Dr. Lori Morton is a 15-year resident of New Castle, and the mother of two. She has a strong and varied record of leadership in town, serving as a founding member and chair from 2016-2019 of the Chappaqua Central School District PTA’s STEM committee, a board member of the Chappaqua Children’s Book Festival, as well as a founding Board Member of Chappaqua Friends of Hillary, and continues to serve as board member of Up2Us. Beginning in January 2021 she has served as a New Castle Town Board member , athe position for which she is seeking a full four year -term. In this capacity she serves as Town Board Liaison to the Sustainability Advisory Board and the Conservation Board. She also serves as a member of the New Castle Beautification Advisory Board since January 2020, and volunteered on the Housing Committee of the New Castle Master Plan in 2014. Lori has also served as Westchester County as the Executive Director of the AHA Westchester Heart Walk, and serves as a member of the Westchester County Laboratories and Research Board of Managers.
Lori holds a Ph.D in Genetics and Molecular Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and a Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences from Douglass College of Rutgers University. She is a Vice President of Research at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, leading Cardiovascular and Renal Research as a 19-year veteran scientist at the company. At Regeneron, she serves on many STEM Education, women’s leadership, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiatives.. Her training as a scientist has enabled her to provide her community with much needed clarity and data-driven decisions during the pandemic.
Lori has been recognized for her leadership and volunteer efforts in STEM Education with a Point of Light Foundation “Daily Point of Light” award and the “914inc. Women in Business Award” in 2019. Her training as a scientist and her position as Vice President of Research at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, leading Cardiovascular and Renal Research at Regeneron has enabled her to provide her community with much needed clarity and data during the pandemic.
Her three priorities if elected are:
Stimulating housing diversity and investment in our New Castle hamlets of Chappaqua and Millwood. She supports energizing these hamlets with thoughtful pursuit of housing and economic diversity, and championing small business. Lori wants to achieve sustainable, positive growth for the Town of New Castle while never sacrificing a culture of diversity where everyone feels valued.
Preservation of the watershed, open and green spaces and pursuit of sustainability measures to reduce the community carbon footprint. Lori believes :human activity threatens all of our natural resources, and the ability of the planet to sustain life. Loss of polar ice is causing sea levels to rise, threatening all coasts, and destabilizing weather patterns resulting in storms of increasing severity. Humans have the opportunity to reverse course and pursue sustainable measures to combat climate change, preserve water quality, preserve open space and vegetation, and to create responsible and sustainable practices to manage waste..
Dismantling of racial injustice in municipal operations and institutions. She believes BIPOC residents face unequal opportunity across all areas of society, from education, to career opportunity, to healthcare, to criminal justice, to environmental justice, and more
When asked why she decided to run for office, Dr. Morton said: ”I appreciated that I could make a contribution toward measurable positive change in my community in the capacity of Town Board member. I also enjoy the variety of questions that come before the town board!
