Meet Our Team
Learn more about the CitySprouts team - check out our Staff Spotlights!
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Susan has been a classroom educator and school leader for over 25 years. Susan deeply values the wonder, magic, patience, and deep learning that outdoor classrooms bring to schools. Susan’s background as an educator focused on PK-8th grade with direct classroom experience teaching English Language Arts in the middle school years – her favorite age group! Susan was the Head of School at the Atrium School in Watertown and for over 9 years at the Touchstone School in Grafton, MA where she saw first hand the depth and impact that outdoor education can have on all learning - from science to social skills. She has also served as the Executive Director at TBZ, an independent synagogue in Brookline. Susan has an MFA in Writing from the Iowa Writers Workshop and enjoys bringing story-telling to all aspects of her work and life. Susan lives in Waltham, has two grown children, and one middle-aged dog. Susan's been telling stories at local Moth Story Slams and participates in community theaters around the Greater Boston area.
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Jessica experienced the value of connecting public school students to gardens early in her career, as a naturalist in California teaching San Mateo County students, and as the founding program director of Sempervirens Outdoor School near Santa Cruz where the garden was central to the students’ learning experience. Jessica has more than two decades’ experience in leading programs at the intersection of education, social justice, the environment, and healthy communities. Most recently, she led programs in San Francisco and Boston to support educators and facilitate equitable access to urban parks and outdoor recreation. Jessica lives with her family in Boston. She enjoys hiking, biking, and running as a way to explore new places, both wilderness and cities. She holds a Master’s in Education Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
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Melissa came to CitySprouts in the fall of 2021 as a garden educator, transitioning from a long career as a teacher of Japanese literature and language at the college level, and more recently ESL and English Language Arts to high schoolers in the Boston Public Schools. She is an avid gardener of veggies and flowers, who strives to include as many native plants in her yard as possible. Her spouse and teenage daughters are used to finding her in deep holes in the back yard, moving plants around or digging up the roots of unruly invasives. When not digging herself, she enjoys watching others do so in the archaeology show Time Team. In her free time, she also enjoys hiking, biking, knitting, and reading lots and lots of novels. Someday she hopes to finish her own mad-cap novel set in an unnamed school district.
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Alex was born and raised in the Midwest where he learned to love all things outdoors while spending time gardening with his grandmother and flipping rocks in local creeks. After receiving degrees in Environmental Science and Mathematics, he traveled the country working as an environmental educator, program coordinator, and grant administrator in places like Cincinnati, Seattle, and Salt Lake. He is thrilled to begin his work at CitySprouts and help support and grow the afterschool and summer programs. In his spare time, he loves to do all things outdoorsy with his dog, Kuda, as well as trivia nights and cooking for his friends and coworkers.
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Maddie grew up in the Garden State, where a farmhand job sparked her love of local food and agriculture. They have since worked as an instructor for Thompson Island Outward Bound and Tidelines Institute, leading sea kayak expeditions, teaching social-emotional skills, and fostering student's relationships to the natural world and each other. She is very proud to join CitySprouts in bringing students across Boston access to experiential learning in the garden. She holds a BFA in Theater Arts from Boston University and is an alum of the Tidelines Glacier Bay Year. In her free time, she can be found hiking, rock climbing, and writing. here
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A creative at heart, Caele’s love for documenting her life through content creation and social media is rooted in her childhood moving back and forth between Houston, Texas, and Manila, Philippines. Traveling with her family has led them to every continent together by 2022. She studied Advertising at Boston University, graduating in 2021, and immediately fell in love with Boston, Massachusetts. Caele has diverse experience working with the Massachusetts Health Connector, a PR firm called Brodeur Partners, and has found a love for nurturing children’s education at the summer camp she grew up attending, Camp Half-Blood. She is thrilled to work at CitySprouts, supporting their mission and connecting with the Boston community. Caele is passionate about movies, music, and can be found hosting trivia, karaoke, and bingo throughout the week.
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Jordan was born and raised in Virginia, where he developed a love for gardening and outdoor sports. He has worked in childcare and education for seven years, and has spent the past several growing seasons working in landscaping and ecological restoration. Through biome-specific instruction and nature walks, Jordan has incorporated environmental science and sustainability education into his work with students of all ages. After moving to Massachusetts to study English and Environmental Science at Boston University, he has stayed in the area to pursue a career in education. Jordan spends his free time baking, birdwatching, and relaxing in local green spaces.
