Meet Our Team
At Growing Gardens, we nourish a culture of inclusiveness.
To cultivate a team that feels deeply rooted in their work, we strive to empower and employ past program participants, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ community members first.
We know through experience that diverse ideas, perspectives, and backgrounds create a stronger and more creative work environment that yields truly meaningful results.
Explore Our Staff Directory!
Growing Gardens is proud to employ over 50 Oregonians (and growing!)
Use the handy links below to navigate our staff directory by program.
Executive Director
JASON SKIPTON
With a diverse background in agriculture and community garden education programs particularly in Central America and experience in the Peace Corp, Jason leads the team at Growing Gardens by providing leadership, resources, training and oversight for all staff. (Pronouns: he/him)
*Hablo Español*
(I speak Spanish)
Lisa Nishimura
BUSINESS MANAGER
Lisa (she/her) manages the business and finance side of Growing Gardens and joined in late 2022 after ten years in retail buying and planning. She is excited to be able to combine her business background with her passion for sharing food with her community. Her interests include baking and cooking for family and friends, growing veggies, practicing yoga, and biking around town.
*日本語を話す*
(I speak Japanese)
Jack Nakashima
CULTURE AND OPERATIONS MANAGER
Jaclyn "Jack" Nakashima (she/her) is a community connector, organizer, and hospitality professional. Although she has spent a decade in Portland, Chicago will always be her home and have her heart. She has spent over 14 years working in every aspect of a restaurant while more recently, Jaclyn’s main focus has been fundraising in the form of social justice centered bake sales and free community events. She hopes to uplift and center the BIPOC communities while also creating space for joy, art, healing, and as always, good food.
Dashiell Hock
GRANTS COORDINATOR
Dash is originally from Eugene, Oregon and has lived in Portland for the past seven years, working in various capacities for many of your favorite food-related businesses. His love for food and passion for food justice has guided him to Growing Gardens, where he hopes to help strengthen our local food system and end systemic hunger.
Rachel Powers
GRANTS MANAGER
Rachel is a writer with a deep interest in regenerative food systems, food justice, and community-led change. With 15 years of storytelling experience in copywriting, marketing, fundraising, and communications, Rachel works with all program leaders and teams to manage grants and secure funding for Growing Gardens projects. She is inspired by Growing Gardens’ creative, respectful, and collaborative approach to social justice action.
Bee Thornbrooke
CONTENT MANAGER
Bee joined Growing Gardens in 2021 as Development Manager and is now our Content Manager, combining a passion for educational content with a strong background in business and digital marketing. With degrees in Business, Marketing, and Project Management, Bee brings expertise in planning, launching, and scaling online education platforms in the alternative healthcare sector. They are excited to use their skills to inspire and empower communities through Growing Gardens' mission-driven content.
Thuy Pham
DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
Thuy Pham (Twee-Fam), founder of the Vietnamese vegan restaurant Mama Dút, has taken on a new role as Development Manager at Growing Gardens. After gaining national recognition, including being featured on Netflix's *Street Food* and becoming a James Beard Award semi-finalist, Thuy has shifted her focus from food service to food sovereignty. At Growing Gardens, she continues her mission of building community by supporting programs that promote equitable access to gardening and education, using her passion for nourishing people to help create a healthier, more sustainable food system.
About Home Gardens
Home & Community Gardens
We believe that growing your own food is a transformative experience that connects us to our land, ourselves, and to each other. To cultivate a healthy and more equitable Oregon, our Home Gardens program pairs qualifying participants with neighborhood garden advisors who provide education, resources, and three years of peer-to-peer mentorship free of charge.
Jordana Mendonça Valdés
HOME GARDENS PROGRAM DIRECTOR
Jordana is a proud Brazilian who is passionate about how food can unite and engage people. Seeking more than a (boring) career in the Brazilian judicial system, she founded the "EcomAmor Institute" in Brazil (2016) and partnered with Growing Gardens in 2017/18. Jordana holds a master’s in Social Entrepreneurship from USC (2023) and feels grateful for the opportunity to work with amazing people to cultivate healthy and equitable communities.
