In September of 2008, I photographed an Eagle Scout troop building the dry arroyo parkway along Arlington Drive, and it changed my life.
By that November, I transitioned from a role as Sr. Designer at the Museum of Contemporary Art, to landscaping. I was so inspired by what I saw happening at the Garden. I began to understand, there is so much we can accomplish in healing the environment, regenerating the soil, and knowing that nature is everywhere we stand. The next time I met Charles and Betty they talked about water sheeting off the property into the street. Because a 30 foot drop from the west to the east, we created water catchment berms and swales to keep all the water on the site, to slow it, spread it and sink it.
In 2016, I was contacted by Betty and I became the Executive Director July 1, 2017. When I started there was no electricity, annual reports, water fountain, drinking fountain, wifi, photo permit booking system. I immediately put the professional gardeners to work together with the volunteers to help train them on best regenerative gardening practices. Over the next seven years, I grew the organization’s annual budget sevenfold, diversified revenue streams, and significantly expanded community engagement, partnerships, and outreach—driving both program usage and broader community impact, and served as the first, and only full-time Executive Director of the Pasadena nonprofit.
I established and refined operations to ensure organizational compliance (developing the organization's mission, vision, strategic plan), and professionalism, while presiding over consistent annual financial surpluses. Building a strong team was central to my leadership: I recruited, trained, and developed part-time staff and contractors, cultivating a collaborative workplace culture that encouraged creativity and supported innovative programming.
I implemented strategic campaigns that increased donations, expanded the donor base, and strengthened community loyalty, while also launching the Garden’s first social media presence. I developed initiatives that elevated public attendance—particularly during the pandemic—by positioning the Garden as a safe, accessible, and restorative open space.
Under my leadership, capital improvements enhanced both the Garden’s resources and its aesthetics, aligning with strategic plan goals. Including installing the garden's electrical system, wi-fi based irrigation controllers, Pasadena Craftsman tile fountain, drinking fountain, shed extension, monumental signage, visitor kiosk, hardscaping, entryway gate and rail, and more.
We secured notable grants from the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Foundation (including the Field Guide in 2022 and the Wild Life Nature Journal in 2024, published after my tenure in 2025), the Pasadena Community Foundation, the Stanley Smith Horticultural Foundation, and the Harold and Colene Brown Family Foundation.
I worked closely with other nonprofit orgs, including Jericho Road, LA Compost, Las Fotos Project, staff, volunteers including the board of directors, advisory council, community members, donors, and City of Pasadena personnel to strengthen partnerships and maximize resources in service of the Garden’s mission. Our partnership with Outward Bound Adventures (OBA) brought their Environmental Restoration Team into the garden, working side by side with staff on hardscaping, irrigation, soil health, and plantings. Including Nick Araya of Tree Care LA, who conducted a structural pruning workshop—I involved a myriad of contractors, and professionals to work closely with and train the garden staff.
Together, these achievements carried forward the garden’s mission: to create a living model of climate-appropriate gardening while offering hands-on learning opportunities for students, volunteers, and all communities across Pasadena. I led the collaborative development of the Garden’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access statement with Diane Burbie of the Aspire Group. Among my most recognized contributions were innovative programs that fostered lasting stakeholder loyalty, including visitor-specific field and horticulture guides, social media campaigns, and the illustrated field guide distributed to every 5th grader in the Pasadena Unified School District in 2022. I also built educational partnerships with institutions such as USC, Cal Poly Pomona, Occidental College, Polytechnic School, and Westridge, and supported initiatives like the Climate Resilience Environmental Education Center at Hahamongna.
For instance, in February 2023, we observed dieback on the Coast Live Oak along Arlington Drive. I arranged for the tree to be assessed by experts, among them arborist Rebecca Latta; Alison Lancaster Consulting Arborists; Nick Araya of Tree Care LA; Dr. Christopher Shogren, UCANR Entomologist; Michael King, Forestry Program Coordinator and Staff Liaison for the City of Pasadena; and Paul Santos, Waypoint Pathologist. Their collective assessment confirmed the tree was failing and infested with thousands of wood-boring beetles. To protect the garden, we removed the oak and partnered with Jeff Perry of Angel City Lumber, who cured and milled the wood for a much-needed Oak Gathering Table.
