Who We Are

Uyen Khuong, pronounced “Winn”, immigrated to the US in 1980 from Vietnam. Uyen is the Founder and the Executive Director of Action Together New Jersey (ATNJ), a 501(c)4 non-profit civic organization. Most recently, Uyen was honored for the New Jersey State Governor’s Jefferson Awards in the Founder/Innovator category.  For her organizing work, she was a recipient of the We Are EMILY Award from EMILY’s List, and was also awarded the Evangelina Menendez Trailblazer Award from Senator Robert Menendez, the Breaking Barriers Award from CAIR-NJ, and the Community Service Award from the American Muslim Council. Uyen currently serves on the Steering Committee of Rising Stars at the Eagleton Institute, and Governor Murphy’s Diversity and Inclusivity Council.  She was a speaker at the 2018 and 2019 Women’s March, 2018 March for Our Lives.  Media Appearances and Articles include the NY Times, New Jersey Globe, InsiderNJ, NJ.com, Philadelphia Inquirer, WNYC Radio, and PBS Newshour.

Scott Salmon is Counsel at Jardim, Meisner & Susser, P.C. and specializes in employment law, election law, and governmental representation. Scott advises and represents municipal, legislative, and congressional political campaigns on various election-related issues, including ballot-access, canvassing, advertisements and recounts. Scott advises organizations such as 501(c)(4) entities and public action committees on campaign finance rules and regulations. He also currently serves as Labor Counsel to the Town of Dover. Scott is a former candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District. He received his Bachelor of Arts with Honors in History from Franklin & Marshall College and his Juris Doctor from Washington & Lee University School of Law. Scott has competed in three marathons and a sprint triathlon and spends his free time woodworking, watching the New York Jets lose, and watching movies with his wife, Remy.

Cindy Matute-Brown is the new Associate Director for NJEA’s Human and Civil Rights, Equity & Governance Division. She is excited to join this new division to help continue NJEA’s mission of social justice, equity and inclusion for all of its members and to help ensure the continued pursuit for a just and equitable education for all New Jersey public school students. Matute-Brown has organized around labor and social justice issues, founding a teacher’s union, an affiliate of NJEA at a charter school where she worked for almost 20 years. She is a Steering Committee member of a grassroots organization founded after the 2016 elections dedicated to progressive action from local to federal governance. Matute-Brown previously served as an elected official serving the West Orange Township as Council President. As a public servant her fiduciary responsibilities include a municipal budget of over $96 million dollars, labor and service contracts and has effectively promoted governing with transparency and through a social, equity and inclusion lens.

Trina Mallik (she/her) is Vice President of Global Programs and Acting Co-President at the Institute for Sustainable Communities (ISC). In her role, Trina accelerates the mission of ISC, which is to center voices of historically disinvested communities- those most impacted by climate change- in formulating climate change mitigation and resilience solutions. She oversees the Institute’s programs in Bangladesh, China, India, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and the United States. Trina’s nonprofit experience includes The Climate Group as Global Head of Member Engagement strategizing with businesses and subnational governments to accelerate a low carbon economy and at The Nature Conservancy, NJ Chapter as the Director of Climate Mitigation. Working with other non-governmental organizations and meeting with government officials, Trina ensured the passage of New Jersey’s leading electric vehicle bill and amendments to the Global Warming Response Act and co-led the effort to pass the Energy Efficient Appliance Standards, which Governor Murphy signed into law in January 2022. Trina lives in New Jersey with her husband and two sons. She has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland, College Park; a Masters in Engineering Management from George Washington University; and a Masters in Business Administration from the Stern School of Business at New York University.