Meet the MAPS Team:

Massachusetts Power Shift is a joint effort of students from Mass Youth Climate Action and community members from all walks of life.

We are aspiring lawyers from Harvard, hand-drummers from Berkelee, astrophysics majors from Smith, and everyone in between. We are entrepreneurs, minority community leaders, architects, religious clergy, and public officials from both sides of the aisle.

*Please note, the below list is an incomplete picture of the dozens of students and community members who are actively contributing to the planning efforts for MAPS. Please check back often as we add more and more members to the website.

Want to join the team? Click here!

MAPS Team Leader

Craig Altemose
Born and raised in Morris Plains, NJ, Craig headed for the warmth of Florida to attend Eckerd College, where he studied International Relations and Global Affairs. At Eckerd, he served as President of the Student Government and co-founded the Alliance of Concerned Individuals. After graduating from Eckerd in 2006, Craig enrolled in a joint degree program between Harvard Law School and the Kennedy School of Government, where he is earning a Master's in Public Policy and a Law Degree. At Harvard, Craig jumped head-first into the Youth Climate Movement, working with Energy Action in January 2007 as an intern and helping to plan Power Shift 2007 as an Energy Action Summer Fellow. Craig also serves on the Steering Committee of Mass Youth Climate Action and the Executive Committee of the Sierra Student Coalition. Most recently, he was appointed to a Presidential Task Force by Harvard’s President to set concrete emissions reductions for the University. Craig enjoys playing outdoor sports (when it's warm), and complaining about Massachusetts winters (when it's cold).

Recruitment Team

Vanessa Wright, Recruitment Team Leader

Vanessa Grew up in Northern California, a place known for its strong conservationist background, but her climate action did not begin until coming to University of Massachusetts Amherst in Fall 2004 where she worked with MassPIRG at UMass on the Energy Efficiency Standards Bill. Since then she has worked on a variety of climate change campaigns including energy education programs. She has served as both the Programs Director and Vice Chair of the MassPIRG State Board, Chapter Chair of the UMass MassPIRG and campaign coordinator of the UMass Global Warming Campaign. She is currently a member of the MYCA steering committee and attempting to be a climate activist in addition to finish her thesis.

Sarah Regenspan
Sarah had dedicated herself to being an anti-war and social justice activist until she recently became involved with the Smith College MassPIRG chapter. From there she was talked into being the Smith Campus Coordinator for the big Power Shift 2007 conference, and now she's recruiting for Mass Power Shift. Fighting for climate change and advocating for environmental justice is now right up there with tea parties and badminton in Sarah's preferred activities. Sarah plans to have a spunky major such as Latin American Studies, Spanish, or Chinese, when the time comes to decide. She currently attends Smith College in Northampton, MA, and stills calls Ithaca, NY her home.

Lobbying Team

Elizabeth Irvin, Lobbying Team Co-Leader
Elizabeth is a sophomore at Williams College, where she is double majoring in English and Music. Though these two fields might not seem the most logical choice for an environmental activist, she is very involved in Thursday Night Group, the Williams College student environmental organization. She has helped plan several large events this year, including a legislative hearing on the Massachusetts Global Warming Solutions Act and the Williams College Focus The Nation event. This summer, she hopes to return to her hometown, Cleveland, Ohio, and continue in environmental organizing.

Chris Traft, Lobbying Team Co-Leader
Chris is in his second year at Clark University in Worcester, MA. He has always loved camping and hiking and has always had a deep passion for nature. Chris plans on majoring in Environmental Science at Clark, a perfect fit for someone who loves both nature and science. Chris is interested in connecting environmental issues with social justice. He has helped to start up Worcester’s Food Justice campaign, which seeks to end food as a commodity and promote locally-grown, organic food as a way to end hunger in the community. He is now involved with Clark Peaceworks, Clark Sustainability Initiative and Campus Accountability Now, a group geared toward holding Clark accountable for its business and contracting practices.

Callista Perry
Callista is a first-year undergraduate student at Clark University leaning towards an Environmental Studies major. She is highly involved in on-campus climate organizing at Clark and currently serves on the Mass Youth Climate Action (MYCA) Steering Committee. Her involvement with MYCA is her first experience with youth climate organizing at the state level, and she hopes that it will be the first of many such experiences. She is a life-long UU, newly vegan, and a Kripalu yoga enthusiast. She is currently giving her all to climate organizing, because having a clean, healthy, functioning planet on which to live is a priority for her.

Jay O'Hara
Jay, a native of Cape Cod and a graduate of Earlham College, joins the MAPS Team after four months as a deck hand sailing on the Schooner Virginia. He began his environmental advocacy career as an organizer for the League of Conservation Voters in New Mexico during the 2004 elections, and more recently served two years as a program assistant to the Friends Committee on National Legislation in Washington, DC where he worked in the first LEED certified building on Capitol Hill. His other interests include folk music and dance, hiking, and sailing.

