Dena is the Associate Director at New Jersey Citizen Action (NJCA). She directs NJCA’s advocacy and political program. NJCA is a statewide social service and advocacy group that seeks to improve the lives of low and moderate income New Jersey families through the provision of no-cost direct service, policy advocacy, grassroots and coalition mobilization, civic engagement and the election of progressive leaders.
NJCA’s signature advocacy efforts include health care; consumer protection and financial justice; social (racial, gender, GLBTQ) equality; budget and tax fairness; and workers’ rights and economic security.
Recently, Dena led the efforts to secure adoption of a statewide earned sick and safe days policy, anti-wage discrimination laws, and a comprehensive expansion and improvement of NJ’s paid family leave program to ensure lower wage workers can access the program.
Prior to NJCA, Dena served as the Executive Director of Environment New Jersey, the Executive Director of New Jersey Public Interest Research Group (NJPIRG), the Campaign Director for the Illinois Campaign for Better Health Care and was a Community Organizer with the Westside Health Authority in Chicago, Illinois.
She was born and raised in New Jersey, and now resides in Trenton with her husband, and two children. Dena is a board member of FamilyValues@Work, Environment New Jersey Research and Policy Center and a volunteer with the Girl Scouts of South and Central New Jersey.