ORGANIC SEED ALLIANCE - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board & Advisors Team
- Secretary of the Board
Adrienne is the Northeast Organic Product Specialist for Vitalis Organic Seeds. She earned a masters degree in Plant Breeding and Plant Genetics and a doctorate in Environment and Resources at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research included plant breeding for organic farming systems and intellectual property rights for public cultivars. Adrienne is proud to have participated in the breeding and release of Who Gets Kissed?, an open-pollinated sweet corn bred for and with organic farmers. She helped to organize the first Student Organic Seed Symposium in Vermont in 2012, and has been actively involved with the group ever since. Adrienne has been engaged with the organic farming movement as a farmer, organizer, seed saver, and researcher for 15 years.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board & Advisors Team
- President of the Board
Since 1993, Amy Grondin has worked on boats in the Alaska Salmon industry as a fish buyer, micro-processor of wild salmon and a commercial fisherman. When not on the water, she is a Sustainable Seafood Consultant and Commercial Fishing Outreach Specialist. A long time member of Slow Food and the Chefs Collaborative, she advocates for sustainable local food systems and has great concern for the sustainability of ocean resources
Ana C. Galvis-Martinez joined OSA's staff in 2022 after several years of working in collaboration with the education team. She is an educator that holds a bachelor degree in Biology, a MSc in Sustainable Development, and a MA in Latin American Studies with an emphasis in food justice. Ana is deeply interested in agroecology as an agricultural production alternative to produce nutritious food, conserve natural resources, and strengthen social movements. For over 15 years she has worked within the food justice and food sovereignty movements in the non-profit and in the academic sector, in Mexico, Colombia, and the U.S. Ana is originally from Colombia, single-mother of a young man, immigrant to the U.S. and has a deep love, respect, and admiration for ancient cultures and Indigenous cosmovision. She has extensive experience teaching sustainable agriculture to people of different socio-cultural backgrounds, ages, and genders.
Angela Day co-founded a feed and farm supply store with her husband in Snohomish, Washington. For 25 years, their work at the feed store supported small-scale and hobby farms, and youth projects in the Puget Sound area. Angela also served two terms as an appointed member of the Snohomish County Planning Commission. Her education includes a Master's in Public Administration and a PhD in Political Science from the University of Washington. She has developed curriculum and taught university courses in public management and leadership. For the past several years, Angela has provided grant review services for the U.S. Department of Agriculture for various programs that promote local food system development and partnerships. She has also worked to develop grant proposals with a goal of promoting local markets, urban agriculture, and more resilient local food systems.
Anjali Vats, JD, PhD is Associate Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law with a secondary appointment in Communication. She is interested in issues related to race, law, rhetoric, media studies, and popular culture, with particular focus on intellectual property. Her book, The Color of Creatorship: Intellectual Property, Race and the Making of Americans (Stanford UP, 2020), examines the relationship between copyrights, patents, trademarks, race, and national identity formation. She has published in the Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal, the Quarterly Journal of Speech, Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies, and Communication, Culture & Critique. From 2014 - 2021, Vats was Associate Professor of Communication and African and African Diaspora Studies at Boston College and Associate Professor of Law at Boston College Law School (by courtesy), where she taught Critical Race Theory. In 2016-2017, while on an AAUW Postdoctoral Fellowship, she served as a Visiting Law Professor at UC Davis School of Law. She was also previously a faculty member in the Department of Communication and Culture at Indiana University. Before becoming a professor, Vats clerked for Chief Justice A. William Maupin of the Supreme Court of Nevada.
