Alison Field-Juma

Executive Director, 2011 to 2024; Policy Director, 2005 to 2011 

Alison Field-Juma first came to O.A.R. in 2005 as the Policy Director, becoming the organization’s Executive Director in 2011 until her retirement in 2024. She shares, “I had relocated to Boston from Kenya, via Montreal, and had a small child in tow. I was hired by Julia Blatt after having volunteered with the Mystic River Watershed Association chairing their Policy Committee. In Kenya I worked on agroforestry in dryland Africa and switched to working on river (hence wetland) restoration in temperate Massachusetts!” Before long, a lasting memory of her family became a signature of the office space: “For a while OARS’ office was decorated with paper cranes made by my son while sitting through many evening meetings.”

When asked of her favorite memory while working with OARS, she responded, “There are so many!” However, Alison was at the helm through a pivotal moment in the organization’s history, and accordingly that project stood out among the many. “The most memorable work was expanding OAR to become OARS by adding the Sudbury and Concord Rivers—that was a big step and it took many months of careful consultation and design to make sure it would work.” Another project of interest is still progressing today: “I have always cared deeply about restoring the natural flow of the rivers through dam removal. We started that conversation many years ago and now we are seeing it come to fruition—that is very exciting!”

Now, Alison is working to support another water-centric community, in honor of her husband. On this foundational work, she tells us, “I am president of an organization we founded in my late husband’s name, the Calestous Juma Legacy Foundation, to help the youth get digital skills in rural Kenya. The community, on the shores of Lake Victoria, has relied on fishing but the ecology of the lake is suffering, and so are the people who rely on it. Working on building a resilient blue economy brings me a lot of satisfaction.”

For OARS’ next 40 years, Alison hopes “that the rivers can run free, and are as resilient as possible to climate disruption. That takes the watershed communities continuing to love and understand the rivers, and see how intimately their lives are connected with water resources.”