MEET THE TEAM

Co-Executive Director

Sophie Glassman first joined Huneebee in 2023 as a Development & Marketing Intern and instantly found herself drawn to the organization’s mission. She graduated from Brandeis University in May 2025 with a degree in Linguistics and Psychology. Prior to her work with Huneebee, Sophie served as a disability policy research fellow, an experience that deepened her commitment to accessibility, inclusion, and community-centered program design. She is excited to return to Huneebee in this new leadership role, where she is focused on expanding opportunities for individuals to connect with pollinators and one another. Having grown up on the Connecticut shoreline, Sophie has long felt a strong connection to the natural world and is proud to contribute to efforts that increase equitable access to green spaces in New Haven.

Junior Beekeeping Instructor

Alex Graduated from the Beekeepers in Residence training program in the Summer of 2019. She is a graduate of the Eli Whitney Technical High School class of 2021 and a student at Gateway Community College. She was recommended to Huneebee Project by her therapist. Alex is a resident of New Haven, is always ready to learn, and has interest in Graphic Design. Alex has helped with photographing the gardens and honey bee hives, contributing to Huneebee Project social media accounts, and co-leading community hive checks and community presentations. Her primary responsibilities include maintaining the hives in the Arthur Street Garden. In her spare time, she enjoys making posters of different things and photoshopping the photographs she takes.

Volunteer Flower Farmer & Board Member

Jim is a finance executive with over twenty-five years in the insurance and reinsurance industry.  He currently works as a consultant focusing on both financial reporting and operations.  Prior to that, he held several positions in Connecticut including the CFO of a US insurance company and the Group Controller with a reinsurance company. Jim is the founder & CEO of Learn2Fly, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to inspiring curiosity and encouraging the personal and vocational growth of individuals with special needs.  He is also the co-founder of the Jim Horne Golf Foundation with his dad which provides services for the young golf students in the Western New York area.  The Foundation is committed to expanding diversity in the sport by providing opportunities to underrepresented groups. Jim currently lives in New Haven and has three children. He is an avid photographer and enjoys hiking with his youngest son Cole, who has autism.

Volunteer Beekeeping Instructor & Board Chair

Sophia is a pollinator enthusiast focused on mentoring new beekeepers and highlighting the interconnection of beekeeping with environmental science, agriculture, health, economic advancement, and community building. She has a public policy background and has supported legislative action to examine and address the plight of pollinators in decline and the challenges of beekeeping. Sophia was born in Jamaica and spent her formative years enjoying honey from her uncle’s bee hives and chewing honeycomb when she couldn’t get bubble gum.  She is married with four children that she loves bringing to the bee yard with her.

Director of Clinical Services

Native to the New Haven area, Alexia is a licensed clinical social worker. Alexia practices as a psychotherapist and works at Huneebee as the Director of Clinical Services, coordinating and supporting the Beekeepers in Residence training program’s mentors and mentees. Her clinical experience includes a variety of individual and family psychotherapy and group interventions within the context of in-home, inpatient, and outpatient settings. With an organic love for nature and sunshine, Alexia has discovered a deep appreciation and admiration for bees and their calming, powerful, and resilient qualities. Alexia obtained her MSW from New York University.

Board Secretary

Marina Marmolejo is a public health trained housing innovator transforming how Connecticut approaches housing stability and anti-poverty systems. At the Connecticut Department of Housing, she leads efforts to redesign programs so that people seeking the State's supports can access them with greater ease and dignity. Her work builds on experience leading $425M statewide rental assistance initiatives and launching tools that reduce barriers for renters, including a universal rental application platform that eliminates fees across the state. Earlier, she founded DreamKit, a mobile platform supporting youth experiencing homelessness with job-skills and direct cash incentives. Marina believes public systems can be both innovative and humane when designed in close partnership with the communities they serve.

Board Treasurer

Nicole moved to New Haven to pursue a graduate degree from Yale with an emphasis on forestry, organizational management and development economics. She worked overseas on a variety of projects including for the Mellon Foundation, USAID, a non-profit and a commercial enterprise. Upon news of her father’s terminal diagnosis, she moved bak to the US where she has lived for 27 years on a small farm in North Madison. Nicole is currently self-employed with Greenspace Consulting whose projects have ranged from assisting start-ups, organizational and strategic planning, advisory and project management services, mentor programs, forest land-holders’ planning, wetlands analysis, contract and conflict resolution, and a variety of project management contracts. 

Founder & Co-Executive Director

Sarah is a licensed clinical social worker with experience providing trauma-focused child and family therapy. In 2016, Sarah discovered beekeeping and beeswax candle making. She set out to bring the bees’ magic to youth and young adults in the New Haven area. Sarah has her MSW from New York University, a certificate in Integrative Trauma Studies from the National Institute for the Psychotherapies, and completed a fellowship in Advanced Clinical Social Work at the Yale Child Study Center in June 2019. She was named to CT Magazine’s 40 under 40 and is a Master Beekeeper candidate at Cornell University.

Resume Specialist

Yvette grew up in South Carolina and moved to Connecticut in 2017 to pursue a fellowship at Yale Child Study Center. She obtained a bachelors in Experimental Psychology and Master of Social Work from USC Columbia. She is passionate about personal and professional development and enjoys helping others identify their strengths through resume building and exploration. Yvette finds beekeeping to be a great way to relax, learn, and spend time with nature and is grateful for the opportunity to work with Beekeepers in Residence trainees in the natural environment.