Meet Our Dedicated Leadership Team
Terri Goldberg led regional pollution prevention and waste reduction at the Northeast Waste Management Officials’ Association (NEWMOA) for more than 32 years. These initiatives focused on reducing wasted food, improving diversion of hard-to-manage wastes, advancing EPR, addressing high priority toxics in consumer products, and more. She is interested in helping MassRecycle to flourish and grow and in transforming Massachusetts into a sustainable materials management policy and program leader.
Jessica Caban is the Assistant Project Manager of Recycling & Waste Enforcement for the City of New Bedford. She leads community education and outreach on waste reduction and compliance, while supporting enforcement efforts that strengthen recycling and waste programs across residential, commercial, and industrial properties citywide.
Rob Gogan retired as Manager of Harvard Recycling and Waste Services in 2020. He serves on MassRecycle’s Product Stewardship Council and chairs the Tours and Podcast Committees. His goal for MassRecycle is to support, connect and mentor the thousands of sustainable materials management professionals in our state. His goal is to coordinate at least one tour and podcast every two months.
Lisa has recently re-engaged with the recycling community and hopes to use the communications and financial analysis skills to help strengthen and grow MassRecycle. Her recycling background includes running a volunteer-staffed drop-off recycling program and advocating for curbside recycling in Boston in the early 90’s. She also marketed backyard compost bins in the mid-90s and co-managed the City of Boston yard waste composting site from 2013 to 2017. Currently, she serves as fiscal manager for the Mass. Council on Aging. Lisa holds a B.A. in English literature from Oberlin College and an MBA from Simmons Graduate School of Management.
Taylor Millspaugh is a Municipal Market Manager at WIN Waste Innovations, specializing in building and maintaining relationships with municipal post-collection customers throughout New England. She is passionate about supporting communities through strong partnerships and sustainable waste management solutions. Taylor spends her time between Maine and Rhode Island with her husband, Gabe, and their elderly Italian Greyhound, Penny
Jerry Collins has been in the recycle and waste Industry for 26 years, first with Republic Services for 21 years and now with WIN Waste Innovations for the last 5 years. His experience with Republic Services was primarily from the waste hauler perspective. His current role with WIN Waste is as the New England Market Manager, where he works with the post-collection side of the business. His extensive experience has given him a cumulative view waste industry that positions him to provide pragmatic solutions to improve recycling in Massachusetts.
Patrick El Khoury is an accomplished operations leader with a strong background in logistics, strategic planning, and team management. He currently serves as the VP of operations at CMRK Inc., where he has been driving operational efficiencies since 2020. CMRK is a leading textile recycling company committed to reducing waste by transforming unwanted clothing and household textiles into valuable resources. Patrick oversees the seamless coordination of CMRK’s collection, processing, and distribution efforts, ensuring they uphold their mission to promote sustainability and support local communities. A graduate from Boston College with a bachelor’s degree in political science, and government, Partrick brings a unique blend of analytical and entrepreneurial skill to the MassRecycle Board.
Michelle is the Director of Marketing at Bigbelly Solar. Michelle leads marketing strategy with a focus on demand generation, customer acquisition, and brand visibility. Her work positions Bigbelly at the intersection of sustainability, innovation, and community transformation. She also serves as Chief Strategy Officer and Marketing Principal at Elevate CSR, a communications consultancy, where she partners with clients to design marketing and transformation programs that build trust, advance transparency, and accelerate social impact.
With a foundation in journalism, Michelle brings a narrative sensibility and authentic engagement to every initiative. She holds a BA in Journalism from the University of New Hampshire and an MA from The George Washington University.
Michelle is also deeply engaged in her local community. She serves as a volunteer youth coach and mentors emerging leaders in marketing and communications. She actively supports causes related to sustainability, youth empowerment, and education.
Sue Higgins is the Director of Materials and Recycling at Northeastern University. She works with her talented recycling team, campus partners, and faculty, staff, and students, to lead the University on a path of continuous improvement towards resource management and zero waste operating practices. Prior to joining Northeastern, Sue worked in the waste and recycling industry as a consulting engineer, where she provided contract and operations monitoring for public-private waste-to-energy partnerships along with conducting planning, design, and technology evaluations. While serving as a MassRecycle Board Member, Sue is interested in strengthening the collaboration between area colleges and universities and building the resources to help higher education institutions achieve sustainable materials management programs.
Robin is CEO of Good Point Recycling of Brockton, MA and Middlebury, VT. In the 1990s, Robin was Director of the Recycling Program at the Massachusetts DEP. He has a BA degree in International Relations (Carleton College, 1984) and an MBA from Boston University . Robin is also the founder of Fair Trade Recycling, an export reform – and anti-defamation – group (WR3A.org). Robin was recently named #36 on the Top 100 Recycling experts worldwide by Recycling International, appeared on the cover of Recycling Today, and is a frequent contributor to Resource Recycling.
Stephen is the Northeast Territory Manager with Rehrig Pacific Company which covers CT, MA, ME, NH, NY, RI, VT. His goal is to help municipalities and haulers become more efficient, safer, and more profitable year after year. Growing up in Marshfield MA and now living in Charlestown MA and becoming involved in the waste/recycle world he has joined the MassRecycle team to better our future through learning and educating. He is excited to get started with MassRecycle and become a trusted advisor to his peers.
While working with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Connecticut earlier in her career, Nicole helped transition the closure of underperforming donation centers to increase profitability and streamline their operations. She was integral in securing the partnerships essential for fundraising opportunities for BBBS in an effort to keep their CT doors open. Before working with Big Brothers Big Sisters she volunteered and worked with Boys and Girls Club with their summer programs.
