Meet our fall Imagine Boston 2030 Engagement Team!
Our fall engagement team has been popping up all over Boston at farmers’ markets, festivals and community events, and almost 600 residents so far have participated in our all-ages activity.
Check out the highlights in our new album on Facebook. One participant, Molly from Roslindale, said “I was pretty impressed by the exercise. It raised my awareness of the need for more housing in Boston, and the concomitant need for transportation and amenities—alongside a need to plan seriously for sea level rise. Where should new housing be located? How high are we comfortable seeing buildings go? The big concepts and trade offs are well-structured into the activity. All with Lego blocks and conversation. Pretty cool.”
This wouldn’t be possible without our amazing Engagement Team! Meet the team members below:
Engagement Team members
Name: Stan Berdecki
Neighborhood: South End
Name: Deborah Bolling
Neighborhood: Roxbury
About: I am very excited and humbled to be a part of Imagine Boston 2030, as Mayor Walsh engages all of us in creating a dynamic, inclusive housing plan for 2030 and beyond. Onward and forward!
Name: Oscar Brazoban
Languages: Spanish
About: I am 25 years old, Born in the Dominican Republic and came to Boston when I was 8 years old. I have spent most of my life advocating for youth empowerment and higher education.
Name: Jazmine Coleman
Neighborhood: Dorchester
Languages: Chinese
About: I joined the Imagine Boston 2030 Engagement Team because I love my hometown and want to support any effort toward a more sustainable and inclusive Boston.
Name: Benjamin Cottingham
Neighborhood: North End
Languages: Spanish
About: I work with the education non-profit Tutors for All helping prepare students in neighborhoods all throughout Boston. The opportunity to continue working with the diverse populations of the city is why I joined the Imagine Boston 2030 team. I believe community development is paramount to providing everyone from students to retirees the opportunities to be successful. Facilitating discussions through these events ensures the changes that are most beneficial to each community can be realized.
Name: Ingrid De Aguiar Sanchez
Languages: Spanish, Cape Verdean Creole, Portuguese
About: I’m an artist that lives and works in the city of Boston. Most of the work I do is based on community engagement and reaching out to different non-profit organization throughout the city of Boston. I imagine Boston as a diverse and integrated city with culture and the arts as part of the driving force on the city’s development.
Name: Art Gordon
Neighborhood: Roxbury
About: I am a native of Georgia, and a graduate of Boston University School of Theology.
Name: Angila Griffin
Neighborhood: Dorchester
About: I joined the Imagine Boston 2030 team because, I feel that this project plays a major part in building a stronger relationship with our Boston residents and a positive environment. The residents need to feel inspired, engaged and thrilled by the opportunity to achieve what Boston should look like in 2030!
Name: Rosa Herrero de Andrés
Neighborhood: Allston
Languages: Spanish, French
About: During the day I am an urban designer at Sasaki, I moved here 4 years ago from Spain and fell in love with this city despite its sometimes cruel winters. I am an explorer, and being part of the engagement team is the perfect introduction to new neighborhoods and their amazing people. Please come meet us!
Name: Ermolande Jean-Simon
Neighborhood: Hyde Park
Languages: Haitian Creole
About: I work as a freelance communications specialist for non-profits such as Safe and Sound Schools. I wanted to be a part of Imagine Boston because I love helping and talking to people about creating a better and affordable city for everyone to live in.
Name: Marcia Kimm-Jackson
Neighborhood: Hyde Park
About: I am a lifelong resident of Boston who believes that Boston is a great place to live, work and have fun! Boston’s diversity is its greatest strength. I am a facilitator, corporate trainer/instructional designer, and in my spare time, a community organizer. I am passionate about convening people around a common cause to have each voice be heard and to increase their impact. My dream is for a more inclusive Boston and one where every resident has access to the resources and tools to live the life they love!
Name: Nhi Lê
Languages: Vietnamese
About: I’d like to think of Boston in 2030 as a vibrant city that keeps growing with integrated neighborhoods and involvement of people from different upbringings, to share ideas on making people’s lives better and how to improve the city continuously. Being part of Imagine Boston 2030, I get to talk to people and listen to their ideas and concerns on various matters. Some of the fun ideas from Bostonians for 2030 are: more affordable housing, wider bike lanes, rooftops gardens/plants, and a transit system that operates efficiently.
Name: Christopher Lovell
Neighborhood: Mattapan/Roslindale
About: I work in a support oriented, growth driven environment, and I would like to envision where I live in 2030 to be the same! I imagine Boston to be a place where families have every opportunity to thrive.
Name: Yaira Matos
Neighborhood: Roxbury
Languages: Spanish
About: I come to Imagine Boston 2030 from a background in advocacy and a passion for building community. For this reason, I chose to work with the City of Boston to help listen to and learn from my neighbors as we step into a new better integrated and equitable era in Boston.
Name: Michele Modica
Neighborhood: East Boston
About: I live in the very home I was born and brought up in! After many years of a long career practicing Family Law and raising two children, I am semi-retired and returned to my homestead six years ago to enjoy new and revitalized City and I love it!!!
Name: Jenny Duquette Norcott
Neighborhood: South Boston
About: I love Boston; it’s a beautiful city that has so much to offer and is strengthened by its diversity. I hope that in 2030, Boston will be thriving even more than it is now, with jobs and affordable housing for anyone who wants to live and work here.
Name: Abigail Ogilvy
Neighborhood: Charlestown
About: I own and operate a contemporary art gallery in Boston’s South End, with a mission to promote early and mid-career artists. My work on the Spark Council under Mayor Walsh has inspired me to remain involved with the city and join the Imagine Boston 2030 team.
Name: Concetta Paul
Neighborhood: South Boston
Languages: Haitian Creole
Name: Sarah Plowman
Neighborhood: East Boston
Languages: Spanish
About: I moved to Boston for grad school two years ago and it was love at first sight. My big dream is to help cities flourish, which makes being on the Imagine Boston 2030 team so fun for me!
Name: Raquel Yvonne Saenz
Neighborhood: Brighton
Languages: Spanish, Portuguese, French
Name: Lisa Sankowski
Neighborhood: Roslindale
About: I’m a for-community-profit professional, educator, and artist, committed to Boston’s future as a vibrant, sustainable, and equitable 21st century city. I’m loving visiting different neighborhoods and celebrations each week, and energized by my fellow Bostonians’ love of community and their passion when they advocate for what they want to change and to preserve as Boston grows.
Name: Stephen Spinetto
Neighborhood: I live in Charlestown with my wife Alice Krapf. I have lived in Charlestown since 1973.
About: I retired from my job at City Hall in 2010 (Commissioner, Commission for Persons with Disabilities). Since retiring I have done some consulting, teaching as technical advisor to a class at MIT, and I have been working with a company as an advisor and tester of a new prosthetic components. As a person who was trained in city planning I am thrilled that a new comprehensive plan is underway and happy to help in any way. I enjoy working with an outstanding group of mostly young people that love their city.
Name: Jason Torrey
Neighborhood: East Boston
Languages: Spanish, Portuguese
About: I have been working in community engagement with Imagine Boston 2030 and Go Boston 2030 for nearly a year. Being a team member provides me an excellent opportunity to interact with residents from every neighborhood in Boston.
Name: Sarah Uziel
Neighborhood: South End
Languages: Spanish
About: After riding a bicycle and engaging on transportation solutions with Go Boston 2030 last year, my natural next step was exploring issues of urban growth through Legos with Imagine Boston 2030 this year. I am inspired by the thoughtful ideas I hear and I hope to meet you in your neighborhood soon.