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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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 and 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 passionate about her work at CitySprouts and being able to support their mission and connect with the Boston community. Caele is passionate about movies, music, and can be found hosting trivia at different bars 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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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 graduated from Skidmore College with a B.A. in Environmental Studies and International Affairs.
She spent last year as a TerraCorps member serving at CitySprouts, and working collaboratively with the Garden Educators across many of CitySprouts gardens. She is very excited to join the team as a Garden Educator herself! In her free time, she loves running, playing frisbee, hosting game nights, or playing the piano.
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Anna grew up in South Carolina where her love for ecology, bugs, dirt, and being dirty began to grow! Now they’re living in Cambridge with a fleet of houseplants and a lot of books about decomposition and compost. She has worked with kids in a variety of contexts, namely wilderness trips leading for summer camps, which allowed her to grow as an educator and environmental advocate. They are extremely excited to meet the students and help build capacity for CitySprouts to keep doing what they do best!
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Fatimah grew up in Worcester, MA, where her love for gardening began with enjoying the vegetables grown by her uncle, who worked on an urban farm. As a teenager, she participated in the YouthGROW program at the Regional Environmental Council, an experience that showed her firsthand the positive impact that youth programs can have on young people and their development. She later returned to YouthGROW as a mentor and went on to work as a School Garden Specialist, helping students build confidence in the garden and fostering spaces where students, teachers, and families feel welcome and a sense of belonging.
Fatimah holds a B.A. in Architecture with a concentration in Urban Studies from Wellesley College. Through her studies, she developed a particular interest in the importance of green spaces in cities and their impact on community and well-being. She eventually realized that rather than designing these spaces, she wanted to steward them and help others develop a deeper connection to them. She is also deepening her gardening knowledge as an intern in the Massachusetts Master Gardener program. Outside of work, she enjoys cooking, playing music, visiting libraries, and exploring Cambridge’s cafes and unique food spots.
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Stella (she/they) was born and raised in New York City and graduated from Williams College with a degree in English & Environmental Studies. Stella loves being outside and getting her hands dirty and is passionate about how localizing food systems can change people’s relationships to community and foster stronger environmental stewardship. Stella has previously worked in sustainable and regenerative farming operations at Hickory Nut Gap Farm and at The Food Project, and worked with youth in various capacities to grow leadership and expand access to environmental education. Outside of farming and gardening, Stella can be found reading, writing, playing the piano, singing, or rock climbing.
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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.
