Environmental & Community Impact Award

We are thrilled to honor katherine h. walsh with the 2024 CitySprouts Environmental and Community Impact Award.

Katherine H. Walsh is the Sustainability, Energy, and Environment Program Director for Boston Public Schools (BPS), leading district wide initiatives to transform the sustainability measures and environmental health of 132 BPS school buildings. Serving on the Facilities Management leadership team, Katherine manages the Sustainability, EH&S, and Utilities Divisions, prioritizing critical, equitable improvements in drinking water access, indoor air quality, outdoor teaching and learning, renewable energy and efficiency upgrades, and zero waste.

Katherine has been a champion for CitySprouts programs that facilitate access to outdoor teaching and learning in BPS school garden classrooms. She was instrumental in helping CitySprouts forge four new BPS partnerships over the last 3 years. Because of Katherine’s advocacy efforts, we now have thriving gardens at the Nathan Hale, Samuel Mason, Pauline Shaw and Rafael Hernandez schools, engaging over 1000 new students since 2021 in early science and garden education.

Katherine joined BPS in 2017, following a sustainability career at the University of California, Berkeley as Coordinator of The Green Initiative Fund and founding Director of the Student Environmental Resource Center. She holds a BA in Political Science with a Minor in Environmental Studies from Boston College. From BC to Berkeley to BPS, Katherine is committed to bold imagination, compassion and empathy, climate action, justice, and equity, and youth leadership.

The CitySprouts team is so proud to name Katherine as the 2024 Environmental and Community Impact Awardee at Dig It! on May 2nd. We hope you will join us, and encourage you to support CitySprouts with a donation. More info on Dig It! tickets coming soon.

EACH YEAR, CITYSPROUTS PRESENTS THE ENVIRONMENTAL AND COMMUNITY IMPACT AWARD TO HONOR AND CELEBRATE AN INDIVIDUAL, GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS, AND/OR ORGANIZATION WHO EXEMPLIFIES CITYSPROUTS’ MISSION TO CULTIVATE WONDER IN ALL CHILDREN WITH HANDS-ON LEARNING THROUGH URBAN GARDENING. PAST HONOREES INCLUDE: