Hi. My name is Mike...
...Mike Mennonno (slant-rhymes with "Yoko Ono" -- no relation). And I'm a freelance writer, op-ed columnist, and long-time blogger. I'm also an avid cyclist, master urban gardener and open-spaces advocate, art-geek and book-lover based in the beautiful Fenway neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts.
After graduating from Indiana University with a liberal arts degree, I spent a couple years as a farmhand and foreman at Moosehill Orchards in New Hampshire, traveling the world in the off-season. In '96 I went abroad to teach English in Eastern Europe -- finally settling in beautiful Budapest, Hungary, where I lived for the better part of a decade. I moved back to the states in 2003, continued to teach, and began writing op-eds for Metro International in '05. (Read some here.) My blogs -- on urban transit, art, community gardening, life in Boston and life in general -- have been featured in the Boston Globe, the Herald, and on NPR. (Visit mennonnosapiens.com.) My day job is in higher ed, where, over the past fifteen years, I have been an instructor and administrator, in the U.S. and overseas, in the public and private sectors. These days I'm the Director of Student Accounts at the Franklin Institute of Boston. I am also President of the Executive Board of the Fenway Garden Society, a 501(c)3 with over 300 members that oversees seven acres of the nation's oldest continuously active WWII victory gardens in the heart of Boston. Under my leadership the FGS has dramatically increased programming and partnerships, built a 17-bed "teaching garden" for educational purposes, expanded outreach to persons with disabilities, and raised the profile of the organization through television and radio appearances, publishing and participation on panels at Boston University and Columbia. During my tenure we have expanded our donor base and increased our endowment by more than tenfold. My advocacy and activism has been geared toward urban and social justice issues. I have organized successful rallies against transit fare hikes, partnering with organizations like The T Riders Union and MassPIRG. I've also worked with The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation on rehabilitating neighborhood parks, like Meaney Park in Dorchester. I'm an avid urban cyclist, and bicycle commuter in all but blizzard conditions. I am an advocate for marriage equality, publishing numerous op-eds in the Boston Metro during the struggle to achieve it here in Massachusetts, and I have been outspoken on the repeal of DOMA and DADT. Please check out the bio, clippings, and links pages for more, and feel free to contact me at mmennonno@gmail.com with any questions, comments, suggestions, or tips! | Check out my work here:
daily content/graphics/web design:
published content:
interviewed/quoted/cited:
mmennonno@gmail.com Site updated 9/8/2010.  |
