OUr team
Board of Directors
The Board of Directors includes people who are passionate about composting and sustainable practices and have joined with Earth Matter by lending their expertise, skills, facilities and/or advice to us. Advisory Board Members are our active guides to the direction in which our organization will grow.
The Board of Directors’ vision and expertise can be in just about any area related to sustainability and organizational growth as related to our mission. Some examples of Advisory Member focus are: composting, environmental education, biology, horticulture, urban agriculture, technical support for physical operations, volunteer coordination, public relations, event planning and fundraising, accounting, rainwater harvesting, and many more.
Officers
Steve Coe
President
Steve retired as CEO of Community Access in June 2019 and is now supporting a range of mental health housing and advocacy initiatives throughout the U.S. and abroad. An avid proponent of human-centered design, Steve hopes to assist agencies and governments plan and implement social initiatives that are truly informed by user needs. Learn more about Steve Coe on his LinkedIn page.
Tim Hospodar
Treasurer
Tim Hospodar is a consultant at KPMG Ignition, with Industry experience in the Tech Sector, supporting colleagues with office sustainability initiatives and events. Hospodar also serves on the Board of Directors for the Park Slope Food Coop and serves a Brooklyn community garden, Rockwell Bears. As an artist, he has been awarded residencies internationally, participated in gallery shows and publications, and performed Off-Broadway.
Anita Chan
Secretary
Anita Chan (she/her) is a native New Yorker who loves nature and seeks to live a fun but impactful and sustainable lifestyle. For the past several years, she has been working in the field of environmental education, urban agriculture, and sustainable waste management and taking part in various stewardship and environmental conservation projects.
Members at Large
Charlie Bayrer
Charlie Bayrer has been an active community composter and gardener for 13 years. He was a co-chair of the Brooklyn Queens Land Trust healthy soils initiative, which sampled and tested the soil in all 34 member gardens from 2007 to 2008. He helped develop the sampling protocol, guidelines for remediation, gardener education on contamination and test interpretation, and implementation of remediation plans.
Leigh Howard
Leigh (she/her) is a proud New Yorker and an alumna of the Green Thumb/Earth Matter Compost Apprenticeship. She is a member of her local community garden in Crown Heights, Brooklyn and is committed to building community within green spaces to organize for a sustainable future. Leigh is excited to join Earth Matter’s Board of Directors to help support and elevate the organization’s important work.
Guido Hartray
Guido Hartray is a founding Partner of Marvel Architects and has led design teams working on a wide range of projects, including Pierhouse and 1Hotel, a new high school for SCA and the renovation and reprogramming of the Central King Building for the New Jersey Institute of Technology. His interest in public space has informed streetscape redesigns for Hudson Square and Union Square.
Rasheda Mitchell
Rasheda Mitchell received her Master Composter certificate from the NYC Department of Sanitation and graduated from NYC Farm School. The Farm School’s emphasis revolved around urban agriculture and land stewardship. Her work experience includes working with Earth Matter as a Farm and Compost Apprentice. She gives back by volunteering in NYC community gardens, and NYBG for specialized programs or events. As an active member of her local community garden and in the NYC Lavender Field on Governors Island, she displays her commitment to creating food accessibility and community environmental sustainability.
Nancy Ye
Ex-Officio
Marisa DeDominicis
Executive Director,
Earth Matter NY
Marisa DeDominicis has a BA in Business and Organizational Communications from Emerson College, Boston. She worked for the Trust for Public Land (TPL) as an environmental educator and project manager for 18 years. Her duties there ranged from leading educational systems on garden design and construction, and managing both community engagement and construction of infrastructural improvements for 68 community gardens.