- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of State of Affairs with Steve Adubato has been provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

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[INSPRATIONAL MUSIC] - Hi everyone.

Steve Adubato.

More importantly, we welcome for the first time JP Pedoto who is Pride+.

I'll get that out, Pride+ program coordinator and clinician for Family Connections New Jersey.

JP, welcome.

- Thank you so much for having me, Steve.

- You got it.

We're gonna put up the website.

Tell everyone what Family Connections New Jersey is all about and why it's such an important organization for so many.

- Yeah, of course.

So Family Connections is a nonprofit that serves all throughout New Jersey, specifically Essex County.

And my program specifically, one of the many programs we have is Pride+.

And Pride+ I helped found is a program specific for LGBTQIA+ teens and their families that we serve all throughout Essex County.

- JP, tell folks about your, journey is such a weird word, your journey, please.

- Yeah, of course.

So I went on to get my Master's of Social Work.

During my first year of field placement it was really important for me to work with the LGBTQIA+ community because, as a member of the community myself, I knew that there were such a lack of services out there.

So it was really important for me to get as much experience with the community and helping them as I wish I had that help when I was their age.

So I first started out interning at Hetrick-Martin Institute in Newark, New Jersey and we help serve teens from 13 to 21.

And I really gained a lot of powerful experience there being able to not only share my journey and, you know, being able to help youth at a place where, you know, they didn't have the resources or support to be themselves.

And unfortunately during COVID, I had found out after my field placement that they had closed because of lack of funding.

So at the time I was interning at Family Connections, which has so many amazing programs but didn't have a program for queer people specifically.

So I brought this up to them, you know, and for me it was so important, you know, I thought the program or the company was so great but I wanted to make sure that if I was working there that there was a specific program for queer people.

- JP, sorry for jumping in here, but JP help us understand this.

As a transgender man, was it at 18 you decided to transition?

- So, growing up I always knew I was different.

I didn't exactly know what it was.

Growing up I didn't have the vocabulary or education to really put a name to the feelings that I was having.

You know, I was taught about gay people in school a little bit.

And so, you know, I came to terms with my sexual orientation and, you know, realized that I liked girls.

So when I identified as female, I came out as a lesbian and that label didn't really feel right to me and I couldn't figure out why.

And it wasn't until, you know, I started to piece together that I didn't want to be someone's girlfriend or didn't wanna be someone's mother, right?

With those labels, I was like, "Well, maybe something else is wrong."

And I, you know, did some research as a lot of queer youth have to do, you know, because it's not really, you know, taught or talked about.

I came to terms with that I was a man and I never felt comfortable because I never identified as female.

So when I was a little before 20, I decided to start, you know, I came out, I started medically transitioning, so I started hormone replacement therapy.

I've been on testosterone now for a little over five years and I've gone through like the medical, social and legal aspects of transitioning.

- Help us understand this 'cause your perspective on this is so valuable, JP.

The debate going on right now, the discussion debate, people are pretty polarized on this.

And a lot of us are trying to figure out what makes sense, not just for our own children but for everyone's child who at a certain age, whatever that is for them, they do question whether in fact, if they're born as a boy or a girl, if that's right for them.

Here's a question that maybe you're in a best position to answer.

What's the age as it relates to public school education, teachers, guidance counselors, administrators and others.

What is the age that you believe a child can say to a school administrator or someone in the school, "This is what I'm feeling, I believe I should be of the opposite sex and the parents," quote, "shouldn't know."

I know that's a loaded question, but that is.

I know I probably framed it awkwardly, but should, A, should the parents know and B, at what age know or not know?

- Yeah, no, it's a great question.

It's definitely a big debate currently today.

So, and it's a complicated question with a complicated answer.

You know, it's something where, you know, children and there's a lot of misinformation about this going on right now, is the conversations that we have with high schoolers or adults is not the same conversation we're having with young children, right?

So we can come into an elementary school and have conversations about inclusion and, you know, diversity and things like that, and support children in figuring out who they are and what that looks like.

And, you know, but often people are getting confused with, you know, sex education in these conversations.

Obviously as long- - JP I'm sorry for.

- as it's age-appropriate.

- I'm sorry for interrupting.

I'm dealing with a time issue, but, and it sounds rude, I know, but here's the question.

An eight-year-old in a public school in my hometown, in Montclair, wherever.

An eight-year-old tells someone at the school, a boy believes that he should be a girl.

Do you believe that by law, by policy, parents should be informed or not?

- They shouldn't be, right?

