Rutgers School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA) presents a post-election panel discussion:

VOTES ARE IN!
WHAT COMES NEXT?

Join Us for a Conversation on
The Future of Democracy
and Public Service

Date: Thursday, November 5, 2026
Time: 6-8pm
Location: Express Newark, 54 Halsey Street, 2nd Floor, Newark, NJ
Refreshments served
Free and Open to the Public
Register: Registration requested by Oct. 30
Parking: Rutgers Visitor Parking

Welcome Remarks

• Kaifeng Yang - Dean, Rutgers SPAA

Moderator

• Sarah Wallace - Award-Winning Investigative Journalist

Panelists

• Amina Bey - Newark Municipal Council Member, Central Ward
• Christopher DePhillips - NJ State Assemblyman, 40th District
• Lawrence Hamm - Political and Civil Rights Activist
• Chigozie Onyema - NJ State Assemblyman, 28th District

Sarah Wallace is one of the most respected investigative journalists in the New York tri-state area, with more than four decades of reporting on crime, corruption, injustice, and abuse of power. During her 30 years as an anchor and reporter at WABC-TV, she covered some of the nation's most consequential stories, including the September 11 terrorist attacks. Sarah joined WNBC-TV in 2015, continuing to break major stories and secure exclusive interviews. Her many honors include 26 Emmy Awards, two Edward R. Murrow Awards, a Peabody Award for ABC's September 11 coverage, and an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award for WNBC's team coverage of the COVID-19 crisis. 

Amina Bey has spent her entire life in public service In November 2025, she became the first Muslim elected to the Newark Municipal Council, representing the City’s Central Ward. Since September 2019, she has served as the Executive Director of the Essex County-Newark Emergency Services for Families Inc. She has created multiple programs, additional community service organizations, and has raised millions of dollars to fight food and housing insecurities. From 2014 to 2019, she served as the Executive Director of the Newark Workforce Development Board where she developed programs to create jobs and to help reduce Newark’s unemployment rate from 11.7% to 5.8%.

Christopher DePhillips has served in the New Jersey General Assembly since 2018 and has been Minority Conference Leader since 2024. He previously served as Assistant Minority Leader and as Deputy Minority Leader. DePhillips served on the Wyckoff Township Committee in some years as deputy mayor and mayor. He was also a commissioner of the Northwest Bergen County Utilities Authority. He has held various roles as outside counsel and in-house counsel. Most recently, he was General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer of Porzio Life Sciences, an RLDatix Company. In 2024, he became a partner at Bernstein DePhillips & Kalosieh.

Lawrence Hamm has been an advocate for human rights and civil rights for all oppressed people for more than 54 years. He is a founder and current Chairman of the People’s Organization for Progress (POP), a statewide, independent, grass roots organization working for racial, social, economic justice and peace. Hamm has held leadership positions in numerous human and civil rights organizations such the New Jersey Anti-Apartheid Coalition. In recent years, he was placed on Insider NJ’s Insider 100: Power, list of influential people in NJ, on Insider NJ’s African-American Political Power List In Honor Of Black History Month and Insider NJ’s Insider 100 Policymakers.

Chigozie Onyema has served in the New Jersey General Assembly since the beginning of 2026. During his first six months in office, he built a coalition of unions, advocacy organizations, and working families to help pass the Fair Price Protection Act prohibiting grocery stores and third-party delivery platforms from using people’s personal data to set individual prices. Prior to serving in the Assembly, Onyema was Senior Director for the Sustainable Cities Program at PolicyLink and served an Assistant Commissioner for the NJ Department of Community Affairs. He has earned national recognition, including “40 Under 40” honors from the National Bar Association.