Meet Our Team
Barbara George Johnson
Barbara George Johnson is Vice President of External Affairs and Urban Policy and Executive Director of the John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University..
VP Johnson has over 30 years of experience as a public policy professional in New Jersey with an extensive background in health care, public health, and public policy. Early in her career, she spearheaded the development of the Newark Kids Initiative for the Newark Health Department, which focused on healthcare and social services for children impacted by domestic violence. She also served on the CDC-funded Newark Prevention Marketing Initiative and other task forces on HIV/AIDS. Her healthcare experience includes serving as a public health advisor for the Maternal Child Health Division of the New York City Department of Health and later as the director for the Family Life Institute of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan New Jersey. She was also the legislative director for the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey and a Senior Lobbyist on healthcare issues for MBI-GluckShaw. VP Johnson earned a Bachelor of Arts in biology and technology from Cornell University, a Master of Public Health from Columbia University, and a law degree from Rutgers-Newark Law School.
Email: bgeorgej@exchange.kean.edu
Kean Union: 1000 Morris Avenue • Hynes Hall 505 • Union, NJ 07083-7120
Kean Trenton: 10 West Lafayette Street • 3rd Floor • Trenton, NJ 08608-2002
Keisha Griffin
Keisha Griffin is the Executive Assistant for External Affairs and Urban Policy and Executive Director of the John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University. Keisha is responsible for operations, business services, procurement, grant management, and student engagement. She brings over 20 years of professional experience in leadership roles in student services, enrollment management, program assessment, and evaluation. Keisha is a strategic project manager, building and maintaining collaborative engagement with students, internal partners, and external stakeholders to support the work of External Affairs and the Watson Institute. She also oversees administrative support for Barbara George Johnson, Vice President.
Keisha holds a bachelor of arts in political science from Montclair State University and a master of arts in public administration from Keller Graduate School of Management at Devry University. She holds a Certificate in Enrollment Management from Bay Path University and is a certified coach and trainer with the John Maxwell Team. Keisha is pursuing a Doctor of Education with a concentration in Higher Educational Leadership at Saint Peter’s University.
Email: griffkei@kean.edu
Kean Union: 1000 Morris Avenue • Hynes Hall 505 • Union, NJ 07083-7120
Ana Berdecia
Ana I. Berdecia, M.Ed., and Certified Coach is the Director of the Center for the Positive Development of Urban Children at the John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University. Ana has worked in six critical areas throughout her career: support for women in crisis; early childhood education; higher education; coaching; leadership, and culturally responsive practices. She began her career as New Jersey’s first bilingual 24-hour Domestic Violence Hotline Coordinator and provided crisis counseling to sexual assault survivors. Ana directed a bilingual/multicultural child development center for eight and a half years. Ana spent 17 years in the nonprofit sector and 18 years in higher education, teaching and working on educational public policy. At the Watson Institute, Ana examines the vulnerabilities and resilience of urban children to advance their health, well-being, and educational outcomes. She has written extensively on culturally responsive practices and designed The New Jersey Cultural Competency and English Learner Institute and Mentoring Program. Ana earned a master's in education with a concentration in early childhood and a BA in Sociology. She has a New Jersey Standard teaching certificate in Preschool to Third grade and a post-graduate certificate in Infant Mental Health.
Email: aberdeci@kean.edu
Kean Trenton: 10 West Lafayette Street • 3rd Floor • Trenton, NJ 08608-2002
Alex Rivera
Alex Rivera is the founding Director of the Center for Economic and Workforce Development, Innovation, and Social Entrepreneurship at the Watson Institute. Alex received his Bachelor's in Political Science from The College of New Jersey and his Master’s in Public Administration from Arizona State University, where he was a Marvin Andrews Fellow in Urban Management. He was born and raised in Trenton, New Jersey, and has a history of public service in his family. Alex is passionate about economic inclusion and supporting entrepreneurship, which guides the work of the Center. He has diverse work experience in economic and workforce development, recreation, youth services, and natural resource management. Previous employers include the City of Phoenix, AZ, the City of Trenton, NJ, and Mercer County, NJ. In addition to his professional responsibilities, Alex sits on the Outdoor Equity Alliance and the Garden State Preservation Trust boards. Outside of his professional and civic life, Alex is passionate about the stewardship of his home landscape and spending time with his family.
Email: alexrive@kean.edu
Kean Trenton: 10 West Lafayette Street • 3rd Floor • Trenton, NJ 08608-2002
Thomas Ikeda
Thomas Ikeda is the Research and Policy Development Fellow with the Center for the Urban Environment at the Watson Institute. He is responsible for liaising and coordinating activities with other staff and organizations. Before joining the Watson Institute, he worked at the Tishman Environment and Design Center, researching energy and climate mitigation policy around the nation. Thomas also worked as a Research Fellow with the New York Panel on Climate Change, investigating the equity implications of NYC’s climate resiliency investments and strategies post-Hurricane Sandy. He obtained his Master’s degree in Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management from The New School. Prior to entering the field of research, policy, and environmental justice, he was working in Canada as a consulting arborist after earning a Bachelor of Urban Forestry from the University of British Columbia.
