Board of Directors

 

Matt O’Malley, Chair

Matt O’Malley, Chair

As a Boston City Councilor from 2010 to 2022, Matt passed aggressive, precedent-setting environmental initiatives. He chaired the Environment, Resiliency, and Parks Committee and was Council President in 2021. He played an instrumental role in setting Boston’s net zero carbon building standards, delivering community choice energy, and eliminating gas leaks and single-use plastic bags.

Matt currently serves as Vicinity Energy’s first-ever Chief Sustainability Officer, where he leads the company’s decarbonization efforts and guides the execution of its Clean Energy Future, Net Zero Carbon Plan.

Matt served as Political Director of MassEquality from 2008-2009, where he successfully advocated for marriage equality throughout New England. He graduated from The George Washington University with degrees in Political Science and English.

Will Austin

Will Austin

Founder and CEO of the Boston Schools Fund. Will served as a math teacher at Roxbury Preparatory Charter School and was nominated for Massachusetts Teacher of the Year. He subsequently served as Co-Director for Roxbury Prep, and then as Chief Operating Officer for Roxbury Prep for Uncommon Schools, overseeing the school’s expansion from one to four campuses. A lifetime resident of Boston and a graduate of Boston Public Schools, Will earned his A.B. in Government from Harvard College and a Master’s Degree in Education from Tufts University.

Gordon Burnes

Gordon Burnes

Gordon Burnes was most recently the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Bullhorn, where he ran corporate and product marketing as well as the company’s alliances and business development efforts. Mr. Burnes previously worked at IBM, where he led worldwide marketing for the Risk Analytics group. He joined the ELM Board in 2017 and also serves on the board of advisors for the Charles River Water Association. Mr. Burnes received a B.A. in Anthropology from Harvard and an M.B.A. from Columbia.

Robert Fishman

Robert Fishman

Bob Fishman joined the ELM Board in 2015 and currently acts as Development Committee Chair. Mr. Fishman recently retired from Nutter, McClennen & Fish, LLP in Boston. Mr. Fishman was elected to the American College of Real Estate Lawyers in 1991. He is an active member and frequent lecturer in both bar association and real industry trade groups. Mr. Fishman appears among the best real estate lawyers in Massachusetts in the Chambers USA America’s Leading Business Lawyers Guide and was named a “Massachusetts Super Lawyer” in a survey by Law & Politics and Boston Magazine. He is listed as one of only five Massachusetts lawyers in the International Who’s Who of Real Estate Lawyers and in the Best Lawyers in America. Mr. Fishman is an active member of the Massachusetts Chapter of NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association, and the Urban Land Institute (ULI). He is a past chair of the Lawyers’ Team of Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston, Inc. (CJP). Mr. Fishman is the Chair of the Advisory Board of Northeastern University’s School of Public Policy and Urban Affairs. He also has taught at Harvard Law School, Boston College Law School, Boston University Law School, and Suffolk Law School. Mr. Fishman’s most recent articles and presentations have addressed smart growth issues, permitting of complex development projects, and environmental issues in business transactions. He authors a chapter of MCLE’s Massachusetts Zoning Manual. Mr. Fishman graduated from Harvard College, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and from Harvard Law School, cum laude. He lives in Newton with his wife, Glenda.

Douglas Foy

Douglas Foy

Doug Foy is a founder and CEO of Serrafix, a strategic consulting firm focused on environmental, energy, transportation, and climate change issues. Prior to launching Serrafix in 2006, Mr. Foy served as the first Secretary of Commonwealth Development in the administration of Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. In leading this “super-Secretariat”, Mr. Foy oversaw the agencies of Transportation, Housing, Environment, and Energy, with combined annual capital budgets of $5 billion, operating budgets of $500 million, and a total workforce of more than 11,000. This unique position enabled him to put into practice many of the policies he developed over 25 years as head of the Conservation Law Foundation. Among its hundreds of prominent cases under Mr. Foy’s leadership, CLF lawsuits forced the cleanup of Boston Harbor, prevented offshore oil drilling on the prime fishing grounds of Georges Bank, banned off-road vehicles from the beaches and dunes of the Cape Cod National Seashore, prevented the construction of the Seabrook 2 nuclear power plant, and dramatically reduced childhood lead poisoning throughout the region.

