Current Directors
Leah (she/they) joined Groundwork Somerville in April 2023 as a seasonal Farm Manager & Educator shortly after moving to Boston. They have been passionate about social and environmental justice since working in a refugee camp in Greece in 2016, but only discovered their love of food justice when volunteering on an urban farm in Montreal in 2022. After a life-changing summer tending to South St. Farm and helping with Green Team workshops, hosting events, and harvesting food, she stayed on as the School Gardens Manager throughout the Fall until transitioning into her current role as the Urban Agriculture and Green Spaces Director. In this exciting new position, they aim to expand inclusive programming at all of Groundwork Somerville's green spaces, and create welcoming, beautiful, and productive environments that empower all community members to engage with their local food system. When not on the farm, Leah can often be found playing violin, wandering the Arnold Arboretum, or experimenting in the kitchen.
Leah McCarthy
Director of Urban Agriculture
Kenzie (she/her) comes to Groundwork Somerville from Louisville, KY where she studied Neuroscience at the University of Louisville. During this degree, Kenzie discovered her passion for public and environmental health with a focus in just and resilient food systems. After graduation, Kenzie spent a summer as a farm apprentice in Louisville and then moved to Boston to study Agriculture and the Environment at Tufts University.
Kenzie is drawn to welcoming, nourishing spaces that enable the growth of herself and the others around her. Entering Groundwork as the Youth Programs Manager and transitioning to the Youth Engagement and Programs Director, Kenzie created these growing spaces for youth through the Green Team. Now, Kenzie begins a new role as the Director of Community Engagement and Climate Resilience, supporting connection and equitable power building across Somerville.
Kenzie is drawn to welcoming, nourishing spaces that enable the growth of herself and the others around her. Entering Groundwork as the Youth Programs Manager and transitioning to the Youth Engagement and Programs Director, Kenzie created these growing spaces for youth through the Green Team. Now, Kenzie begins a new role as the Director of Community Engagement and Climate Resilience, supporting connection and equitable power building across Somerville.
Kenzie Ballard
Director of Community Engagement and Climate Resilience
Contact Kenzie at kenzie@groundworksomerville.org!
Em (they/she) is a passionate advocate for equity in youth development and joined Groundwork in Spring of 2024. While studying Sociology at Rice University, they developed a deep care for community-centered advocacy and solutions across many areas of social equity work. Em’s excitement about access to healthy produce and green space inspired them to live and work on homesteads through WorldWide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF), where they learned about different methods of small-scale farming.
Em comes to Groundwork Somerville with a strong background in outdoor and environmental education. From hiking the Blue Hills just outside Boston with college students to guiding canoe trips in remote Canadian wilderness, Em loves to introduce people to all they can learn from the outdoors. Enthusiasm about climate justice begins with a care for our natural world, and Em is excited to work with Groundwork Somerville’s Green Team to instill appreciation and knowledge of the environment through hands-on learning in Somerville’s green spaces. Outside of the garden, Em can often be found making and watching live music, camping, crafting, or soaking up the sun wherever it falls!
Em comes to Groundwork Somerville with a strong background in outdoor and environmental education. From hiking the Blue Hills just outside Boston with college students to guiding canoe trips in remote Canadian wilderness, Em loves to introduce people to all they can learn from the outdoors. Enthusiasm about climate justice begins with a care for our natural world, and Em is excited to work with Groundwork Somerville’s Green Team to instill appreciation and knowledge of the environment through hands-on learning in Somerville’s green spaces. Outside of the garden, Em can often be found making and watching live music, camping, crafting, or soaking up the sun wherever it falls!
Em Plotkin
Each season, Groundwork Somerville employs a new group of youth to our Green Team. Green Team Members are Groundwork Somerville employees and support the workforce behind our food production at South Street Farm. They also help care for our school gardens, lead projects to better our community, and generally work to make Somerville a cleaner, greener, healthier, and more equitable city. Read more about the Green Team here.
