Alan Palm, Executive Director, [email protected]

Alan joined Better Future Project in 2017 as the Director of Organizing for 350 Mass and took on the Executive Director role for BFP in 2022. Alan began educating and advocating for just solutions to the global ecological crisis 2007 when he co-founded a sustainability education organization that traveled to 46 states aboard vegetable oil and solar powered school buses, presenting at schools and supporting the youth climate movement. Alan later joined ACE: Alliance for Climate Education where he led a team that presented to nearly half a million high school students throughout New England, and trained dozens of youth to lead campaigns for issues like Fossil Fuel Divestment and 100% Renewable Energy. After completing Marshall Ganz’s course, “Organizing: People, Power, Change,” Alan joined the BFP team as the Director of Organizing for 350 Mass where he supported municipal, statewide, and national campaigns and coalition efforts. Alan was born and raised in Massachusetts with roots in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Stud Green, Director of Finance & Administration, [email protected] 

Originally from Virginia with deep roots in New England, Stud has worked for the past 15 years collaborating with nonprofits and small businesses. With a background spanning finance, operations, and fundraising, Stud is passionate about supporting mission-based organizations and looks forward to contributing to  Better Future Project and helping to chart a course for the future.

Evan Bell, Director of Organizing, [email protected]

Originally from Connecticut, Evan cut his teeth in organizing in the fossil fuel divestment movement as an undergraduate at Tufts University. Evan joined Students for a Just and Stable Future, devising retreats and direct actions. As an intern for Better Future Project, he staffed the Climate Summer Program and supported renewable energy campaigns. After moving away from the Boston area, Evan led trainings with the Sierra Club and the Powershift Network, organized with SEIU 32BJ on the airports campaign, and mentored student leaders from New York City at the Posse Foundation. Evan is dedicated to building stronger communities founded in justice. Outside of organizing, he enjoys reading, basketball, and bad horror movies.

Dan Zackin, Legislative Manager, [email protected] 

Dan was born and raised in Connecticut before moving to Somerville for college. As an undergraduate at Tufts University Dan joined the Sunrise Movement and Tufts Climate Action, fighting for fossil fuel divestment on campus and climate justice statewide. During his time with the Sunrise Movement, he supported and led a broad range of organizing work from direct action to legislative advocacy. Dan went on to work on several progressive campaigns, including Ed Markey’s 2020 reelection campaign and Yvonne Spicer’s mayoral campaign in Framingham. Once we build a just and habitable world, Dan plans on retiring from political work to focus on hiking, cross country skiing, and baking.

Rachael Boyce, Climate Justice and Resilience Manager, [email protected] 

A queer feminist and Maryland transplant, Rachael relocated to Massachusetts to work as a pastry chef. Working in the hospitality industry for 12 years gave her the opportunity to work alongside and learn from the vibrant immigrant community that now call the Northeast home. It was specifically working with undocumented communities navigating exclusionary immigration policies that she was inspired to pursue graduate work focused on grassroots organizing and proactive policy solutions that prioritize community resilience. Her research and activism has focused on the intersectional impact of the housing and climate crises on Massachusetts communities. In 2023, she joined the Better Future Project to support their CREW resilience hub program and to co-lead the Make Polluters Pay campaign. A systems-focused thinker, Rachael believes in the power of collaboration to address the intersectional impact of mounting crises including but not limited to housing insecurity, climate change, and energy burden.

Leigh has been with Communities Responding to Extreme Weather (CREW), as a volunteer since 2018, both as an organizer for their annual Climate Interfaith Summit and member of a local CREW chapter in Somerville, MA, and she now serves on the staff as the Project Manager. She’s had the honor of serving her community in many capacities – public education, songwriting and performance, community organizing, grants management, and even ecological landscaping. She feels most joyful and in flow when she gets to be creative, curious, and connected to nature, and when she can support others in accessing these as well. With her stellar teams at CREW, Leigh will be coordinating community engagement work for a Charles River Flood Model project, as well as a community participatory research study in downtown Boston, always with her eye and heart on ways to engage people authentically, equitably, and through mutual learning.

Lexi Lafferty, Coastal Resilience Coordinator, [email protected]

Lexi is originally from Delaware and recently moved to Medford. She is currently pursuing a master’s in urban and environmental policy and planning at Tufts University. Lexi has worked on environmental justice movements, floodplain management and policy research, and urban farming and food insecurity in the Mid-Atlantic region before joining CREW. In her free time, Lexi likes to read, bake, and hike.

Nurah Abdulhaqq , Communications Associate, [email protected]

Nurah Abdulhaqq (She/Her/Hers) is originally from Atlanta, Georgia and recently moved to Massachusetts following her graduation from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY. As a teenager Nurah worked for March For Our Lives (MFOL), leading statewide program initiatives in Georgia. She later ended up joining MFOL as a national youth organizer serving on the inaugural iteration of the organization's Youth Congress.  Beyond MFOL Nurah has worked as a surrogate on Senator Sanders 2020 Presidential Campaign, with Giffords as CVI Program Intern, and at Common Cause NY as an Election Protection organizer. Nurah has had the pleasure of translating her organizing skills into communications work. From public affairs and crisis comms to arts communication; Nurah is well versed in copy editing, traditional and digital communications and media and the convergence between social justice and communications. Outside of organizing, Nurah likes to read, play music, and hike.  

Interns

Olivier Bradley, Communications Fellow, [email protected]

Olivier grew up in Harvard, Massachusetts, and graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Economics, a minor in environmental science, and a Civic Engagement & Public Service certificate from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. At graduation, Olivier was selected to represent the economics major as the class’s senior speaker, sharing reflections on navigating that social and political moment. During college, Olivier was an active participant in the Community Scholars Program, a multi-year academic community engagement and leadership program centered around intentional service, learning, discussion, and visioning; Olivier also served the Amherst economics community as Co-President of the UMass Undergraduate Economics Club. At Better Future Project, Olivier serves as a Communications Fellow (September 2025 – June 2026) supporting the "Make Polluters Pay" campaign through strategic campaign communications, economic research, and policy analysis. Outside work at BFP, Olivier loves to read, study and play chess, and explore nature.