Mr. Foy currently serves on the corporate boards of Ameresco (NYSE), Acumentrics (fuel cells), GreenerU (college and university climate programs), RainBank (rainwater harvesting), HotZero, and Renew Energy Partners; the non-profit boards of the Ocean Genome Legacy Foundation, Pioneer Institute, SmartPower, the State Smart Transportation Initiative, the Center for Large Landscape Conservation, and Conservation Law Foundation; and the National Transportation Policy Project of the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Widely acknowledged as a leading environmentalist, Mr. Foy has received, among other awards: the President’s Environmental and Conservation Challenge Award, the country’s highest conservation award; the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service from the Woodrow Wilson Center, the national memorial to President Wilson; and the Order of the British Empire (OBE) from the Queen of England. Mr. Foy, a member of the 1968 USA Olympic Rowing Team and the 1969 USA National Rowing Team, graduated from Princeton University as a University Scholar in engineering and physics, attended Cambridge University in England as a Churchill Scholar in geophysics, and graduated from Harvard Law School.

Elizabeth Turnbull Henry

President

Elizabeth Turnbull Henry took the lead of the Environmental League of Massachusetts in 2017, drawn to the ambitious goals and pragmatic strategies that have long been ELM’s hallmark. She is committed to making Massachusetts lead the nation in environmental policy and getting on a pathway to net zero emissions. She has particular passion for expanding offshore wind, ending tailpipe pollution, and electing environmental champions to office.

Under Elizabeth’s leadership, ELM’s Corporate Council and the ELM Action Fund have grown. Both organizations build political will to create policy solutions that match the urgency of the challenges we face as a Commonwealth and a planet.

A proven sustainability leader, she previously directed climate and energy programs for Adidas. She also consulted to the US Department of Energy, worked as Sustainability Lead for a Massachusetts-based residential construction firm, and led international travel programs to over 30 countries.

In April 2021, Elizabeth was named #34 on Boston Magazine’s list of the 100 Most Influential Bostonians. She was also a member of the 2020 Boston Business Journals 40 Under 40.

Elizabeth has an MBA and Masters of Environmental Management (MEM) from Yale University and a BA in Environmental Policy and Economics from Colby College. Raised in West Virginia, she now lives in Concord, MA with her husband and three children.

Seth Jaffe

Seth Jaffe

Seth Jaffe is a Partner and the Chair of the Environmental Practice Group at Foley Hoag LLP.

He is recognized by Chambers USA, The Best Lawyers in America, and Massachusetts Super Lawyers as a leading practitioner in environmental compliance and related litigation. He is a past President of the American College of Environmental Lawyers. Mr. Jaffe works on a wide range of environmental law issues, representing clients in the permitting/licensing of new facilities and offering ongoing guidance on permitting and enforcement related matters under federal and state Clean Air Acts, Clean Water Acts, RCRA, and TSCA. He also advises on wetlands and waterways regulation. Before joining Foley Hoag, Mr. Jaffe clerked for United States District Judge Walter Jay Skinner. Mr. Jaffe holds a S.B. in political science from MIT, a M.P.P. from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard, and a J.D. from Yale. He has been an ELM Board Member since 2005 and served as the Chair from 2011 to 2016. Mr. Jaffe lives in Boston with his wife Genia.

Annie Lydgate

Annie Lydgate

Annie Lydgate is a strategic communications consultant whose specialties include storytelling, audience targeting, campaign management, grassroots engagement and corporate reputation. Lydgate’s work spans many sectors, including organized labor, renewable energy, non-profit, technology, higher education and more.

Beginning in 2009, Lydgate worked across Chicago, New York and Boston as an early member of the leading national public affairs firm Kivvit. Lydgate’s work and leadership while there contributed to more than a decade of positive growth and expansion for the firm as well as major policy, business and regulatory wins for her clients.

Prior to Kivvit, Lydgate worked for AKPD Message & Media, the political consulting firm founded by David Axelrod. During the 2008 presidential election, Lydgate served as Midwest field organizer for the New Voters Project, the nation’s largest nonpartisan voter registration effort.

Lydgate is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis and lives in Boston.