Featured Staff: The Green Team!
2025 Board of Directors
David is the Growth and Operations Manager for Black Earth Compost, a food scrap composting company in the Greater Boston Area, where he works to put compost to use on local farms and community gardens. Growing up in a small town in Upstate New York, David had a love for nature from a young age, spending every moment he could outside. His summers were spent working on a small family farm. David studied at Skidmore College where he received his BS in Biochemistry and moved to Boston after graduating to work in Biotech. During Covid, David decided to find a job with a direct impact on climate change which led him to work in food waste diversion. In January of 2023 he joined Groundwork as a volunteer helping around the farm and joined the board shortly after.
David Stephenson
PRESIDENT
John is a patent attorney who works in private practice and teaches as an Adjunct Professor of Legal Writing at Suffolk University Law School. John loves to stay active and to build community with his neighbors, so supporting Groundwork Somerville’s urban-farming initiatives was a natural fit. In his spare time, John enjoys reading and running marathons.
John Spangenberger
SECRETARY
As a researcher, resident of the greater Boston area, and volunteer, it is easy to see that Groundwork Somerville is the best place to make a difference. He is currently a researcher in the neurology department of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. Before COVID, he mentored and assisted the mentorship of students at all education levels in thinking like a scientist and applying skills into practice. Groundwork According to Corey, Somerville has plenty of like-minded individuals who see that mentorship, climate change, and an "it takes a village" mindset are essential components in promoting a healthy environment.
Corey Aguilar
TREASURER
Patricia (Trish) Cafferky (she/her) is a registered architect in Massachusetts and is the Deputy Chief of Operations for the City of Boston. She has also been a Lecturer of Urban Design and Planning at MIT since 2022. Trish holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Syracuse University and a Master in City Planning from MIT. As someone focused on the use of urban land and the way it can be deployed to service communities, Trish joined the GWS Board in 2025, thrilled to support the organization’s land stewardship as a means of fresh food production and youth empowerment.
Patricia (Trish) Cafferky
BOARD MEMBER
Maggie Lacwasan (she/they) is a passionate advocate for healthy communities and environments. They originally got involved with Groundwork Somerville as a community partner and organized hiking and camping trips with the Green Team. Since then, Maggie moved on to coordinating programs and volunteers for an urban mediation center but wanted to stay involved in supporting all of the impactful work that GWS does. Maggie also organizes climbing events to celebrate representation and uplift People of the Global Majority in the outdoors through Brown Girls Climb and shares her love for skiing and snowboarding with youth from the Boston area as a volunteer for Youth Enrichment Services. Maggie also enjoys roller skating, reading a good book and cooking with friends.
Maggie Lacwasan
BOARD MEMBER
Cate Mingoya-LaFortune serves as Groundwork USA's Chief Officer of Climate Resilience and Land Use. Cate is a people-centered climate adaptation planner, community organizer, educator, parent, and cautious optimist. Raised in an environmental justice neighborhood, she is committed to furthering a future where all people live in clean, thriving communities. She is the author of the recently released book Climate Action for Busy People and was named a 2024 Grist Fixer. She received a BA in Biology from Reed College, a Master of Science Education from CUNY Lehman, and a Master of City Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Cate Mingoya-LaFortune
BOARD MEMBER
Maggie (she/her) has lived and worked in Somerville for the last six years. She has worked as a middle school science teacher for five years, leads summer backpacking trips for youth groups in the greater Boston area, and is currently a MSW student with aspirations to continue working in education as a social worker. Maggie joined this board eager to support sustainability education and youth engagement in Somerville, and hopes to continue building community as a board member with Groundwork Somerville. In her free time, you can find Maggie trail running in the Fells, buying the bulk gummy bears at Neighborhood Produce, and tending bar at Somerville’s own Winter Hill Brewery.
Maggie Painter
BOARD MEMBER