*Hablo Español*
(I speak Spanish)
Antonio Rodriguez
HOME GARDENS
COMMUNITY MANAGER
Antonio joined the Growing Huertos program in 2014 and quickly became one of the program’s most dedicated volunteers, helping with installations and site visits, hosting workshops, and mentoring new gardeners. He has a great passion for agriculture and community education.
*Hablo Español*
(I speak Spanish)
Angel Hammon
HOME GARDENS
OPERATIONS MANAGER
Angel (she/her) is thrilled to be working with Growing Gardens at the intersection of gardening and community health and wellness. As Operations Manager for the Home Gardens Program, she gets to work with partner gardens and farmers to extend the benefits of gardening and fresh produce to the community. She enjoys tending to her herb garden and baking (experimenting) in the kitchen with friends.
Isabel Cruz
HOME GARDENS
COMMUNITY ORGANIZER
Inner Northeast Portland Area
Isabel joined the Home Gardens program in 2005 and quickly became one of its biggest supporters. She loves growing her own food at home, raising chickens, and spending time with her plants. She is a teacher for Oregon’s Food Bank’s Siembra La Cena (Seed to Supper) garden education course and a Promotor de Salud (Health Promoter). She has led many classes on growing your own vegetables, nutritional health, and healthy cooking. She is fluent in both English and Spanish.
*Hablo Español*
(I speak Spanish)
Camilo Centeno
HOME GARDENS
COMMUNITY ORGANIZER
North Portland Area
Camilo’s roots began in Colima, Mexico where he was born. As a child, he worked in the fields and later came to the United States. Camilo’s passions include helping families with limited resources, being involved in his community and spending time with his family and three children.
*Hablo Español*
(I speak Spanish)
Carolina Barroso
HOME GARDENS
COMMUNITY ORGANIZER
North Clackamas County Area
Carolina, she/her, is a proactive Community Organizer at Growing Gardens, known for her positive, creative attitude and strong communication skills. She values teamwork and collaboration.
Advocating for women's independence, Carolina believes women should engage in farming, nurturing the land, and harvesting fruits and vegetables, alongside entrepreneurship and traditional roles.
Her role at Growing Gardens has honed her teaching skills, empowering gardeners to understand planting and harvesting, fostering sustainability. She aims to expand the program, inviting more to experience the joy of cultivating the earth.
Being connected with nature brings Carolina immense happiness. As a health promotion specialist, she considers herself a catalyst for change, working with her gardeners toward economic, environmental, and social transformations for a more sustainable planet.
*Hablo Español*
(I speak Spanish)
Cat Ayala
HOME GARDENS
COMMUNITY ORGANIZER
Southeast Portland Area
Kathy Berry
HOME GARDENS
COMMUNITY ORGANIZER
Gresham and East Multnomah
Kathy (she/her) started out volunteering as a parent in an afterschool class taught by Growing Gardens when her daughter was in elementary school over 10 years ago. She then envisioned a garden transforming that same school. She was involved in that transformation process by getting garden beds built and teaching a garden class. She grew as the garden grew — evolving from a volunteer into a garden educator and now a Growing Gardens staff member. She loves teaching health and nutrition, watching young individuals thrive in a growing environment and being part of an organization that supports so many communities and is teaching life skills.
Angelica Cortes
HOME GARDENS
COMMUNITY COORDINATOR
East Portland and Gresham Area
Angelica Cortes Mejia was born in Mexico and has lived in Portland for 12 years. Her favorite part of her role is helping people in her community grow and sustain their own source of vegetables and fruits. Her favorite part about having her garden is sharing what she harvests with her neighbors and building strong community relations through food. (Pronouns: she/her)
*Hablo Español*
(I speak Spanish)
Shireen Duke
HOME GARDENS
COMMUNITY ORGANIZER
Northeast Area
Shireen is a 5th generation Oregonian who loves to get outside to grow collard greens and fresh tomatoes. She is also an accomplished dancer (Line Dancing and Chicago Steppin). Shireen has been involved with Growing Gardens since 2013. She started as a Home Gardens Program participant, then a Garden Mentor, and now serves on the Board of Directors.