Since joining Helpsy in early 2019, Nicole has fully immersed herself in the business of unwanted clothing and the impact on our planet. She has been an active presenter and attendee in many Massachusetts-based webinars as well as representing Helpsy in many recycling events and conventions across the Northeast. In addition to providing textile recycling training and education for Helpsy’s partner municipalities across 10 states, Nicole has been an invaluable asset in assisting with fundraising efforts for many of our non-profit partners and has truly become a member of the communities she helps to support.
Laurie is the Assistant Campus Sustainability Manager at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She is a graduate of the M.S. in Sustainability Science program and recently completed her M.Ed. in Higher Education Administration, also from UMass Amherst. With a background in sustainability education, much of Laurie’s work on campus focuses on waste diversion efforts and student engagement with a long-term vision for sparking and nurturing a culture of sustainability across the campus community. Laurie co-leads the annual New2U Sustainable Move-out Collection & Move-in Tag Sale, a signature sustainability program for the campus. She chairs the Chancellors Sustainability Advisory Committee Zero Waste Subcommittee at UMass and is Vice Chair of the Springfield MRF Advisory Board. Laurie also sits on the national Campus Race to Zero Waste Board of Directors. At MassRecycle she is part of the leadership team for the MassRecycle Campus Collaborative. Laurie enjoys serving as a role model for living sustainably, reducing waste, and sharing her knowledge, experiences, and fostering connections with others to help affect positive change.
Waneta Trabert is the Director of Sustainable Materials Management for the City of Newton. She is also chair of the Massachusetts Product Stewardship Council to advance extended producer responsibility (EPR) policy in Massachusetts. With 15 years of experience in materials management, she has worked on electronics EPR compliance and packaging waste through roles at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the Product Stewardship Institute. Earlier in her career, she managed hazardous waste at McMurdo Station, Antarctica.
Katie Weatherseed is the Sustainability Outreach and Program Manager for the Town of Brookline. In this role, she is responsible for the implementation, promotion, communication and monitoring of Town initiatives pertaining to sustainability. Katie has worked in the public sector since 2018, and previously served as the Zero Waste Program Manager for Brookline, where she led many of the Town’s waste diversion and waste reduction programs in collaboration with local organizations, along with state and municipal partners. As a MassRecycle Board Member, Katie is particularly passionate about the intersection of climate change mitigation, material circularity, and sustainable waste management.
Meet Our Devoted Staff
Gretchen Carey has worked in the environmental field for almost 20 years as a volunteer, municipal recycling coordinator, and the Republic Services Sustainability Manager for New England. For nearly 7 years she volunteered as the President of MassRecycle. She has co-hosted over 60 episodes of the MassRecycle podcast for 9 years. Gretchen is a LEED Green Associate, a Zero Waste TRUE Advisor, and co-founder of GreenLabs Recycling, recycling laboratory plastics. In 2026 she launched her own consulting business, GCarey Sustainability, focusing on information and education in the waste world. Gretchen is an advocate for countering media misinformation with education about the waste industry by waste professionals.
Marissa is the Program Coordinator for MassRecycle and the Massachusetts Product Stewardship Council. In her role, she supports municipal recycling initiatives, product stewardship policy, and stakeholder engagement to advance waste reduction efforts. Marissa earned a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies from the University of Colorado Boulder, graduating summa cum laude. Her studies focused on consumption, behavioral motivations, and designing practical solutions to help communities adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change. After graduation, Marissa worked as Inventory Manager for EarthHero, an online marketplace specializing in sustainable, non-toxic, and zero-waste products. She is excited to be part of the MassRecycle team and to contribute to the organization’s mission of improving and expanding recycling access across Massachusetts. Outside of work, Marissa enjoys exploring Boston and spending time with her cat, Nova.
Alex Liteplo is starting her journey in sustainable waste management as Communications Coordinator for MassRecycle. She has spent most of her working life in educational publishing, bringing learning to life in textbooks and online for students from Grade K to the university level. As her family grew over the last 15 years, Alex noticed that the waste did also: kids’ clothes that were outgrown or damaged every year, plastic party favors and fad toys, half-finished notebooks from school, and food waste from the healthy produce she tried (sometimes successfully!) to include in the family’s diet. Inspired to action, Alex is now learning as much as she can about sustainable practices and sharing it with others so that the future isn’t buried in a landfill. Alex lives on the North Shore of Massachusetts with her husband, 3 kids, and an ever-changing number of goldfish. She is a lifelong member of and volunteer with Plast Ukrainian Scouting Organization and a longtime school committee representative at Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School.
Abbey Massaro is the Grant Manager of MassRecycle, where she supports efforts to promote sustainable materials management and the advance of recycling initiatives across Massachusetts.
She previously served as a Senior Waste Reduction Consultant for the Center for EcoTechnology where she played a key role in the MassDEP’s RecyclingWorks MA program, helping commercial and institutional entities develop reuse, recycling and wasted food recovery programs. She also worked extensively with construction projects to increase recycling and reuse efforts. Additionally, Abbey’s work history includes tenure with WM and the Lane Construction Corporation.
Abbey has been on the board of advisors for the Springfield MRF since 2020 and served on the MassRecycle Board of Directors from 2020 to 2024. Abbey holds a B.S. in Environmental Conservation and a certificate in Public Policy from UMass Amherst. She is a new mom of a baby boy, and spends her remaining free time with her two pitbull mixes, eight chickens, and husband.