Join GSI & industry experts for a discussion on several of the most pressing issues facing New Jersey, including taxes, energy, affordable housing, and healthcare.
The GSI 2026 Annual Policy Forum
Policy experts, business leaders, and stakeholders will once again convene for the Annual GSI Policy Forum—an event dedicated to fostering dialogue and exploring common-sense solutions to the challenges facing our state today.
Please join us at the Hyatt Regency New Brunswick on Wednesday, May 6th.
Panelists & additional forum information to follow
Don’t miss this opportunity to participate in the conversation and gain valuable information.
Register now to secure your spot!
New Jersey’s Tax Structure: Barriers to Growth and Opportunities for Reform.
- Janelle Fritts — Policy Analyst, Tax Foundation
Medicaid & the State Budget: Ensuring Sustainability for the Future
Medicaid: Growth, Sustainability, and Fiscal Accountability
- Chrissy Buteas — CEO & President, HealthCare Institute of New Jersey
- Scott Centorino — Senior Fellow, Foundation for Government Accountability
- Moderator: Audrey Lane — President, Garden State Initiative
Mount Laurel at 50: Housing Availability, Affordability, and Municipal Impact
- Regina Egea — Chairman, Garden State Initiative and
- Jason Sorens — Senior Research Fellow, American Institute for Economic Research
- Frank Vitolo — Member, Sills Cummis & Gross
- Moderator: Althea Ford — Vice President of Government Affairs, New Jersey Business & Industry Association
New Jersey Energy Policy at a Crossroads: A New Administration, Rising Demand, and the Future of Energy Affordability
- Bob Martin — Managing Director, Christie 55 Solutions; former Commissioner, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
- Steve Sweeney — Chairman, Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future; former President, New Jersey State Senate
- Moderator: Rick Mroz — Senior Director for Strategic & Regulatory Affairs, Archer Public Affairs; former President, New Jersey Board of Public Utilities
Politics, Policy, and Finding Common Ground in New Jersey
- Mike DuHaime— CEO, MAD Global Strategy
- Julie Roginsky— Political Consultant & Co-Founder, Lift Our Voices
- Moderator: Benjamin Dworkin— Director, Rowan Institute for Public Policy & Citizenship
Participant Bios
Mike DuHaime is the CEO of MAD Global Strategy Group. Mike has long been among the most accomplished political operatives in the country and is one of the most sought-after strategists in the corporate and non-profit public affairs and crisis communications space.
Previously, Mike served as Political Director of the Republican National Committee and in senior positions for President George W. Bush, Senator John McCain, Governor Chris Christie and Mayor Rudy Giuliani among many others. Mike has also served in senior roles at the RGA and NRSC and has worked on federal, state and local campaigns in more than 40 states.
Mike advises multiple Fortune 500 companies, trade associations, sports teams, corporations and non-profits in the areas of public relations, crisis management, grassroots organization, survey research, strategic planning and marketing. Mike understands how the nexus of public opinion, government and journalism can impact business outcomes, and what influences those factors.
A graduate of Rutgers University, Mike now serves on the university’s board of trustees and is an adjunct professor at his alma mater’s renowned Eagleton Institute of Politics. Mike has spoken on politics and public affairs at Princeton, Harvard, Yale, NYU, UCLA, Georgetown, and the University of Chicago, among many other colleges and universities. Mike was awarded the prestigious “Rutgers 250 Fellowship” recognizing him as one of just 80 of the university’s most distinguished living alumni, out of more than 500,000.
Mike is a sought-after guest on both television and radio offering his political and public policy perspectives on shows and networks including Good Morning America, CNN, FOX, MSNBC, CNBC, FOX Business, BBC, CBC in Canada and many more. In print, he has appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times and scores of other state and regional publications.
Mike is the president of the non-profit Cranford Hockey Club, and he serves on the Hackensack Meridian Carrier Behavioral Health Board of Trustees. He is also a youth hockey coach and has coached numerous other youth sports. He was also a four-year skater on the Rutgers Ice Hockey team where he served as a captain for championship teams his junior and senior seasons.
