TeamJamie Banks2023-05-04T10:37:32-04:00

Board of Directors

Jamie Banks

President

Trish Glass

Board Member, Interim Executive Director

Cathy Harris

Treasurer

Prabashni Reddy

Secretary

Program Directors

Jamie Banks

Quiet Landcare

Daniel Fink

Quiet Coalition

Rick Reibstein

Quiet Empowerment

David Sykes

Quiet Healthcare

Arline Bronzaft

Quiet American Skies

Program Members

Jerry Ackerman

Jill Bellenger

Les Blomberg

Jeanine Botta

Gina Briggs

John Drinkwater

Monica Hammer

Julie Kolehouse

Sidney Shapiro

Bradley Vite

Title

Jamie Banks

President

Jamie Banks, PhD, MSc is Founder and President of Quiet Communities. She is a health care and environmental scientist with an extensive background in health outcomes and economics, environmental behavior, and policy who brings a multi-faceted perspective to her work. During her career, she held senior consulting positions at Abt Associates, CRA International, and ML Strategies, the consulting arm of Mintz Levin working with the health care industry. In 2007, she turned her attention to environmental health and climate change, first founding Planet Rewards, a company pioneering a corporate platform to promote eco-friendly behaviors and then founding Quiet Communities in 2013, to help find solutions to problems of harmful noise and pollution affecting communities. In addition to her role at Quiet Communities, she chairs the Noise & Health Committee at the American Health Association (APHA) and is leading efforts to develop policy statements around noise and related pollution. The first APHA policy statement, Noise as a Public Health Hazard, was published in 2021. Jamie holds a PhD in Social Policy/Health Economics (University of Kent, UK), and earned Masters’ degrees from Dartmouth Medical School and MIT.

Trish Glass

Board Member, Interim Executive Director

Trish Glass is interim executive director at Quiet Communities. She is a journalist with extensive nonprofit experience. Early in her career, she worked as a wire service reporter, stringer, and freelance writer for news outlets and magazines. More recently, she has contributed columns to The Boston Globe. In the nonprofit realm, she began as a grant writer for The Steppingstone Foundation, and then worked with a string of startup organizations including Beyond the 11th, Razia’s Ray of Hope, and ARZU Studio Hope, which has since merged with the UK-based Turquoise Mountain Foundation. Currently, she is vice president of the nonprofit Sustainable Wellesley, helping to guide climate action in her community. A huge tennis fan, she is on the board at the nonprofit Tenacity, where she serves on the advancement committee. Trish holds a master’s from Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism.

Cathy Harris

Treasurer

Cathy A. Harris is a financial advisor with Morgan Stanley and has over 27 years of experience in the financial services industry. She works with high net worth individuals and companies.

Prabashni Reddy

Secretary

Prabashni Reddy, PharmD, established and directs the Center for Drug Policy at Mass General Brigham (formerly Partners Healthcare). where she oversees a team of pharmacists and analysts that develops system-level drug policy. Dr. Reddy earned her BS (Pharmacy) and Master of Medical Science (Pharmacology) in South Africa. She holds a PharmD degree from the Albany College of Pharmacy and completed a fellowship in Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research, a joint program from Hartford Hospital and the University of Connecticut. Dr. Reddy has worked as a staff pharmacist in hospital settings, an Assistant Professor in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Connecticut, and as Director of Clinical Outcomes Research at Abt Associates. She has served on the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Service’s Medicare Evidence Development & Coverage Advisory Committee, chaired the Education Committee of the International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research, and is currently on the Editorial Advisory Board of the Journal of Managed Care Pharmacy.

Jamie Banks

Quiet Landcare

Daniel Fink

Quiet Coalition

Daniel Fink, MD, MBA, FACP is a board-certified internist and medical management expert. A graduate of Yale University and the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Dr. Fink completed his internal medicine training at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, and then received an MBA from the Wharton School. He has been on the faculty of three medical schools, and also worked in medical management for 35 years in medical groups, HMOs, and hospitals. Most recently, Dr. Fink was Medical Director, Case Management, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, where he is currently on the Emeritus Medical Staff.

Dr. Fink suffers from tinnitus and hyperacusis which developed after a one-time noise exposure in 2007. In 2015, he learned that the widely cited 85 decibel safe noise exposure level is not a safe noise exposure level for the public, but is derived from an occupational noise exposure level that doesn’t protect all exposed workers from hearing loss. He has presented papers on this and other topics at national and international noise meetings, several of which later appeared in peer-reviewed scientific journals. He also serves as an Expert Consultant to the World Health Organization on its Make Listening Safe Program, and as a subject matter expert on noise and the public for the CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health.

