Election Profile: Christine Conforti For 4th District of NJ

HOLMDEL, NJ – The New Jersey preliminary election on July 7 will challenge several Democrats looking to unseat Republican Congressman Chris Smith for New Jersey's 4th congressional district come November. Former Americorp service member and United Nations staffer Christine Conforti is one Democratic candidate, alongside former U.S. diplomat and lawyer Stephanie Schmid and Red Bank media strategist David Applefield. Republican Alter Eliezer Richter is also running to win the seat.

Conforti, 31, is a leadership coach at Unbounded Lifestyle and school consultant at The Hawn Foundation. She is a former United Nations Global Compact Project Manager and middle school math teacher at Teach for America. She lives in Ocean Grove with her husband Christian.

Conforti has an M.A. in Education and Social Change from the University of Miami and a B.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.

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Why are you seeking elective office?

From leading corporate responsibility platforms at the United Nations, to serving our country’s education system with Teach For America, to being an entrepreneur who develops small business owners, my global experience and leadership training has prepared me to uniquely deliver an inclusive message that calls for sustainable economic policy and preventative healthcare measures-- one that benefits all families across the political spectrum. I am seeking to bring this mindful leadership and visionary thinking to elected office in Congress precisely because it is the decision-making table that would most significantly improve the health and wellbeing of people with a stroke of a pen. We must divest from fossil fuel, chemical and agribusiness industries that produce toxins and make us sick, and invest in renewable energy, local regenerative farming and non-toxic therapies that restore our health and the environment which we desperately need to survive.

The single most pressing issue facing our community is _______, and this is what I intend to do about it.

Health. As a baseline, I intend to advocate for Medicare For All by using my vote and my voice to educate communities of 3 key benefits of a single-payer healthcare system: 1- Employment freedom & local business growth, 2- Comprehensive care including dental, vision and mental health; and 3- Access to integrative health therapies that include foods and supplements clinically researched to prevent and reverse disease- in many cases replacing the need for lifelong pharmaceuticals drugs. Our "sickcare system" is multi-dimensional, rooted in a for-profit healthcare system incentivized to make money over curing chronic illness and keeping people healthy. The sick-care system depends on industrialized agri-business that legally pumps chemicals, hormones and GMOs in our food, soil and water supply. And finally, it depends on the chemical industry legally adding know carcinogens to our skin-care products, our cleaning products, and our consumer products. The fundamental responsibility of our government is to protect the pubic good from harm, not to subsidize it.

What are the critical differences between you and the other candidates seeking this post?

1. I am the only candidate with authentic relationships deep roots in CD-4. I was raised in Holmdel and graduated Holmdel High School in 2006. My mother works in Red Bank, my grandmother lives in Hamilton, I have childhood friends and a large extended Italian family spread out throughout the shore towns. Stephane Schmid was recruited and sent to CD-4 by the DCCC, and moved to Little Silver in July 2019 for the sole purpose to run for office. Her "grassroots" campaign and "hometown" is simply a farce and should be a red flag to anyone interested in true representative democracy that prioritizes people and the planet over profits.

2. I am the only candidate who supports Medicare For All, and has had "health and sustainability" at the core of my message and policy agenda since the start of my campaign and the in my professional mission.

3. I am the only candidate who supports The Green New Deal- a comprehensive solution to the environmental crisis, and the only candidate who has experience fighting for corporate responsibility and global sustainability platforms. I led UN-Business partnerships with the United Nations Global Compact, the world's largest corporate sustainability initiative.

On the contrary, Stephanie Schmid defended mid-level Transocean executives against the US Department of Justice for their role in the 2010 BP Oil Spill (she lost and they settled the case for $1.4 Billion for admitting their role in the disaster). In 2007-2009 during the most recent financial crisis, Schmid "Represented Fortune 500 companies and executives in the information technology, social media, financial services, construction, and legal sectors in complex civil litigation and white collar criminal defense investigations." With corporate relationships and a pattern of poor judgement (including endorsing Bloomberg for President), which side can we trust her to be on: corporations or people??

