Our Partners
About Lisa Brukilacchio (she series) and the Somerville Community Growing Center
The Somerville Community Growing Center is a place for people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities to gather, learn, and celebrate in nature, together building a welcoming, accessible, and thriving community. Recognizing and celebrating the restorative power, beauty and awe of the natural world, we're always looking to find ways to build community, connecting across ecological, cultural, and justice issues. The Center is a very small but vital piece of green space in an urban city, and it is a place where people can come and start to develop that relationship with both a place and the people who come there. It's those connections that can provoke us to ask questions such as, Why did I meet someone here that I might not have met somewhere else?, or, Why do I feel differently here? We humbly acknowledge that we have much to learn and to do in order to reflect a lens of diversity, equity, justice and inclusion and we welcome new partners and perspectives in this on-going effort. What are ways that we can work together to think about this big, beautiful space that we share and how we might collectively care for it? Who is caring for it, and who is making programming decisions and exploring their roles, responsibilities and rights, because all those issues intersect? The Growing Center is many things to many people, and we're honored to participate in the Urban Pastorals project.
As one of the founding members of the Somerville Community Growing Center, Lisa Brukilacchio was highly motivated by her own childhood experiences to foster an environment where all ages and abilities can discover how to apply their passions and talents towards building a model of inclusion, sustainability, citizen engagement and cultural exploration. Her experience bridges clinical and community health, environmental education and stewardship, municipal government and teaching in out-of-school settings, as well as undergraduate and graduate level venues. Lisa has served on numerous non-profit boards in the areas of inclusion, social justice, food equity, education, and environment. Currently, she is involved with the Nature Connection [nature-connection.org] in Concord and Mothers Out Front-Medford & the MOF MOF Healthy Soil Livable Future Action Group [mothersoutfront.my.canva.site].
About Diane Wong (she series) and The Racial Justice Collaborative
The Racial Justice Collaborative (RJC) is proud to serve the Somerville community by creating spaces where people can talk openly about race. Through training, facilitation, and dialogue, we help neighbors, nonprofits, and city leaders understand how race shapes our lives and how honest conversation can bring us closer together. We focus on building community by building relationships—one dialogue at a time.
Established in Somerville in 2020, the RJC proudly acquired 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in 2024. The Collaborative grew out of Let’s Talk About Race, a grassroots initiative dedicated to making race a regular part of community conversation. Today, the RJC continues that mission by helping groups move beyond silence, listen deeply, and build connections strong enough to meet the challenges of our time.
Diane Wong, founder and leader of the Racial Justice Collaborative, is a distinguished conflict resolution and dialogue facilitator specializing in race-related issues within mixed race groups. Holding a JD from Harvard Law School, Diane is a certified mediator, facilitator, and global conflict resolution processor. Her personal experiences as a multi-racial Black woman fueled her lifelong commitment to pursuing racial justice through open dialogue, learning, and healing.