In partnership with Groundwork USA, Groundwork Lawrence, Catalyst Collaboratives, and Essex County Community Foundation, the community will assess the viability of launching a new chapter of a national environmental organization in Lynn.
From the City of Lynn: The City has announced the official launch of the Groundwork Lynn Feasibility Study, a comprehensive assessment of opportunity, readiness, and sustainability of a potential new Groundwork Affiliate in Lynn. Interested residents and community partners interested in serving on the steering committee can apply now at LynnMA.gov or bit.ly/4yZ1nDk.
With the opening of Harbor Park – an award-winning 30-acre public space on the South Harbor that sits atop a capped landfill – the City of Lynn is seeking long-term local partners to steward the new green space and support the future development of a world-class waterfront park system that runs from the Saugus River to the Nahant Causeway. As part of those efforts to explore the potential for launching a new Groundwork affiliate in the city, Lynn is partnering with Groundwork Lawrence (an affiliate of Groundwork USA), Catalyst Collaboratives and Essex County Community Foundation (ECCF), a philanthropic organization that creates and invests in collaborative solutions to our region’s biggest challenges. The Groundwork Lynn Feasibility Study is the first step in assessing whether this new organization is the right fit for our city’s long-term goals.
The study will be guided by a local steering committee representing residents, government, community organizations, and anchor institutions. Upon completion, the feasibility study will produce an 18-month launch strategy and detailed implementation roadmap for Groundwork Lynn — a future community-based organization dedicated to environmental improvement, green jobs, workforce development and open space development and stewardship in Massachusetts’ largest coastal Gateway City.
“Our city deserves dedicated attention to sustainable, localized development,” said Mayor Jared C. Nicholson. “We are hoping to combine our ongoing environmental justice initiatives with deeper community roots and robust implementation capacity. This study will give us the foundation to build lasting action that shapes a greener, healthier Lynn for all of us.”
Nicholson said the primary goal for the City is to establish the ongoing sustainability of Harbor Park, which was awarded the James D.P. Farrell Award for Brownfields Remediation Project of the Year by the Environmental Business Council of New England, and establish the future vision of a linked park system. A partnership such as the proposed collaboration with Groundwork, which has Massachusetts affiliates in Somerville, Lawrence and New Bedford, is important to achieve that goal.
Lynn is the seventh-largest city in Massachusetts and home to one of the highest concentrations of Environmental Justice populations in the state. While the City has waterfront assets, riverside corridors, and open land, it is also home to brownfield sites and subject to pollution, flooding, and urban heat.
A Groundwork affiliate in Lynn would bring a proven model of resident-led environmental revitalization to the city, modeled on the success of Groundwork Lawrence and anchored in the national Groundwork Network.
“Lawrence and Lynn share more than geography — they share decades of overlooked opportunity and disinvestment, and communities dedicated to creating a better future. Everything Groundwork Lawrence has built over the last 25-plus years started with a community that refused to accept the conditions it was handed. This study is about asking whether Lynn is ready to champion a new path forward… We believe it is.”
Lesly Melendez, Executive Director of Groundwork Lawrence
The Groundwork Lynn Feasibility Study will assess:
- Community needs, assets, and environmental conditions across Lynn’s Environmental Justice neighborhoods
- Existing organizational landscape and potential for partnership and collaboration
- Programmatic opportunities in environmental remediation, youth leadership and workforce development, urban agriculture, and community open space development and stewardship
- Organizational and fiscal infrastructure required to launch and sustain a new Groundwork affiliate
- Funding and resource development pathways
- An 18-month launch strategy and implementation roadmap
Catalyst Collaboratives LLC will serve as the lead research and facilitation partner for the study. The City’s Community Development and Planning departments will serve as a core partner, alongside ECCF.
“At ECCF, we strongly believe that solutions built for the community, by the community, provide the best path to resilience and sustainability,” said ECCF President and CEO Stratton Lloyd. “This is local climate resiliency in action, and we are thrilled to partner with the City of Lynn, Catalyst Collaboratives LLC and Groundwork Lawrence on a plan that will not only empower Lynn residents to build the healthy, thriving neighborhoods they want, but one that will also serve as a model for all our communities.”
“Groundwork USA is excited by the potential to further expand the Groundwork Network in Massachusetts, building upon the success of Groundwork Lawrence, Groundwork Somerville and Groundwork Southcoast in creating healthier, greener and more resilient neighborhoods to live, work, and play,” said Groundwork USA CEO Heather McMann, “We believe that the foundation to success is community-based leadership and this feasibility study process ensures that community leadership is embedded in the roots of any future work.”
About Groundwork Lawrence
Groundwork Lawrence is a community-based environmental justice organization founded in 1999 and headquartered in Lawrence, Massachusetts. GWL works to improve the urban environment and build community resilience through brownfield remediation, parks and open space development, urban agriculture, green jobs workforce development, and climate resilience programming. GWL is a proud member of the Groundwork Network. Learn more atgroundworklawrence.org.
About Groundwork USA and the Groundwork Network
The Groundwork Network is an affiliate network of place-based nonprofits working to advance community-led conservation and environmental action. Collectively, we transform underutilized, contaminated land and waterways into community assets, build community power through collective action, and create new pathways to economic opportunities. Groundwork USA is a national nonprofit that facilitates the Groundwork Network and runs technical assistance and peer learning communities for grassroots leaders within and beyond our Network. Learn more at groundworkusa.org and with the 2025 State of the Network report.
About Catalyst Collaboratives
Catalyst Collaboratives LLC is a small, woman-owned consulting firm specializing in facilitation, coaching, change management, and strategic stakeholder engagement for mission-driven organizations. Learn more at www.catalystcollaboratives.com.
About Essex County Community Foundation (ECCF)
ECCF is a regional philanthropic organization that builds cross-sector collaboration to address the region’s most critical needs of today – and tomorrow. The ECCF Climate Coalition supports regional climate resilience and environmental justice work across Essex County.
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