Emina Darakjy is a community volunteer and sits on the board of the Independent Citizen’s Advisory and Oversight Committee of the Los Angeles Metropolitan Transportation Authority as well as the board of the  Pasadena Center Operating Company.  She is actively involved in numerous organizations related to the improvement and beautification of the urban landscape primarily through preservation, planting, and maintenance of trees and is a 2019 graduate of the Municipal Forestry Institute.

She is a member and a past president of Street Tree Seminar and recently worked on updating and producing the 3rd Edition of the STS book entitled “Street Trees Recommended for Southern California”. A 25-year member and past president of the Pasadena Beautiful Foundation, Ms. Darakjy is currently the Chair of its Pasadena Tree Program and, since 1995, has planted hundreds of trees throughout the city and was instrumental in replacing many of the trees that were lost during the 2011/2012 windstorm that hit Pasadena. Emina has also been a member and volunteer at The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens for 25 years. She is the past Chair of Pasadena’s Urban Forestry Advisory Committee and, in 2013, she received the President’s Award at the Western Chapter ISA Conference.