Board of Directors

Cynthia Hibbard

PRESIDENT
Cynthia is a retired Vice President and Air & Climate Practice Leader at CDM Smith. She is dedicated to climate and environmental justice advocacy. In addition to serving on the Green Cambridge Board, Cynthia has served on City committees, and is a member of 350 Mass, Mothers Out Front, and the First Parish UU Environmental Justice Team. She studied Engineering, Physics, and Public Health at Harvard University.
Sukia Akiba

VICE PRESIDENT
Sukia is a social activist and an environmentalist. She has a Bachelors in Sociology from UMass Boston and a Masters in Global Health Policy and Management from the Heller School at Brandeis University. She is Nigerian and currently works with several organizations to improve the quality of life in Nigeria.
Minka VanBeuzekom

TREASURER
Minka is a real estate agent and former City Councillor. A board member since 2011, Minka has been a strong local advocate for the environment and worked on the Plastic Bag ban and Net Zero. Minka also serves on the board of the Mystic River Watershed Association.
Julia Mintz

CLERK & GOVERNANCE CHAIR
Julia is a Land Planner/Urban Design at VHB in Watertown, MA, and former Farm Coordinator with Green Cambridge, where she managed farm-based environmental education programming. She is a passionate environmentalist and certified permaculture designer with a focus on climate adaptation and planning more sustainable and resilient communities. Julia earned her B.A. in Geography and Environmental Studies from SUNY Geneseo and her Master of City Planning and Graduate Certificate in Applied Sustainability from Boston University.
Santos Carrasquillo

BOARD MEMBER
Santos is a lifelong Port neighborhood resident, community organizer / activist and social entrepreneur. He is a co-founder of the non-profit Cambridge FIG, INC (Filling In the Gaps) and co-founding member of The Goree Freedom House, an organization focusing on Economic Development, Mutual Aid, and Social Change. Santos studied Biotechnology at Bunker Hill Community College, Information Technology at Cambridge College and community economic development at Suffolk University Sawyer Business School.
Charles Franklin

BOARD MEMBER
Charles is originally from the DC area and moved to Cambridge to attend MIT in 2010. Graduating with a degree in computer science and electrical engineering, he took his first job at Athenahealth in Watertown and is now a senior developer at Akamai in Kendall Square. From an early age, Charles has been an advocate for the environment and enjoyer of nature. He also serves on the Inman Square Neighborhood Association board and is a founding member of Upgrade Cambridge.
Louis Noble III

BOARD MEMBER
Louis grew up in Cambridge and works as an accountant at the Environmental Protection Agency. He leads an internal team to do community outreach on environmental justice.
Rev. Vernon Walker

BOARD MEMBER
Vernon is the Climate Justice Program Director at Clean Water Action. He has over a decade of social justice organizing experience in the Boston area with a focus on the intersections of racial and climate justice. From Philadelphia, he studied Organizational Leadership at Penn State University, and Theology at Boston University. He is a Senior Fellow at the Environmental Leadership Program, at Tufts University Tisch College of Civic Life through the Institute for Nonprofit Practice, and at the University of Massachusetts, Boston campus Center for Collaborative Leadership. He's currently studying environmental justice at Tufts University, and is a Neighborhood Fellow there. He was associate pastor at the Berarch church in Boston.
Byron Harvey

BOARD MEMBER
Byron is deeply committed to a climate resilient future. He works as a software engineer at Booz Allen Hamilton. He studied Computer Science and Economics at University of Virginia.