Email: tikeda@kean.edu
Kean Union: 1000 Morris Avenue • Hynes Hall 505 • Union, NJ 07083-7120
Karl Weiskopf
Karl Weiskopf (He / Him / His) is the Director of Policy and Research at the John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy & Research at Kean University. In this role, Weiskopf supports the work of the Institute to serve the urban communities of New Jersey. He will oversee and conduct research to synthesize policy solutions for the clients and constituencies of the New Jersey Urban Mayors Association and the New Jersey Legislative Black and Latino Caucuses. He will also assist in the compilation of a repository of research conducted by the Kean campus community and act as a liaison between the Watson Institute and its partners in government and the private and non-profit sectors. Weiskopf's goal is to utilize policy research to advance innovative and transformative legislative and regulatory action for the benefit of all New Jerseyans, particularly residents of urban communities.
Prior to joining the Watson Institute, Weiskopf oversaw the provision of services for the Trenton-area, Spanish-speaking community as a Latino youth services specialist at El Centro de Recursos para Familias, a program of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Trenton. He drove briefly for Uber and Lyft and then served as a legislative aide, legislative director and chief of staff at the Office of Assemblyman Anthony S. Verrelli in the New Jersey General Assembly. During his tenure in the Assembly, Weiskopf oversaw the signature into law of nine pieces of legislation that effectuated change in the areas of domestic manufacturing, mental-health licensure, transparency in naloxone pricing, workers’ rights and animal welfare. Weiskopf secured and presided directly over the disbursement of the Mercer County Reentry Pilot Program, an appropriation of $1 million in state funding to assist individuals who exited incarceration during Fiscal Year 2021.
Weiskopf holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from The College of New Jersey and a certificate in international studies from the Franklin Institute for North American Studies at the Universidad de Alcalá in Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, Spain.
Email: kweiskop@kean.edu
Kean Trenton: 10 West Lafayette Street • 3rd Floor • Trenton, NJ 08608-2002
Tenisha Malcolm
Tenisha Malcolm is the Director of the Urban Mayors Policy Center at John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University. In this role, Malcolm supports the work of the Institute to provide support for New Jersey Urban Mayors Association (NJUMA) member mayors in guiding communities as they seek solutions to various issues facing urban municipalities. She will also provide technical support to the members of the NJUMA focusing on policy analysis and research.
Prior to joining the Watson Institute, Malcolm worked for several national and community-based nonprofits where she directed large-scale innovative programs, fundraising and strategic development. Most recently, Malcolm served as the Director of Cities Programs for The Nature Conservancy's New Jersey chapter, where she developed and led strategies that fostered nature-based solutions to address climate resiliency in some of the most marginalized communities in New Jersey.
Malcolm holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Bloomfield College. She is currently a candidate for a Master of Public Administration from Kean University.
Tenisha is at her happiest place when she is out leading hikes with Outdoors On Purpose, a hiking community she founded that encourages Black and Brown people to find respite and joy in nature.
Email: tmalcolm@kean.edu
Kean Union: 1000 Morris Avenue • Hynes Hall 505 • Union, NJ 07083-7120
Kean Trenton: 10 West Lafayette Street • 3rd Floor • Trenton, NJ 08608-2002
Dr. Nicky Sheats, Esq.
Dr. Nicky Sheats, Esq., is the director of the Center for the Urban Environment of the John S. Watson Institute for Urban Policy and Research at Kean University and has defined the primary mission of the Center as providing support for the environmental justice (EJ) community. Among the issues he works on are air pollution, climate change, cumulative impacts, developing EJ legal strategies and increasing the working capacity ofthe EJ community.
Sheats was a founding member of the NJ EJ Alliance, EJ Leadership Forum, EJ and Science Initiative and an informal NE EJ Attorneys Group. He was appointed to the NJ Clean Air Council, EPA’s Clean Air Act Advisory Committee and National EJ Advisory Council, and was a co-author of the human health chapter of the 2014 national climate assessment. He is currently serving on the White House EJ Advisory Council. Early in his career, Sheats practiced law as a public interest attorney. He holds a B.A. in economics from Princeton University and earned a Ph.D. in Earth and Planetary Sciences, J.D. and M.P.P. from Harvard University.
Email: nsheats@kean.edu
Kean Trenton: 10 West Lafayette Street • 3rd Floor • Trenton, NJ 08608-2002