Health Affairs Policy Committee Meeting, Oct. 21

Jonathan Chebra is Deputy Commissioner for Operations & Chief of Staff at the New Jersey Department of Human Services overseeing department operations and external relations. Chebra has spent his career in public service and health policy. Previously, he worked for the New Jersey Hospital Association, Assembly Health Chairman Herb Conaway, M.D. and U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg. Chebra is a graduate of Rider University and resides in Bordentown City.

Libby has over twenty years of leadership experience in association management government affairs, public relations, and commu ‹.cz .ons at the local, state, and national levels. As Senior Vice President of Association Business Solutions (ABS), a full-service association management company in Trenton, Libby helped developed the firm’s advocacy arm, which she now manages and directs. A results-driven lobbyist, she represents a diverse range of clients, from large corporations and small businesses to charitable nonprofits and industry associations, consistently securing policy victories and enhancing their strategic positioning.

Recently, Libby was instrumental in partnering with legislative leaders and disability advocates to establish New Jersey’s Legislative Disability Caucus, making New Jersey one of just a handful of states to have a formal forum within the Legislature for people with disabilities and their families to be heard. She now collaborates closely with lawmakers and disability advocates to manage the caucus and advance its policy agenda. This innovative approach to advocacy is a hallmark of Libby’s work, where she has consistently led broad coalitions to secure budget funding and achieve legislative victories across multiple policy campaigns.

Prior to her tenure at ABS, Libby worked as a consultant for the John J. Heldrich School for Workforce Development at Rutgers University, leading workforce development partnerships with employers in high demand industries and students in secondary and post-secondary education programs. Capitalizing on her strong network of contacts in labor, industry and education, Libby recruited employers and school districts to participate in the pilot program and helped coordinate implementation and evaluation that led to the creation of several impactful partnerships.

Libby got her start in public affairs and association management working for nearly a decade for the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, the nation’s largest statewide employer association. She coordinated the association’s lobbying efforts in education, workforce development, small business, and federal business issues. For many years, Libby also directed the association’s grassroots activities, serving as executive director of a network of 18 local employer groups.

Libby is very active in local politics and community initiatives and is a graduate of the Christine Todd Whitman Series, a leadership program for women in New Jersey. She serves on the Board of the Millhill Child 6 Family Development Center in Trenton, is a volunteer at SAVE Animal Shelter and previously served on the Mercer County Community College Board of Trustees.

Libby is an honors graduate of Lehigh University and earned her master’s degree in politics and public affairs from the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.

Robin C. Ford is an accomplished leader with extensive experience in New Jersey’s public sector, specializing in healthcare policy, government healthcare funding, and legislative and budget analysis.

Robin joined the New Jersey Hospital Association as the Vice President of Healthcare Reimbursement in July 2025 and has been dedicating her time to analyzing the fiscal impact of the federal changes to New Jersey’s public health care funding. Previously, she served as Deputy Commissioner of Health Systems for the New Jersey Department of Health (DOH) where she managed the administrative oversight of approximately 4,000 licensed healthcare facilities. In this role, she helped set DOH priorities, oversaw health care assessment and funding programs, and negotiated the inclusion of key projects in the Appropriations Act.

Robin’s experience also includes working in health information technology policy at the New Jersey Innovation Institute and as Executive Director of the Office of Health Care Financing at the DOH. The Office is responsible for the calculation and distribution of multiple health care subsidies, oversight of the financial status of health care facilities and collects financial information from various health care facilities. Additionally, as a Lead Fiscal Analyst for the Office of Legislative Services, she worked in a non-partisan capacity and drafted complex legislation, staffed Legislative Committees and analyzed the proposed budgets of multiple state departments.

She holds an M.S. in Public Policy and a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University. She lives with her family in Central New Jersey (it exists).

As President of the New Jersey Association of Health Plans, Ward leads the state trade association that represents the major health plans in New Jersey, including all five Medicaid managed care organizations. He became President of NJAHP in October of 2006.  Prior to coming to the NJAHP in 2006, Ward served for 15 years in New Jersey State government positions, first serving as a Deputy Attorney General then running the state’s early health insurance exchanges. Prior to earning his law degree, Ward worked in Washington, D.C. for a human rights and foreign policy research organization. 

Ward has received the Community Health Law Project’s 2015 “Ann Klein Advocate Award,” the New Jersey Mental Health and Addiction Agencies 2016 “Leadership in Health Care Award,” and the Hemophilia Association of New Jersey’s 2017 “Humanitarian Award.” 

Ward is a graduate of the Villanova University School of Law and of Franklin & Marshall College, where he received his BA in Government. He is a member of the New Jersey and Pennsylvania bars, the New Jersey Bar Association, and is a member of the NJ Bar Association’s Insurance Benefits Committee.  He lives in Lambertville, New Jersey, where he was elected five times to Lambertville’s City Council.