Our Board
Dr. S. Atyia Martin, CEM
Board ChairDr. Martin is CEO & Founder of All Aces, Inc. and former Chief Resilience Officer for the City of Boston. She is also the author of We Are the Question + the Answer: Break the Collective Habit of Racism + Build Resilience for Racial Equity in Ourselves and Our Organizations.
Andrew Droste
Member & Chair of Nominating and Governance CommitteeAndrew is an Environmental, Social, and corporate Governance (ESG) expert at Russell Reynolds Associates (RRA).
Amanda Rich
Co-Founder & Board MemberAmanda is an independent sustainability consultant with a Master’s in Sustainability and Environmental Management from Harvard University.
Liz Luc Clowes, ASLA
Board MemberLiz is Owner/Designer, Luc Clowes Landscape Design
Joseph Stein
Treasurer & Chair of Finance and Audit CommitteeJoseph is an investment professional and currently serves as the Director of Quantitative Research at Natixis Advisors.
Taurean Green
Board MemberTaurean is an attorney and serves as Senior Corporate Counsel at nCino, Inc.
Danielle Kaplan
Board MemberDanielle Kaplan is the Director of Operations & Finance at InnerCity Weightlifting and founder and maker of DaniJayne.
Grey Lee
Board MemberGrey is a sustainability subject matter expert and manages S&P Global's ESG service offerings for the northeast US.
Our Staff
David Meshoulam, PhD
Co-Founder & Executive DirectorDavid (pronounced Dah-veed) co-founded Speak for the Trees in 2018. Trained as a science educator, his work has focused on ways to increase understanding of the connections between science, culture, and history and to empower people to be change agents. He holds a PhD in Curriculum & Instruction from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is a Senior Fellow at the Environmental Leadership Program, and is co-chair of the Urban Ecology Collaborative. When he's not tending to trees, his 2 children, or his 1 mini Australian Shepherd, you can reach him at [email protected].
Jerel Ferguson
Community Outreach ManagerJerel has a love of nature, trees, and the Great Outdoors. He encourages urban youth and families to participate in and experience an active life in the outdoors by hiking, biking, camping, and more. Jerel is also a Certified Herbalist, a forager, an established outdoor leader, and a farmer and gardener; he co-manages two gardens and a farm in Roxbury. Jerel serves on the Board of Directors for the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative and Dudley Neighbors Incorporated (Treasurer), is a 2018 Graduate of the Food Solutions New England Leadership Institute, and is Program Director for the Urban Outdoors Association. Jerel has three children and a dog. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Victoria Frothingham
Development ManagerVictoria has made her career in the nonprofit sector in Boston, working in a range of positions from ESOL Teacher, to Volunteer Coordinator, to Associate Director of Grant Programs in human services and education organizations. She holds a Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics from the University of Paris III.
Eva Paradiso
Education CoordinatorEva grew up in Burlington, VT surrounded by the Green Mountains and Lake Champlain where she developed a love for the outdoors. Her passion for trees and forests grew during her first summer of field work in the White Mountains where she studied Black-throated Blue Warblers. Eva spent the following three summers working across New England’s forests doing forest ecology research, studying tree roots, and monitoring forest health. Since graduating from Wellesley College in 2020, Eva has been at the USDA Southeast Climate Hub working on a project to integrate climate change science in forest management to make forests more resilient. She is excited to join Speak for the Trees as the Teen Urban Tree Corps Program Coordinator to help youth gain a better understanding of the importance of urban forestry.
Natalie Merline
Community Engagement Coordinator, TerraCorps MemberNatalie grew up in Eureka, Missouri outside of St. Louis, where she often explored the parks and natural areas around her. She is a recent graduate from the University of Dayton where she majored in Environmental Biology. In her undergraduate years, Natalie realized her interest in environmental justice and the importance of strong community involvement in environmental issues through her involvement in the River Stewards program, where she co-created a children’s book about the Great Miami River Watershed. Her enthusiasm for urban trees and forests grew through her work on a project looking into how various socioeconomic factors play a role in tree canopy cover in urban Montgomery County, Ohio. Natalie is excited to help the organization’s efforts in growing their youth education programming and curriculum.
Malú Rivas-Chavez
Media InternMalú spent most of their youth in Wellington, Florida where they fell in love with the abundant green spaces surrounding them through the lens of their camera. They are a senior at Tufts University majoring in Environmental Studies in the communications track. Their goal is to make information as accessible as possible to their communities, particularly to underserved groups through Spanish translation and graphic design. They began to work towards a more equitable Boston through their involvement with Building Audacity, an organization focused on youth-led change with projects in areas such as food equity and education. They are looking forward to advancing their goals further through tree equity as an intern with Speak for the Trees Boston.
Erin Baker
Fall MassCEC InternErin grew up in the Santa Monica Mountains of Southern California, where she discovered her love for nature. Throughout junior college, she advocated for stronger environmental policies on her campus . Upon transferring to UC, San Diego, she was introduced to environmental justice and knew that she'd found her path to making the world a better place. Since then, Erin has become passionate about restoring and protecting our planet in a way that leaves no one behind. Erin currently also serves as the Communications Lead at Greenstand, a nonprofit that provides mapping services to tree planting organizations. She is so excited to bring her enthusiasm to Speak for the Trees and help spread the message of tree equity throughout Boston.
TaNoah Pierre
Fall MassCEC InternTaNoah’s interests in healthcare and in social justice have guided her to study Neuroscience and Global Black Studies at UMass Amherst. Her love for trees directly comes from her knowledge of their indispensability for a completely habitable, fair world. Witnessing deforestation and environmental inequality both in Haiti ,where she grew up, and in Boston, where she now lives, has left her worried about the future of our environment. This is why she values the work done by Speak For The Trees and is thrilled to be able to contribute to it as an intern.
Amelia Murray-Cooper
Program InternAmelia is a rising senior at Boston University where she is pursuing a dual degree with a Bachelor’s in Environmental Analysis & Policy and a Master’s in Energy & Environment. On campus, she is involved with the Emerald Review Magazine, Clean Tech Club, a professional environmental fraternity, and a community service sorority. She is originally from New Jersey and has always appreciated nature and loved spending time outdoors. She is thrilled to be interning with Speak for the Trees this summer and she looks forward to promoting environmental justice and tree equity in Boston.