Lacey Shirahama
HOME GARDENS
PARTNERSHIP COORDINATOR
Cascadia Health
Lacey has over 10 years of experience working with youth facing mental and behavioral health challenges and is working toward becoming a Registered Horticulture Therapist to continue to provide this support through the medium of plants. She currently co-facilitates garden groups with Cascadia Health with goals around building community, learning about edible plants and exploring ways to interact with nature. Outside of work, she can be found playing trivia, doing jigsaw puzzles or hiking with her dog, Rye.
Romanet Leiva
HOME GARDENS
PARTNERSHIP COORDINATOR
Providence Milwaukie
Roma, a social work advocate, studied agriculture in Santiago, Chile. Her path began in sustainable gardening workshops, igniting a passion for community and environmental connection. Post-university, she explored enology, quality control, and seed labs before moving to the U.S. as an import fruit inspector.
Her heart leaned towards community work, leading her to become a Garden of Giving coordinator. For two years, Roma has created spaces for the Latin community to embrace sustainability and healthy living, honoring nature as Pachamama. She collaborates with the Community Teaching Kitchen of Providence Hospital Milwaukie, organizing volunteer events, garden parties, and workshops on diabetes education and urban gardening.
Each activity reflects Roma's commitment to cultivating plants and community. Her drive to expand the program and amplify the garden's impact fuels her work, making her a vital advocate for a healthier, sustainable future.
*Hablo Español*
(I speak Spanish)
Erika Winters
HOME GARDENS
PARTNERSHIP COORDINATOR
Cascadia Health
Erika Winters (she/her) has been digging up soil success for 30 years! From home gardens to small-farm food production, farm and garden retail to commercial consulting, to teaching the Urban Farm course at U of O, Erika is passionate about growing healthy soil and food for our communities. After earning her professional registration as a horticultural therapist, Erika joined the Growing Gardens team as a partnership coordinator with Cascadia Behavioral Health. She co-leads activities at group homes for people living with mental illness, developmental disabilities, addiction, and houselessness. She cares deeply about increasing access to gardens, providing garden education for health, and promoting life skills, wellbeing, and empowerment through meaningful activities.
Lindsay Oberlander
HOME GARDENS
COMMUNITY ORGANIZER
North Clackamas County
Lindsay (She/They) is an educator and food justice advocate who is excited to be a part of the Home Gardens team serving as a Community Organizer in North Clackamas County. They are passionate about the healing power of communing with land and access to nutritious food for all. They feel grateful to be able to meet others in the community through the process of sharing the joy and abundance that comes with a home garden. In their free time, they enjoy tending to their own vegetable garden and spending as much time outside as possible, whether that's biking, camping, or hiking, with their two dogs.
About Youth Grow
School Gardens
The Youth Grow program collaborates with twelve Portland public schools to provide learning gardens, hands-on education opportunities, and comprehensive lesson plans in both English and Spanish. We are proud to offer comprehensive training and certificates for school garden educators and act as a resource hub for educators worldwide.
Amoreena Guerrero
YOUTH GROW
DIRECTOR
As the Youth Grow Coordinator/Educator, Amoreena supports other garden coordinators and educators create successful and engaging garden-based programs for many schools and their students. Working with other adults to expand opportunities for students to learn outside is her number one professional goal. She comes to Youth Grow with a Master’s degree in Education and 15 years of teaching experience, both indoors and out. When she’s not out in school gardens, you might find her with her family, or at the dojo teaching a weekly Ki-Aikido children’s class. (Pronouns: she/her)
*Hablo Español*
(I speak Spanish)
Kimberly Deras
YOUTH GROW
MANAGER
Kim was born in Hood River, OR, after her family immigrated from Durango, Mexico. Growing up, she worked alongside her family harvesting fruit, an experience that shaped her deep connection to food, land, and community. Fourteen years ago, she moved to Portland to study Biology/Botany at Portland State University.
With a background in science education, community engagement, and bilingual program development, Kim is passionate about fostering meaningful connections between young people, their natural environment, and their cultural identities. As part of the Youth Grow team, she is excited to nurture curiosity and empowerment through garden-based learning.
