About Us

Mission + Vision
Board of Trustees & Staff
Job Openings

Mission:

Mobilizing Camden residents for a healthier environment.

Vision:

We dream of a Camden environment where solutions are local, collective, community centered, and fair.

Board of Trustees

Portia Simmons: Chair

Nonprofit Director / Community Member

Portia is a proud “Jersey Girl“; born in Jersey City, raised in Newark, and purchased her home in Camden. She is a United States Army Veteran and has a background in Journalism, Public Affairs, Fund Development and Social Services. She has degrees in both Addictions Counseling and Human Services and is also a Reiki practitioner, a facilitator for Warrior Writers Workshops, and an active member in The Mission Continues. She joined the board in 2021 after enjoying membership in our community garden for several years and is also the founder / Executive Director of Porter’s Daughter’s Garden, a local nonprofit.

Heather Wright: Vice Chair

Subaru of America

Heather Wright is a native of Brooklyn, NY who has called South Jersey home for the past 20 years. As a first generation New Yorker, her parents instilled the importance of giving back to her community by serving others. As a long–time employee of Subar of America, Heather organized and participated in over 50 volunteer events. She also founded the Black and Latino Employee Resource Group, serving as the chair for 4 years. She joined the CFET board in 2022 and served as the head of the communications team before becoming the Vice President in 2024. Her interests include traveling and reading.

Barry Gladstein: Treasurer

Macquarie Group

Barry is the Head of Sustainable Investing for Equities & Multi–Asset at Macquarie Asset Management (MAM). In this role, he supports the investment teams in their efforts to integrate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations into their investment processes and co–manages two dedicated sustainability strategies. Barry holds a Bachelor of Science in accounting from the State University of New York at Binghamton and a Master of Business Administration in finance from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst® designation and is a certified public accountant. He also holds the Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting CredentialR and has completed the CFA Institute’s Certificate in ESG Investing.

Colin McGuigan: Secretary

PhD Theology Candidate

Colin McGuigan is a PhD candidate in Theology at the University of Dayton and a former high school teacher. He is currently finishing a dissertation on the ecological and political importance of wonder. He lives with his wife and children in Gloucester City, and they are parishioners at Sacred Heart Church in Camden, NJ.

Lisa Pierce

Educator / Community Member

Lisa was a Camden City School science teacher for 22 years where she helped develop an alternative school program for students with behavioral challenges. There she created the Liberty Garden grow lab program and partnered with the Camden Children’s Garden to create a student butterfly garden exhibit at Philadelphia Flower Show. She enjoys observing the positive impacts on student behavior that come from working in a natural outdoor setting. She currently volunteers at the Montessori preschool classroom at Sacred Heart School and is a member of South Jersey women for progressive change.

Cheryl Heatwole-Shenk

Montessori Teacher / Community Member

Cheryl has been connected with CFET since its earliest days. As a college student studying environmental science, she spent the summer of 2006 as an intern in the greenhouse and gardens. Cheryl and her family have lived in the Waterfront South neighborhood of Camden since 2007 where Cheryl teaches in the Montessori preK/K program at Sacred Heart School, which she helped to found in 2015. Her passions for environmental, social, racial, and educational justice motivate her work to provide Montessori education in Camden and to support the mission of CFET.

Letitia Hill

Health Advocate / Community Member

Letitia is an advocate for the National MS Society, the American Heart Association: You’re the Cure, and the Lupus Foundation of America. Her advocacy work has taken her across the country attending events and serving as a panelist. She feels that it is her duty to share her story specifically with women and can often be found chronicling her journey at women’s brunches and for churches. She started her own radio show where she had people share their experiences living with chronic illnesses. She envisions a world free of autoimmune diseases and chronic illnesses and will work to improve the lives of those suffering with these diseases through advocacy and support. She continues to be a motivational speaker, advocate, and life coach.

Lisa Caswell

Early Childhood Educator

Lisa was born and raised in South Jersey but lived in NYC and Oakland, CA before returning home. Lisa was first exposed to issues around environmental justice while teaching in Brooklyn where her students had significantly higher asthma rates than their suburban peers. Lisa first experienced garden education for children while working as a first grade teacher at Malcolm X Elementary School in Berkeley, CA. Lisa and her family are parishioners at Sacred Heart Church in Waterfront South. When Lisa learned about the work that CFET does with environmental justice, urban farming, and immersion experiences she knew she wanted to become more involved. Lisa currently teaches an outdoor nature–based preschool class and leads a local Girl Scout troop.

Akilah Chatman

Academy of Natural Sciences

Akilah (they/them) is a community based environmental justice educator at the Academy of Natural Sciences and a 2022 Drexel University grad with a B.S. in Environmental Sciences. In their free time, they practice various art mediums, farm, cook, and enjoys intentional body movement.

Tom Selling