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Last week, Isles and our Johnson Center for Learning & Impact brought together municipal leaders, advocates, and community stakeholders for the Fall Forum 2025: Cities for the Future. The daylong event tackled some of New Jersey's most pressing challenges—extreme heat, sustainable transportation, and lead poisoning—with a focus on actionable solutions.
The forum opened with welcoming remarks from Sean Jackson, CEO of Isles, and Mayor Jeff Martin of Hamilton Township, followed by a keynote panel featuring four mayors from across the state.
"Our cities, townships, and boroughs are the foundation of our state," said Jackson. "They are where innovation meets necessity, where policy becomes practice, and where the future of environmental justice, public health, and sustainable development is being written right now."
Mayor Ras Baraka of Newark, Mayor Reed Gusciora of Trenton, Mayor Quinton Law of Moorestown, and Mayor Jeff Martin of Hamilton Township shared their municipalities' latest sustainability initiatives and approaches to infrastructure challenges facing New Jersey communities.
The forum featured three thematic tracks throughout the day. The Extreme Heat track explored urban heat island mitigation strategies, cooling center best practices, and workplace safety protections. The Microtransit & Safe Streets track covered community-driven transportation planning, rideshare programs, and Vision Zero initiatives. The Lead & Healthy Homes track addressed maternal and child health, best practices for healthy homes assessments, and advocacy for sustained lead funding.
Ben Haygood, Director of Isles Johnson Center for Learning & Impact, emphasized the collaborative nature of the solutions needed. "The solutions we need will emerge from our collective wisdom and commitment to action," Haygood said. "Each session offered practical strategies, funding opportunities, and collaborative frameworks that attendees could take back to their work immediately."
Interactive workshops gave attendees hands-on experience planning community-based mobility projects and developing advocacy strategies for lead funding as New Jersey faces a 2027 fiscal cliff when ARPA lead funds expire.
Congresswoman Bonnie Watson Coleman addressed the crowd, providing wisdom, direction and hope amid the shutdown in DC, helping to mobilize individuals and organizations responding to SNAP funding and other challenging cuts and Federal actions.
Marcus Sibley, Chair of the NJ Progressive Equitable Energy Coalition and Northeast Director of Conservation Partnerships for the National Wildlife Federation, delivered closing remarks that challenged attendees to turn learning into action.
The event was made possible through sponsorship from the NJ LCV Education Fund, Intrinsic Technology, NJM Insurance Group, The Morreale Family, Via, LeadFreeNJ, Circuit, Princeton Federal Credit Union and The Lobby Club.
Attendees left the forum energized and equipped with concrete tools to address their communities' most pressing challenges. The day served as a powerful reminder that when municipal leaders, advocates, and residents come together with shared purpose, real change is possible—and the future of New Jersey's cities is in capable, committed hands.
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