Our Team
Alisa Shargorodsky
Founder & CEO
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Alisa Shargorodsky’s professional and academic background is in Urban Design and the circular economy. Alisa is most passionate when serving her community and inspiring social and environmental justice in her beloved city. She has provided environmental sustainability coordination and consulting to the Philadelphia Water Department, Weavers Way Cooperative Food Association, and Live Nation. Her research focuses on source reduction and systems design and she has served as a panelist for Be Waste Wise, a global discussion on waste through Columbia University. In 2020 she was a panelist for Thomas Jefferson University’s symposium on Sustainable Design. An enthusiastic educator, she has a bright vision of our collective potential to do better for this planet.
In 2019, ECHO Systems was the first business to obtain a reusable container variance in the City of Philadelphia. Most recently, Alisa worked with the Philadelphia Health Department, The Office of Sustainability, and Circular Philadelphia to remove restrictions on reusable containers in food service. She is the subject matter expert of the Philadelphia Quick Start Guide, — improving circularity for food service and hospitality.
Mary Ann Duffy
Director of Research & Development
Mary Ann Duffy, AIA, LEED AP BD+C, NOMA is an alumnus of Bennington College, VT, Plastic Pollution Environmental Policy course under Judith Enck, the Obama administration EPA leader. Mary Ann is founding co-chair of AIA, Philly, Zero-waste sub-Committee on the Environment; A graduate of the Spitzer School of Architecture at City College, NYC; and has 25+ years of experience in design and construction of adaptive re-use, residential, cultural, restaurant, and retail projects across Philadelphia and NYC.
She has studied and practiced Architecture In Rome, Italy, and taught studios For New Haven University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Community College of Philadelphia, Temple University, and Drexel’s Westphal College of Media Arts and Design. She discovered her passion for architecture in Lima, Peru while studying at La Universidad Femenina del Sagrada Corazon, — and volunteering in a squatter’s settlement with people building their homes from salvaged block and junkyard detritus.
Mary Ann is a member of Green Building United and a presenter at the Philadelphia 2020 Sustainability Symposium. She recently spoke on the topic of packaging waste and the emergence of a circular reusable packaging infrastructure.
Liza Cohen
Brand Strategy Intern
Liza Cohen is a summer Brand Strategy Intern with ECHO Systems working on brand coordination and sustainability amplification through social media.
She is a Fordham University student on the search for sustainable solutions to our environmental crisis.
Liza believes we must educate the public about climate solutions.
She recognizes that the public must be involved in creating local and global solutions to our environmental problems, and is happy to help ECHO Systems be a part of a local solution in Philadelphia.
CELIA DE CAUMETTE
Mixed Media Artist
Celia de Caumette is a Philadelphia-based multimedia artist with experience in a range of mediums including printmaking photography, illustration, video, sound, and graphic design. She received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree specializing in Printmaking from Tyler School of Art in 2020. In 2019 she completed an internship with The Print Center, a prestigious nonprofit printmaking and photography gallery in Philadelphia. She has completed multiple freelance projects including poster design for the Weavers Way Food Co-op, and editing a music video for Ode to Septa by Hawk Tubley and the Ozymandians. Alongside fine and experimental arts her interests lie in urban studies, language, and environmental justice.