Benjamin Uchitelle-Pierce was born in Illinois, USA and is honored to be of service to the OSA community. He believes seeds hold the shared story of our past, and the keys to our collective future. Benjamin works with HarvestPlus to build resilient and nutritious food systems by bridging the gaps between agriculture, nutrition, and health. He works collaboratively to tackle hidden hunger on a global scale.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Executive Director in 2016 After Leading the Start - Up of Sylvester Manor Educational Farm
Cara Loriz joined the OSA team as executive director in 2016 after leading the start-up of Sylvester Manor Educational Farm, a historic farm on Shelter Island, New York. An educator and writer, Cara studied soils and remote sensing while earning degrees in geology and technical writing, and also taught environmental science and geology at several colleges. Before joining the farm world, she served as editor-in-chief of the local newspaper on Shelter Island, winning awards for writing, photography and design. In advancing OSA's mission, Cara has prioritized promoting seed literacy and building cultural and community connections to plant breeding. In 2017, Cara facilitated OSA's fiscal sponsorship of the Society of Organic Seed Professionals. She lives in Port Townsend with her husband Mike, several chickens and thousands of honey bees.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Outreach Director
Cathleen McCluskey is the outreach director for Organic Seed Alliance. She supports OSA's online and print communications, and the coordination of regional and national outreach efforts. Cathleen also serves as the committee leader for the biennial Organic Seed Growers Conference. She has worked on food sovereignty campaigns; helped launch a local seed library; and researches the social, biological, and economic impacts of on-farm genetic diversity. Cathleen holds an MS degree in Agroecology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is currently pursuing graduate studies in environment and resources through the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She lives in Teejop, Ho-Chunk Lands (Madison, Wisconsin) and uses she/her pronouns.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Worker / Owner of the Cooperatively Managed Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
Ira is a worker/owner of the cooperatively managed Southern Exposure Seed Exchange where she coordinates variety selection and seed grower contracts. She is committed to increasing the number of small organic seed growers and supporting the formation of a southeastern seed growers cooperative. Ira is a member of Acorn Community which farms over 60 acres of certified organic land in Central Virginia, growing seeds, alliums, hay, and conducting variety trials for Southern Exposure. She is also a principal organizer of the Heritage Harvest Festival at Monticello, was involved with the SARE-sponsored Saving Our Seeds Project and organizes and presents at events sponsored by the Virginia Association of Biological Farmers (VABF), Virginia Master Gardeners, Carolina Farm Stewardship Association (CFSA), and Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (SSAWG).
Job Titles:
- Research and Education Assistant Director
Jared Zystro is Organic Seed Alliance's research and education assistant director. He has an M.S. and Ph.D. in plant breeding and plant genetics from the University of Wisconsin - Madison, where he studied efficient methods of developing new organic sweet corn varieties. Jared has worked in the organic seed industry for over 15 years, managing seed production at two farms and conducting research and education projects with OSA. He currently manages OSA's regional development in California, conducts participatory breeding projects and variety trials, and teaches farmers about seed production and plant breeding at workshops, conferences, and field days. He lives in the coastal town of Arcata, CA, with his wife and son.
Jennifer Turney brings years of financial management experience to the OSA team. She has created and maintained systems for a diversity of non-profit and for-profit businesses including creating tools for budgeting, financial tracking, grant management, and state and federal compliance. She also brings a wealth of personal experience in farming and the arts including fiber arts, landscaping, and food preservation. She resides in Port Townsend, Washington with her two lamas, three sheep, and apple orchard on a historic homestead.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Advocacy & Communications Director
Kristina "Kiki" Hubbard is the director of advocacy and communications for Organic Seed Alliance. Kiki's work on seed policy spans 20 years in the areas of antitrust, biotechnology, consolidation, intellectual property, and organic regulation. Working on an organic farm piqued her interest in sustainable agriculture and environmental justice while an undergraduate in Wisconsin. She went on to pursue related law and policy issues in Washington, DC, before moving out west to complete an M.S. at the University of Montana in Environmental Studies with an emphasis in sustainable food and farming. Before landing at OSA, Kiki worked for a number of organizations, including the Center for Rural Affairs, National Family Farm Coalition, Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM), and the Western Organization of Resource Councils. While at OCM, Kiki led a national campaign on antitrust concerns in the seed industry that eventually set in motion a federal investigation by the Department of Justice. At OSA, Kiki leads efforts to promote policies and actions that advance organic seed systems. She manages OSA's State of Organic Seed project and leads federal policy initiatives targeting Congress and federal agencies. Kiki lives in Missoula, Montana, with her husband, son, dog, and generous garden, and loves running, hiking, skiing, cooking, saving seed, writing poetry, and sticking her nose in field guides.
