About the Growing Center Team
The Somerville Community Growing Center is made up of an all-volunteer Board of Directors, a part-time Outreach & Operations Manager, and a part-time Site Coordinator, who oversee the non-profit organization, "Friends of the Community Growing Center." Here is information about them, their backgrounds, and their interests.
Sasha Rollinger, Growing Center Board Interim President
A native of Washington, D.C., Sasha currently works for the Department of Political Science at MIT. Prior to moving to Somerville, she spent a decade in visual arts fundraising in New York City. In her free time, she enjoys visiting museums, stopping by Somerville's playgrounds and green spaces with her children, and spending time with family in western Massachusetts. She has been on the board of the Growing Center for five years.
Lisa Brukilacchio, Growing Center Board Vice President
Lisa is a long time Somerville resident, moving here in 1977 from upstate NY. While a student at Tufts, she discovered community gardening and has been hooked ever since. It was while she was serving as the City's Community Gardens Coordinator as part of the Conservation Commission, that the Growing Center was born. As one of the founding members, Lisa was highly motivated by her own childhood experiences to create a space in the city where children could develop their own relationship with the natural world. In addition, she has strived to continue the creative legacy of the early years of the Center by working to foster an environment where all ages and abilities can discover how to apply their passions and talents towards building a model of sustainability, citizen engagement and cultural exploration.
Sarah Moylan, Growing Center Board Treasurer
Sarah Moylan is a longtime Boston-area resident and admirer of the Growing Center. After moving from Vermont to Somerville in 2013-- and recovering from the shock of moving from the verdant Champlain Valley to a "big city" with lots of concrete-- Sarah found a new appreciation for pockets of nature sprinkled throughout the city. Her interests in food systems and ecology led her to work at an urban farming startup and later a native plant non-profit, where she gained a greater appreciation of how plants sustain not only human life, but the entire natural world. These days, Sarah works as a senior accountant at a commercial real estate firm in Boston while pursuing an M.S. in Accounting from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She has been a board member since January 2021 and uses her number-crunching skills to support the fundraising and finance committees at the Growing Center. Sarah is also a serial hobbyist: she is a member of the Piers Park Sailing Center in East Boston (where she frequently competes in sail racing), an avid film photographer, and a world travel enthusiast.
Kathleen Froehlich, Growing Center Board Clerk
Kathleen is a native of Long Island, New York and has been a Somerville resident since 2010. She discovered the Growing Center after a career change had her spending less time commuting into Boston and more time enjoying Somerville spaces. She truly fell in love with the space after becoming a parent and enjoys seeing her daughter’s joy exploring and connecting to the beautiful green space. Kathleen is a Registered Dietitian and Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor working in her own private practice. She is passionate about food justice work and connecting communities to local food systems. In her free time she enjoys spending time outside, yoga, traveling with her husband and daughter, and cozy cuddles with her dog and cat. She loves finding more ways to share this great resource with the community.
Kristin Arcangeli, Growing Center Board Member
Kristin has been a Somerville resident since 2003, when she moved to the city to attend Lesley University and earned a master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health and School Guidance. After more than 15 years working at an education nonprofit in Boston, she joined the Somerville Family Learning Collaborative (SFLC). She now works as the Playgroup and Family Education/Support Coordinator and leads year-round playgroups at the Growing Center, helping young children and their families experience the joy of nature-based play. She is excited to continue helping Somerville families engage with this special community resource. In her free time, she can be found exploring Somerville by cargo bike with her three daughters and attending the many festivals and activities the city has to offer.
Phoebe Grupper, Growing Center Board Member
Phoebe (she/they) is a storyteller, ecologist, and educator originally from Brooklyn, New York. Their work—ranging from the New York Botanical Garden to the food justice nonprofit Harlem Grown—has been grounded in local knowledge and community stewardship as essential vessels for the change we want to see. After moving to Somerville in August 2025 to pursue an MS in Sustainability at Tufts University, Phoebe quickly jumped into the Programming Team, cultivating and facilitating Growing Center curricula, writing blog posts, designing scavenger hunts, and working event tables. Now joining the Board, Phoebe is excited to keep showing up for this work in new ways. In her free time, you can find Phoebe outside birding, making big pots of soup, or singing their heart out with friends and loved ones.
