Ellie Goldberg for Healthy Kids

Work for Justice  To give food to a hungry person is an act that no one will criticize, but to ask why people are hungry, which may raise economic questions and access questions, can lead to uncomfortable conclusions.  Yet acts of mercy that are not linked with acts of justice are ultimately going to produce little change. "An act of mercy bails the boat. An act of justice plugs the leak."

♦

Now imagine a room where groups of people are sitting around tables at a huge banquet. The tables are overflowing with the most delicious foods you can imagine.  In fact, the scene is exactly the same. The people have no elbows. But in this room, everyone is happy and well-nourished.  What is the difference?  Here the people have learned to feed each other.

Ellie Goldberg, M.Ed., Founder (1989), HEALTHY-KIDS.INFO

An advocacy, consulting, resource and referral service dedicated to overcoming barriers to health and education for students with asthma and other chronic health conditions. Services and programs include crisis intervention, resource and referral, strategic guidance and technical assistance to parents, educators, health professionals and policy makers. Resources, publications, presentations and success stories at http://www.healthy-kids.info.

GOALS:  To play a consulting, leadership or advisory role in projects dedicated to

~ Achieving high-quality inclusive schools and sustainable communities (clean water, clean air, clean energy and safe food).

~ Promoting changes in education and health systems to prioritize public health and safety.

~ Increasing citizen engagement, government accountability and corporate responsibility on behalf of children.

EXPERTISE:

~ Strategic advocacy at the local, state and national level on behalf of children and other vulnerable populations.

~ Working in a variety of leadership and advisory roles in multi-disciplinary coalitions for institutional and legislative reforms in education and environmental health.

~ Translating and integrating technical information from medical, scientific, environmental, educational and legal experts into print, multi-media materials and programs for parents, students, educators, health and legal professionals, advocates, citizen groups and policymakers.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Consultant/Contributing Expert to organizations and publications (ongoing). Credits include the Children's Television Workshop, the Food Allergy Network, WGBH-TV, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the Allergy and Asthma Network/Mothers of Asthmatics, Inc., the Affiliated Children's Arthritis Treatment Centers of New England, the National Association of School Nurses, the American Academy of Asthma, Allergy and Immunology, Dr. Tom Plaut's Asthma Guide for People of All Ages, Understanding Handicaps/Newton and others.

Media Resource (ongoing). Frequently interviewed, consulted and quoted for public and professional audiences by print, TV news and feature producers for stories about children’s environmental health, school indoor air quality, pesticides, advocacy, citizen engagement and education.

Health Educator, Massachusetts Department of Public Health's Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program (mid 1980's). Created communication strategies and educational materials for the public, parents and professionals about lead poisoning prevention. Organized educational events, public outreach and legislative projects for the update of the Massachusetts Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention law. Targeted a diverse audience via the mainstream media and Museum of Science Newsletter, the Baystate Realtor, community health center and neighborhood newsletters and Massachusetts Department of Public Health publications.

Creator,  "Lessons of the 1937 Texas School Explosion," a campaign to bring the story and the lessons of the 1937 Texas School Explosion to public attention and to raise awareness of the urgent need for responsible leadership to eliminate explosives and other chemical hazards in today's schools.  Includes annual naming of "Healthy Kids Healthy Kids Heroes," celebrating advocates whose efforts on behalf of children are a model of responsibility and leadership. See “Resources” at http://www.healthy-kids.info/.

Expert Consultant, National Asthma Education and Prevention Program, Committee on Asthma in the School, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute/NIH, (11 years).

    Current long term board member of many health, education, and environmental advocacy organizations:

Massachusetts PTA legislative chair and environmental health consultant on the Massachusetts PTA Board of Managers, (9 years).  Responsible for creating "Massachusetts PTA in Action: Legislative and Advocacy Newsletter."  Responsible for the legislative agenda and advocacy training to promote parent involvement and leadership to make children a high priority at the community, state and national levels. (For Mass PTA blog online.) Spokesperson on PTA priority issues, providing testimony at legislative hearings and participating in statewide policy making groups:

-   the Alliance for a Healthy Tomorrow governing council, legislative and administrative subcommittees. AHT is a statewide coalition of more than 140 public health, education, labor, environmental and community groups.

-   the Massachusetts Department of Education Interdisciplinary Health Education and Human Services Advisory Council. 

