Meet Our Slate
Barbara Gould
I am a proud 20-year resident of the Robbinsville community. With my husband Brian, I decided to raise our three children, Sofia (2nd grade), Olivia (Kindergarten), and Joseph (pre-school), here. As the daughter of an immigrant and single mother, I value the transformative power of education as an opportunity to uplift entire communities and individual lives. I have a Master of Arts in Teaching and a Post Masters in Educational Leadership from The College of New Jersey (TCNJ). Last year, I received my Doctorate in Education from Rider University. I am passionate about educating children and believe all students must have access to the resources and support based on their needs to be successful learners. I am deeply committed to educational equity. Every student can thrive if given the opportunity and learning environment.
My over 20-year career in educational leadership has afforded me many opportunities to learn, grow, and mentor as a life-long learner and teacher. I take great pride in starting my teaching career as an elementary teacher for eight years in our Robbinsville school district. For over 13 years, I have been an educational leader in the West Windsor-Plainsboro School District as a middle school Assistant Principal, elementary school Principal, District Director of Counseling, Health, and Wellness, and currently Chief Academic Officer. I have coached students, teachers, and administrators. I’ve presented numerous professional development workshops internally in WW-P and nationally for ASCD, AASA, and NJPSA. Most recently, I co-facilitated professional development on Strategic Planning and maximizing a district’s organizational structure to ensure that strategic plans are fully operational and thriving. I believe my educational experiences and strengths will benefit the Robbinsville Community as a member of the Board of Education.
Service is at the heart of who I am. I served in my church as a youth group leader in global missions and local community ministries for many years. I am currently a church governing board member. Further, I advocated for Robbinsville’s school funding needs through grassroots efforts by providing the community with timely, factual resources and information on supporting the public question via social media platforms. These efforts were aimed at ensuring that Robbinsville School District was adequately funded in order to maintain programs and staff. I also volunteer as an assistant coach with Robbinsville’s Little League and Robbinsville Rampage on my daughter’s softball teams.
I am very excited to be running for Robbinsville Board of Education with a strong slate of colleagues ready to serve our community and continue positive change and momentum.
Fizza Seehra
It’s been nearly 13 years that my husband Amman and I have lived in Robbinsville, and I feel so fortunate to raise our children, Abhay (8th grade) and Maya (4th grade), in a town that values family and community. My parents and I moved to the U.S. from India after the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Our family home was burned to the ground and we realized we were no longer safe in our own country. I saw first-hand the resilience it took for my parents to start over somewhere new with so much uncertainty. Through their resilience, I learned the immeasurable impact education, hard work, and commitment to helping your family and those around you can have on future generations.
I grew up in the neighboring town of Lawrenceville and am a proud graduate of Lawrence High School. I attended Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, for my undergraduate degree and La Salle University for my MBA. After graduating from Babson, I began my 20-year career at Johnson & Johnson. I have worked on financial budgets and strategic analysis, project management, ensuring compliance with laws and regulations, and negotiating access for families to life-changing medicines. I am currently a Senior Manager in the Worldwide Government Affairs & Policy group at Johnson & Johnson where I lead efforts to understand the impact of state legislation and work with a team to educate policymakers on the impact legislation has on families.
While I have spent most of my career helping patients and families nationwide, I wanted to find a way to impact locally. In 2014, a few close friends and I founded the ONE Project, with a mission to unite community members to address social needs, such as hunger, through education and volunteerism. Of personal importance, ONE Project was founded with the intent to show the impact and build a legacy of giving back to the community. As a result, the success of ONE Project has been rooted in the Robbinsville community coming together to support those in need. Over the past nine years, thanks to our incredible community of volunteers, the ONE Project has hosted the annual NJ Hunger Project, bringing together 8,000 volunteers to package over 725,000 meals for low-income families in the area.
I was selected to serve as a Health Equity leader at Johnson & Johnson, responsible for identifying and advancing healthcare initiatives to close the health equity gap nationwide, ensuring patients from all races have equal access to healthcare. Additionally, I co-created and co-led a diversity, equity, and inclusion mentoring program supporting the advancement of high-potential, qualified African Americans. I currently serve as a Johnson & Johnson career coach for Trenton Central High School students in partnership with The College of New Jersey through the Bridge to Employment Program, which helps young people build solid futures by introducing them to a broad array of careers in the health sector.
You have my commitment that Barb, Chris, and I, working together with the other board members, will always focus on what is best for our children and community.
Christopher Emigholz
I’ve lived in Robbinsville's Town Center for 13 years with my wife Bonnie and three children (Ryan—12th grade, Alex—10th grade, and Erin—7th grade) who attend Robbinsville public schools. I have a Bachelor of Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University and a Master of Public Policy degree from Rutgers. I am passionate about our public schools being the key lever to provide ALL children opportunities for growth and success, and I also always strive to bring a balanced perspective to public policy.
Since moving to our great town, I have been very involved in youth sports—coaching hundreds of children on approximately 40 different teams over the years in baseball, softball, soccer, football, and basketball. I served on various committees on the Robbinsville Board of Education for three and a half years and was also a member of the Robbinsville Economic Development Advisory Committee for three years.
For over 20 years, my career has focused on improving New Jersey, its economy, and its schools. My education, public policy, and public service experiences are extensive. I began my career in education as an Americorps-VISTA in Baltimore schools and then as a high school history teacher in Atlanta through Teach For America. I transitioned to NJ public policy and government affairs, directing the New Jersey Department of Education's legislative & policy office and serving and as the Budget Director/Associate Executive Director in the New Jersey State Senate. I am currently the Chief Government Affairs Officer for the New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBIA) - our state's most prominent business advocacy organization. As the Chief Government Affairs Officer, I oversee a team of government affairs professionals who advocate for pro-business policies that promote economic growth. While in each of those public policy roles, I focused on advocating for better education and workforce development policies.
My passion, skills, and experience make me an ideal candidate for the Robbinsville school board. I look forward to working with Barbara and Fizza to bring positive change to our district and navigate the challenges we face by collaboratively working with the current board, administration, staff, and community.