Katherine Kelly
Executive Director & Co-Founder

Katherine works with the board and committees, strategic planning, program development and a whole bunch of other stuff!

Favorite vegetable: Okra, roasted to crispy goodness!

Alicia Alferman
Office Manager

Alicia keeps the office under control, deals with paperwork, is a master schlepper. She knows a little about a lot of it, but not a lot about most of it. She’s happy to hear from you and point you in the right direction.

Favorite vegetable: Cabbage (so underrated.)

Sam Davis
Site Manager, Juniper Gardens Training Farm

Sam takes care of all things related to operations and maintenance of the farm – he’s the one making sure the farm actually functions. Many of the current and graduate farmers tend to call Sam first whenever they need help or have any questions. Sam is also the farm guardian and watch-dog, he’s always checking in on the farm to make sure everything’s in tact.

Favorite fruit: Watermelon

Semra Fetahovic
Program Manager, Juniper Gardens Training Farm

Semra co-manages the New Roots for Refugees program by assisting the refugee farmers on-site – basically making sure everything at Juniper Gardens runs smoothly!

Favorite fruit: Peppers, Tomatoes, Eggplants – all the summer crops!

Kathleen Foster
Manager, Nutrition Incentives Programs

Kathleen works to provide access to locally grown produce for all through Nutrition Incentive Programs at farmers markets in the greater Kansas City area. Reach out to her for information about Double Up Food Bucks and the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition programs in KC!

Favorite vegetable: Patty pan squash! Making her mom’s fried squash and Gram’s squash pudding always makes Kathleen feel a little closer to home.

Kim Gasper
Director, Communications & Development

I am responsible for all aspects of Fundraising and Marketing for Cultivate KC.  With a team of others, we ensure that people understand the role and impact Cultivate KC makes in our KC community as well as working with the generous funders, donors and businesses who make sure we have the financial resources we need to operate our programs.

Favorite fruit: Peach

Mark Gawron
Program Manager, Metro Farms & Food Systems

Mark engages with a wide variety of people who are starting, operating, and growing farms and community-based food projects and is charged with assisting them in realizing their goals while helping to develop a diverse and strong local food system.

Favorite fruit: Blueberry

Kate Johnson
Farmer Trainer, Juniper Gardens Training Farm

Kate works with the refugee farmers to adapt their farming practices to be successful in the American market and Midwestern climate. They work together to create strategies to combat pests and disease for improved yield and plant health, to plan varieties for increased interest from market customers, and to develop methods around each individual’s strengths and weaknesses. If the New Roots farmers have a question, Kate works with them to find the best answer!

Favorite fruit: Green Moldovan Tomato

Sarah Jordan
Development Manager

Sarah primarily writes grants, and helps plan events like Homegrown Happy Hour, the Urban Grown Farm Crawl & Dig In! Sarah also builds relationships with community funders, fights with Salesforce, and edits all the things.

Favorite fruit: The tomato

Dan Krull
Site Manager, Westport Commons Farm

Dan is particularly interested in permaculture, soil biology self-sufficient agriculture and sustainable farming systems. Dan loves giving tours, lectures and working with volunteers.

Favorite vegetable: He loves all vegetables equally

Mary Nguyen
Communications & Public Education Manager

Mary coordinates tours, volunteer opportunities and media requests; manages social media channels; and designs print and digital marketing assets. If you want to talk  or learn about Cultivate KC  you’re gonna have to go through her first (most of the time)!

Favorite vegetable: Radish

Linda Siemens
Director, Finance & Administration

Linda oversees annual budgeting process and monitoring, human resources, information technology, and the database.

Favorite vegetable: Cherry tomatoes

Ladan Soleimani
Development Coordinator

As the development coordinator, Ladan manages our Salesforce database and assists with grant writing and donation campaigns.

Favorite vegetable: Eggplant

PJ Quell & Larry Davis
Volunteers Extraordinaire

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