Rick Reibstein

Quiet Empowerment

Rick Reibstein, JD is an environmental lawyer. He is the former manager of the Massachusetts Toxics Use Reduction program. Prior to that he worked at the US EPA. He was the recipient of the EPA’s Individual Environmental Merit Award in 2000 and received the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable’s Pollution Prevention Champion Award in 2015. He teaches at Boston University and Harvard Extension School and is Chair of the Legal Advisory Council for Quiet Communities, Inc.

David Sykes

Quiet Healthcare

David M. Sykes, MA, is lead author of “Sound & Vibration” (Springer-Verlag), co-author of “Sound Matters” (US-General Services Administration, and a contributor to the National Academy of Engineering report, “Technology for a Quieter America.” He is a retired professor who taught and did research at Cornell University, Boston University, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and organized research at other institutions including Harvard Medical School. Mr. Sykes is co-founder and Executive Chair of Quiet Healthcare (QH), the oldest (founded in 2004) of Quiet Communities’ programs. QH was originally formed as a joint technical committee of the Acoustical Society of America and the American National Standards Association for the purpose of researching, developing and promulgating evidence-based, national standards and criteria for the Faculty Guidelines Institute, the American Hospital Association and the American Institute of Architects on privacy, sound and vibration. QH joined Quiet Communities in 2018 in order to broaden its membership to include medical and public health professionals in addition to architects, engineers and researchers interested in noise and acoustical science. Since 2010 QH’s criteria have provided the regulatory foundation and reference standards in the U.S. for hospitals, outpatient facilities and residential care communities, which are revised on a formal “Continual Improvement Program” and re-published every four years, with the most recent edition appearing in spring 2022. In addition to setting U.S. minimum standards, QH’s’s criteria are the reference standard for acoustics in USGBC LEED-HC, IgCC, and are cited and used in 87 countries outside the USA.

Arline Bronzaft

Quiet American Skies

Dr. Bronzaft is Professor Emerita of the City University of New York, and a researcher, public advocate, and consultant on the effects of noise worldwide for five decades. In her hometown of New York City she has been continuously appointed by five NYC mayors to the Board of GrowNYC where she oversees its noise activities, and assisted in the 2007 revision of New York City’s noise code. Dr. Bronzaft has conducted landmark research on impacts of transit noise on classroom learning and on airport-related noise on the health of residents living near airports. She co-authored the 2011 book “Why Noise Matters” (Earthscan 2011), and the children’s book “Listen to the Raindrops” (illustrated by Steven Parton). Her writings on the impacts of noise on health and well-being have been included in academic journals, book chapters, encyclopedias, and popular media including the New York Times and others. Known as “the Ruth Bader Ginsburg of noise,” she is a forthright public speaker and a forceful advocate who knows how to speak truth to, and collaborate with, political leaders. Dr. Bronzaft has been interviewed and quoted extensively in the media, especially for her pioneering research on the impacts of transportation noise on classroom learning. She is the recipient of a lifetime achievement award (2018 Presidential Citation) from the American Psychological Association.

Jerry Ackerman

Jerry Ackerman is a marketing communications and business consultant, currently affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Venture Mentoring Service. During a 31-year career with The Boston Globe he was lead writer for the Globe’s Emerging Business section, helped develop its Technology section, and was a line editor. He has written extensively on technology, venture development, investment, and other business and industry issues, including in-depth analyses of emerging companies and factors driving their success. Previously as City Editor he was a key part of a team that won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for the Globe. He also has received numerous other journalism awards. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Northwestern University and was a Professional Journalism Fellow at Stanford University.

Jill Bellenger

Jill Bellenger, MBA is passionate about reducing air and noise pollution, especially in the landscape industry. Jill is a strong supporter of sustainability as well as the advancement of quality sustainable education principles. In 2010, she took part in the groundbreaking Sustainable Futures program in Monteverde, Costa Rica as an Adjunct Instructor, leading a diverse group of undergraduate students in meaningful community-based design projects. As a member of the USGBC High Performance Green Schools Team, Jill presented to schools like Baltimore’s Friends School and organizations such as Goodwill Inc, promoting the benefits of efficient buildings and green operations. As a LEED Green Associate and U.S. Green Building Council Students National Chair, she led the charge to equip our nation’s future green building and sustainability leaders. For the past five years, she has been part of the international team at Geopolitical Futures, Inc as Director of Social Marketing and Branding. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Landscape Architecture and an MBA in Sustainability.