Thanks to a $20,000 fundraising effort, the table was completed and delivered to the Garden just days after I returned from a three month sabbatical, on September 4, 2024. Around the same time, plans were underway with Katherine Pakradouni and Pasadena Beautiful to create a micro-forest at the garden’s entryway, where the oak had once stood. While the micro-forest never came to fruition, and the table tragically burned in a tool shed fire nine months later, these efforts reflected my commitment to renewal, resilience, and community collaboration.
Many individuals generously donated their time and expertise to the care of the garden. I also brought in leading specialists, including soil ecologist Nance Klehm, who worked with staff on soil ecology and deep mapping, while I was taking care of my mother who was dying from ALS. I invited designer Schessa Garbutt to host their inaugural Octavia’s Solstice at the garden June 22, 2024, in which Lynell George wrote “Taken together, for a moment, we were transported into a possibility. This is what collaboration and community looks like. This is what it feels like to pause and take luxurious breaths and lean into one another’s story. @xebede such beauty! This garden is such a gift.” (Instagram, 2024)
Schessa also designed the Wild Life journal that the garden was awarded a highly competitive $20,000 grant from the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Foundation in May of 2024, for a sixth grade nature journal especially geared toward students at Eliot Arts Magnet, a Title I PUSD middle school. It was because of my vision, we were able to create a follow-up publication to our wildly successful field guide, illustrated by Margaret Gallagher in 2022 (also due to my ignition). The Tournament of Roses grant award came right before my three month board approved sabbatical from losing my Father Ronald Matthews (from a traumatic sudden death) and Mother, Ann Matthews within eleven months of each other.
By the conclusion of my tenure on September 10, 2024, Arlington Garden had become a financially sound, community-anchored institution with a thriving culture of innovation and care. I remain deeply grateful for the relationships and friendships I fostered there—connections that continue to sustain me today.
By that November, I transitioned from a role as Sr. Designer at the Museum of Contemporary Art, to landscaping. I was so inspired by what I saw happening at the Garden. I began to understand, there is so much we can accomplish in healing the environment, regenerating the soil, and knowing that nature is everywhere we stand. The next time I met Charles and Betty they talked about water sheeting off the property into the street. Because a 30 foot drop from the west to the east, we created water catchment berms and swales to keep all the water on the site, to slow it, spread it and sink it.
In 2016, I was contacted by Betty and I became the Executive Director July 1, 2017. When I started there was no electricity, annual reports, water fountain, drinking fountain, wifi, photo permit booking system. I immediately put the professional gardeners to work together with the volunteers to help train them on best regenerative gardening practices. Over the next seven years, I grew the organization’s annual budget sevenfold, diversified revenue streams, and significantly expanded community engagement, partnerships, and outreach—driving both program usage and broader community impact, and served as the first, and only full-time Executive Director of the Pasadena nonprofit.
I established and refined operations to ensure organizational compliance (developing the organization's mission, vision, strategic plan), and professionalism, while presiding over consistent annual financial surpluses. Building a strong team was central to my leadership: I recruited, trained, and developed part-time staff and contractors, cultivating a collaborative workplace culture that encouraged creativity and supported innovative programming.
I implemented strategic campaigns that increased donations, expanded the donor base, and strengthened community loyalty, while also launching the Garden’s first social media presence. I developed initiatives that elevated public attendance—particularly during the pandemic—by positioning the Garden as a safe, accessible, and restorative open space.
Under my leadership, capital improvements enhanced both the Garden’s resources and its aesthetics, aligning with strategic plan goals. Including installing the garden's electrical system, wi-fi based irrigation controllers, Pasadena Craftsman tile fountain, drinking fountain, shed extension, monumental signage, visitor kiosk, hardscaping, entryway gate and rail, and more.