Megan Mathieu, Growing Center Board Member
Megan (she/her) grew up in Seattle surrounded by evergreens, water, and a community dedicated to stewardship and justice. While she initially moved here to attend Tufts University, the passionate and creative Somerville community made it easy to stay. She was introduced to the Growing Center when her Tufts class collected sap for the annual maple boil, and reconnected after graduating with an Environmental Studies and Food Systems degree in 2025, reveling in the way the community makes the Growing Center a place for joyful learning and connection. In addition to non-profit volunteer work, she is the new Sustainability Coordinator for the Town of Natick. She is excited to bring her passion for community-building, environmental justice, nature-based climate solutions, and food sovereignty to the Community Growing Center and supporting a more resilient Somerville. Outside of her work, you can find her playing frisbee, saying hi to every dog she sees, trying new foods, and doing musical theater.
The Growing Center Staff
Paula Jordan, Site Coordinator and Children in Nature Coordinator
Paula lived in Somerville until she was 10 years old. Daily walks with her mom and siblings through Ball Square and hours of playing at Powder House Park, city backyards and side streets has given her an appreciation and love for nature in urban areas. Working in Somerville many years ago, she walked by the Growing Center, took the volunteer orientation and has been involved ever since. A graduate of Antioch’s Nature-Based Early Childhood Education program, her many years of experience as a nature-based educator and naturalist has informed her work around access and what’s possible in nature-based play and learning in the city. Developing reciprocal relationships with all who live here and focusing on stewardship of shared community spaces is her lifelong passion. Paula lives in East Arlington with her family, loves reading kids picture books and macro photography in the garden.
Betsy Larkin, Growing Center Operations & Volunteer Manager (Half-time, 20 hrs/wk)
Betsy grew up in suburban Massachusetts and moved to Somerville after college, where she worked for fifteen years in the Boston area doing marketing and program management, mainly in the arts and cultural tourism sector, with a break in the middle to attend graduate school at Brown University. She began volunteering with the Growing Center in 2010, as part of a team that harvested and sold herbs and produce grown at the garden at the Union Square Farmers Market. After a break of a few years, during which she had three children, Betsy joined the Board of Directors in 2019, initially organizing a playgroup that gave area children a non-manicured green space in which to play and explore. After nearly seven years of volunteering with the Board, the last five as an officer, she stepped down in 2025 to take on this part-time staff role. Betsy sees the Growing Center as a major asset for Somerville families and residents, especially those without yards to play in. When she's not at the Growing Center, you can likely find her at Lincoln Park with her kids and her dog - or at her family home in Vermont.
Board In Memoriam: Liza Kitchell
Liza Kitchell, Growing Center Board Member
Liza Kitchell was involved with the Growing Center for nearly 25 years. Her involvement began in 2000 when her daughter was two and she started attending playgroups there. She went on to become a long-term volunteer helping with gardening tasks while also creating kids musical theater, launching various arts and crafts activities that enlivened and diversified our seasonal celebrations, and engaging local musicians and artists at the Center. Eventually, Liza joined the Board of Directors, serving as an officer while working on multiple fundraising projects and actively participating in the 30th anniversary strategic planning process. Liza spent countless hours in the garden over the years sharing her multiple gifts with all of us.
A multi-talented musician and singer, Liza taught music at the Community Music Center of Boston and in the Boston Public Schools, and taught piano privately at her home in Somerville. She also composed music, including a piece that explored the sounds of the Growing Center. Liza also coordinated the Summer Song Series at the Growing Center.
Read more about Liza's life and contributions to the Growing Center on our blog.