Mike lives in Westfield, NJ with his wife, Dore, and their three sons.
Julie Roginsky has long been an outspoken champion of women’s rights and issues. A nationally recognized political consultant, Roginsky began her career working at a prominent organization dedicated to electing more women to political office.
Throughout her career, she has focused her efforts on mentoring and empowering women to become engaged in the political process. She is the co-founder of Lift Our Voices, a national nonprofit dedicated to ending the silencing mechanisms that prevent survivors of workplace toxicity from coming forward about their experiences. In Congress, she championed the bipartisan Speak Out Act, which eradicates predispute non-disclosure agreements for sexual assault and harassment. At the state level, she has advocated for laws that allow workers to disclose toxic workplace experiences.
Roginsky is the author of the Salty Politics newsletter on Substack, where she co-hosts the Pax Americana podcast, and co-hosts the Over It! show on YouTube. Previously, she was a contributor at CNBC and the Fox News Channel, where she was a frequent co-host of “Outnumbered” and “The Five.” In early 2017, she became one of the first women to file a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit against the Fox News Channel and its chairman, helping to ignite the most recent iteration of the #metoo movement.
She serves as an advisor to major corporations, start-ups, non-profits, labor unions, and dozens of elected officials, including governors, senators, members of the House of Representatives, and state legislators.
Roginsky received both her B.A. and M.A. with honors from Boston University, where her graduate work focused on studying the dissolution of the Soviet Union and its transition from a planned to a market economy. Her passion for empowering women began in college, when she worked for the Labour Party in the United Kingdom, focusing on policies affecting women in the United Kingdom.
Roginsky previously served as a decade-long board member of the Women’s Campaign School at Yale University.
Chrissy Buteas is the President & CEO of the HealthCare Institute of New Jersey (HINJ). Founded in 1997, HINJ serves as the trade association for leading research-based biopharmaceutical and medical technology companies in New Jersey.
A seasoned leader, Buteas has held significant positions throughout her career. Before joining HINJ, she served as the Vice President of Government Affairs at Optimum, a prominent broadband communications and video service provider operating across 21 states. She also served as the Chief Government Affairs Officer of the New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBIA), where she influenced policies affecting the 1 million employees of member companies. In addition, she led the NEW JOBS PAC, the State’s largest and most influential ideological business political action committee.
Before joining NJBIA, Buteas served as President and CEO of the Home Care & Hospice Association of New Jersey, representing New Jersey home health agencies, hospices, and healthcare service firms providing care to the state’s Medicare, Medicaid, and private-pay patients.
Buteas serves on the boards of trustees of Middlesex College, New Jersey Council of County Colleges, NJ Innovation Institute (NJII), Thanexus, Inc. (a funeral service cooperative), the National Association of Corporate Directors, NJ Chapter (NACD-NJ), Junior Achievement of New Jersey, and The Historic Village at Allaire. She also serves on the boards of Focus NJ, an independent research nonprofit that conducts timely, innovative, nonpartisan economic and workforce research; the South Jersey Technology Park at Rowan University; and the New Jersey Medical Assistance Advisory Council.
She recently served on Governor Mikie Sherrill’s Economic Development and Innovation Action Team. Previously, Buteas served on the Murphy-Oliver Transition 2018 Healthcare Team as Vice President of the Capital Impact Group, a public affairs and business development firm that advocates for nonprofit organizations and Fortune 500 companies. Earlier in her career, she was a policy specialist at the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. She is also the former President and current board member of the Women’s Political Caucus of New Jersey, a statewide nonprofit dedicated to advancing women in government.
Buteas served on the New Jersey Small Employer Health Benefits Program, Associated Member Trust, and the New Jersey Mandated Health Benefits Advisory Commission, which responds to requests from the State Legislature by providing independent analysis of the medical, financial, and social impacts of proposed health insurance benefit mandates.
