Staff Directory
Brien Darby
Executive Director
Brien supports the staff and programs and keeps the wheels turning by keeping the focus on our core mission and strategic plan. Brien is passionate about urban farming, community building and spreadsheets.
Favorite vegetable: Kale
Alicia Alferman
Communications and Events Associate
Alicia shares the work of Cultivate KC through the website and social media. She facilitates connections by helping events run smoothly. She’s the voice on the phone, and though she may not know the answer to your farming or policy question, she’s happy to point you to the people who do.
Favorite vegetable: Cabbage (so underrated.)
Sam Davis
Site Coordinator, 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
Lana Dominguez
Program Manager, Food Access
Lana manages our Food Access programming to help folks access locally grown fruits and veggies through Double Up Food Bucks, Market Match, and Senior Farm Share. Lana also collaborates with community partners to increase food access, outreach, and advocacy efforts.
Favorite fruit: Her mom’s garden-grown tomatoes!
Haley Drake
Farmer Trainer, Juniper Gardens Training Farm
Haley supports the New Roots for Refugees Program at Juniper Garden Training Farm. She works directly with the farmers in training in the field AND the classroom.
Favorite veggie: Sugar snap peas
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 veggies: Peppers, Tomatoes, Eggplants – all the summer crops!
Ami Freeberg
Program Manager, Metro Farms & Food Systems
Ami works to help develop urban farms and community-based food projects to build a strong local food system and a supportive community of growers.
Favorite veggetables: Hakurei turnips
Amanda Lindahl
Graduate Support Specialist
Amanda supports New Roots for Refugee Farmer Graduates by providing hands-on assistance, training opportunities, and resource connections including land access, infrastructure development, and funding support.
Favorite vegetable: Sweet potato because they’re so easy to grow and store for eating all year long.
Mary Nguyen
Director, Community Engagement
Mary makes sure people who are interested or involved in the food system can do so through the work and connections of Cultivate KC.
Favorite Vegetable: Radish
Vincent Nguyen
Director, Development
Vince grows the green! He cultivates our philanthropy to raise the funds needed to support our vital programs in the community.
Favorite Vegetable: Broccoli, because you can pretend you’re a giant eating small trees.
Eli O’Sullivan Kurtz
Program Associate, Food Access
Eli supports our Food Access programming. First he collects data from farmers markets about Double Up Food Bucks and Market Match. Then he wrangles that data to clearly show the value of building relationships between local food production and folks in need.
Favorite Fruit: A really good pear
Daniel Robinson
Site Manager, Westport Commons Farm
Daniel manages Westport Commons Farm. He is a plant enthusiast, and avid guerrilla gardener. He’s passionate about locally grown food and learning the food systems that surround us. As current president of the Kansas City Chapter of the National Young Farmers coalition Daniel intends to not only strengthen the connection to people and their food, but the policies that affect them also.
Favorite Fruit: Mango
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
Paul Zehr
Site Manager, Juniper Gardens Training Farm
Paul helps to keep things running at Juniper Gardens, from fixing water lines to amending soil. He also gets really excited about multicultural spaces, which are abundant at Juniper. Paul’s favorite thing to do is nerd out with folks, whether that be cover cropping, world languages, or D&D.
Favorite vegetable: BEETS (roasted with goat cheese, they could possibly be the meaning of life)
PJ Quell & Larry Davis
Volunteers Extraordinaire
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