*Hablo Español*
(I speak Spanish)
Betsy Lattig
YOUTH GROW
LEAD EDUCATOR
Faubion School
Betsy Lattig was born in Portland, and spent half of her childhood growing up in the rugged beauty of the Oregon coast. Betsy is a passionate educator, sparking joy for learning in both children and adults. She has spent the past 15 years teaching art, ecology, and gardening in the Portland area. Beyond her love of children and education, Betsy also enjoys gardening, painting, hanging out with her lovely teenage boys, and spending time with friends and family in nature. (Pronouns: she/her)
Kelley Smith
YOUTH GROW EDUCATOR
Kelley grew up on the East Coast and moved to Portland for graduate school. While studying Nutrition at National University of Natural Medicine, she fell in love with gardening and wanted to connect the two. After interning with FoodWaves and Wild Lilac, she knew she wanted to be a part of the Farm to School initiative. She loves exploring and hiking but also spends a good amount of time indoors cooking, reading, and making crafts. After serving 2 years with FoodCorps and officially joining the GG team in 2021, she is so excited to share her passion with early childhood and elementary school kids teaching them about nutrition, cooking and nature!
Allison Yoder
YOUTH GROW EDUCATOR
Allison, who is originally from the Midwest, is an avid home gardener who also enjoys baking, hiking, and going to concerts with her partner. She has a Master’s degree in Social Work from PSU, and has worked in a variety of social services settings over the last 10 years, most recently managing a youth mentoring program serving elementary-school students in Gresham and Rockwood. Allison‘s love of gardening and enthusiasm for the outdoors inspired her to become a Master Gardener volunteer in 2019, and she recently completed the Seed to Supper facilitator training.
Matt Laughter
YOUTH GROW LEAD COORDINATOR
Davis / Glenfair Schools
Matt has been an elementary school educator and after-school program coordinator in East Portland since 2008. In past years, he has supported the Hunger Relief programs in both the Reynolds and David Douglas School Districts. In 2022, he had the opportunity to take on the garden coordinator role for Davis and Glenfair Elementary. Between the two sites he manages roughly 30 garden beds, teaches gardening classes, offers parent cooking classes, serves garden produce in the cafeteria, and coordinates volunteer events. He looks to grow a community that cherishes and supports the garden spaces for the next generation of students and educators.
Angeles Martinez
YOUTH GROW COORDINATOR & BILINGUAL EDUCATOR
Powell Butte School
Coming from Puebla Mexico, Angeles’s first language is Spanish but has lived in the United States for the past 19 years. She loves children and being out in nature, admiring flowers, planting fruits and vegetables, and the like. Combining these two loves makes her an excellent community organizer for our Powell Butte neighborhood. She loves helping others become more self-sufficient through gardening and appreciating nature.
*Hablo Español*
(I speak Spanish)
Lindsey Gohd
YOUTH GROW COORDINATOR & EDUCATOR
Whitman Elementary School
Lindsey (they/them) studied soil ecology and sustainable agriculture in their Masters degree program in Chicago. They deepened their knowledge of food and agriculture while working as a farm manager, and have enjoyed sharing their knowledge of the natural world as a nature educator. Lindsey is originally from New Jersey and while moving around the country, they have enjoyed creating community around their Jewish heritage and in their queer and trans community. They are thrilled to continue building community around food and nature with Growing Gardens, and hope to bring many smiling faces to their gardens. Outside of gardening, Lindsey enjoys going camping in mossy forests and around coastal tide pools, foraging for mushrooms, and playing saxophone at home.
Carla Manuel
YOUTH GROW EDUCATOR
Carla is a first-generation Filipina Immigrant who has lived in the San Francisco Bay area, San Jose, Los
Angeles and now resides in Portland, Oregon. Carla’s journey has taken her from luxury hotel properties
in Santa Monica to corporate dining at Kaiser Permanente NW and Kroger, to being an ECE Nutrition
provider for NIKE and Atlas Immersion Academies. In over a decade of service to Portland Parks &
Recreation, she piloted, developed, and was the lead instructor within a Farm-To-School program. After
completing her 2-year service with FoodCorps, she is now an educator in the Youth Grow division of
Growing Gardens.