Les Blomberg

Les Blomberg, MA is the founder and executive director of the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse, which serves a vital role in archiving important publications about noise and its effects on health and society and making these available to researchers and activists. He has also conducted research into noise and its effects, written extensively about noise for magazines, journals, and websites, and advised hundreds of communities, mayors, council members, zoning boards, and police chiefs about understanding and enforcing noise regulations.

Jeanine Botta

Jeanine Botta, MPH serves on the Board of Directors of the Right to Quiet Society for Soundscape Awareness and Protection. She also serves on the International Noise Awareness Day committee of the Technical Committee on Noise within the Acoustical Society of America. Jeanine has worked as a patient educator since 2008, and has a background in public health research administration. She also maintains the Green Car Integrity blog, a meditation on cars, tech, and noise.

Gina Briggs

Gina M. Briggs, JD, LLM is the founder and executive editor of Silencity.com, an online site focused on the dangers of noise, noise activism, and quiet advocacy. She also operates Quiet City Maps, a site dedicated to helping New York City residents and visitors find quiet restaurants, coffee shops, and other spaces
throughout the city. She was a tax lawyer and tax editor prior to founding her websites and serves on the Legal Advisory Council for Quiet Communities, Inc.

John Drinkwater

John Drinkwater, JD, MBA is the founder of Secondhandsound.org, an organization dedicated to increasing awareness of the medical, scientific, environmental, legal, and public health aspects of unsafe noise, promoting dialogue, and exploring balanced options. Secondhandsound.org’s “Turn Up the Quiet”™ efforts with private sector businesses and government bodies have resulted in positive change at venues such as health clubs, grocery stores, banks, outdoor amplified events and other public places, and has increased awareness and enforcement of existing environmental and other public health laws.

Monica Hammer

Monica Hammer, JD is an environmental public health lawyer who works in health policy development, implementation, and research. She is lead author on a widely cited article on developing an effective response to address the adverse health effects of noise pollution in the United States, including Environmental Noise Pollution in the United States: Developing an Effective Public Health Response, published in the journal, Environmental Health Perspectives in 2014 and “Applying a novel environmental health framework theory (I-ACT) to noise pollution policies in the United States, United Kingdom, and the Netherlands” in the Journal of Environmental Planning and Management in 2017.

Julie Kolehouse

Julie Kolehouse, MS is a graduate of the Urban and Regional Planning Program, University of Wisconsin-Madison with volunteer experience in NYC municipal programs and years of health administration experience in various university hospital settings. She is a long-time resident of Chatham, NJ and concerned with the frequent use of gas-powered landscape maintenance equipment in densely populated neighborhoods. Julie’s work at Quiet Communities includes developing community resources and implementation programs for NJ and beyond.

Sidney Shapiro

Sidney Shapiro, JD is the Frank U. Fletcher Chair of Administrative Law at Wake Forest University School of Law in Winston-Salem, NC. He is an expert in administrative procedure and regulatory policy who has been a consultant to government agencies, has testified before Congress on regulatory subjects, and is author of numerous books and articles. He is the Vice-President of the Center for Progressive Reform and a public member of the Administrative Conference of the United States.

Bradley Vite

Bradley Vite created and pioneered an innovative noise ordinance and noise enforcement program in Elkhart, Indiana, which has received wide recognition for its novel approach and subsequent success. He has served on the board of directors of the American Tinnitus Association. A strong advocate for the protection of communities from noise, he has testified at the state and federal levels and assisted in the passage of legislation regulating train noise in Indiana. Mr. Vite has also served the last four mayors in Elkhart as an advisor on noise abatement, and he has appeared on PBS’ “Ask an Expert” in regards to noise and its implication for health. He says, “I guarantee that communities which enact and enforce a strong noise ordinance will reap multiple benefits, including lower crime, increased property values, a healthier population, and better quality of life.”

Jamie Banks

President

Trish Glass

Board Member, Interim Executive Director

Cathy Harris

Treasurer

Cathy A. Harris is a financial advisor with Morgan Stanley and has over 27 years of experience in the financial services industry. She works with high net worth individuals and companies.

Prabashni Reddy

Secretary

Jamie Banks

Quiet Landcare

Daniel Fink

Quiet Coalition

Rick Reibstein

Quiet Empowerment

David Sykes

Quiet Healthcare

Arline Bronzaft

Quiet American Skies

Jerry Ackerman

Jill Bellenger

Les Blomberg

Jeanine Botta

Gina Briggs

John Drinkwater

Monica Hammer

Julie Kolehouse

Sidney Shapiro

Bradley Vite