Partnerships Team

Melina Davis, Partnerships Team Co-Leader
Melina is a really cool womyn from Miami, Florida. She likes trees, sleeping, eating, and theater. Currently, she lives in Massachusetts and is enjoying the novelty of cold, snow, and chapped knuckles.

Rouwenna Lamm, Partnerships Team Co-Leader
Rouwenna grew up in Berea, Kentucky in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. Throughout her youth in the small Kentucky college-town she witnessed inequality, poverty, and environmental degradation, and was inspired by those around her to make change. Before college her efforts focused on social activism, promoting diversity, mediating discussions, and creating supportive communities. Recently, she has become more interested in sustainable development, renewable energy, and international relations. She is currently a senior astronomy major and physics minor at Smith College in western MA and is active in MassPIRG and MYCA. She loves to travel and has lived/studied in Madrid, Spain; Puebla, Mexico; and Puerto Rico. She has also worked in education in the Bronx, NY; Portland, OR; and in Massachusetts. She hopes to use her scientific background and language skills to encourage sustainable development around the world. Outside of the above mentioned interests, her passion is dancing... any kind... any where.

Yoni Vendriger
Yoni recently graduated from Emerson College where he studied film and entrepreneurship. He grew up in Israel where he was involved in peace and coexistence programs with Palestinian a high school and felt obligated to continue those efforts while studying in the US. In Boston he created Students for Peace, which focuses on promoting peace along with environment and global health issues.

Caroline Henderson, Fundraising
Caroline is a member of the Smith MASSPIRG chapter. She's also involved in 'Agricultural Activism' and a student group working to create a community garden on-campus. She is interested in sustainability, through agriculture and beyond. She is planning to take the fall semester off to promote green jobs, get out the vote, and renewable energy technology in New Mexico. She is psyched for MASS POWER SHIFT!

Emily Brown
Emily is a first-year student at Smith College from Northern California. Her awareness about climate change has blossomed in the past few years out of a passion for organic/local farming which she acquired during courses on sustainable and industrial agriculture within her Waldorf high school’s curriculum. After attending Powershift 2007 with members of MassPIRG, she wanted to become more actively involved in the youth climate movement and is excited to work with the intelligent and driven team of young leaders spearheading Mass Power Shift. In addition to creating a clean and just future, Emily enjoys acting, singing, and Indian Food.

Nicola Siso, Organization Fair Leader
Nicola is a graduate of the University of Florida where she got a bachelors in International Economics. Her main passion is traveling. By the age of 20 she had visited over 25 countries and lived in places such as Switzerland, Israel and San Francisco. Her next big expedition came at 27 years of age when she and her best friend from college went on an 8 month world tour. Her personal favorites were the Greek Islands, Hong Kong, the Philippines and New Zealand. She's a Vegan, loves animals and hopes to save the world.

Edward Miller
"Eddie" is currently a sophomore at Boston University but originally from Oberlin, Ohio, double majoring in Economics and Environmental Analysis and Policy. His interests include organic agriculture and development, the environment, good movies, heavy jam music, current affairs, life philosophy, and zen/buddhist thought. He is a member of the BU Environmental Student Organization, and serving as MAPS Campus Recruitment Officer for BU. He is also involved with Partnerships and Logistics committees and is super psyched for his first real involvement in youth activism.

Adam Sacks
Adam holds two doctorates, has had careers in holistic medicine and high tech, and since 2001 has been a full-time activist working on addressing global warming and establishing democracy in the U.S.A. He is the Executive Director of the Center for Democracy and the Constitution, a small non-profit in Lexington, Massachusetts, and is currently learning bicycle mechanics. He sold his car in July 2007 and as of March 2008 has logged 2,000 miles on his 15-year-old mountain bike, in weather chilly and warm, soggy and fair. He enjoys having company on the road and doesn't ride too fast.

Jen Filiault
Jen recently graduated from the University of Vermont with a double degree in Political Science and French. While at college, she traveled to Costa Rica to study Ecotourism and Sustainable Development and returned with an interest in Environmental Policy in the United States. After graduation, Jen returned home to Cape Cod and began working with Clean Power Now – a nonprofit, grassroots organization dedicated to informing and empowering citizens to support viable, renewable energy projects and policies.

Agenda Team

Elise Moussa, Agenda Team Co-Leader
Elise is Co-Founder of Borderless Educations (BE) and Director of the Boston Young Professionals Network of Americans for Informed Democracy (AID). Elise is an advocate of education through dialogue and technology; with a hard focus on the environment, social responsibility, open source technology and financial strategies to make that education sustainable. Elise is currently pursuing a Masters of Science at Boston College, where she earned an undergraduate degree in International Studies and Political Science with an Hispanic Studies minor. Elise also is on the Partnerships Team.

Stephanie DaCosta, Agenda Team Co-Leader
Stephanie, a graduate of Eckerd College in 2006, is now living the life in Boston. She works at a small law firm downtown called Tucker, Heifetz & Saltzman LLP as a paralegal. As a student at Eckerd College, Stephanie was able to gain more insight and passion for what this world needs, a better and equal environment for all. From living, studying and playing in Australia, Spain, Costa Rica, and FL, she became more involved in sustainable development, environmental conservation, and environmental justice. Stephanie enjoys soccer, running, warm weather, hot chocolate in the winter, and having a good time in the city. Viva la Massachusetts Power Shift Revolution!

Peter Ruggiero
Peter was born and raised in Connecticut. He holds a degree in literary studies from Williams College, a master's degree in TESOL from Southern Connecticut State University and a master's degree in international and intercultural management from the School for International Training. Peter has been teaching and training since 1991. Aside from ESL, he has also taught composition, public speaking and literature. In addition, he has taught French, Spanish and Italian, as well a s training teachers. He lived in Ivory Coast from January 1998 to September 2002. For most of that time, he was Peace Corps volunteer working as a small business advisor in an urban environmental project. Peter also managed an office for the Peace Corps in the interior of the country, working to link fellow volunteers with local leaders and other development workers in order to further environemental and social projects. Since moving to Boston, Peter's activism has taken him to the Bisexual Resource Center, where he was on the board in 2005 and 2006, and the Sierra Club Massachusetts Chapter, where he has been volunteer coordinator since last year.

Media Team

Andrea LeClair
Andrea is a Senior at Westfield State College in Westfield, MA. Andrea has been involved with Massachusetts Youth Climate Action since the end of October of 2007. She dove in head first taking on statewide-leadership and organizational roles a few days after Power Shift 2007, where rallied her group to participate in lobbying congress, a rally on the west lawn of the Capitol Building, and lastly a demonstration at a prominent bank in downtown Washington DC which ended up shutting down the branch for the remainder of the business day. Andrea has accepted a position with GREENPEACE starting four days after graduation this coming spring, working on their Global Warming campaign after abandoning all of her previous post-grad plans for May 2008.

Zo Tobi
Zo Tobi is currently serving the Youth Clean Energy Movement as the Northeast Organizer for the Sierra Student Coalition. Raised in New Hampshire by a working-class, Israeli-American father and a middle-class suburban Jewish mother from Massachusetts, Zo finished an undergraduate degree in International Development at Clark University in 2007. In his spare time, he is a Bikram Yoga enthusiast and performs as a progressive folk-rock songwriter in the New England college scene. He maintains some musings of potentially pursuing music full-time, attending Rabbinical school, or taking up a holistic health practice, after having attended to some of the converging catastrophies of the 21st century.

Entertaiment Team

Deidre Lally, Entertainment Team Leader
Deirdre is an Arts & Humanities student at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. She got her introduction to activism participating in anti-war organizing, then in 2007 she was accepted into a Greenpeace organizing training week called Change It!, and since then has been thrown headfirst into the Climate Movement. She works with Mass Youth Climate Action and Rising Tide, as well as having involvement in the Greenpeace Student Network. She is the founder of her college's first environmental group, the Berklee Environmental Action Team, and looks forward to dedicating 2008 to the ever-growing Youth Climate Movement and organizing around the elections and other political issues. She also is involved with various social justice groups in Boston such as Students for a Democratic Society.

Dave Scandurra
Dave is currently studying music at Berklee College in Boston. His life-long pursuit is to help make this world a better place. He stays very active with gigs, activism, organizing, and being peaceful. He thinks that music can and will play an important role in the social revolution that is to come. You can check out some of his music at www.myspace.com/changethroughmusic

Soul Purpose Live Team/Rally Team/Team Rock & Roll

Greg Reinauer, Soul Purpose Live Team Leader
Greg is a musician, teacher, and activist, and he finds his greatest satisfaction combining these three roles into one effort. As the bass player for Melodeego and coordinator for Soul Purpose Live, Greg is able to use his skills as a performer to generate the kind of change he wants to see in this world. He brings his unique personality and sense of humor to every project he works on.

Art Exhibit Team

Amy Swart , Art Exhibit Team Leader
Amy is in love with art, especially the kind that provides insight about society and inspires others to act for change. She recently graduated from BU and is figuring out what to do with a double major in the liberal arts. She is currently leading field trips around Boston for ESL students.

Green Jobs Team

Lizzy Fox
Lizzy is a Junior at Clark University in the International Development department. She is an avid traveler who has studied in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Mexico, and Namibia. Her passion for the environment began as a youth corps member in the VT Youth Conservation Corps, an organization to which she recently returned as a crew leader this past summer. Lizzy speaks fluent Spanish and enjoys salsa dancing and performing original poetry in her spare time.