In 2025, Buteas received the Industry Advocate Award from the NJ Chamber of Commerce, BINJE’s Best Healthcare 2025 recognition, and the Advocacy Champion Award from the Arthritis Foundation NJ. In 2024, she received the Made in NJ Honor Roll Award from NJ MEP. In 2022, she received the President’s Award from the Women’s Political Caucus of NJ. In 2021, Buteas was named a Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore, recognized as a Barrier Breaker as part of Jersey’s Best magazine’s Spring issue honoring trailblazing women in the state, named to NJBIZ’s Next Generation of Leaders list, and included on ROI-NJ’s Influencers: Power List for Government Affairs.
Buteas holds a Master of Public Administration from the School of Public Affairs and Administration at Rutgers University-Newark and a Bachelor of Arts from Rowan University. She is a graduate of Leadership NJ, a leadership development program, and served as a Raimondo Fellow at the Eagleton Institute of Politics. She is also a member of the Eagleton Institute of Politics Alumni Association.
Scott Centorino is a Founding Partner at Red Door Consulting and a Visiting Fellow at the Foundation for Government Accountability. Previously, he was Special Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy from 2025-2026, where he led the White House’s efforts on welfare policy, among other issues. Before entering the White House, he was the Deputy Policy Director of the Foundation for Government Accountability, Executive Director of Health Reformers Academy, an Assistant Attorney General for the Louisiana Department of Justice, and a Captain in the U.S. Army Reserve JAG Corps. Scott earned a B.A. in Politics from Washington and Lee University and a J.D. from Wake Forest University School of Law. He lives with his family in Rockbridge County, Virginia.
Dr. Benjamin Dworkin serves as the founding Director of the Rowan Institute for Public Policy and Citizenship (RIPPAC, pronounced: RYE-pack) at Rowan University in Glassboro, NJ. He began at this position in January 2018.
With a focus on informing, engaging, and training Rowan students, faculty and the public, Dworkin is responsible for positioning the Institute at the nexus of applied politics and the issues of the day, further building on Rowan’s reputation at a leading research institution of higher education in New Jersey.
Under Dworkin’s leadership, the Institute offers programs and guest speakers focusing on both the practice of politics and citizen participation; supports students through academic and career development, internship placement and scholarships; and connects faculty and students from across the University with public entities to facilitate public policy research.
Additionally, Dworkin teaches courses in the Rowan University Department of Political Science.
As one of New Jersey’s most astute and widely quoted political analysts, he serves as a non-partisan commentator on political developments for media in New Jersey and nationally. He has appeared on numerous network and cable news shows, and is frequently quoted by all of New Jersey’s major newspapers and radio stations, as well as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Chicago Tribune, and The Los Angeles Times.
Every year since 2020, Dr. Dworkin has been named one of the most influential people in higher education in New Jersey. Previously, he was named one of the 100 most powerful unelected people in New Jersey politics (2016).
Prior to launching the Institute at Rowan, Dr. Dworkin spent 10 years as Director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University.
Dr. Dworkin earned his M.A. and Ph.D. in political science at Rutgers University. His undergraduate degree is from Princeton University. He lives with his wife and three daughters in Cherry Hill, NJ.
Regina M. Egea is Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Garden State Initiative (GSI), an independent research and educational organization dedicated to promoting new investment, innovation and economic growth in New Jersey. She brings diverse private and public sector leadership experience to the organization’s mission and among many honors been recognized as one of NJBIZ magazine’s Best 50 Women in Business in 2019; ROI-NJ’s Influencers Power List 2019 – 2023; ROI Women in Business 2023 and InsiderNJ’s Top 100 Policymakers 2021.
Previously, Regina enjoyed a 30-year career at AT&T, holding leadership positions with expanding responsibility in Product Management, Network Operations, Human Resources, and Sales & Marketing. In her final year, as Senior Vice President in Global Business Marketing, she led a globally diverse workforce supporting AT&T’s business sales force to deliver on revenue goals and numerous new product introductions.
