General information and questions: walthamfields@communityfarms.org

How to Volunteer?  Individual, Religious or Corporate Volunteer Groups: volunteer@communityfarms.org

Board of Directors for Governance questions: BMC@communityfarms.org

Connect with us if you are interested in joining WFCF as a future board member or advisory board member! 

2024 WFCF Team Members

2024 WFCF Board of Directors

Slate confirmed at WFCF Annual Meeting, Thursday, November 2, 2023:

  • Laura Handler, President
  • Debra Burbank, Treasurer
  • John Tracy, Secretary
  • Rachel Caine
  • Sean Diamond
  • Becky Evans Mark
  • Adrianna Gucciardi
  • Tom Innis
  • Hannah Pappenheim 
  • Becky Prior
  • Adam Saltsman
  • Tom Spellman  
  • Chris Yoder
  • Nathan Greenberg, Board Fellow, Heller School Brandeis

Officers

Laura Handler, President, first joined WFCF in 2008. She enjoys preserving as much of her summer and winter shares as possible - especially making her favorite spicy cumin carrot pickle. Laura works at Sovos Compliance as the Chief of Staff and looks forward to applying her experiences to WFCF. When she isn't working or cooking, Laura enjoys yoga, reading, and traveling.

Debra Burbank, Treasurer works as a Director in Facilities Management at Bentley University. She has been at Bentley for over 20 years and has worked in the areas of Planning & Construction and Facilities Operations. She lives in Waltham and looks forward to her trips to the farm. She joined WFCF as a member and shareholder and has been enjoying the weekly vegetable and fruit shares. Her love of cooking with the fresh vegetables makes the WFCF experience extra special. She understands the importance of the farm and its vital role in the community, and is excited to be part of WFCF and all that it has to offer to its members and beyond.

John Tracy, Secretary, works in Data Strategy and Operations at Athenahealth. He grew up in upstate New York in an active farming community that fed his passion for food and the places that grow it. He is a graduate of Bentley, falling in love with Waltham as a student, and moving back with his wife in 2014. John is excited to lend another set of hands in suport of WFCF's mission.

Returning-Renewing Directors

Rachel Caine lives in Watertown with her husband, young daughter, and dog. She and her family became CSA shareholders in 2020 and continue to look forward to their visits to the farm, talking about all of the different foods, exploring the fields, visiting the chickens, and playing in the fairy garden. As a registered dietitian nutritionist, Rachel is constantly thinking about all things food and is always excited at the opportunity to engage in conversations about cooking and eating, so she is excited to be a part of the WFCF community. When she isn't cooking food, eating food, or talking about food, she's probably playing with her kiddo or out for a run.

Becky Evans Mark is a writer, editor and educator with a background in journalism and higher education. She's written about New England's storied fishing industry and its environmental impacts for Massachusetts newspapers, taught communications writing courses to international students and led experiential education programs for young adults focused on the intersection of faith, climate change and food justice. Becky lives in West Newton with her spouse and son who've been nourished for a decade by the hands and lands that bring WFCF veggies to their plates each week.

Tom Innis is a management consultant focused on solving the challenges of healthcare and government. He is a partner at The Ripples Group and the principal of Gibbous, LLC. Tom has been working with WIC programs and USDA Farmers Market programs since 2007. Tom grew up in central Massachusetts with a love of his friends’ dairy farms. An avid runner, biker, and eater, he is passionate about using land and water productively and sustainably. When he is not visiting the chickens at the Farm, Tom can be spotted amongst his family’s menagerie of dogs, cats, and guinea pigs.

Adrianna Gucciardi lives in Waltham with her wife and two sons. Adrianna leads Sales Development at athenahealth with a focus on driving growth, building effective teams, and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. She and her family are CSA shareholders, and her family loves coming to the farm each season and the Pick-Your-Own experience. Adrianna enjoys cooking, home gardening, and trying new recipes. She has a new-found love of radishes through the WFCF CSA.