Job Titles:
- Associate for the Pacific Northwest Region and One of OSA
- Research & Education Associate, Northwest Region
Laurie McKenzie is Research and Education Associate for the Pacific Northwest region and one of OSA's vegetable breeders. She manages OSA's research farm in Chimacum, WA, where she conducts breeding projects, vegetable variety trials, and seed production on a variety of crops. Laurie has authored and co-authored several publications and taught dozens of classes and workshops on seed production and plant breeding. She received her M.S. in Horticulture and Plant Breeding from Oregon State University in 2012 and has over a decade of farming and seed production experience. Laurie focuses on breeding for organic production systems using participatory strategies. She is currently working on several collaborative breeding projects focused on cabbage, kale, carrots, Swiss Chard, and purple sprouting broccoli. In her spare time Laurie enjoys creating her budding homestead, playing with her farm animals, and growing flowers in the garden.
Micaela Colley leads OSA's research and education programs focused on organic seed production and organic plant breeding. She is the author of several publications. Micaela frequently teaches and speaks on organic seed topics and collaborates on research projects nationally. Micaela is also pursuing a PhD focused on organic and participatory plant breeding under Dr. Edith Lammerts van Bueren at Wageningen University in the Netherlands.
Job Titles:
- Midwest Research and Education Associate
Michael Lordon began working with Organic Seed Alliance in 2021, supporting the research and education program. He has over five years professional experience in the organic seed industry working with Nature & Nurture Seeds, helping to grow the business, the seeds, and the community. Michael has a master's degree focused on conservation ecology from the University of Michigan School of Natural Resources & Environment, a bachelor's degree in biological science from DePaul University, and is the co-author of multiple peer-reviewed articles in the field of population and community ecology. Currently, he's involved with several Midwest-based seed projects, including growing the organic seed breeding network in the region. Michael wants to create accessible spaces for learning and exchange while exploring research questions involving agroecological data and human stories. He is committed to helping seed growers make decisions when confronted with both environmental and social dilemmas.
Job Titles:
- Information & Events Coordinator
Rebekah Korenowsky Woods joined the team as the Information & Events Coordinator for Organic Seed Alliance in 2021. In this role, Rebekah connects people to resources and to each other through the Organic Seed Commons, biennial Organic Seed Growers Conference, and other events and programs. As a systems-thinker and problem-solver, Rebekah has previously conducted research and restoration at the land-water-human interface and stewarded collaborative community relationships for several environmental nonprofit organizations. Rebekah's education includes a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Geology from Ohio University and coursework in the Master of Environmental Studies program at The Evergreen State College. On the creative side, Rebekah is also a fiber artist who uses natural materials and home-grown or scavenged dyes to create simple, functional pieces. Rebekah lives in Port Townsend, Washington and uses she/her and they/them pronouns interchangeably.
Job Titles:
- California Research & Outreach Associate
Steve has been involved with agriculture since he was a child. His journey began as a gardener and then a farmer, research agronomist, seed production and development manager, educator, and seed advocate. Steve works for OSA in California and Intermountain West states to help farmers establish regional seed hubs based on public domain seed production and improvement.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board & Advisors Team
- Vice President of the Board
- Director of Crop Stewardship at the Land Institute
Tessa Peters is the Director of Crop Stewardship at The Land Institute. She has a B.S. in Physics and in Agroecology and a PhD in Plant Breeding and Genetics. She works to support the adoption of new perennial grain crops and cropping systems with the goal of creating an agriculture that more closely mimics natural systems characterized by diversity and resilience. She chases her two kids and partner around the hills near their home in Laramie, Wyoming. She spends her other time throwing pots, hiking and being grateful for the wind that quickens her pulse and reddens her cheeks.