In the Spring of 2016, The New Garden Society elected a Board of Directors. This big step forward will increase organizational capacity to meet our big vision of expanding our incarcerated neighbors access to gardens, greenhouse and horticulture training in Greater Boston. Let’s introduce the generous Board Members who move the mission forward...
Mental Health Specialists
To help us develop trainings which emphasize the therapeutic benefits of working in the garden, TNGS is guided by three mental health specialists from different sectors. Kristina Marcus is a mental health counselor from Germany who currently works at a psychiatric group home in Brighton. Her holistic view on well-being and expertise in clinical and community psychology has guided her in creating trainings for our Volunteer Horticulture Educators. Rob Fettig, a former clinical social worker in the Department of Mental Health and passionate gardener has solicited generous donations of plants, seed potatoes and seed for our prison gardens. Rob was referred to us by our allies at The Food Project. Brandy Henry, a clinical social worker, is currently a PhD candidate in Social Policy with a focus on the intersection of criminal justice and mental health policy. We met Brandy at SCATV’s panel discussion on mental health in the prison system. Brandy’s background and expertise are key as we develop evaluation tools to measure the TNGS’ impact.
Horticulture Education Specialists
With a background in Plant and Soil Science, Sarah Ard is currently pursuing a Masters in Occupational Education, while working at Minuteman, teaching vocational horticulture to grades 9-12. Sarah mentors TNGS on curriculum development and lesson planning related to horticultural vocational training. Sarah has lent her expertise to this work since our early days meeting at Roxbury Community College. Andrew Balon , an arborist and horticulturalist serving the greater Boston area, brings over 18 years of experience in agriculture and horticulture. In addition to sharing his green industry credentials as a guest presenter, Andrew has generously brought truckloads of essential mulch to TNGS prison gardens. Hadas Yanay, a horticulture educator and former program coordinator at an Ecological-Education farm in Israel, brings her interest in finding ways to engage students from all backgrounds with the natural environment, to TNGS’ lesson planning process.
Legal Specialist
Christopher Logue ’s passion for prison reform and social justice brought him to TNGS, where he steers the organization’s legal decision making. He currently works in legal services where he advises and trains non-profits in legal, management, and financial matters.
TNGS is grateful to work alongside these bright, talented, generous individuals.