Staff

swolf@growsmartri.org

401-258-3125

Scott Wolf

Years of service at Grow Smart RI: 1999-present

For more than four decades, Scott Wolf has transformed opinion and policy research into effective communication and legislative strategies for progressive policy organizations, media outlets, elected officials and political candidates. Scott has substantial experience leading public policy organizations, including his current position as Executive Director of Grow Smart Rhode Island, a position he has held since March of 1999. From 1995 through early 1999, he led a national issue education organization sponsored by labor, senior, environmental and social service organizations, and focused on Congress’s agenda and ballot initiatives. He also managed the 1994 Ron Sims for U.S. Senate campaign, directed the Rhode Island Governor’s Office of Housing, Energy and Intergovernmental Relations and ran a political and public policy consulting firm whose clients included Americans for the Environment, NBC News and U.S. Senators Tim Wirth and Gary Hart.

As Executive Director of Grow Smart Rhode Island, Scott oversees a broad coalition of community leaders committed to sustainable and equitable growth based on urban and town center revitalization, a strengthened public transportation system and preservation of Rhode Island’s outstanding collection of farms and forestland. Since Scott joined Grow Smart Rhode Island the organization has received awards from EPA, Preserve Rhode Island, the Providence Preservation Society, The Environmental Business Council of New England, the American Planning Association’s Rhode Island chapter, Rhode Island Housing and the Rhode Island Foundation. Scott also received—in March of 2017– Leadership RI’s Rhode Island Community Service Award.

A veteran community activist, Scott ran for Rhode Island’s First Congressional District seat in 1988 and 1990, strongly challenging two incumbent Congressmen. As a senior staffer for Rhode Island Governor Bruce Sundlun, he promoted education reform initiatives, ran the state’s heating assistance and principal energy conservation programs, and coordinated state government’s relations with municipalities and the federal government.

Earlier in his career, Scott played a substantial role in the Democratic Party’s national research and communications efforts. He developed a strategy to counter the “New Right” movement as a consultant to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, served as the first Research Director for the Carter-Mondale Reelection Committee and was part of a strategy team promoting Carter Administration initiatives, including the nation’s first Energy Act, while the Democratic National Committee’s Director of Political Research. He also analyzed public opinion trends for Democratic elected officials nationwide.

A 1975 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Brown University, Scott began his career as a public opinion analyst for William R. Hamilton and Staff and Peter D. Hart Research Associates. For many years, he has also worked with the media, serving as political commentator for a Providence television station and an adviser for a 1987 PBS series “Ethics in America.”

Elected as a 1992 Democratic National Convention delegate for Bill Clinton, Scott’s other community activities have included board positions with the Miriam Hospital, the Providence Zoning Board, Dorcas Place, and the Jewish Family Service. He is also a current member of the Rhode Island State Planning Council and a 1987 Graduate of Leadership RI. He resides in Providence with his wife, Joyce Krabach, a former school principal and award-winning early childhood teacher.

Jflaherty@growsmartri.org

401-309-8707

John Flaherty

Years of service at Grow Smart RI: 2003-present  

John joined Grow Smart RI in May 2003 and has served as Deputy Director since 2015. In addition to performing a variety of administrative duties, John divides his time between communications and policy research and development.  John is the driving force behind Grow Smart’s biennial Power of Place Summits and annual Awards Program.  John’s policy work at Grow Smart RI is focused on transportation – particularly public transportation – and economic development. He was instrumental in Rhode Island’s development of a first-ever Transit Master Plan.  John served on the RIPTA Strategic Planning Committee (2009-2012), Governor’s Mobility Innovation Working Group (2019-2020) and has served as Vice Chair of the State Transportation Advisory Committee since 2018.  Prior to joining Grow Smart RI, John worked for 15 years helping to build Providence into a leading convention and leisure destination as Vice President of Sales & Marketing for the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau. A resident of North Smithfield, he served for several years on the North Smithfield Planning Board and Ordinance Review Committee, chaired the town’s Redevelopment Agency and was elected Town Council President in 2012.  John is a 1987 graduate of the University of Rhode Island and attended Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. John also earned a certificate from the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government in 2012.

Jfinkle@growsmartri.org

301-674-1589

Jillian Finkle

Years of service at Grow Smart RI: 2021-present

Jillian joined Grow Smart RI as the Director of Special Events in January 2021. Her role has since expanded to include the management of several key projects including an initiative to increase effective transit-focused advocacy in the state, an exploration of a possible statewide Main Street program, and other economic development, placemaking, and transportation-related efforts. 

Prior to joining Grow Smart RI, Jillian served as the Principal Planner for the City of Central Falls, RI and before that as the Coordinator of the Broad Street Regeneration Initiative, a joint planning and revitalization effort in the cities of Pawtucket, Central Falls and Cumberland, RI. She came to planning after many years as a museum professional, designing exhibits and managing programs for such institutions as the Providence Children’s Museum, the National Children’s Museum, the Chicago Zoological Society’s Brookfield Zoo, and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Zoo. During this time, she served ten years on the board of the International Museum Theatre Alliance, including in the role of President from 2011-2013. In between, she served as the Managing Director of Providence PlayCorps, a program of the Providence Parks Department that provides open-ended play experiences in neighborhood parks around the city.

Jillian has spent many years in executive board roles for parent-teacher organizations in local public schools and was recently appointed Programming Chair on the board of the Rhode Island Chapter of the American Planning Association. She is a 2020 graduate of Leadership Rhode Island. She holds a Masters in Museum Studies from The George Washington University and a Bachelors in Communications from Northwestern University. She lives with her family in Edgewood.