While working at AT&T, Regina was involved in her community, being elected to her hometown’s School Board of Education (2003-2007) and then to the Township Committee (2008-2012), serving as Deputy Mayor in 2010.
Regina served as Governor Chris Christie’s Chief of Staff from 2015 to 2016. She joined the Christie Administration in 2010, first as the State Treasurer’s Chief of Staff, where she was instrumental in pension reforms enacted in 2011, and then was brought into the Governor’s Office as Director of the Authorities Unit in 2012.
Regina earned an M.B.A. in Marketing from Fordham University and a B.A. from Montclair State University. Regina previously completed the International Executive Program at the International Institute for Management in Lausanne, Switzerland and more recently completed Harvard University’s Women on Boards program in 2018.
Regina serves on the board of the Friends of the National World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C.
Althea Ford serves as the Vice President of Government Affairs, NJBIA, & Executive Director, Focus NJ for NJBIA. New Jersey native and Edison resident, Ford began working for the not-for-profit trade organization NJSFDA in 2012 as a government and external relations representative before her promotion to director of government relations in 2018.
Prior to joining NJSFDA, Ford worked in higher education administration at Columbia University’s Teachers College in New York City. Before moving back to New Jersey, Ford was an executive assistant to Tennessee State Senate Speaker Pro Tem Rosalind Kurita, managing two legislative and district offices.
Ford is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and earned her master’s degree in politics and education from the Teachers College at Columbia University in 2010. She completed the New Leaders Council–New Jersey (NLC-NJ) Fellowship Program in 2012 and served on its executive board.
Janelle Fritts is a Policy Analyst with the Tax Foundation’s Center for State Tax Policy. She is the lead researcher on the annual State Tax Competitiveness Index and was one of the lead authors of Pro-Growth Tax Reform for Oklahoma. Her work has been cited in The New York Times, the Associated Press, Bloomberg, and numerous state media outlets across the country.
She has been with the Tax Foundation since 2019, with a brief hiatus to teach high school literature, logic, and rhetoric. Before joining the state team, Janelle interned at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, the Reason Foundation, and the Illinois Policy Institute. She graduated from Dordt University (Sioux Center, Iowa) with a bachelor’s degree in English with a writing emphasis and a minor in Chemistry.
Janelle was born and raised in Midland, Michigan, which is near Lake Huron and about halfway up the “mitten.” In her free time, she enjoys baking, thrifting, and spending time with her husband and infant daughter.
Audrey Lane is a public relations and communications professional focused on positive change through strong policy. She is known for her advocacy and creative awareness campaigns working with grassroots organizations, legislators, and organizations at the local and state level.
Before joining GSI, Audrey worked in the field of public relations and communications with clients focused on positive change through strong policy. She is known for her creative advocacy through coalition building and awareness campaigns.
Lane held the role of Executive Director for Jersey 1st where she worked with New Jersey families and businesses focused on issues including education, overregulation, and community safety. Lane worked directly with state legislators to open facilities and positively impact the lives of people with disabilities in New Jersey as the state emerged from the pandemic shutdowns.
Lane has served as Communications Director and Campaign Manager on a New Jersey congressional campaign and worked on local council campaigns throughout the state. She was named as a “2022 Right Women to Watch” by Save Jersey Media and was selected as member to American Enterprise Institute Leadership Network in 2021, she was named as a “Woman of Inspiration” by the New Jersey State Chamber of Commerce in 2024 and was named ROI Women in Business Influencer 2025, and an Influencer on the Power 100 list for 2025.
Lane served as a Council member in her hometown of Mountain Lakes, NJ as a member of the Financial Advisory Committee, Environmental Commission, Planning and Zoning Boards, and Affordable Housing Advisory Committee. She currently volunteers as the county director for the Pajama Program and is an active member of Impact100 Garden State.