Peter Nessen

Peter Nessen

Peter Nessen is the founder and president of Nessen Associates. He is a public accountant who has served as Chief Executive Officer and on the governing Board of Advisors for national investment-banking firms. From 1987 to 1990, Mr. Nessen was Assistant Secretary of Administration and Finance responsible for human and social service purchase reform. From 1991 to 1993, he was promoted to Secretary of Administration and Finance. In that capacity, Mr. Nessen was the senior cabinet member and the chief financial officer in Governor Weld’s cabinet. He has also been a partner in the accounting firms of BDO Seidman and Henry J. Bornhofft Company, and the Dean for Resources and Special Projects at Harvard Medical School. Mr. Nessen later served on the Governor Romney’s Commission evaluating school reform.

As one of the country’s leading experts in public finance and privatization, he is the founder and chairman of a public policy organization that provides services to not-for-profit, health care, and other organizations. He chaired the Massachusetts Cultural Council for seven years and has served on more than a dozen nonprofit boards of directors, including that of the Conservation Law Foundation, Free for All Fund at the Boston Foundation, North Bennet Street School, Fuller Craft Museum, and the Society of Arts and Crafts. Mr. Nessen holds a B.A. from Dartmouth College and a M.B.A. from Dartmouth’s Amos Tuck Graduate School of Business Administration.

Lise Olney

Lise Olney

Ms. Olney is an environmental advocate, political organizer, and editor. She served on the Wellesley Natural Resources Commission (NRC) for five years before her election to the Board of Selectmen in March 2019. Ms. Olney was on the board of Sustainable Wellesley from 2011 to 2019 and co-founded the Mass Interfaith Coalition for Climate Action to advocate for clean energy in 2015-16.

Earlier in her career, Ms. Olney was an executive editor at the National Geographic Society in the Educational Media Division. Ms. Olney has lived in Wellesley for 25 years and raised two daughters with her husband, Tim Fulham. She has been a Town Meeting Member since 2014 and served on the board of the Unitarian Universalist Society of Wellesley Hills from 2015 to 2019.

Ms. Olney has a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania.

Bethany Patten

Bethany Patten

Treasurer & Clerk

Bethany Patten is a Lecturer & Senior Associate Director of the Sustainability Initiative at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Bethany leads the Sustainability Initiative’s efforts to accelerate the move toward evidence-based climate policy and builds relationships with public and private sector organizations, identifying the sustainability challenges they face.  She develops curriculum for masters-level students and teaches sessions on sustainability, corporate political responsibility, and change management. Bethany is an active contributor across MIT, where she serves on the Vice President for Research’s Climate Action Advisory Committee, has directed and advises the MIT Sustainability Summit and has led projects on campus aimed at reducing waste.

Outside of MIT, she serves as President of the Bay Village Neighborhood association and as a member of the Boston Chamber of Commerce Leadership Alumni Council. Prior to MIT, Bethany worked for more than a decade in operations in the book publishing industry. She holds a M.B.A. from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a B.A. from Boston College.

Tedd Saunders

Tedd Saunders

Tedd Saunders is the Founder and CEO of EcoLogical Solutions; Chief Sustainability Officer for the Saunders Hotel Group; and co-owner of the Lenox Hotel, Comfort Inn & Suites Boston/Airport and The Raffles Boston Hotel & Residences.

He is often credited with pioneering luxury urban ecotourism worldwide. Since 1989, Mr. Saunders has been recognized for creating some of the most innovative sustainability models in the travel and tourism industry. In 1992 he formed EcoLogical Solutions, which has advised among others: The White House, HRH The Prince of Wales’ Business Leaders Forum, Harvard University, Taj Hotels of India, Choice Hotels International and properties around the globe.

Under Mr. Saunders’ leadership, Saunders Hotel Group has earned many prestigious awards including a US Presidential Gold Medal, Energy Star Partner of The Year honors and British Airways’ Tourism for Tomorrow Prize. Author of The Bottom Line of Green is Black (Harper Collins), his team’s groundbreaking work has also earned exceptional feature stories in The New York Times, CNN, Travel + Leisure, NBC News and NPR. Mr. Saunders serves on a variety of boards, including Ceres, The Jane Goodall Institute, Union of Concerned Scientists, Harvard’s School of Public Health, The Woods Hole Research Center, and E2 (NRDC’s Environmental Entrepreneurs). He speaks internationally to top business groups, meets with local and national legislators on key environmental legislation and has invested in clean tech for almost a decade.

