Laureen joined the WRWC board in October 2013 and leverages her extensive corporate financial services experience to support the organization’s sustainability and mission. Laureen is a retired Fidelity VP, past small business owner, and an active WRWC event volunteer. Before stepping into the Board President role in 2020, Laureen served as Vice President Secretary, and Development Committee Chair.
John is Deputy Director of Grow Smart RI, a statewide nonprofit founded in 1998 that provides policy research, development and advocacy to advance urban revitalization and sustainable economic and community development. John’s policy work is focused on the synergies of land use, economic development and public transportation as well as incentives that drive private investment to achieve public goals. A resident of North Smithfield, he served for several years on the North Smithfield Planning Board and Ordinance Review Committee, chaired the town’s Redevelopment Agency and was elected Town Council President in 2012. John joined the WRWC board in 2018.
Martina Haggerty is Senior Director of Local Innovation at PeopleForBikes, a national foundation working to get more people riding bikes more often. There, she works with communities across the country to accelerate the implementation of bike infrastructure and the adoption of pro-bike policies. Previously, Martina spent more than a decade working for the City of Providence, advancing bold transportation, environmental, land use, and planning initiatives. As a resident of Providence, she enjoys riding along Rhode Island’s scenic bike paths with her family.
Martina holds an MS in Architecture and Urban Design from Pratt Institute and a B.Arch from Roger Williams University and joined the WRWC Board in 2023.
Michael is a lifelong resident of Rhode Island and currently resides in Providence overlooking the Woonasquatucket River. He is the Global Vice President of Technical Support at Salesforce.com and has over 25 years of experience in the technology industry. Michael has a BA from Assumption College and an MS from Depaul University. Michael’s wife, Renee, is the Director of Community and Home Therapeutic Services at the Groden Center in Providence and his daughter, Isabella, is a current student at Temple University. In his free time, Michael enjoys hiking, bicycling, volunteering, and traveling. Michael joined the WRWC board in 2023.
Daphne is the DEI Community Engagement Manager at Lendlease, a global commercial real estate organization that focuses on an integrated model that invests and creates in communities, workplaces, retail, and infrastructure projects. Previously, as a development manager, she focused on the sustainable use of common areas and public spaces in the city leading teams and consultants on the interior spaces to create the best places for residents and address the ever-changing communities' needs. Daphne brings a range of experience from finance, interior design, and residential lending as a broker and business owner to her are inclusive of local talent including artists, nonprofits, and local business owners on projects bringing equity to the engagement efforts. While innovation is top of mind in project development, building relationships and creating partnerships with people and nonprofits in the community on multi-residential mixed-use, healthcare, and life sciences buildings is her passion. Daphne sits on the Employer Advisory Board for Building Pathways, a pre-apprenticeship program to the building trades, a member of BCC and BECMA in Boston, MA, and volunteers across several organizations in the city yearly with various nonprofits participating in fundraising efforts that include city and coastline public bike and walking cleanups, food pantry, clothing drives, and access to affordable healthcare for marginalized communities.
In her spare time, she enjoys bike rides around city waterways in Boston and beaches. Daphne moved to Providence in 2022 and joined the WRCW board in 2023. Daphne holds a B.A. in International Affairs from Rollins College.
Eric is founder and principal of Studio MEJA, an Olneyville based architecture firm committed to transforming broken buildings into meaningful places. He also leads Wide Plank, LLC, a real estate redevelopment and management group that repositions buildings to meet changing community and market needs. When he’s not working on making cities better places, or leading teams that create beauty out of brokenness, he can be often be found hiking in the White Mountains or trail running in Roger Williams Park. He lives with his wife, Melanie, and two young children in the Edgewood section of Cranston, Rhode Island. Eric joined the WRWC board in 2020.
Jen is an attorney in the Providence office of Locke Lord LLP, where she practices corporate law, focusing on advising private equity clients on mergers and acquisitions. Jen spends much of her free time working on home improvement projects on her century-old home in Providence. In the warm months, she can often be found biking on Rhode Island’s beautiful bike paths. After graduating from her undergraduate program at the University of Vermont, Jen completed a self-supported cross-country bicycle tour with her husband and hopes to find the time to embark on another adventure-filled bicycle tour. Jen joined the WRWC board in 2020.
Brian is Director of Annual Giving at Moses Brown School, a Nursery-12 independent school in Providence. He has been a fundraising professional since 2006, and has worked in the nonprofit arts and education sectors in a variety of roles since 1994. He has served on the Boards of Wilbury Theatre Group, the Pawtucket Arts Festival, and the Pawtucket Lions Memorial Foundation. A resident of Johnston, where he lives with his wife and daughter, Brian enjoys exploring Rhode Island’s many parks, conservation areas, and bike paths. He joined the WRWC Development Committee in 2021, and joined the Board in 2022.
Jennifer Recinos was born and raised in Providence, RI often switching between the Olneyville and Federal Hill neighborhoods and spent much of her childhood playing in Donigian Park. Jenn started her involvement with WRWC in 2010, 2011 when she served as a River Ranger. In 2013 was awarded the Eli Segal Citizen Leader Fellowship for her involvement in public service. In 2014 she earned her B.A. in International Studies as well as Film + Interactive Media Studies from Brandeis University. She has spent the past 6 years working in College Access and Arts Education at Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Jenn joined the WRWC board in 2020. In her free time she can be found biking around town. She currently resides in Olneyville a short walk away from the Woony path.
Christopher Riely is a forester and watershed manager for Providence Water, the public utility from which most Rhode Islanders get their drinking water. He is also Board President of the Rhode Island Land Trust Council and a Senior Fellow of the Environmental Leadership Program. Christopher lives on the West Side of Providence only a short distance from the Woonasquatucket River. Christopher holds a BA from Tufts University, a Masters in Forestry from Yale, and an MBA from URI, and he joined the WRWC board in 2015.
