The Mystic River Watershed Association invites you to a lecture featuring Alexie Torres-Fleming. Alexie will share her story of creating a community-driven movement to revitalize parks along the Bronx River. The lecture will be followed by a panel with Ms. Torres-Fleming, Amber Christoffersen, Mystic Greenways Director and Roseann Bongiovanni, Executive Director of GreenRoots, discussing how a democratic, participatory and innovative process can transform parks—and communities—along the Mystic River.
ALEXIE TORRES-FLEMING is an award-winning speaker, activist, community organizer, advocate and urban planner from the South Bronx, NY. Alexie co-founded the Bronx River Alliance and the Southern Bronx River Watershed Alliance. During her tenure, the organization cleaned-up abandoned industrial sites, expanded the Bronx River greenway, and developed green infrastructure. However, her greatest pride is in the legacy of power and leadership assumed by community residents. She now lives in Medford and is the Executive Director of Access Strategies Fund, a Cambridge foundation that supports civic participation among women and communities of color.
A nationally sought-after speaker, Torres-Fleming has received numerous awards throughout her career, including the 2008 Rockefeller Foundation’s Jane Jacobs Medal for New Ideas and Activism. In January 2009, she was named one of “50 Visionaries Who Are Changing Your World” by the Utne Reader and was awarded a Loeb Fellowship at the Harvard Graduate School of Design in 2013.