So New Jersey says that they should not be, they should be able to be themselves authentically.

At this point the school should have the resources and support to be able to support that child and hopefully get them to a point where they are able to have a conversation with the parents.

Unfortunately, if the parents aren't accepting, they need to make sure that supports are in place to support the child.

You know, kids have a concept of their gender by age three.

So these are conversations that, again, it's not to try to sway a kid one way or another but to make sure the kid is comfortable.

- And so you're, it's clear to you that parents who are loving and caring and want to do everything they can for their child should not know for a 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8-year-old child that this is what the child has told a teacher, a guidance counselor, whomever.

Don't tell the parents.

That, you believe that should be a policy across this country?

- Yeah, so it's really about ensuring the child's safety, right?

- What about parental rights to raise their child as they see fit and support their child as they see fit?

- Well, so at this point, when a child comes out that's when the school should really be working with the child to assess, like, if there are supports in place and if they are accepting.

If they are and the child believes that they are, that's when the school should be working to facilitate these conversations with the family.

But again, it's really youth led, it's really like the youth can lead this conversation and, again, the younger the child is, the more supports are needed to have these conversations and to assess the situation.

- JP, first of all, you appearing with us matters.

You appearing with us makes a difference and it helps folks personalize this issue and understand it from someone as eloquent and caring as you are for so many others.

And the thing that I picked up more than anything else is you do not want other young people to struggle in the way you have struggled, and to give them the support they need regardless of what their opinion may be on parental rights versus what the school should be doing or not.

JP Pedoto, Pride+.

Pride.

You know, I've been at this for 30 years, I can't say Pride+ program coordinator and clinician for Family Connections New Jersey.

Check them out.

JP, thanks so much.

- Of course.

Thank you so much Steve.

- You guys stay with us.

We'll be right back.

(grand music) - [Announcer] To watch more State of Affairs with Steve Adubato, find us online and follow us on social media.

- We're pleased to welcome Tish Johnson-Jones founding executive director of a terrific organization called Greenlight Fund Greater Newark.

Good to see you, Tish.

- Good to see you too, Steve.

- You got it.

Website is up.

Tell us what the organization's all about.

- Absolutely.

So Greenlight Fund is a national organization that was founded in Boston.

We currently have 13 sites across the country, particularly in Newark, we launched here about a year and a half ago.

And we work with community members and key stakeholders who identify an urgent unmet need in the city.

And then we scour the cadre for an amazing evidence-based organization.

We bring that organization to the city and help them, we fund them, help them get acclimated to the Newark environment, and really set them up for success so they can have the amount of impact that they desire to have in our community.

- And who are you working with in Newark?

- We work with a ton of people.

We have what we call a Selection Advisory Council that is composed of 36 key stakeholders in Newark.

So anywhere from nonprofit leaders of the Urban League, of United Way, of Ironbound Community Corporation.

We work with some funders here from Mcj Amelior Foundation, Prudential, and Panasonic.

And then we also make sure we work with Newarkers that have lived experiences.

So, we really have a diverse subsection of individuals that we bring together to help us close the gaps in Newark.

- You know, as a not-for-profit leader, you understand this, we spend more than half of our time raising money, securing grants.

Your dollars come from where?

- So luckily, with GreenLight Fund, before I started we amassed about five years worth of funding, so we can do the work that we need to do.

And we primarily use a number of individual donors, but we also have fantastic partners like Horizon Foundation that supports the work that we're doing.

But luckily, we don't have to raise funds until every fifth year.

So, we have funds now to do incredible work, and then we go back out there to raise funds.

- Let's do this.

I'm curious about this.

The most significant gaps, if you will, or opportunities to make a difference for the citizens of Newark.

There are so many areas that we could focus on, but you focus primarily on what out of the box?

'Cause over time you'll do other things, but right now what's the focus?

- So out of the box, our first focus was workforce development.

We conducted what we call the first phase of the GreenLight method, which is discovery, where we go out and we talk to community members, we host focus groups, we host worldwide meetings to get an idea of what the community is saying that they need most desperately.

And last year we felt that was workforce development for young people as an entry point into sustainable career pathways.

Unfortunately, the average income in Newark is about $37,000 which is not a livable wage.

We have 76% of our young people graduate from high school, but only 15% go to college.

So what are those other 60% doing to make sure they have sustainable lifestyles?

So, that's what we went to find because we knew it was really urgent for this community.

So, workforce development was the first thing we looked at.

- You know, it's interesting, Tish, the Workforce development means different things to different people.

- Yep.

