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 VP, ESG Engagement, Stewardship & Proxy Voting (Co-Head North America), Columbia Threadneedle Investments
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 (he/him)
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 (he/him)
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 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. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Victoria Frothingham (she/her)
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 (she/her)
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. Eva graduated from Wellesley College in 2020. She joined us from the USDA Southeast Climate Hub where she worked on a project that integrated climate change science in forest management. Eva enjoys working with youth and getting to share her love of urban forests and trees in her role as the Education Coordinator.
Claire Corcoran (she/her)
Community Tree SpecialistClaire is a Massachusetts Certified Arborist and has a Master of Forestry from Yale School of the Environment as well as an undergraduate degree in Environmental Science from Barnard College. She has worked for the MA Natural Heritage and Endangered Species program as a Plant Community Ecologist as well as at the Arnold Arboretum as a Horticulturalist. She has volunteered for the Gas Leaks Allies since their inception in 2015, and is on the Board of Directors of Eastie Farm. A lover of trees and cities, she has lived in Boston’s South End for the past twenty years with her husband, three kids, and two dogs.
Natalie Merline (she/her)
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.
Laurel Clark (she/her)
MassCEC Summer InternLaurel grew up in north-central Indiana and is now studying Environmental Analysis and Policy as a rising senior at Boston University. After spending her youth in a region of many food deserts, her interest in environmental justice grew out of her passions for food justice and the outdoors. She is passionate about using socially responsible policy, community-based engagement, and education to combat the legacy of discriminatory environmental policy and urban planning practices. Laurel has been involved with sustainability during her undergraduate years as an intern with BU Sustainability, where she worked to communicate initiatives and best practices to students, faculty, and staff. She is excited to advance her understanding of tree equity and urban forestry, and to contribute to the work of Speak for the Trees Boston as an intern.
Angelica Pham (she/her)
TUTC Team LeaderAngelica was born and raised in Dorchester, MA and will be joining Yale University’s Class of 2026. She was part of the Teen Urban Tree Corps in 2020, where she explored the story of her neighborhood’s urban tree canopy through the lens of local residents, community leaders, and subject matter experts. She remains highly passionate about involving communities when mobilizing towards correcting environmental racism and other longstanding social issues. She is excited to return to TUTC as Team Leader to help young people uncover the wonders of trees for public health and feel empowered to improve equitable tree cover through urban forestry.
Marilene Rivas-Chavez (they/them)
Media InternMarilene 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.
