Board Member Profile
Darren
Green
Rejoins the SMA Board
Darren Green has been the City of Alexandria,
Louisiana Landscape Architect and Urban
Forester since 2001. Darren originally served
on the SMA Board from 2017-2020; you
can read his Board Member profile here.
12 CityTREES
What's new in your city program
and professional life?
Darren Green: Our city recently completed an
Urban Forest Management Plan that outlines a
five to ten year path for improving existing pro-
grams and defines areas for expansion within the
Alexandria Urban Forestry Department. It also for-
malizes many of the procedures and policies so that
they can be passed on to my successor. My current
plan is to work five to seven more years and then
turn over the job to a much younger and more
energetic individual who can take the program to
an even higher level of achievement than I did.
I was asked to join the Municipal Forestry
Institute (MFI) Teaching Cadre in 2021 and con-
tinued in that role again in 2022. Teaching at
MFI has been one of the most rewarding expe-
riences of my career and is a great opportunity
to mold the next generation of leaders.
What brings you excitement about
returning to the Board at this time?
Last year I served as the International Society of
Arboriculture (ISA) Liaison for the SMA Board and hon-
estly thought that I would ride off into the sunset once
that term was complete. With the hiring of new SMA
Executive Director Leslie Berckes—and the historic
funding opportunities available through the Inflation
Reduction Act—there has been a renewed sense of
mission and energy in SMA. As the longest-serving still
active Board member, I feel I can bring some historical
perspective and institutional knowledge to the group.
Leslie brings a wealth of knowledge on nonprofit
operations and has invigorated the organization
with new and innovative ways of thinking. The
energy level and commitment of the current Board
members is the highest I have seen since I became
involved with SMA. In the future, I think that we
will look back on the next few years as a pivotal
"tipping point" period of time for SMA in terms of
our membership growth and influence in the Urban
Forestry profession. I look forward to helping guide
that transformation as we move forward.
Darren with his sons Colin (age 15, left) and Austin (age 25).
Darren took this photo of a spectacular specimen of one of
his favorite tree species, Japanese maple (Acer japonica).
