cs about us staff and board

Board of Directors 2007

Patricia Beggy
Principal, Morse School

Susan Fisher, Treasurer
Haggerty parent, Cambridge Public Schools

Deb Gallagher, President
Director of Marketing, MIT Sloan Management Review

Ben Lummis, secretary
Managing Director, Massachusetts 2020

Dan Monahan
Middle Grade Science Mentor, Cambridge Public Schools

Josie Paterson
Director of Public Relations and Marketing, MIT Museum

Bruce Posner
Business Editor and Consultant

Jane S. Hirschi
Executive Director, CitySprouts

Staff Profiles 2008

Jane Smillie Hirschi, Founding Director, created the CitySprouts school garden program for Cambridge Public Schools in 2000. In her capacity as executive director of CitySprouts, Jane oversees program development and implementation as well as fund
raising. She received her Masters in Communication from University of Maine in 1989.

Frank Meehan, Co-Program Director, joins our staff in June 2008 sharing CitySprouts first Program Director position with Joe Petner. Frank taught middle school science at Clarke Middle School, Lexington Public Schools, for over 35 years. He has
organized a number of community service learning projects with the Lexington Conservation Commission. Frank continues to work part-time at the Acton Science Museum and supervising student teachers at Lesley University.

Joe Petner, Co-Program Director, comes to CitySprouts after 18 years as the principal of Haggerty School, Cambridge Public Schools. Joe began his career in public education as a classroom teacher in the Philadelphia Public Schools, and directed the
Cambridge Follow Through/Magnet Program in the Cambridge Public Schools from 1979-1989. Joe is an adjunct faculty member at Lesley University and Wheelock College, and served as the president of CitySprouts founding Board of Directors.

Gretchen Friesinger, Garden Coordinator at the Fletcher Maynard Academy and Morse School, has worked in a school greenhouse, coordinated a K-5 nature education program, and taught preschool. She received her certificate from the Boston Master Urban
Gardener Program in 2004. Gretchen is enrolled in the certificate program at New England Wild Flower Society.

Louise Forrest, Garden Coordinator at the King Open and Graham & Park School, received her certificate in Landscape Design from the Landscape Institute of the Arnold Arboretum (formally Radcliffe Seminars in Landscape Design) in 1996 and the Boston
Master Urban Gardener Program in 2004. As a landscape designer Louise has partnered with COGdesign to help non-profits design open spaces. Her master plan for the Margaret Wright Community Garden won the “Rookie Community Garden of the Year” award
in March 2005.

Francey Hart, garden coordinator at the Amigos and M.L. King Schools, has taught ecology, nutrition and cooking classes at the elementary, middle and high school level in Vermont, Maine and Pennsylvania. She received an M. Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction from Keene State College in 2006 and a B.A. in the Biological basis of Behavior from the University of Pennsylvania in 2003. She has also interned with agricultural education and training programs in Mexico and India. While in Mexico, she worked for an Eco Training Center where she developed curriculum for a Farm-to-School program, helped coordinate an annual Harvest Fair and trained apprentices as farm educators.

Daniel MacPhee, Garden Coordinator at the Peabody and Haggerty Schools, has taught science and math at the university and high school level. Daniel led presentations and workshop on lead-safe growing practices and low-impact landscape as an intern
with Lead-Safe Cambridge in 2007. As an intern with Waltham Fields Community Farm in 2006, Daniel mentored youth volunteers learning organic farm practices. Daniel continues to work part-time as a freelance environmental consultant and landscape
designer. Daniel received a Master of Science in Earth, Atmospheric & Planetary Science from MIT in 2006 and a BS in geology and geophysics from Yale University in 2001.

Katie Roberts, Garden Coordinator at Amigos and Kennedy-Longfellow, has taught biology, earth science and environmental studies at the middle and high school level, and she is certified to teach high school biology in Massachusetts. In addition to her classroom experience, Katie has worked in several summer programs as a camp counselor, naturalist and environmental educator. As an Americorps Volunteer on Cape Cod in 2003-2004, she monitored salt marshes, organized a watershed workshop and promoted conservation. Katie has a Master of Science in Environmental Education from Lesley University and a B.S. in Environmental Studies from Northland College.

Lise Holdorf, Program Manager, joined our staff in September 2007. She worked on capacity-building for the Eco-schools program and taught environmental education as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Bulgaria from 2003-2005. In 2006, Lise worked as a farm apprentice at Appleton Farms CSA. She has also managed the Davis Square Farmers' Market in Somerville for 2 years. Before joining CitySprouts, she coordinated the Recycling Drop-off Center for the City of Cambridge. Lise received a B.A. in Human Biology from Stanford University in 2002.

JaneS. Hirschi, Executive Director, CitySprouts
25 River Street,Cambridge, MA 02139
Email jhirschi@citysprouts.org Phone: 617.876.2436