Staff

The HINJ staff has more than 100 years of collective experience in New Jersey government, politics, community affairs and philanthropy, business and legal affairs and alliance development.

Chrissy Buteas

President and Chief Executive Officer

732-729-9620

buteas@hinj.org

Chrissy Buteas is the President and CEO of the HealthCare Institute of New Jersey (HINJ), an organization founded in 1997 that serves as the trade association for the leading research-based biopharmaceutical and medical technology companies in New Jersey.

Buteas brings a wealth of leadership experience to her current role at HINJ. Her diverse career path includes serving as the Vice President of Government Affairs at Altice (Optimum), a major broadband communications and video service provider operating across 21 states. She also held the position of Chief Government Affairs Officer for the New Jersey Business & Industry Association (NJBIA), where she influenced policies impacting one million employees of member companies and led the NEW JOBS PAC, New Jersey’s largest and most influential ideological business political action committee.

Prior to her tenure at NJBIA, Buteas made significant contributions as the President and CEO of the Home Care & Hospice Association of New Jersey. In this role, she represented home health agencies, hospices, and healthcare service firms serving Medicare, Medicaid, and private-pay patients across the state, leaving a lasting impact on the healthcare landscape.

In addition to her professional roles, Buteas contributes her expertise to several boards. She serves on the Board of Trustees of Middlesex College, Thanexus, Inc. (a funeral service cooperative), and the Northern Board of Junior Achievement. She is also a board member of Focus NJ, an independent research nonprofit, and the South Jersey Technology Park at Rowan University.

Buteas has held notable positions, including vice president of the Capital Impact Group, a public affairs and business development firm advocating for nonprofit organizations and Fortune 500 companies. She was a policy specialist at the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and has been deeply involved with the Women’s Political Caucus of New Jersey, serving as a past president and current board member.

Her commitment to public service includes serving on the New Jersey Medical Assistance Advisory Council, formerly the New Jersey Small Employer Health Benefits Program, and the New Jersey Mandated Health Benefits Advisory Commission. She has also been part of the Board of the Associated Member Trust.

Buteas’ professional achievements have been widely recognized. In 2022, she was honored with the President’s Award from the Women’s Political Caucus of NJ. The previous year, she was named a Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore and was featured in NJBIZ’s Next Generation of Leaders. Her contributions were also acknowledged by Jersey’s Best magazine, which honored her as a Barrier Breaker. Buteas has consistently been featured on ROI-NJ’s Influencers: Power List for Government Affairs and was listed among NJBIZ’s Best 50 Women in Business in 2018. She has also been named to NJBIZ’s 40 Under 40 and Power 50 Health Care lists and Insider NJ’s Insider 100 Policymakers list.

Buteas holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) from Rutgers University-Newark School of Public Affairs and Administration and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) from Rowan University. She is a graduate of Leadership New Jersey, a leadership development program, and served as a Raimondo Fellow at the Eagleton Institute of Politics, where she is a member of the Alumni Association.

Steve Issenman

Steve Issenman

Senior Vice President–
Federal and External Affairs

732-729-9621

issenman@hinj.org

Steve Issenman is the Senior Vice President – Federal and External Affairs for the HealthCare Institute of New Jersey (HINJ), a trade association representing New Jersey’s research-based biopharmaceutical and medical technology industry.

Prior to joining HINJ in January 2002, Mr. Issenman served in an array of federal and state government positions and worked for a number of political campaigns and party organizations. Mr. Issenman has served as the Senior Federal Legislative Liaison for the New Jersey Department of Human Services, the Deputy Campaign Manager for Governor Donald DiFrancesco’s 2001 gubernatorial campaign, and as Political Director to Congressman Bob Franks during his 2000 U.S. Senate race.

In 1999, Mr. Issenman served as Governor Christine Todd Whitman’s North Jersey Field Director in the Governor’s Office of Inter-Governmental Affairs (IGA) and as the New Jersey Republican State Committee’s Deputy Political Director during the gubernatorial campaign of 1997. He has also held a number of Congressional positions, both in Washington, D.C. and in New Jersey.

Mr. Issenman is a former Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps, having served on active duty from 1992 through 1996 as both an infantryman and as a logistician. He also served in the New Jersey National Guard from 1997 to 2001.

He attended the University of Maryland at College Park and Kean University, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science from Thomas Edison State College in 2014. He lives in Eatontown, New Jersey with his son and daughter, Jackson and Camryn.

Lori Rolfe

Director of Operations and Executive Assistant 

732-729-9619

rolfe@hinj.org

Lori joined the HINJ Team in 2013 as the Director of Operations and Executive Assistant to Dean Paranicas. Her previous experience includes nearly seven years spent at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, providing administrative support to the CEO and within various other programs. Immediately prior to joining HINJ, Lori worked as the Program Coordinator and Executive Assistant for the National Board of Information Security Examiners.