Staff & Board | The Horticultural Society of New York

Cultivating Plants, People & Purpose

OUR LOCATIONS

Greenhouse & Education Center
Denny Farrell Riverbank State Park
679 Riverside Drive, New York, NY 10031

Midtown Administrative Offices & Library
148 West 37th Street, 13th Floor
New York, NY 10018

OUR PROGRAMS

HORTICULTURE

We provide low-cost garden design, installation, and maintenance services to ensure that all NYC residents, especially those in low-income and marginalized communities, have access to green spaces. As a further public good, The Hort uses a workforce development model for service delivery: our full-time landscape and horticultural staff provide high-quality infield vocational training and paid internships for our crews, which consist of individuals overcoming barriers to employment. The Hort has designed, installed, and maintained more than 2,000 gardens and green spaces throughout New York City.

EDUCATION

The Hort provides education and enrichment programs for New Yorkers of all ages. Based out of the Greenhouse Education Center at Denny Farrell Riverbank State Park in West Harlem, The Hort offers free and affordable classes, workshops, and public events—both virtually and in-person—that engage more than 10,000 youth, families, and seniors in learning about gardening, nutrition, environmental science, and the culinary arts. The Hort’s educators also work at 35 public schools at which The Hort has designed and installed learning gardens, serving more than 4,000 students annually.

THERAPEUTIC HORTICULTURE

The Hort has pioneered and advanced the practice of therapeutic horticulture through which people improve their social and emotional wellbeing by cultivating and caring for plants. The Hort’s program provides services to more than 1,000 people each year including individuals incarcerated and detained at the Rikers Island Correctional Facility. Additionally, we provide custom therapeutic gardening workshops, serving public, supportive, and affordable housing facilities, senior centers, outpatient treatment centers, the shelter system, foster-care settings, and detention centers.

Board of Directors

Jared Goss, Chairman
Frances Schultz, Vice-Chair
Duncan Sahner, Vice-Chair
Bruce Addison, Treasurer
Martin Breheny, Secretary

George Ball
Elizabeth Cabot
James P. Druckman
Susan Donoghue, Ex officio
Timothy Hamilton
Michael A. Kovner

Michele E. Lindsay
Mario Nievera
Lily O’Boyle
Louis A. Molina, ex officio
Patricia Sovern

Advisory Board

CeCe Black
Andrea Henderson Fahnestock
Janet Mavec

Staff

Sara Hobel, Executive Director

George Pisegna, Deputy Director & Chief of Horticulture

Administration

Katherine Biggar, Administrative Manager

Jasmine Chang, HR & Hiring Coordinator

Lisa Gilroy, Payroll Associate

Lauren Keane-Farrell, Senior Director of Administration

Nadine Kruczowy, Project Coordinator

Adriana Lall, Assistant Director of Finance

Cleo Lewis, Director of Finance

Charlotte Muth, Development Associate

Whitney Sessoms, HR Manager

Kevin Sullivan, Senior Grants Writer

Children’s Education & Professional Development

Mark Benedetti, Greenhouse and Garden Manager

Parrish Finn, Garden Educator

Thalia Flores-Perez, Garden Educator

Pamela Ito, Director of Education

Rosa Karim, Garden Educator

Bethany Kogut, Education Manager & Content Creator

Carla Shotwell, Greenhouse & Education Center Manager

GreenHouse & Horticultural Therapy

Jake Kennedy, GreenHouse Instructor

Mechthild(Hilda) Krus (HTR), Director of GreenHouse & Horticultural Therapy Services

Valentina Michelotti, Curriculum Writer

Douglas Pentland, GreenHouse Instructor

Rose Upton, GreenHouse Instructor

McLean Zauner, GreenHouse Instructor

Horticulture

Loissa Harrison-Parks, Account Manager (Horticulture)

Craig Zeitlin, Account Manager (Horticulture)

Raquelle Sewell, Administrative Assistant

Jeremy Jungels, Director of Horticulture

Georgia Faulkner, Director of Special Projects

Wilson Berroa, Field Supervisor

Jason Eisner, Field Supervisor

Paulene Hosein, Field Supervisor

Josuan Martinez, Field Supervisor

Kemberly Villalta, Field Supervisor

Lily Farr, Gardener

Alison Gish, Gardener

Reuven Hoffman, Gardener

Roger Levine, Gardener

Maria Nieves, Gardener

Karenna Northland, Gardener

Gabriel Roman, Gardener

Yismel Rosario, Gardener

Ailyn Salas Pacheco, Gardener

Azaryah Yisrael, Gardener

Natalie Brickajlik, Program Development Manager

Nicholas Guntli, Senior Director of Horticulture

Patrick Costello, Therapeutic Workshop Coordinator

Andrew Hall Therapeutic Workshop Instructor

Open Streets Team
Meet the Team

Join our team!

Full Time Positions

Education Manager & Senior Educator

Field Supervisor

Gardener

Horticulture Field Manager

Therapeutic Horticulture Instructor

Therapeutic Horticulture Program Manager

Contract Positions

(January 2022 to Spring 2022)

Community Coordinator Lead

The Hort is an Equal Opportunity employer.

We provide reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities to enable them to perform the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodations are also available for these individuals during the hiring process. Please email jobs@thehort.org should you require a reasonable accommodation during the hiring process.

Collaboration is a vital component of everything the Hort does. We partner with greening and environmental organizations, academic institutions, departments of the local, state and national government, cultural and arts organizations, community-based groups and social service agencies. If you are interested in collaborating with the Hort on a project, please contact one of our staff members here.

Selected Press

Edible Manhattan, “Growing New Lives” (PDF)

Fox News, “New program gives former inmates a second chance”

The Huffington Post, “By Leaves or Play of Sunlight, John Cage: Artist and Naturalist”

National Geographic, “This Is Your Brain on Nature”

News 12, “Horticultural program aims to rehabilitate Rikers inmates”

New York Family, “Green Days: The Hort is Growing A New Generation of Little Gardeners and Eco-Minded Families” (PDF)

The Wall Street Journal, “One Bright Side of Rikers Island” (PDF)

Well + Good, “How You Can Help Make Healthy Food a Staple on Everyone’s Table”

NYC Dept. of Correction, “Bold Print: Official Newsletter of the New York City Department of Correction (March/April 2019)” (PDF)

NY1 News, “Kids Part of Beautification Effort Along Sutphin Boulevard”

The Horticultural Society of New York’s archives (1811 – 2010) are available from The New York Historical Society through NYU Digital Library Technology Services.
Guide to the Horticultural Society of New York Records