Becky Prior is a Waltham resident, long-time WFCF enthusiast, and recent CSA member. As an active community gardener and former board member of a local food access organization, she is especially interested in local agriculture and its role in food security and food justice. Becky is the Associate Director of Institutional Research at Berklee College of Music, a specialty that designs and administers internal assessments and advocates for data-informed decision making. Her areas of focus include survey research and data analysis, with a particular interest in diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

Chris Yoder has been farming locally for over 15 years and has been on the WFCF Board since 2000.  His motivation for being on the board stems from a desire to “be part of a movement to revive farming in the Northeast.” Chris is very interested in seeing that “the farm be run effectively and efficiently, so that the charitable output is maximized, and so that volunteers, visitors, apprentices, and school groups get a truly educational experience on a working farm.”  He believes this is an important basis for any contribution WFCF makes to the preservation of farms.

New Directors For 2024

Sean Diamond lives in Waltham with his wife Lauren and their cat Louise. Sean has a BS in Physics, an MS in Climate Change Science, and over a decade of experience working in renewable energy and utilities. As donors, Sean and Lauren appreciate the unique value of the farm as a source of community resiliency by providing equitable food access, educational programming, and a social hub to build community in the neighborhood. As a long-time (mostly vegetarian) food-eater and farm stand patron, Sean wanted to join the board to support the farm’s efforts to provide a steady supply of healthy, locally-sourced foods for Waltham and surrounding communities for decades to come. 

Hannah Pappenheim is an Assistant Attorney General in the trial division of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. As an avid cook and amateur gardener, she appreciates the many ways in which the WFCF serves as a community resource. She is passionate about the farm’s pursuit of local access to healthy food and as a spot for all (children and adults alike) to learn about the importance and joy of living in harmony with the natural world. Hannah lives in Waltham with her husband, young son and rescue dog. 

Adam Saltsman lives in Waltham across the street from Waltham Fields Community Farm. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Urban Studies and Director of the Urban Action Institute (UAI) at Worcester State University. His research and teaching broadly focus on urban belonging and exclusion, with a specific focus on refugee mobility. He is a passionate advocate for food justice and brings this focus to his directorship of the UAI, especially in terms of his work on food security and urban agriculture. Adam has been involved in statewide campaigns to address college student hunger, and he created a mini-grant program to create interdisciplinary learning and engagement with the Worcester State University Teaching Garden that his institute runs. As a professor of urban studies, Adam works with his students to understand and apply principles of advocacy and community organizing.

Tom Spellman is a corporate attorney at Fresenius Medical Care, where he focuses on mergers and acquisitions, and other strategic transactions. Tom was born in Woburn MA, and has spent his adult life in and around Boston. He moved to Waltham in 2015 with his wife. Tom has three young children that he loves bringing to the farm. He looks forward to supporting the continued success of the farm, and ensuring that the farm is a resource for generations to come. 

Board Fellow

Nathan Greeberg is Social Impact MBA Candidate at Brandeis Heller School for Social Policy & Management

2024 WFCF Advisory Board 

Chris Brown, General Council, Opsys Tech Ltd

Kathleen Ward Brown, ScD, Senior Scientist at Environmental Health & Engineering in Newton MA.

Dr. Rick Oches, PhD, Dean of Arts & Sciences, Bentley University

Jamie McGrath

Rich Pulice, Professor Of Public Health, Regis College

Meg Ramsdell, Executive Director, Cambridge School Volunteers

Sydney Romagnolo, Foundation Relations Coordinator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Dylan Sanders, Partner, Sugarman Rogers

Matt Schulze, Senior Director, Flagship Digital

Sara Shostak, Professor of Sociology and Health: Science, Society and Policy, Director, Vic '63 and Bobbi Samuels '63 Center for Community Partnerships and Civic Transformation, Brandeis University

Charlotte Svirsky

Moshe Weitzman, Independent Web Architect