizations, including as Co-Chair of the Latino Student Council. In 1996 he transitioned from student organizing to community organizing as a co-founder of Pa’lante, a local social justice organization. Christian helped organize New Jersey’s first statewide Latino Leadership Conference in 1999. Christian began his career in the labor movement when he was hired by the New Jersey State AFL-CIO in 2001. In 2009, Christian went to work for Communications Workers of America (CWA), Local 1037, working his way up to Executive Vice President. That same year, he helped found and later served as President of the Latino Action Network, statewide social justice organization. In 2021 Christian went to work for the National CWA where he now serves as the New Jersey Legislative & Political Director for District 1. Christian continues his community activism, volunteering and serving on the boards of several organizations, including New Jersey Citizen Action, New Jersey Working Families Alliance and the Latino Action Network.

Amol Sinha, Executive Director, ACLU of New Jersey

Amol Sinha is a nationally recognized civil rights leader who has dedicated his career to advancing racial justice, holding institutions accountable, and promoting and defending rights and liberties.

As Executive Director of the ACLU of New Jersey (ACLU-NJ), Amol leads a team of dedicated professionals and guides the organization's innovative integrated advocacy work, utilizing litigation, policy, public education, and strategic communications to build a more equitable society.

Under his leadership, the ACLU-NJ has experienced tremendous growth, resulting in transformational change to New Jersey's civil rights landscape. During Amol's tenure, the ACLU-NJ has appeared before the New Jersey Supreme Court more times than any non- governmental party, deepened community partnerships across the state, and centered the experiences of directly impacted communities.

Highlights include developing litigation and legislation that led to the early release of over 6,000 people from our state's prisons and jails, leading the successful fight to legalize cannabis through a racial justice lens, and passing legislation to ensure driver's licenses for all, regardless of immigration status.

Before joining the ACLU-NJ in 2017, Amol was a state policy advocate at the Innocence Project, where he worked to address wrongful convictions and reform the criminal legal system across the country. From 2010-2015, Amol was the director of the Suffolk County Chapter of the New York Civil Liberties Union, where he focused primarily on criminal justice and immigrants' rights.

Amol is actively involved in the South Asian American community, including having served as the president of the South Asian Bar Association of New York, where he led efforts to shape the organization's public interest community and programming. Amol holds a BA from New York University and a JD from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law. He frequently appears in regional, national, and international news outlets as a commentator across many topics, including civil rights and liberties, racial justice, public interest law, and issues facing Asian American and South Asian communities.

Kaitlyn Wojtowicz, Vice President of Public Affairs, Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey

Kaitlyn Wojtowicz serves as the Vice President of Public Affairs at Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey where she helps oversee all government affairs, policy, communications and advocacy efforts. Kaitlyn first became involved with Planned Parenthood during her time at The College of New Jersey, graduating in 2010 with a B.A. in English and women’s and gender studies and a minor in law, politics and society. She also holds an M.A. from Rutgers University in women’s and gender studies. In her spare time, Kaitlyn enjoys spending time with her four-year-old rescue dog, Jersey.

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