*Hablo Español*
(I speak Spanish)
Cid Melo
YOUTH GROW
GARDEN COORDINATOR AND EDUCATOR
Powell Butte Elementary
Cid ( they/them) grew up in the Bay Area of California before attending Cal Poly Humboldt where they earned their degree in Sociology. With a decade's experience in Early Childhood Education and organic farming, Cid is passionate about growing food for the community and connecting students to the natural world they are already a part of. As a Garden Educator and Coordinator, Cid is eager to continue Youth Grow's work in providing ecological exploration and education to students, as well as learning right alongside them.
Valerie Dolan
YOUTH GROW
Kelly Garden Coordinator
Attracted to the beauty and energy of the PNW, Valerie (she/her) moved from Boston, MA to Portland in 2005. Since then, she has been working as a freelance filmmaker, photographer and prop stylist and also volunteering in her community in various ways. Val loves to garden at home and at Brentwood South Community Garden and feels gardening has brought much joy and meaning to her life. She resides in the Lents Neighborhood with her family and loves to get out into nature and to make art in her free time. Val is very excited to be involved with Growing Gardens and the Garden Rejuvenation project at Kelly Elementary, which is where her daughter attends. She hopes to help the students engage with growing plants and healthy food and to strengthen this community resource.
Amber Roth
YOUTH GROW
COMMUNITY ORGANIZER
Cully/Parkrose
Amber (she/her) joined Growing Gardens in 2023 as the Garden Coordinator at Scott Elementary School. She is a passionate urban farmer who enjoys connecting with the community through food and gardening and sharing garden love with kids. As a climate justice advocate, she believes that sharing skills for growing food, farm sustainably, and supporting native ecology are important direct actions toward creating change for people and the planet. She is a native plant and pollinator enthusiast and enjoys consulting on and supporting native garden restoration projects. Amber has 2 decades of experience in event planning and design, and loves using these skills to create nature-focused events and experiences for her community! If she isn't digging in her garden or chasing around her 3 chickens, you can find Amber exploring nature, creating something artful, or cooking up delicious meals with her 2 kiddos and partner.
About Lettuce Grow
Correctional Facility Gardens
In partnership with the Department of Corrections and the Federal Bureau of Prisons, The Lettuce Grow program designs hands-on garden-based classes and workshops for Oregon Incarcerated students. The produce generated in our learning gardens supplements nutrition for incarcerated people on the inside and participants earn professional credentials and skills that aid their successful re-entry to society on the outside.
Rima Green
LETTUCE GROW
DIRECTOR
As a Native American, Rima has experienced both foster care and incarceration. After a 30-year career in high-tech, Rima returned to her first love, gardening and working with individuals caught up in the correctional system. Rima directs the Lettuce Grow program which provides garden education to inmates in correctional institutions and juvenile facilities throughout the state of Oregon. (Pronouns: she/her)
Kate Bildsten
LETTUCE GROW
EDUCATIONAL MANAGER AND MID VALLEY COORDINATOR
Years of farming and gardening throughout California led Kate to study horticulture at Oregon State University, always with an eye towards incorporating those skills and lessons towards criminal justice. She is invested in sharing the joys of spending time outside with plants. Her other interests include pottery, marine biology, backcountry exploring, foraging, and sewing. (pronouns: she/her)
Dashiell Hock
LETTUCE GROW EDUCATOR
Dash is originally from Eugene, Oregon and has lived in Portland for the past seven years, working in various capacities for many of your favorite food-related businesses. His love for food and passion for food justice has guided him to Growing Gardens, where he hopes to help strengthen our local food system and end systemic hunger.
Join Our Team
We're always on the lookout for passionate, motivated, and hard-working community leaders. Follow the link below to explore current employment opportunities at Growing Gardens.
Growing food in schools, backyards, and correctional facilities to cultivate healthy and equitable communities.
CONTACT US
3114 SE 50th Ave,
Portland, OR 97206
(503) 284-8420
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