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Isabelle was born and raised on Martha's Vineyard. She graduated from Connecticut College with a degree in Environmental Studies with minors in Education and Dance. Following graduation, she returned to the island to work in various roles in the local food system. Isabelle has worked in food equity at the Island Food Pantry, seasonally in regenerative farming, and as a School Garden Educator with Island Grown Initiative. She is passionate about how food and plants connect us to the land and to our communities. She loves the way gardens can teach students and people of all ages about generosity, care, and reciprocity. When not teaching or gardening, Isabelle can usually be found cooking, dancing, and exploring the city.
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Hazel has been working as a nature and garden educator in various school programs and camps for nine years, and is excited to join CitySprouts as a garden educator! She has a degree in environmental Science and Policy from Smith College. She started her career teaching at Drumlin Farm Camp in Lincoln, MA and has spent the past several years working as an environmental educator in coastal Maine leading canoe trips, teaching experiential science lessons, and cooking food over a fire! In her free time, she loves swimming in rivers and lakes in the summer, cross country skiing and ice skating in the winter, and eating ice cream any time of the year!
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Felicia joined CitySprouts after retiring from Boston Public Schools, where she taught elementary science. The alignment between CitySprouts's mission and her educational philosophy made the transition a natural fit. Her philosophy is grounded in proven educational principles: hands-on, outdoor learning makes science tangible while also supporting social-emotional growth. By fostering responsibility, patience, and connections with nature, the outdoor classroom reduces stress, builds emotional regulation, and turns learning into purposeful play. Felicia values personal growth and lifelong learning. She's excited to continue growing as an educator while honing her gardening skills and earning master gardener credentials. She enjoys glamping, fishing, archery, cooking, traveling, reading, browsing antique and salvage shops, and navel gazing. She has a daughter and son, and is an enthusiastic Food Rescue US volunteer.
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Dani grew up in Boston where her mom had a big and vibrant garden. She frequently went to Vermont with her family and feels lucky to have had so much time playing in nature as a child. She has worked with kids in a variety of environments, from an art summer camp in Cusco, Peru to an after school program in Arlington. She’s excited for the opportunity to bring play, education, and nature together for kids in Boston and Cambridge.
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Stella grew up in Jamaica Plain, Boston where she was exposed to urban gardening from a young age. Her mother is a longtime member of a Southwest Corridor community garden and there were always containers of edible plants growing on the porch. Stella recently graduated from Boston University, having studied Environmental Science, Geography, and Urban Studies. While in college, she helped create a community garden and gardening club on campus in order to create an opportunity for students to get involved with urban agriculture. She is very excited to contribute to increasing green space and garden access for urban children. Some of her favorite things to do are: swim in the ocean, listen to live music, and cook.
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With roots in California and Texas, Hesper currently resides in Boston, MA and holds a deep fondness for the seasonal changes the Northeast has to offer. As a first generation, low-income student who double majored in American Studies and Biological Sciences, their time at Wellesley College profoundly shaped how they engage with the world. Unbeknownst to her, cultivating spaces for marginalized students and basking in the campus’s gorgeous foliage laid the foundation for their future aspirations. After graduation, Hesper pivoted from research to patient support to technology, before finding immense joy in community-centered initiatives and rekindling their love for nature by working at an urban farm in Chelsea, MA. When she’s not tending to plants or taking a stroll around the neighborhood, she can be found immersed in a book, crafting away her day, or tinkering with a recipe.
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Emaline came to CitySprouts because of the organization’s mission of connecting students to healthy and fresh local food in an accessible and meaningful way. Having spent half of her childhood in western Massachusetts, she grew an appreciation for pick-your-own fields, CSA farms and being outdoors in nature. Emaline recently graduated from Skidmore College with a degree in Environmental Studies and International Affairs. Emaline has worked at various summer camps, most recently as an Environmental Educator, and loves learning with, and from, the students she’s working with. In her free time, she loves running, playing the piano, hiking, or hosting potluck dinners with friends!
