Adena is the Programs Coordinator for the City of Springfield: Public Works Department. In this role she oversees the Division of Waste & Recycling as well as helps develop and manage the activities and/or staff of community outreach programs related to Public Works. The Division of Waste & Recycling is directly responsible for the construction, operation, administration, and establishment of programs related to the proper handling and disposal of electronics, large items, landscape waste, household hazardous waste as well as the design and implementation of educational programming and waste reduction strategies and local legislation. Along with her role with the City, she is also founder and Director of the Creative Reuse Marketplace (CRM) which is a small nonprofit that seeks to foster community and inspire creative reuse through environmental stewardship, education, and job creation.

Before working with the City, Adena worked as an organizer for an NGO called Elevate Energy in Springfield IL and Olney IL. In this role she managed and implemented community-based strategies for educating and engaging individuals on alternative energy and energy efficiency. Prior to Elevate, Adena was a university and community college instructor between Indiana and Illinois for 7 years teaching within the school of Arts & Sciences. She also helped manage a 12 acre demonstration facility dedicated to sustainability in California and trained as a solar technician with an NGO called Grid Alternatives. Before focusing on environmental work, Adena worked for many years as an organizer with the United Mine Workers in Princeton IN and the United Steel Workers in Pittsburgh PA. She holds two Bachelors- one in Science and the other in Art- as well as a Masters in Environmental Studies with a focus on Policy & Sustainability.