4. As a former Americorp service member with Teach for America, I am the only candidate with experience in domestic social justice issues and authentic relationships with fellow humans and leaders in communities of color-- the people who are suffering the most from exploitative and racist education, health, food and economic policies. I know and see and feel these people, and I am the only candidate who demonstrates a commitment to collaborating in and empowering the social and climate justice movement. In the fight for health and sustainability, we must simultaneously create equitable access across neighborhoods to healthy food and water, safe and secure housing, empowering preK-college public education, local business and living wages.

If you are a challenger, in what way has the current board or officeholder failed the community (or district or constituency)

Representative Chris Smith most recently failed our district by voting against the HR 6800 HEROS Act and choosing partisans politics over the health and wellbeing of everyday people in the middle of a pandemic. Representative Smith is a 39-year incumbent who does not live in New Jersey nor identify with our local community. His relationships and loyalties are to the party leaders, lobbyists and Washington insiders that continue to prioritize their own status and wealth over everyday Americans. Furthermore, he rejects simple human rights such a woman's access to a safe and legal abortion, and the LGBTQ+ community's access to safe By voting against direct cash assistance, increased hazard pay for essential workers, and local business relief, it is clear he also fails to support economic justice alongside basic social justice.

Describe the other issues that define your campaign platform

Proactive Health: Medicare for All is the baseline. Cultivating health is where we need to grow. We must fund mindfulness programs in schools, hospitals & community centers. We must regulate chemicals and fund affordable, organic, local food: farmers markets, urban farming, and community gardens. Regulate pharmaceuticals and fund access to integrative healthcare: nutrition & supplements.

Local Wealth: Access to a living wage is the baseline. Meaningful work that sustains a healthy lifestyle and sustainable communities is where we need to grow. We must fund local main-street business programs that build community. We must fund sustainable start-ups designed to solve health & environmental issues. We must federally fund education, including entrepreneurship courses in high schools, colleges, and community centers.

Sustainable Living: Mitigating Climate Change is the baseline. Building a fully sustainable economy is where we need to grow. We must fund community and residential solar and EV charging stations. We must fund sustainable flood protection systems, including Rain Gardens and natural coastal barriers. We must subsidize sustainable fishing and regenerative farming practices, and fund composting infrastructure.

What accomplishments in your past would you cite as evidence you can handle this job?

After graduating from Holmdel High School, I earned a degree in Foreign Service at Georgetown University, learning from renowned diplomats such as Madeleine Albright. I then chose a path of Americorp public service as a middle school teacher in a neglected yet highly resilient community in Miami, FL. I learned first-hand the systems and cycles of poverty that prevent social and economic justice from birth. In parallel to my school leadership, I earned a Masters degree in Education and Social Change from the University of Miami, designed to understand the root causes of the “achievement gap”. As a staffer for the United Nations, I worked under the Chief of Staff for the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative. I managed international conferences in Geneva, Ethiopia, and Brazil and built platforms and publications to foster public-private partnerships for sustainability projects. In 2014, I returned to local-level impact, empowering professionals to connect with purpose, and optimize the creative energy and confidence needed to build a sustainable business driven by positive impact. Since 2012, I’ve continued to positively impact education by training teachers on a neuroscience-based program that decreases stress, increases academic achievement, and cultivates a positive school culture for teachers, students and families. This unique leadership experience has shaped the mission-driven and entrepreneurial thinking we need in Congress to collaborate and innovate under one ultimate goal: to optimize health and wellbeing of people and our planet and prioritize this over profit.

The best advice ever shared with me was:

"Whatever the problem, community is the answer."- Margaret Wheatley

What else would you like voters to know about yourself and your positions?

The Conforti for Congress campaign is a grassroots movement co-created by 40+ actively engaged local community leaders, teachers, parents and business owners. We are "being the change" we want to see in campaign finance by entrepreneurially revolutionizing how a campaign operates. A key component of the undue influence of money in politics is the "campaign industrial complex". Rather than out-of-town paid staff, we are powered by the creativity and generosity of our passionate neighbors. This campaign is a "WE" effort driven by a mission for pro-active health and sustainability policy. For that reason, if will exist well beyond any one candidate or election. Help us send one of US to DC to be a voice for your health and our beloved environment.