Ogonnaya Dotson Newman

HEFN Position: 
Steering Committee Member

Ogonnaya Dotson Newman is a senior program officer in the Environment program at The JPB Foundation. JPB’s mission is to advance opportunity in the US through transformational initiatives that empower those living in poverty, enrich and sustain our environment, and enable pioneering medical research. JPB’s Environment program enables resilient communities to benefit the health and well-being of low-income and underserved communities.

Ogonnaya manages the environmental health portfolio focused on detoxifying natural systems and the build environment by eliminating indoor and outdoor pollutants. Ogonnaya comes to JPB with years of experience in community-based participatory research, partnership and collaboration for organizing around complex environmental issues, and environmental justice.

Most recently, Ogonnaya was the Assistant Director of Public Housing and Health based at the New York City Housing Authority and the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Ogonnaya holds a Master’s in Public Health with a focus on Environmental Health and a certificate in Health Geoinformatics.

Primary Organizational Affiliation: 
JPB Foundation
My Grantmaking Focus Is On: 

My grantmaking is focused on environmental health with two sub area that include healthy homes and outdoor air quality.

What Drew Me Into HEFN Leadership: 

Since I first attended a HEFN meeting, I was impressed by the level of content knowledge on the vast topic of environmental health and felt instantly welcome by the team’s warm energy and commitment to increasing the visibility of challenging problems and innovative solutions to improving environmental public health for all people.

I See the HEFN Community Making a Difference: 

By continuing to make the case for health when thinking about the environment in philanthropy.

When I'm Not at Work You Might Find Me: 

Collaging, laughing, learning valuable life lessons from bad reality TV, or trying to perfect my next favorite dish.

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