Executive Director

Contact: ashley@jtnwi.org

Ashley Williams (she/her) is the Executive Director of JTNWI, helping to found the organization in 2020. Ashley grew up in Ottawa, IL, which has been treated as a sacrifice zone by the frac sand mining industry. As the daughter of a retired nuclear plant operator and union worker, she began delving into energy justice issues early and supported community members and farmers through the founding of Conserve Our Rural Ecosystem (CORE) in their struggle against the proliferation of the local mines. Ashley is a graduate of Illinois Valley Community College and Loyola University Chicago, receiving the Berta Isabel Caceres Flores Award for Outstanding Leadership. During her time in Chicago, she continued her advocacy, organizing with the NO DAPL movement against the Dakota Access Pipeline on campus and with the Chicago Southeast Coalition to Ban Petcoke and Southeast Environmental Task Force on the city’s southeast side.

Now residing in Michigan City, she is passionate about ensuring a just and equitable transition for her community and the impacted workforce as they prepare for the retirement of the local coal-burning plant.

Legislative & Policy Director, Press Secretary

Contact: susan@jtnwi.org

Susan Thomas (she/her) is the Legislative and Policy Director and Press Secretary for JTNWI. A former environmental trend analyst, Susan holds a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University. During her time in Chicago, she also worked as an actor focusing on community outreach and social justice issues.

Now residing in Beverly Shores, the heart of the Indiana Dunes National Park, she co-chairs the Association of Beverly Shores Residents Environmental Committee.

Organizing Director

Contact: lisa@jtnwi.org

Lisa Vallee (she/her) is the Organizing Director for JTNWI. With a deep-rooted passion for preserving natural resources and advocating for marginalized communities, she has worked within many regional coalitions and organizations. Lisa excels at building and nurturing partnerships, designing innovative outreach programs, and leading dedicated teams to tackle some of the most pressing environmental challenges of our time.

With a psychology degree from Purdue University Northwest, her area of interest is community psychology, which looks past the individual to the systems and constructs that affect communities. Her number one goal in every project is to build community, make people feel comfortable, and give them space to express their power and feel ownership of the struggle. 

Living in Whiting, Indiana, for the last seven years, she has firsthand experience with the dangers we face without radical changes. She is excited to find ways to engage with community members and build new relationships so that we can have conversations about what a just transition can mean for a region that is so heavily impacted by industry.