We secured notable grants from the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Foundation (including the Field Guide in 2022 and the Wild Life Nature Journal in 2024, published after my tenure in 2025), the Pasadena Community Foundation, the Stanley Smith Horticultural Foundation, and the Harold and Colene Brown Family Foundation.
I worked closely with other nonprofit orgs, including Jericho Road, LA Compost, Las Fotos Project, staff, volunteers including the board of directors, advisory council, community members, donors, and City of Pasadena personnel to strengthen partnerships and maximize resources in service of the Garden’s mission. Our partnership with Outward Bound Adventures (OBA) brought their Environmental Restoration Team into the garden, working side by side with staff on hardscaping, irrigation, soil health, and plantings. Including Nick Araya of Tree Care LA, who conducted a structural pruning workshop—I involved a myriad of contractors, and professionals to work closely with and train the garden staff.
Together, these achievements carried forward the garden’s mission: to create a living model of climate-appropriate gardening while offering hands-on learning opportunities for students, volunteers, and all communities across Pasadena. I led the collaborative development of the Garden’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access statement with Diane Burbie of the Aspire Group. Among my most recognized contributions were innovative programs that fostered lasting stakeholder loyalty, including visitor-specific field and horticulture guides, social media campaigns, and the illustrated field guide distributed to every 5th grader in the Pasadena Unified School District in 2022. I also built educational partnerships with institutions such as USC, Cal Poly Pomona, Occidental College, Polytechnic School, and Westridge, and supported initiatives like the Climate Resilience Environmental Education Center at Hahamongna.
For instance, in February 2023, we observed dieback on the Coast Live Oak along Arlington Drive. I arranged for the tree to be assessed by experts, among them arborist Rebecca Latta; Alison Lancaster Consulting Arborists; Nick Araya of Tree Care LA; Dr. Christopher Shogren, UCANR Entomologist; Michael King, Forestry Program Coordinator and Staff Liaison for the City of Pasadena; and Paul Santos, Waypoint Pathologist. Their collective assessment confirmed the tree was failing and infested with thousands of wood-boring beetles. To protect the garden, we removed the oak and partnered with Jeff Perry of Angel City Lumber, who cured and milled the wood for a much-needed Oak Gathering Table.
Thanks to a $20,000 fundraising effort, the table was completed and delivered to the Garden just days after I returned from a three month sabbatical, on September 4, 2024. Around the same time, plans were underway with Katherine Pakradouni and Pasadena Beautiful to create a micro-forest at the garden’s entryway, where the oak had once stood. While the micro-forest never came to fruition, and the table tragically burned in a tool shed fire nine months later, these efforts reflected my commitment to renewal, resilience, and community collaboration.
Many individuals generously donated their time and expertise to the care of the garden. I also brought in leading specialists, including soil ecologist Nance Klehm, who worked with staff on soil ecology and deep mapping, while I was taking care of my mother who was dying from ALS. I invited designer Schessa Garbutt to host their inaugural Octavia’s Solstice at the garden June 22, 2024, in which Lynell George wrote “Taken together, for a moment, we were transported into a possibility. This is what collaboration and community looks like. This is what it feels like to pause and take luxurious breaths and lean into one another’s story. @xebede such beauty! This garden is such a gift.” (Instagram, 2024)
Schessa also designed the Wild Life journal that the garden was awarded a highly competitive $20,000 grant from the Pasadena Tournament of Roses Foundation in May of 2024, for a sixth grade nature journal especially geared toward students at Eliot Arts Magnet, a Title I PUSD middle school. It was because of my vision, we were able to create a follow-up publication to our wildly successful field guide, illustrated by Margaret Gallagher in 2022 (also due to my ignition). The Tournament of Roses grant award came right before my three month board approved sabbatical from losing my Father Ronald Matthews (from a traumatic sudden death) and Mother, Ann Matthews within eleven months of each other.
By the conclusion of my tenure on September 10, 2024, Arlington Garden had become a financially sound, community-anchored institution with a thriving culture of innovation and care. I remain deeply grateful for the relationships and friendships I fostered there—connections that continue to sustain me today.