Hackensack River Nation Summit 2025

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A gathering of environmental leaders, public officials and others working to protect the health of the Hackensack River Watershed and connect more people to the Hackensack River.

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Learn a lot. Make great connections.
Get inspired. Share your knowledge.

Tuesday, April 22, 10 am to 6 pm
Fairleigh Dickinson University, Student Union Bldg
Sub Lane, Teaneck, New Jersey

See Agenda ›

Featuring presentations and workshops on:

  • Cleaning up the Hackensack River Superfund site
  • Stormwater management planning
  • Building Successful Environmental Alliances
  • Building trails in urban and suburban communities.

Tickets:

  • General public – $80
  • Government & Nonprofit, Environmental Commission and Green Team members – $40
  • FDU students, staff and faculty – $10
    – (Must register with FDU email address)

Need financial assistance? Contact Leo Vazquez at leo@nnjcf.org

THE 2025 HACKENSACK
RIVER NATION SUMMIT IS
MADE POSSIBLE BY:

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M&T Bank download

Become a Sponsor
Your sponsorship helps grow greener, cleaner and healthier places through the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation. Learn more about becoming a sponsor.

Highlight your group or organization at the Hackensack River Nation Summit. Get an exhibit table for just $50 with at least one registration. Order your table on the registration page.

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Summit exhibitors
There are so many organizations doing great things to protect New Jersey’s environment. Learn more about them – and how you can get involved with them at the Hackensack River Nation Summit. Here are just some of the organizations you can meet:

  • Jersey Water Works
  • New Jersey Future
  • New York-New Jersey Trail Conference
  • Northern New Jersey Community Foundation
  • PSE&G
  • Ramapo College
  • Sewage Free Streets and Rivers
  • US Environmental Protection Agency



Agenda

9:45 am Exhibit Hall opens to the public
10 am - 10:50 am Registration, networking and light refreshments
10:50 am – 11:30 am Welcome

Special Guest Speaker: U.S. Congressman Rob Menendez

Keynote: State of the Hackensack River Captain Bill Sheehan , Hackensack Riverkeeper
11:30 am - 11:45 am Break; networking
11:45 am - 1:15 pm Collaborating for Better Stormwater Management Planning
Every municipality in New Jersey is required to prepare an extensive watershed improvement plan over the next three years. (This the MS4 permitting process.) If your municipality simply gives the job to a consultant, it could be very expensive. But if your town collaborates with local environmental groups and with other communities to meet at least some of the requirements, it can save taxpayer money and lead to better plans.

This workshop will help you put together a plan for who your town should collaborate with, on what, and how. You can bring the plan to your local elected officials to get a better stormwater management plan for less money.

    Session leaders:
  • Leonardo Vazquez, AICP/PP, Northern New Jersey Community Foundation
  • Chris Sotiro, New Jersey Future
  • Kristina Koreivo, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
This workshop will be designed to:
  • Help municipal officials develop workplans for their required stormwater management plans
  • Encourage municipalities to collaborate on their workplans, and to collaborate with their respective environmental commissions, green teams and other environmental organizations
  • Encourage leaders to explore the creation of stormwater utilities to finance stormwater management plans and green infrastructure
Participants will come away with the beginning of a workplan to complete their MS4 permit requirements
1:15 pm - 2:15 pm Lunch
2:15 pm - 3:15 pm Breakout sessions:
A.    Building Successful Environmental Alliances

Everyone knows that we get more done together than we do alone. But collaborations can be difficult to create and maintain. Get tips and insights on building successful alliances from leaders of three successful environmental organizations. Feel free to ask questions and share your own insights.

B.    Green Infrastructure: Leaves and Branches

Everyone likes green infrastructure – so why isn’t there more of it? Explore how to deal with some common challenges in implementing green infrastructure. Join a peer exchange on the leaves and branches (aka nuts and bolts) to have a smoother, more hopeful journey to green infrastructure
C.    Building Trails in Urban and Suburban Communities 

How do we get more people to feel emotionally and physically connected to the Hackensack River?  Create pathways that make it easier for them to enjoy the river’s natural beauty. In this workshop, you will get tips on how to create pathways that encourage people to get to where you want them to go.

Session leader: Peter Dolan, New York/ New Jersey Trails Conference
3:15 pm - 3:30 pm Break and Networking
3:30 pm - 5 pm Hackensack River Superfund Cleanup Workshop

In 2022, the Lower Hackensack River was designated a Superfund site. This means the federal government will clean it up to remove some of most pollution, and take steps to help keep it clean.  But how clean will the river be? That depends, in part on how we guide the work of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Join this workshop to learn about the cleanup process, and share your advice to the EPA.

Session leader(s): Jennifer LaPoma, Josh Smeraldi, Brandon Holsten, Shereen Kandil, US Environmental Protection Agency, District 2
5 pm - 6 pm After Summit reception

About Hackensack River Nation

The Hackensack River is a special place. This North Jersey artery has nurtured people for more than 10,000 years, supported a diverse ecosystem for even longer, and helped build the prosperity that so many people in Bergen and Hudson counties enjoy.

Yet despite this, too many business leaders and public officials over the past three centuries have treated the river as a dump site, killing off native wildlife and causing so many people to figuratively turn their backs to the river.

Hackensack River Nation, established in 2024 by the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation and several partner organizations, is dedicated to raising awareness and improving the health of the Hackensack River and its 197-squaremile watershed, which spans northeastern New Jersey and southern New York.

This collaborative effort seeks to underscore the power of unity and set a precedent for community-driven environmental stewardship for problem areas like pollution, flooding and overdevelopment. We also strive to develop a shared vision for the future of the Hackensack River and the watershed.

Inspired by the Northern New Jersey Community Foundation’s philosophy, “What can we do together that we can’t alone?”, the Hackensack River Nation brings together municipalities, public agencies, nonprofits, businesses, educational institutions, and community organizations. This collective effort aims to enhance the watershed’s health and accessibility through collaboration.

Produced by NNJCF.