Mr. Saunders has served on the ELM Board since 1998 and also serves on the board of the ELM Action Fund and is an active member of ELM’s Corporate Council through the Saunders Hotel Group. He earned his B.A. from Connecticut College, and is happily married with twin 8-year olds.

Warren Tolman

Warren Tolman

Warren Tolman is currently the Senior Vice President of EnTrustPermal, a leading global alternative asset manager specializing in providing investment solutions to public, corporate, and multi-employer pension funds. He also serves as a strategic consultant for SEIU 1199 and as a strategist and consultant to several startup companies and businesses. Mr. Tolman is an experienced lawyer, formerly serving as Senior Counsel at Holland & Knight LLP for 11 years after working as an attorney at Burns and Levinson from 1987 to 1999. He successfully ran for the Massachusetts House of Representatives in 1990 and the State Senate in 1994, serving two terms in each branch. Mr. Tolman was the 1998 Democratic nominee for the Massachusetts lieutenant governorship before running for governor in 2002 and attorney general in 2014.

He speaks regularly on a wide variety of state and governmental issues and has published numerous articles and commentary. Mr. Tolman has taught at Boston College Law School and Northeastern University School of Law. Residing in his hometown of Watertown, he is active in a number of different civic and charitable organizations. Mr. Tolman is a graduate of Amherst College and Boston College Law School cum laude.

Jacquetta Van Zandt

Jacquetta Van Zandt

Jacquetta Van Zandt is the Vice President of Engagement and Mobilization at the Partnership, Inc. Jacquetta is responsible for building, coordinating, and maintaining strategic relationships across the civic, political and business sectors. In this role, The Vice President manages long-term strategic thinking regarding the Partnership’s relationships in order to build systemic and sustainable influence in furtherance of the organization’s mission.

Prior to joining The Partnership, Inc, Van Zandt honed a political skill set on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. as well as various state and federal campaigns, Jacquetta has been a respected voice at the table to aid in making significant decisions that impact communities of color.

A highly sought-after political strategist, with a special focus on public policy and diversity initiatives, her desire to bring about equal opportunities for women of color has brought her back to Massachusetts. Her goal towards making an impact on her community and to bring important issues to light such as wage inequality, financial literacy, socioeconomic development, women’s empowerment, and diversifying the legislature are at the heart of today’s most important issues. She was instrumental force on many campaigns including the successful campaign of Framingham’s first Mayor and only popularly elected woman of color to that post.

Van Zandt along with Lori Lennon launched a growing and popular zoom-cast/podcast called “Politics and Prosecco”. Politics and Prosecco is a one-hour show where guests and hosts engage in topics surrounding current events and its impact on everyday life.

Born and raised in Boston, MA, Van Zandt graduated from Mount Ida College (now part of the UMASS education system) with a B.S. in Criminal Justice. She resides in Roxbury, MA. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, The Links, Inc. and holds Board positions with Common Cause, Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus and The Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts and is the President of the Young Professionals Network.

Mark Walsh

Mark Walsh

Mark Walsh is Senior Vice President & New England Regional Director of Amalgamated Bank. Committed to fighting climate change, Amalgamated does not lend to or invest in fossil fuel companies, became a founding member of the Net Zero Banking Alliance in 2021, and was  the first U.S. bank to announce formal targets to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2045.

Prior to joining Amalgamated, Mark was Director of External Affairs & Philanthropy for the RIZE Massachusetts Foundation. During the Obama administration, Mark served as Deputy Chief of Protocol of the United States for nearly six years. He was also National Director of LGBT for Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign for President and co-founder of Rafanelli Events prior to joining the Clinton campaign.

Mark is a graduate from Boston University and Boston University School of Law.  He and his husband, Bryan Rafanelli, live in Boston’s South End.

Since its founding in 2015, the ELM Action Fund has been reshaping our Commonwealth for the better. Voters are increasingly calling for decisive, forward-looking climate action. Our work expands the realm of what is possible by educating and electing leaders across the state with the vision, ambition, and courage to fight for our future.

ALEX BOK Former Board Chair, ELM Action Fund