I’m a little obsessed with trees, especially urban trees. Trees are the unsung heroes of the city. They clean the air and water, provide shade and cooling, and just generally make cities better places to live.


And trees can also be a tool for building community and equity. The reason I work for Tacoma Tree Foundation is that it’s an organization pushing for a better quality of life for everyone in the Puyallup Watershed region. This whole area used to be an old-growth forest, and the modern city that was built on a clear cut has a lot of work to do to grow the urban forest where it’s needed most. Tacoma Tree Foundation is working on multiple social and environmental issues simply by connecting people to trees.
That’s one story that I want to keep telling.