{"id":12312,"date":"2026-01-28T15:25:45","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T20:25:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/newsrel\/?p=12312"},"modified":"2026-01-29T08:35:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T13:35:13","slug":"26_0006","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/newsrel\/26_0006\/","title":{"rendered":"Acting Commissioner Potosnak Announces DEP Chief Of Staff (26\/P006)"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text css=””]IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/strong>
\nJanuary 28, 2026[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

Contact:<\/strong> Caryn Shinske (609) 984-1795
\nLawrence Hajna (609) 984-1795
\nVincent Grassi (609) 984-1795<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

ACTING COMMISSIONER POTOSNAK ANNOUNCES DEP CHIEF OF STAFF<\/h3>\n

(26\/P06) TRENTON \u2013 <\/strong>Acting Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Ed Potosnak has announced the appointment of Henry Gajda as Chief of Staff to help guide the department in advancing Governor Mikie Sherrill\u2019s environmental goals.<\/p>\n

\"\"Gajda is a veteran of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU), where he most recently served as Chief of External Affairs. In this position, he oversaw the Communications, Legislative Affairs and Ombudsperson divisions.<\/p>\n

Gajda also served as the NJBPU\u2019s Deputy Chief of Staff, helping to lead the NJBPU\u2019s effort to apply for more than $650 million in federal clean energy grant funding and directly managing state policy and research initiatives.<\/p>\n

\u201cHenry brings a wealth of experience to DEP and will be a critical member of our team as we work to implement Governor Sherrill\u2019s Mission to Deliver for the people of New Jersey,\u201d Acting Commissioner Potosnak said<\/strong>. \u201cIn his new role, Henry will be supported by a dedicated and talented workforce at DEP that has worked tirelessly to advance New Jersey as a national leader in environmental protection.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI am extremely honored to serve in this new capacity under Acting Commissioner Potosnak\u2019s leadership,\u201d Gajda said<\/strong>. \u201cOur team will work hard to provide accountability, transparency and efficiency to our constituents. I\u2019m excited to get to work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prior to his state service, Gajda served as Public Policy Director for a climate and clean energy advocacy group, leading on relevant policy matters and driving environmental legislation and action through strategic advocacy and coordinated coalition building.<\/p>\n

Gajda earned a Master of Science in Environmental Policy and Sustainability Management from The New School in New York City and has an extensive background in climate, clean energy, and urban policy research and analysis. Gajda earned his Bachelor of Science in Environmental Policy from Rutgers University.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

###<\/strong><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text css=””]IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 28, 2026[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text css=””] Contact: Caryn Shinske (609) 984-1795 Lawrence Hajna (609) 984-1795 Vincent Grassi (609) 984-1795 [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””] ACTING COMMISSIONER POTOSNAK ANNOUNCES DEP CHIEF OF STAFF (26\/P06) TRENTON \u2013 Acting Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Ed Potosnak has announced the appointment of Henry Gajda as Chief of Staff to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":397,"featured_media":12314,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"dep-single.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[206],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12312","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-206"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/newsrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12312","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/newsrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/newsrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/newsrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/397"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/newsrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12312"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/newsrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12322,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/newsrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12312\/revisions\/12322"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/newsrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/newsrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/newsrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/newsrel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}