- Help us understand from a very practical point of view what workforce development means.

- Yep, so for GreenLight workforce development mean looking at these 7,000, what we call opportunity youth, which are young people that are disconnected from school, disconnected from work and opportunities, and how do we make them find placement for them so they can have sustainable careers.

So when we looked at that, part of the GreenLight method is to then scour the country to find an organization to really fit the need here.

And we found an organization out of California called EMS Corps.

- Excuse me, EMS Corps, right?

- EMS Corps, yep.

- All right.

- And what they do is they train young people to become emergency medical technicians through a five month paid stipend program.

Not only are they training young people, they're providing them with stipends, they're providing them with healthcare support, with housing support, and anything that is necessary for them to overcome any barriers to program completion.

They have been very successful in other places across the country with a 90% graduation rate.

And 80% of those students actually pass their EMT licensing.

So now they're off to a very successful career in healthcare or emergency response.

So we see workforce development as really looking at what resources are required for these people to be successful and EMS was able to close that gap.

- You know, Tish, you're bringing up so many important points and I wanna follow up on this.

We have a lot of not-for-profit leaders who do work in cities like Newark, Jersey City, Trenton, East Orange, Atlantic City, particularly urban areas.

But here's what I get curious about, because there are so many not-for-profits, there are so many folks, quote, "working on many of these issues."

How do you not bump into each other?

How do you not let turf get in the way of what needs to be done for the 7,000 plus young people?

And I'm sure there are many more, but in terms of workforce development, you're talking 7,000 who need direction right now.

So, how do you avoid stepping in each other's footprint?

- Yeah, so one part that distinguishes GreenLight Fund as a funder is we look for urgent unmet needs in the community.

If a nonprofit is doing it already, we don't put another nonprofit in to compete with them.

We really try to be complimentary and not competitive to what's already taking place in the Newark ecosystem.

So we work with nonprofits, like I mentioned, nonprofits are part of that Selection Advisory Council.

During my discovery phase, I talk to nonprofits, I ask them, "What do you need?

"What do you feel like your mission creeping on a little bit "because no one else is really doing that work?"

And we specifically find organizations to really close that specific gap of what's currently not happening here.

And that's how we kind of stay out of each other's footprint or so.

- Real quick on this workforce development.

You don't check off the box and say we're done, but you are moving on to other initiatives as well.

The next gap, if you will, that your organization, that the GreenLight Fund is looking to address is?

- Education.

So right now, we're taking on education.

We're just concluding our discovery phase where we found so much about education in Newark and we're looking at three particular focus areas.

We started with about eight that we took to community, but decided to narrow those eight down to mental health supports for students and teachers, youth development.

What does out of school time space look like for students here?

And then literacy.

As you know, literacy recently has been everywhere across Newark finding that only 19% of our third graders are reading proficient based on that 2022 exam.

So, how do we close that gap?

And I would not be surprised if out of all of the focus areas we're considering, literacy is the one that specifically rises to the top and we find an organization in that area.

- I gotta tell you, Tish, and we'll follow up and make sure we have you back to talk about the progress because people might say, "Well, how do you define success?"

Well, we'll talk about that down the road when we have you back.

Tish Johnson-Jones, founding executive director of GreenLight Fund Greater Newark.

Cannot thank you enough for joining us.

Important work to be done.

You and your colleagues are doing it.

And we'll keep a focus on that work.

Thank you so much, we appreciate it.

- Thank you.

- You got it.

I'm Steve Adubato.

That's Tish Johnson-Jones.

We'll be right back.

(grand music) - [Announcer] To watch more State of Affairs with Steve Adubato, find us online and follow us on social media.

- We're now joined by Rick Cotton who's Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to disclose one of the underwriters of our programming.

Rick, good to see you again.

- Steve, very good to be with you.

- You got so much going on with the Port authority in our region, but let's talk outta the box about climate responsibility, clean construction, and the role you and your colleagues are playing.

- Well, we've committed to be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

We believe that the climate crisis is existential.

The transportation sector produces a lot of greenhouse gas emissions, and we are committed to reduce to the maximum extent possible.

The Port Authorities, the mission to that extent, we have set very aggressive targets and goals for ourselves.

25% reduction by '25, 35% by '30, and then we've committed to get to net zero by 2050.

And the big event that we're very proud of is that we have released a roadway to net zero which actually no longer says, articulates the goal, but says here's how we're gonna get there.

- Rick, lemme ask you.

We put up the website of the Port Authority.

Can people find that report, that analysis, that game plan on the website?

- Yes, they can.

