Mission
The mission of the Department of Sustainability, also known as SustainPVD, is to create an equitable, low-carbon, and climate resilient future for Providence. With leadership from the Racial and Environmental Justice Committee, the city has prioritized centering racial equity in this work, demonstrated by the launch of the Equity in Sustainability Initiative in 2016 and the release of the Climate Justice Plan in 2019. The city’s first comprehensive sustainability action plan, Sustainable Providence, was released in 2014. The Office is advised by a community-led group, the Sustainability Commission, which holds monthly public meetings. Sign up to receive our monthly newsletter and follow us on Facebook and Twitter for the latest SustainPVD news.
Staff
Priscilla De La Cruz
Director of Sustainability
Priscilla (she/hers) is a life-long Providence, Rhode Island resident, and previously served as the Senior Director of Government Affairs Audubon Society of Rhode Island. In that role, she worked to initiate and advance legislation and policies at the state and local level to protect wildlife and Rhode Island’s environment for the benefit of people and all living things. Before joining Audubon, Priscilla held the position of Rhode Island Director at the Green Energy Consumers Alliance, where she developed strategic management and marketing and oversaw advocacy initiatives, including coalition organizing. She has 14 years’ experience in strategic management and marketing, environmental and climate justice advocacy, and coalition organizing.
From June 2019 – June 2023, she served as President of the Environment Council of Rhode Island (ECRI). Under her direction, and working with other policy leaders and partners, the Council launched the Climate Crisis Campaign, playing a key role in advocating for the successful passage of the 2021 Act On Climate legislation. Working with the Council’s executive committee, Priscilla also led an equity-based strategic planning process. In 2021, she became the co-chair of the Climate Jobs Rhode Island initiative, a partnership among labor and environmental groups working toward a just transition to a green economy, who have supported the enactment of more landmark policies, like 100% renewable electricity by 2033 and additional offshore development.
Priscilla earned a Master of Liberal Arts (ALM) with concentrations in Management, and Sustainability & Innovation from Harvard University. She also earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Marketing from Rhode Island College.
Kevin Proft
Deputy Director of Sustainability
Kevin (he/his) has a long history of work in the field of sustainability. Upon moving to Providence in 2011, Kevin began working with ecoRI News as an environmental writer and helped the organization start Providence’s first curbside compost collection service. Kevin earned a Masters in Environmental Science and Management from URI in 2018, with a focus on community planning. He worked as a planner for Middletown and Woonsocket from 2018-2022, centering sustainability and equity in his work. Kevin is looking forward to working with his colleagues in the sustainability office and the city’s community groups to advance projects that make a tangible difference in people’s lives, especially in frontline communities that are most impacted by climate change and associated pollution. Kevin is a husband and dad and enjoys building Legos with his son.
David Ruggiero
Energy and Resilience Initiatives Administrator
David (he/his) has a long and diverse background in energy management. Over the past 20 years he has been involved in a wide range of innovative green building projects and programs ranging from ENERGY STAR to Passive House to the DOE’s Better Buildings Challenge. He has worked as a LEED Accredited Professional, a Certified Energy Auditor, and as a consultant with a focus on energy-efficiency and renewable energy. He also served as an advisor on the 2009, Massachusetts Net Zero Energy Building Task Force and managed a residential Zero Energy Challenge for Eversource and National Grid. Most recently, and before coming to Providence, he managed the energy portfolios and green initiative for 3 Massachusetts municipalities. He holds a degree for Northeastern University in Public Administration and studied sustainability and energy system at the Boston Architectural College.
David lives in Massachusetts. He is an avid cyclist and gardener and is active in several suburban sustainability organizations. He is a town meeting member and chairs the town’s Sustainability Commission. Through his work on the commission, he has launched several community-wide energy efficiency and sustainability initiative that help address environmental justice and global warming issues.
Andrew Broccolo
Energy Manager
Andrew (he/they) is a life-long Rhode Islander with a connection to Nature deeply rooted in their childhood and a long history of environmentally-focused education and work experience in the region. Andrew received his B.A. in Environmental Studies: Renewable Energy & Ecological design from Green Mountain College with a mission of bridging the perceived divide between the natural and built environments for a more cohesive existence with ecosystems. From there, Andrew worked for a local “good news” newspaper, a vegetable farm in CT, and spent 4.5 years in the solar PV industry, starting as an installer and working his way up to project management. In 2019, Andrew entered into the Master of Environmental Science and Management (MESM) program with the University of Rhode Island where he incorporated Queer Ecology into his studies, further realizing his true connection(s) to Nature and society as a queer person. It was here he worked as a 2020 Energy Fellow with Providence’s Office of Sustainability. Soon after completing his degree in 2021, Andrew began to work for RISE Engineering as the novel Sustainability Analyst and Renewables Project Administrator and joined the board of the Rhode Island Environmental Education Association (RIEEA) where is now serves as Secretary.
Andrew is most excited to become more acquainted with the beauty of Providence, and to strengthen his existing relationships in the city so as to better inform his work in decarbonization, resiliency, and creating a healthier city for its residents.
Julia Dearden
Fiscal & Communications Coordinator
Julia (she/hers) grew up outside Philadelphia and holds a BS in Public Health from Rhode Island College and a BA in Communications from King’s College. Julia’s enthusiasm for wanting to work in environmental health, climate resiliency and sustainability came from her strong interest in health equity and witnessing her late Dad’s love of his work in environmental science. Her fiscal skills were first realized by her surprise enjoyment of biostatistics and figuring out complicated formulas!
Ten years ago, Julia moved to Rhode Island with her now husband and grew to feel like the ocean state was home. Prior to working in sustainability, she got to meet most of Providence managing the Seven Stars Bakery on Broadway and building a statewide wholesale market for Knead Doughnuts. Julia is a proud dog mom who loves doing yoga, playing vinyl records, attempting to be a tennis pro, bird watching, and being a dedicated Philadelphia sports fan!
Sophie Worsh-Farnum
Sustainability Policy Associate
Sophie (she/hers) is a passionate advocate of intersectional climate justice, food sovereignty, and youth involvement in climate action. Previously, Sophie worked in Lewiston, Maine at the Farmers’ Market and in the community gardens with high schoolers, encouraging connections to the natural world, discussing local food systems, and building connections. A graduate of Bates College, Sophie earned a BA in both Environmental Studies and Anthropology and wrote her senior theses on paths toward food justice in Lewiston and on care, harm, and repair among fellow staff at a local nonprofit. Her academic work focused primarily on environmental justice and the disproportionate effects of climate change on BIPOC and low-income folks and she is eager to bring this justice-oriented framework to the forefront of her work with the Department.
As a new resident of the city, Sophie is looking forward to getting to know Providence and her neighbors. Sophie is an avid runner and has thoroughly enjoyed exploring the city on foot. In her free time, she enjoys knitting, biking, reading, composting, looking at maps, and spending time with her friends and family.
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