Jeff DesMarais
Jeff is a Junior in the International Development and Social Change track of the International Development, Community and Environment department at Clark University, Worcester, MA. He has worked doing community development in Worcester while helping urban communities build themselves up through organic gardening and youth involvement. Aside from organizing, he enjoys music, yoga, message and friends.

Meredith Annex
Meredith is a freshman at Williams College originally from Durham, North Carolina. She still has an undeclared major, but is leaning towards either Anthropology or Chemistry. She has cared about environmental action since before she can remember; in fourth grade, she forced her parents to let her join the Sierra Club, and she has been involved in the fight ever since. This year, she helped plan the Williams College Focus the Nation event. Aside from Thursday Night Group, the environmental club at Williams, Meredith is involved in other social action groups around campus and plays on the Ultimate Frisbee team. Her interests include political satire, hiking and backpacking, Spanish, dancing in the rain, and watching college basketball.

Logistics Team

Rachel Leone, Logistics Team Co- Leader
Rachel is a senior at Boston University currently studying Environmental Analysis and Policy. It only seems fitting that she ends her undergraduate career with a bang by hosting MAPS at BU, considering that it was her experience at the 2006 Northeast Climate Conference at Yale that first got her so excited about the environment and activism. She is now the president of the Environmental Student Organization (ESO) at BU. She has also worked with the Boston Area Student Environmental Coalition (BASEC), Mass Youth Climate Action (MYCA) and the Boston Climate Action Network (BCAN). She and the ESO hosted the 2007 Northeast Youth Energy Summit and participated in the Interfaith March for Climate Change and the 2007 Boston Step It Up event. It is a complete mystery as to what is in store for her after graduation, but after meeting so many incredible people and learning what it is to be truly passionate about something, she knows it is going to be quite a ride.

Omie Hsu, Logistics Team Co- Leader
Sitting outside a Los Angeles coffee shop, Omie started to watch the air behind her friend floating by. That was when she finally decided she would need to take part in the environmental movement. As a Southern Californian, Omie worked very closely with the U. S Forest Service in the San Gabriel Mountains. Projects included watershed restoration, reforestation, and undamming rivers. Omie is currently a first-year student at Bard College at Simon's Rock. Her involvement with the MAPS planning team and Mass Youth Climate Action is her first experience on the right coast with the Youth Climate Movement. "

Kayla Rosenberg
Kayla is sophomore at Boston University, majoring in International Relations. She is also minoring in Art History and Environmental Analysis and Policy. Kayla is a Massachusetts native who has become very involved in the environmental movement. She is an active member of BU's Environmental Student Organization and attended Power Shift 2007 in November.

Family Programming Team

Tory Morgan Tolles, Family Programming Team Co-Leader
Tory is currently doing a year of national sevice through City Year at Highland Charter School in Providence, RI. Through MAPS, she is excited to involve her students in the application of science taught in the classroom. After her year of service, she hopes to continue to excite kids about science and math by teaching in a public school.

Becca Staples-Moore, Family Programming Team Co-Leader
Becca is a senior at Smith College majoring in Education and Psychology. She runs on the cross country team at Smith and loves to hike and spend time outdoors. Becca is involved in Gaia: Smith Students for the Environment, planning for Smith College's Focus the Nation events, the MassPIRG climate change campaign, the Green Team, and the Sustainability Committee. She is excited about helping to raise awareness about climate change and plan action that can be taken.

Marketing Team

Andy Hopper, Marketing Team Co-Leader
Andy currently works in the 'real world,' dropping out of Eckerd College two years ago to co-found an IT company. In his spare time, Andy lends his support to the Youth Climate Movement.

Adam Dvorzak, Marketing Team Co-Leader
Adam recently moved to Boston from Pennsylvania in search of knowledge, culture, and gaining new experiences. He enjoys volunteering for organizations that seek to improve current conditions in order to create a better future for generations to come.

Vicky Liang
Vicky is a sophomore at the University of Massachusetts Amherst currently enrolled in the Isenberg School of Management with a major in Finance and concentration in International Relations. She is a member of MassPIRG's Global Warming Campaign and was a research intern for the same organization last summer. Vicky is a foilist on the UMass Fencing Team. She loves museums, chai tea lattes, and sustainable business practices.

MYCA Coordinator

Morgan Goodwin

Morgan is a senior at Williams College. He has been involved in climate activism for two years, starting when he founded Thursday Night Group at his school and connected with the Sierra Student Coalition for support and resources. He attended the SSC's Summer Program (SPROG) last summer, and then worked with a handful of students across the state to start our student coalition, Mass Youth Climate Action. Morgan is a Chinese major, and will continue working in the climate movement wherever he needs to until we build a climate positive world.