Justin Elicker visits Hopkins

On Friday, April 12, the Sustainability Committee invited Justin Elicker to speak at assembly. Elicker is a member of the New Haven Board of Alderman, on which he has represented the Fair Haven, Cedar Hill and East Rock neighborhoods for two terms. He is also a co-head of the community group Friends of East Rock Park. He has recently announced he will run for mayor of New Haven in this year's election. 

 

Elicker spoke to the students about choosing a career path that can effect real change and make a difference in the world, as well as one you can be proud of. He spoke about his own journey from high school to his current role in effecting change in the city of New Haven, a journey which took him all over the world. He spoke about his passion for environmental and organizational concerns, and explained that accessing the root cause of a problem is the best way to deliver effective long-term change. Elicker explained his proposal for a revitalized downtown New Haven and change in traffic patterns, which would connect all the neighborhoods downtown that were separated by the construction of Route 34. 

 

Justin is a graduate from Yale's joint degree program at the School of Forestry & Environmental Studies and the School of Management. Prior to coming to New Haven, Justin worked for five years as a Foreign Service Officer for the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., Taiwan and Hong Kong. He has also worked at the Yale Office of Sustainability, taught elementary school English in Taiwan and French at a high school in Connecticut. Justin graduated from Middlebury College in 1997 with a B.A. in Spanish and computer science. Justin has also been a consultant to businesses to make them more sustainable.