StreetsblogMASS is a nonprofit organization, and the news you read on this website relies a team of volunteer board members who help us administrer our finances, provide editorial guidance, and generally keep our organization running smoothly and successfully.
In the past year, we've added four talented new members to our Board of Directors, who are profiled below in the order in which they joined our organization.
We’re extremely grateful for their support, and proud to add their names to our organization’s leadership roster.
Luis Edgardo Cotto is a lifelong cultural worker and community organizer, deeply involved in the arts and placemaking, and is also an avid cyclist. As a former Hartford City Councilor and chair of the Public Works, Parks, and Environment Committee, he championed transportation access and worked with advocates to expand bike storage infrastructure downtown.
His transportation claim to fame is the time he challenged himself to use as many travel modes as possible—his record trip from Puerto Rico to Hartford involved seven different modes: walking, car, plane, AirTrain, subway, Greyhound, and city bus. Currently, Luis manages a MassDev Creative City grant in Lynn, and lives with his partner Mercedes and son Ángel in Cambridge.
Arah Schuur is an energy consultant who works throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic on policies and programs to decarbonize the built environment. She has spent 15 years working in clean energy, including in state and federal government, as well as in the nonprofit and for-profit sectors. Arah holds master's degrees in Urban Planning and Real Estate Development from MIT, and a bachelor's degree in Biology from Yale University.
Arah is also a cofounder of Somerville Bicycle Safety and on the steering committee of the Somerville Alliance for Safe Streets (SASS) She is passionate about advocating for safe streets and equitable transportation as a critical element of great places.
Elena Huisman is a native Austinite who lived in Boston for 10 years prior to moving to Northampton, where she currently resides. Elena is a Manager at Climate Lead, where she works with philanthropists to make influential contributions to address the climate crisis. She's also written a couple of stories for StreetsblogMASS as a freelance contributor. She holds a MS in environmental policy and planning from the University of Michigan and a BA in environmental studies and international affairs from Northeastern University.
Elena uses her bike as her primary mode of transportation, and she sees active and public transportation as a means to improve public health, spur economic development, and reach our climate goals.
Grecia White is a program manager within the Clean Transportation team at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center where she supports a suite of projects focused on electric vehicles.
She moved to Boston from Austin five years ago to pursue a master's degree in Urban Informatics from Northeastern University. As a student, she enjoyed biking to class, taking the bus to different neighborhoods and getting to know the region with the help of the commuter rail.
Lately, Grecia has been exploring her relationship with transportation as a means to deepen her connection with nature.
Having previously reported for StreetsblogMASS, she is excited to return to the organization and serve as a board member alongside familiar and new faces. In this new role, she hopes to highlight the connections between our transportation system, the natural world, and each other.
