Board of Directors

CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS

Betsy Boyle

Manager, Real Estate Program, Ceres, Boston, MA

Ms. Boyle manages the real estate program at Ceres, a non-profit coalition of investors and public interest groups working toward sustainable prosperity.  Prior to this position, she directed the first phase of development of Nexus, a green building resource center in downtown Boston.  Ms. Boyle has over 15 years' experience in nonprofit management, most recently as director of operations at Ceres until 2005 and at the Harvard School of Public Health.  She heads the building energy team for the Cambridge Climate Protection Action Committee, an advisory group formed by the City of Cambridge.  In addition to a BS from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, she recently received a Master of Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where she was a Public Service Fellow. She has been a LEED Accredited Professional since 2004.

Josh Cohen

Associate Development Director, Beacon Communities Development LLC, Boston, MA

Mr. Cohen manages new development projects for Beacon Communities Development, a for-profit developer of multifamily affordable housing.  Before starting in his current position, Josh worked in several different aspects of the real estate field, including construction, architectural history, and historic preservation.  Josh holds a B.A. in ethics, politics, and economics from Yale University

Peter C. Lowitt, AICP

Director/Land Use Administrator, Devens Enterprise Commission, Devens, MA

Mr. Lowitt is immediate past-president of the Massachusetts Chapter of the American Planning Association, chairman of Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, the green roof trade association for North America and he serves as Director/Land Use Administrator for the Devens Enterprise Commission, the agency charged with permitting the redevelopment of the former Fort Devens army base in Massachusetts. At Devens, Mr. Lowitt focuses on the sustainable redevelopment of this 4400-acre former army base. Prior to coming to Devens, Mr. Lowitt served as Director of Planning and Economic Development for the Town of Londonderry, New Hampshire (1993-1999) where he developed the Londonderry Ecological Industrial Park and the award winning Sustainable Londonderry Program. Mr. Lowitt has a B.A. in history from Brown University and a M.A. in Community Economic Development from the Urban Environmental Policy Graduate Program at Tufts University.

Kyle McKinney

Property and Casualty Insurance Broker, Global Insurance Network, Needham, MA

Mr. McKinney founded a solid waste recycling firm while an undergraduate at MIT and later became the Chief Operating Officer of the Lena Park Community Development Corporation in Dorchester. With deep family roots in Roxbury, MA and a passionate urban gardener, Mr. McKinney works with CDCs and other community organizations to help analyze and underwrite the environmental and other property risks associated with development in urban neighborhoods. Mr. McKinney is a graduate of MIT and the Stanford Business School.

Gloria Cross Mwase

Senior Project Manager, Jobs For The Future, Boston, MA

Dr. Mwase is a Senior Project Manager for the Building Economic Opportunities Group at Jobs for the Future (JFF). She brings over ten years of project management and coordination experience in the nonprofit sector. Among her publications are studies that explore the role of community-based organizations in employment training and economic development, as well as an analysis of state policies affecting remedial instruction for adults. Her projects include Breaking Through, which promotes strategies that help low-literacy adults succeed in careers by accessing higher education and training through community colleges. She also leads the capacity building and peer learning efforts for the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, which supports partnerships that recruit, train, place, retain, and advance new and incumbent workers in key industry sectors. Prior to coming to JFF, Dr. Mwase worked as a local representative for the Annie E. Casey Foundation, where she served on the Funders Group for SkillWorks, a workforce intermediary in Boston. Dr. Mwase has taught at Cambridge College and the University of Massachusetts Boston. She earned a B.A. in economics from Tougaloo College and both an M.S. and Ph.D in public policy at the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Rebecca Regan

COO, Boston Community Loan Fund, Boston, MA

Formerly of the Community Banking Group at Bank of America, and as current COO of Boston Community Capital and President of Boston Community Loan Fund, Ms. Regan has extensive experience with real estate finance and community development projects and related investment in hard-hit urban areas. Ms. Regan served on the Finance Subcommittee of the Massachusetts Brownfields Advisory Committee and is a leading proponent of the competitive advantage of inner-city communities. She received her B.A. from Boston University and M.B.A. from Babson College.

William Shutkin

Chair in Sustainable Development and Director of the Initiative for Sustainable Development, Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado Boulder

Mr. Shutkin founded New Ecology in 1999 and served as President until June 2004. Currently, he is Chair in Sustainable Development and Director of the Initiative for Development and Sustainability at the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado Boulder. He's also a Partner of the Innovation Network for Communities and a Research Affiliate at MIT. An attorney, educator, writer and non-profit pioneer, his work explores an expansive terrain, from sustainability to social entrepreneurship, urban planning to economic development, green design to global warming. Mr. Shutkin has lectured and consulted around the world on the ideas and innovations guiding us to a prosperous future and is the author of the award-winning book, The Land That Could Be: Environmentalism and Democracy in the Twenty-First Century, and A Republic of Trees: Field Notes on People, Place, and the Planet. David Brower described Mr. Shutkin as "an environmental visionary creating solutions to today's problems with a passion that would make John Muir and Martin Luther King equally proud."

FOUNDING BOARD MEMBERS

Doug Foy, Diana Propper, Greg Watson

FOUNDING BOARD OF ADVISORS

Ned Abelson, Veronica Eady, Don Falvey, Peter Forbes, James Goldstein, Scott Harshbarger, Matt Kiefer, Michael Last, Joel Loitherstein, Deval Patrick, Kit Perkins, Zygmunt Plater, Geeta Pradhan, Larry Susskind