-   Citizens for Public Schools board member, a Massachusetts-wide coalition of more than 50 civic, civil rights, labor, religious and education organizations committed to strong, democratically accountable public schools.

-   the Massachusetts Healthy Schools Initiative of the Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health.

National Healthy Schools Network, Inc. advisory board. 

Clean Water Action board member.  

Green Decade Coalition/Newton advisory board.

Sandy Island Family Camp, Camper Committee (Thats Amore! campaign), Week 7 Representative, Greater Boston YMCA

Congregation Dorshei Tzedek, Newton, MA, founding member, board member (newsletter, publicity and marketing).

Green Decade Coalition/Newton Committee for Alternatives to Pesticides (GreenCAP) Co-chair (1994-2004). Obtained grants from the Toxics Use Reduction Institute (University of Massachusetts/Lowell) and the New England Grassroots Environment Fund. Created Newton's annual Alternatives to Pesticides Month (started in March '97) including Mayor's proclamation, annual speaker program, exhibits, resources, and related events.

Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America/New England board member and education committee, (1988 – 1996).

MassPartners, a Massachusetts collaboration of the major educational, administrative, teacher, and parent associations, Massachusetts PTA representative, (2005, 2006).

Special Needs Advocacy Network board member and newsletter editor.

Toxics Action Center/Massachusetts board member.

Understanding Our Differences: A Disability Awareness Program, Newton Public Schools, Asthma Resource Person and parent volunteer, (1987 – 1999).

EDUCATIONAL CURRICULUM, OTHER PUBLICATIONS

Editor, Partners in Allergy Newsletter, New England Allergy Nurses and Associates, (1993 – 1994).

Author, a series of faculty and student textbooks and study guides for the 24-program WGBH-PBS telecourse Discovering Psychology, (1989). Print study guides for WGBH-Boston video programs including Degrassi Jr. High, Nova, etc.

Author, Experiencing Psychology (Introductory Psychology Textbook), Science Research Associates, Inc., with Robert Goodale, PhD, (1978).

Education writer, textbook editor, and language arts/social studies curriculum developer  Intentional Educations, Cambridge, MA.  Specialized in student-centered curriculum, values clarification and performance assessment for publishers Science Research Associates, Inc., Laidlaw and Doubleday, (1974 - 1976).

Research/Author,  Focus: Family Mobility, Adolescent Development and Welcoming Communities. Publications include "The Supportive Environment," Children's Environments Quarterly: Residential Mobility, Penn State Univ., Spring, (1985); "Relocation and the Family: A Crisis in Adolescent Development," Uprooting and Development, Coelho and Ahmed, Eds., Plenum., (1980).

AFFILIATIONS 

The American Public Health Association - Environmental Section

The Massachusetts Public Health Association - Environmental Section

The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates

Health Care Without Harm

Massachusetts and Newton League of Women Voters

Former member of Mass Health Council Task Force on Cultural and Linguistic Minorities; Massachusetts Consumer Health Educators Association; Co-Chair, Education Task Force, New England Consortium of Lead Poisoning Prevention Programs.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITIONS

Recognized by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (1997) as one of six "unsung heroes" in Massachusetts for promoting alternatives to pesticides through community education and public policy initiatives.

Received the Green Decade Coalition's Environmental Leadership Award (2004) for GreenCAP's initiative that resulted in the City of Newton's adoption of a comprehensive Integrated Pest Management Policy to eventually eliminate pesticides in all city-owned buildings and grounds.  The policy was the basis of the City of Newton's application for the US Conference of Mayors City Livability Award.

Other Experience:  Teacher, Lincoln-Sudbury, MA (1972 – 1974) and Palfrey Street, Watertown, MA (1974-75). Developed and taught curriculum in Grade 9 – 12 language arts, writing, photography, media studies. Liaison and Administrative Services, Starting Tomorrow (Teacher Inservice Program), Ealing Corporation, (1969-70); Para-professional, 10th grade Emerson School, Concord, MA (1-6/71); Part-Time Admin, Transportation and Community Values Project, Urban Systems Lab, MIT, Cambridge, MA (1971-72); Substitute Teacher Boston Public Schools, (Fall 1970, 71); Substitute Teacher, Detroit Public Schools, (Summers 1967, 68, 69).

EDUCATION