It is up there and it's called "Pathway To Net Zero."

- Excellent.

And to clarify that for those of you who are not familiar with the Port Authority, established in a 1921 Compact between the states of New York and New Jersey, each governor has the ability legally, constitutionally if you will, to appoint several commissioners to the Port Authority.

The Executive Director is the leader of the team there and that Executive Director, some have been from New Jersey, some have been from New York.

And that's the role that Rick plays.

And we're talking about airports, we're talking about Trans Hudson getting across the PATH.

A whole range of issues, excuse me, of responsibilities of Port Authority.

But one of the areas that has my interest is the focus on minority and women-owned business enterprises.

What exactly are we talking about and what role is the Port Authority playing in that regard?

- The framework here is that the Port Authority has a very large $37 billion capital plan, which means that we're major builder, major construction underway.

We have an $8 billion annual budget.

We are committed in our contracting practices to be sure that the businesses that we contract with are reflective of the entire region, and so we have developed particular programs and a particular emphasis as we do construction projects that we do business with companies, small business frequently, but minority-owned businesses, women-owned businesses, local businesses.

And that has been the focus of our program.

And we are committed to having 30% of our contracting going to these minority and women-owned businesses, and local businesses.

- And there's also, let's also include this 3%.

The goal is 3% participation of service disabled veteran-owned small businesses, correct, Rick?

- Yes, I should have mentioned that.

But yes, we also honor that 3% commitment.

- Talk to us, you know, as someone and folks watching in our region, we fly out of the airports.

Now you've got three airports.

You got Newark, LaGuardia, Kennedy.

So the development going on at each one of these airports, busier than ever before, Rick Cotton is not responsible for the airline industry, but flying out of those airports is the responsibility of the Port Authority.

From your perspective, one, the greatest positive development with the airports and two, the greatest challenge, please, Rick.

- Well, the framework here is that airports are gateways.

They're gateways for visitors to our region.

They're also the gateways in terms of departure and coming home for residents.

And for years, I might almost say decades, but for a long time, the three Port Authority airports unfortunately were at the backend of virtually every customer survey that was taken.

They certainly had been allowed to deteriorate and frankly, LaGuardia, Terminal A at Newark were embarrassing.

So the challenge is to reverse that and we are committed to do that.

and I just flew outta Terminal A recently in Newark.

Describe what is going on there, please.

- Well, Terminal A at Newark today, as you and I are speaking, is a world-class terminal.

It compares favorably to any terminal that people will travel to in this country or abroad.

That did not used to be the situation.

And the Port Authority developed a $2.7 billion terminal modernization reconstruction transformation plan.

For those who in your audience use the old Terminal A it was simply way past its expiration date, its design, so the challenge for us at Terminal A in Newark, at LaGuardia, and now at Kennedy, is to bring these airports back from the unfortunately below par, back-of-the-line state that they had slipped into and make them world-class.

And so the challenge, first of all, is to design those.

Second is to get them through the permitting process.

And then third is to build them on budget and on time.

And that's what we're about.

And Terminal A at Newark is now done, done, done.

It opened in phases.

The first phase opened in January of 2023 and as of September of 2023, it is complete.

Passengers can enjoy absolutely top of the line concessions, absolutely top of the line public art installations, and functionality.

It has the latest technology across the board.

- Real quick, one minute left, Rick, on technology, a driverless van moving people around.

You're smiling because I saw a driver in the van but the driver was not operating the van.

Explain that real quick.

I got a minute left.

- Well, the autonomous vehicles are part of the future.

They are very efficient and they have the capacity to be utilized in spaces where we need to move people around and take an airport as an example.

What the autonomous vehicle is, it doesn't, it has the technology does not need a driver.

Our confirmation that it's a safe way of moving people around.

You put a driver in it during its test period.

But ultimately what it's about is small vehicles, frequent arrivals and departures, and it becomes part of making the airport as convenient as possible for travelers.

- Rick Cotton, Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York, New Jersey, with tremendous responsibility for moving people, moving goods, around the region.

Rick, thanks so much for joining us.

We appreciate it.

- Good to be with you, Steve, thank you.

- You got it.

You got it.

I'm Steve Adubato, that's Rick Cotton, and we'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] State of Affairs with Steve Adubato Is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey.

Rutgers University Newark.

Prudential Financial.

Newark Board of Education.

The Fidelco Group.

Hackensack Meridian Health.

Operating Engineers, Local 825.

And by The North Ward Center.

Promotional support provided By NJ.Com.

And by Meadowlands Media.

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