New Jersey Immigration Policy Network welcomes PARTHA BANERJEE as its new executive director. An Indian immigrant, Banerjee is known for his work on behalf of the city’s newest arrivals. Most recently, he served as a community organizer for the Queens-based New Immigrant Community Empowerment, working to address the curtailment of civil rights and the rising bias against immigrants in the wake of September 11. Before coming to the United States in 1985, he worked on behalf of war refugees in Bangladesh and minorities and domestic-violence survivors in India.

CHRIS WARD, former commissioner of New York City’s Department of Environmental Protection, has joined American Stevedoring, a Brooklyn-based shipping company, as chief executive officer. In a written statement, Mayor Bloomberg called Ward “an outstanding steward of our precious water supply” and highlighted his achievement in adding “thousands of acres to New York’s watershed.” Ward is expected to use his expertise on waterfront issues to lead Stevedoring’s 800 employees. The company operates the Red Hook terminal, the only active shipping port in Brooklyn. The city has started a search for his successor.

Hope Community, an East Harlem–based community development organization, has appointed WILLIAM JACOBY as its new executive director. He previously worked as the director of development for Community Housing Innovations in White Plains, New York, and as chief counsel of the Albany Community Development Agency. His experience elsewhere includes senior positions in the Health and Welfare Planning Association in Pittsburgh, and the New York State Department of Social Services.

DEBORAH RAND joined the New York City Department of Housing Preservation as Deputy General Counsel for Litigation for its legal affairs office. In the newly created position, Rand will guide the agency’s efforts in pushing landlords to comply with their legal obligations. A 30-year veteran in litigation with a specialty in affordable housing, Rand headed several legal services agencies, including the West Side SRO Law Project. More recently, she worked in the city’s Law Department.

DAVID LANSKY joins New York’s Markle Foundation, an organization focusing on using technology to address critical medical needs, as director of its health program. Until recently, Lansky was president of the Foundation for Accountability, an Oregon-based health care organization.