YOUR ASSOCIATION
NEHA SECOND VICE-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE PROFILE
The National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) is governed by a corporate Board of Directors who oversee the affairs of our association. The board comprises two groups: national officers and regional vice-presidents. We elect our national officers through a ballot that goes to all active and life members before the annual conference. Among other things, the ballot features the election for the position of NEHA second vice-president. The person elected to this position begins a 5-year commitment that involves advancing each year to a different national office to eventually become our president. Election policy specifies that candidate profiles for the second vice-president be limited to 800 words in total length. If a candidate’s profile exceeds that limit, the policy requires that the profile be terminated at the last sentence before the 800-word limit is exceeded. In addition, the submitted profiles have not been grammatically edited but presented as submitted and within the 800-word limitation. This year, we present one candidate for the office of second vice-president.
Niki Lemin, MS, REHS/RS, MEP My name is Niki Lemin, and I am asking for your vote as I run for the office of 2nd Vice President. I have a passion for environmental public health and look forward to advancing our mission “to build, sustain and empower an effective environmental public health workforce” as your 2nd Vice President. I have been an active NEHA member
safety liaison to ten multi-practice ambulatory healthcare sites across the entire health system and worked to develop and implement strat- egies for improving ambulatory safety and emergency management. In 2013, I accepted the position of Assistant Health Commis- sioner/Environmental Health Director at Franklin County Public Health in Columbus, Ohio. There, I created a Sustainability Sec- tion to address sustainability, equity, and environmental justice and during the pandemic served as Liaison Officer for COVID-19 response efforts. In 2022, I joined the Ohio Environmental Pro- tection Agency (Ohio EPA) to serve as Chief of the Division of Materials and Waste Management, responsible for oversight of statewide solid waste, infectious waste, scrap tire, and construc- tion and demolition debris programs and statewide solid waste planning efforts. In July 2024, I was appointed Chief of the Office of Environmental Innovation. In this role, I lead efforts across the agency, as well as public and private sector engagement, to advance innovation and environmental health for all Ohioans. Throughout my career I have served in a variety of other lead- ership roles, including Chair of the Ohio Lead Advisory Council; Chair of the Ohio Public Health Association Environmental Pub- lic Health Section; and Chair of the Ohio EPA Health Department Advisory Panel. I have also served on the Board of Trustees of a local solid waste authority and am a past-Director of the Southeast Dis- trict of the Ohio Environmental Health Association. I was also a member of the Ohio Public Health Climate Resiliency Coalition and the National Association of County and City Health Officials’ Envi- ronmental Public Health Workgroup. I’ve participated in the Public Health Accreditation Board’s Environmental Public Health Think Tank 2.0 and I am a proud graduate and past mentor of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Environmental Public Health Leadership Institute (EPHLI). I earned my Master of Science in Environmental, Health and Safety Management from The University of Findlay and Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies from Ohio Northern Univer- sity. I am a Registered Environmental Health Specialist with the State of Ohio and with NEHA and am a Master Exercise Practitio- ner (Emergency Management Institute). I have enjoyed serving our members these past two terms and would be grateful to serve as your 2nd Vice President. There is much to accomplish as an association and profession, and I know my experience will serve the association well. I am honored to serve NEHA and our members and appreciate your consideration as you cast your vote!
since 2007, when I attended my first AEC in Atlantic City, NJ. Since then, I have been involved in a variety of ways, such as the NEHA Climate + Health Committee; the Understanding the Needs, Chal- lenges, Opportunities, Vision, and Emerging Roles in Environ- mental Health (UNCOVER EH) initiative (a collaborative study between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NEHA, and Baylor University); and the NEHA Leadership Academy. In 2019, I was elected to serve on the NEHA Board of Directors as Region 6 Regional Vice President, representing Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, and Michigan and am finishing my second term. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, NEHA partnered with the International Code Council (ICC) to form the ICC/NEHA Pandemic Task Force. I am co-chair of this task force and together we developed a guide to prepare buildings and communities from disease-related threats. As a member of the Board of Directors, I have also been involved in efforts to modernize and respond to member feedback. This includes participating in the Journal of Environmental Health Future Directions Advisory Panel, which led to open access begin- ning in January 2024; Congressional Hill Days, to introduce and enlighten U.S. Congress members, from the House and Senate, about environmental health in their state, how environmental health impacts their constituents, and ways to improve federal environmental health services to state and local communities; and, efforts to improve our effectiveness as a board with respect to cul- ture, policy & governance, leadership and planning. My career began at Allen County Public Health in Lima, Ohio where I was the first female Registered Sanitarian and managed the private water systems, food safety, and body art programs. From there, I was promoted to Director of Emergency Response and led efforts in developing and managing a district-wide public health disaster preparedness program. My work then led me to The Ohio State University College of Public Health where I focused on state- wide preparedness, response, and recovery efforts and then, to the Safety Department at Wexner Medical Center where I was primary
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Volume 87 • Number 7
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