Audrey graduated from Johns Hopkins University where she was a student athlete and a recipient of the Louis Azrael Fellowship in Communications. She currently lives in Mountain Lakes, NJ with her husband and has three grown children.
Bob Martin is a senior executive with vast experience in both the public and private sectors working with and running large and complex organizations. Extensive skills and experience managing, transforming and consulting to companies and government organizations. His abilities include strong analytical, strategic, leadership, people management and development, financial, and regulatory skills. Bob has strong sector knowledge in multiple industries, especially in the utility and energy industries.
Bob served as New Jersey’s Commissioner of Environmental Protection under Governor Christie from 2010 to 2018, managing over 2,800 professionals and a multi-million-dollar annual state budget and other federal and state resources. He effectively implemented DEP’s mission to protect the air, water, land and natural and historic resources of the state. He has deep knowledge and expertise in state and federal environmental and land use laws and regulations and working with numerous federal agencies and departments. Bob also played a key leadership role under Governor Christie in coordinating the State’s preparation and response, and long-term rebuilding from natural disasters, especially for Superstorm Sandy in 2012.
Prior to public service, Bob was a Partner at Accenture LLP with over 25 years of experience consulting to a broad variety of businesses and industries, and a trusted advisor to senior executives to help them achieve their vision and create value. He has extensive skills and experience in all aspects of business and management consulting, including business strategy and planning, business transformation and operations reengineering, IT strategy, systems implementation and change management.
Bob has extensive international experience including living and working in the UK for 5 years and doing significant consulting work throughout Europe and Canada. He has demonstrated expertise in all the key aspects of the utility industry, including electric generation, electric & gas transmission, and electric, gas and water distribution operations. This also includes large complex deals and projects.
Bob has published numerous articles about the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in the U.S., as well as overall U.S. energy policy. He has a BA in Economics & Sociology from Boston College and an MBA, concentrating in Finance & Investments, from George Washington University.
Richard Mroz has a long and distinguished career in law, government, public service, and corporate governance. He is Senior Director of Archer Public Affairs in Trenton, NJ and Washington, DC where he advises clients in the energy, utilities, infrastructure, and financial industries. He also advixes a coalition of new nuclear development companies and supports the United States Nuclear Industry Association (USNIC).
He is a member of the Advisory Board of ClearPath Foundation, the Washington DC based not for profit supporting clean energy innovations and is Senior Adviser to Protect Our Power, a national non-industry non-profit advocacy organization supporting best practices and investments in cybersecurity and resilience measures for the energy and utility infrastructure. Mroz is a member of the Advisory Board for Princeton Nu Energy, a batter recycling and critical minerals company and advises a coalition of developers for new nuclear generation. He is Second Vice Chair for the Advisory Board for the Center for Public Utilities at New Mexico State University.
Mr. Mroz is past President of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) serving as chairman and chief administrative officer of the agency and functioned as the chief energy officer for New Jersey. He was Chairman of the Critical Infrastructure Committee for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) and led efforts addressing cybersecurity protection, workforce development, and infrastructure improvements in the electric, gas, water and telecommunications industries. He was also the NARUC liaison to the Electric Sector Coordinating Council (ESCC) and served as President of the Organization of PJM States, Inc (OPSI). Notably, he previously served as Chief Counsel to Governor Christie Whitman during her term as Governor of New Jersey.
He previously was a member of the United States Department of Energy Electric Advisory Committee and served as a Distinguished Corporate Fellow with the Global Resilience Institute at Northeastern University.
