Staff, board, and partners

Staff, board,
and partners

Our Staff

Katie Lautar,
Executive Director

Katie Lautar took the helm of the organization after seven years working as our Program Director. Born and raised in Baltimore, she came to this work through her love of Baltimore, nature, and communities. Katie has more than 16 year experience in community organizing, designing non-profit programs, and creating educational programs. She earned a Master's Degree in Environmental Education from Lesley University, while living outdoors in different bio-regions. She earned her Bachelor's degree at Goucher College in Elementary Education with a Minor in Peace Studies.

She directed youth development and education programs at Strong City Baltimore and is a founder of the 2640 Cooperative. She also has considerable experience in consensus building models and collaborative program development.

Lynette Hodge,
Operations Manager

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Recruited in the winter of 2021, Ms. Hodge has spent the past four years working for various non-profit projects in the Baltimore City area providing technical assistance and operations support. Her experience in operations work stateside and marketing work in central Europe provides a different perspective to the work of Baltimore Green Space. Ms. Hodge graduated from Notre Dame of Maryland University with a Bachelor's in Integrated Marketing and Communications, minor in Business.

Lynette is a dynamic and flexible asset to the team. Born in Detroit, with having lived in Hungary and Brazil, she is happy to call Baltimore home. She enjoys long walks, reading mystery and action novels, travel, and spending time with her cat, Hampton.

Eric Fishel,
Forest Manager

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Eric Fishel leads all of our programming related to forest stewardship. Eric is a conservation biologist specializing in urban ecology of birds. Eric grew up just outside of Baltimore in Owings Mills, MD, and attended Johns Hopkins University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in biology while working as an intern and naturalist with the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore, and Marshy Point Nature Center.

After college, he spent the next 11 years working on a variety of avian conservation research projects in seven states and seven countries. In 2016, he received his Master’s degree in natural resources from the University of Missouri studying the impacts of land management practices on breeding bird and plant communities in an urban residential area.

Sarah D'Adamo,
Preservation Manager

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Sarah D'Adamo leads the programming and site support related to green space preservation in the city as well as garden stewardship. Sarah grew up in Catonsville and then spent many years living and working abroad before returning to the area and claiming Baltimore city as her home in 2015. As part of her career in secondary and postsecondary education, often working with international students, Sarah completed a PhD in Cultural Studies in 2022 that focused on higher education as social infrastructure in the US and Canada. This long-term interest in infrastructure also extends into urban ecology, botany, local agriculture, mutual aid and land-based history and rehabilitation. Sarah has become an active member of Baltimore's urban agriculture community since 2019. She has been a core member of two green spaces preserved by Baltimore Green Space, Hidden Harvest Farm in the Greenmount West neighborhood and Ash Street Garden in Hampden.

Through those spaces Sarah has pursued community organizing and partnership-based community led development, food distribution, ecological education and youth outreach in the city. You can often find Sarah in one of these gardens or at another of the city's farms, or walking in the city's forests, trails, and along the Jones Falls, where she is an avid birder.

Samantha Blau,
Progam Director

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Samantha Blau joined Baltimore Green Space in the summer of 2023 and serves as Program Director. Samantha holds a Master’s Degree in Elementary STEM Education. She comes to the team with 15 years of experience in science education and communication at the Maryland Science Center, 10 years of experience in program management, and seven years of experience organizing with Jews United for Justice and Baltimore Action Legal Team.

Raised in Frederick County, Samantha has had the privilege to call Baltimore home for 12 years. A resident of Patterson Place, she enjoys walking in the park, exploring Maryland’s Ice Cream Trail, and playing D&D.