Jason Sorens is Senior Research Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research. He received his Ph.D. in political science from Yale University in 2003 and a B.A. in economics and philosophy (with honors) from Washington and Lee University in 1998. He is the author of the forthcoming Cambridge University Press book Little Leviathans: The Rise of State Government in America and of the book Secessionism (McGill-Queens University Press), and is a coauthor of Freedom in the 50 States (Cato Institute). He is Principal Investigator on the New Hampshire Zoning Atlas. His research has focused on housing policy and land-use regulation, fiscal federalism, U.S. state politics, and movements for regional autonomy and independence around the world. He has taught at Yale, Dartmouth, Saint Anselm College, and the University at Buffalo and founded the Free State Project as a graduate student. He lives in Amherst, New Hampshire.
Honorable Stephen Sweeney began his career with Local 399 in Camden, NJ, joining in 1977 and becoming a journeyman in 1980. He rose through the ranks as Financial Secretary-Treasurer and Business Agent, later serving as a general organizer for both the Philadelphia and Northern New Jersey District Councils. In 2015 he became General Vice President, and served as First General Vice President until December 2025, consistently demonstrating deep commitment to workers and the labor movement.
A longtime public servant, Sweeney represented South Jersey in the State Senate from 2002 to 2022, including 12 years as Senate President. He previously served as a Gloucester County Commissioner and Director, where he built a reputation as a consensus-builder focused on practical solutions for New Jersey families.
Sweeney is also recognized as a leader in statewide energy policy. He drove major expansions in solar development—growing New Jersey’s capacity from 250 MWp to nearly 4,500 MWp—by stabilizing the SREC program and encouraging redevelopment of landfills and brownfields. He authored the Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Credit program, enabling more than 5,000 MW of planned offshore wind, and championed New Jersey’s involvement in RGGI to support efficiency and emissions reductions.
Guided by an “all-of-the-above” energy philosophy, Sweeney promoted a balanced strategy that includes natural gas, nuclear, and renewables. He advanced legislation that preserved the state’s three nuclear reactors—powering over 3.8 million homes—and supported natural gas infrastructure, including the pipeline to the BL England plant. As Gloucester County Freeholder Director, he also oversaw development of the 738-MW LS Power Plant in West Deptford. Throughout his career, Sweeney has prioritized reliability, affordability, and sustainability in meeting New Jersey’s energy needs.
Frank Vitolo is a Member of Sills Cummis & Gross and Co-Chair of the Firm’s Land Use Law Practice Group. He is a recognized leader in planning, zoning, and redevelopment law. Mr. Vitolo maintains a statewide practice in New Jersey and has served as lead development counsel for many of the region’s major commercial real estate projects, including the planning and redevelopment of M-Station Morristown – New Jersey headquarters of Sanofi and Deloitte, Valley Bank’s new headquarters, as well as thousands of new apartments, condominiums, and townhome units.
Mr. Vitolo has extensive experience in New Jersey affordable housing matters, including developer and town compliance with affordable housing laws. During the ongoing Fourth Round compliance period (2025-2035), he has filed numerous challenges on behalf of developers objecting to municipal housing plans. Those challenges have resulted in the addition of nearly 1,000 new housing units into non compliant housing plans.
Mr. Vitolo has also had significant successes in real estate, land use, and commercial litigation. Using what some have called the “velvet hammer,” Mr. Vitolo combines Sills Cummis & Gross P.C. an aggressive, no-nonsense litigation style with deep substantive expertise to obtain favorable outcomes for clients involved in complex land use appeals, partnership disputes, product liability, and consumer fraud actions in federal and state courts.
Over the past five years, Mr. Vitolo has built a New Jersey cannabis law practice, obtaining approvals for cultivation, manufacturing, and retail businesses in Jersey City, Morristown, and Vernon Township, New Jersey, among other places. He has also litigated several cannabis disputes in this burgeoning field, including successful outcomes in the Appellate Division.
Mr. Vitolo is a thought leader in land use and zoning law. He regularly lectures on redevelopment and land use and has been quoted in numerous publications.
Mr. Vitolo has practiced law for over twenty-five years. Before returning to New Jersey in 2003, where Mr. Vitolo was born and raised, he practiced law at a prominent Washington, D.C. law firm. Before that, he held various positions on Capitol Hill