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BOARD OF TRUSTEES
As the President of GROW's Board of Trustees, Kristin has always enjoyed growing food and became a P-patch gardener in 2013, first at the Burke-Gilman P-Patch and later at Westcrest P-Patch in West Seattle where she currently serves on the leadership team. She brings to the GROW Board more than 20 years of experience working with nonprofit foundations, trade, and professional associations. She is currently employed with the Legal Foundation of Washington which funds civil legal aid programs for low-income people throughout Washington state. Kristin joined the GROW Board in 2019.
Kristin Parker
President of GROW's Board of Trustees
Tanya brings her experience in journalism and digital marketing to the GROW Team. She is currently the Digital Content Specialist at Pike Place Market, where she supports local businesses, artists, and farmers through educational classes and one-on-one guidance. For a decade prior, Tanya worked in television and radio newsrooms across the county revamping their digital and social media presence. Tanya is passionate about helping people and organizations find their voice, learn about seasonal eating, and bond over gardening and the outdoors. Tanya was an active member of the UpGarden P-Patch for several years before joining the GROW Board of Trustees in 2019.
Tanya Sinkovits
Vice President of GROW's Board of Trustees
Michael McNutt
Michael has extensive experience helping small and medium-sized manufacturers bring products to market, improve profitability, and to scale their operations. One of his passions is building strong communities and securing open space in the city where people can gather, talk, and garden. A native of Seattle, Michael has contacts throughout the public and private sectors and works to increase GROW's ability to raise money in order to more broadly fulfill its mission. Additionally, he makes use of his business experience in helping to increase GROW's effectiveness at executing its strategic planning goals and objectives. Michael has served on a variety of boards of directors, including the Epilepsy Association and Impact Washington. Michael began serving on GROW's Land Stewardship Committee in 1998 and joined the board of directors in 2003.
Board Treasurer
Eric is an attorney in a two-person law firm that represents companies in the electric power industry. He has gardened at the Eastlake P-Patch for more than ten years. In his spare time, Eric bicycles, skis, and sails. Eric joined the GROW Board in 2012.
Eric Todderud
Board Secretary
As a recently elected GROW board member, Suril brings unique insights through his experiences helping small businesses and non-profit organizations scale. As a venture capital investor by day, Suril invests in and supports rapidly growing technology startups. Outside of work, he has translated this skillset for pro-bono business and financial consulting projects with organizations like Start Small, Think Big and Pacific Community Ventures.
Suril joined the GROW board in February 2022. As a recent transplant to Seattle from NYC, he’s currently taking full advantage of his balcony as a ‘garden’ as spring approaches. He is super eager to get started with a P-Patch plot of his own!
Suril Butala
As a longtime gardener at the Solstice P-Patch near Lincoln Park until 2019 and the site coordinator, Michelle was instrumental in creating a leadership team to administer the patch. She gives credit to the P-Patch Program for further developing her enthusiasm for advocating on behalf of food security and the importance of supporting the “buy local/eat local” philosophy. Michelle holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management and is currently employed as a Procurement Agent for the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco. After a recent residential downsize and move to Auburn WA, she is now exploring the world of planter gardening and learning how to perfect the art of square foot gardening. When not puttering on the back patio, she enjoys reading, binge-watching Netflix, and taking walks with her husband and their dog, Abby, along the White River Trails.
Michelle Blume
Liz Connors is a career Data Analyst and has worked in the fintech, cannabis, CPG, and SaaS industries. She leads teams of Data Analysts, BI Developers, Data Engineers, and Data Scientists to turn large sets of data into actionable insights. Liz has a BS in Accounting and an MBA from Indiana University (Go Hoosiers!). Liz has lived in Seattle for the last 4 years with her husband and large dog Artie. They all love hiking and spending time in their garden.
Liz Conner
Brianna Henderson
Brianna graduated from Seattle University with a degree in Strategic Communications. She has spent the last ten years of her career in various positions in community engagement, communications, fundraising and marketing. Through her participation in a number of volunteer projects, she is expanding her knowledge in brand and social strategy, which are areas she aims to implement at GROW. When she is not keeping busy between work, school and volunteer gigs, she can be found gardening at her plot on the Eastside, which helps her to manage stress. Not only is gardening in a p-patch personally valuable to her, she values maintaining green spaces in an ever-changing city like Seattle and the community building that happens among diverse groups at P-Patch gardens. She previously held a plot at the UpGarden P-Patch in Queen Anne.
With a background in adaptive recreation, disability inclusion, and environmental advocacy, Katy is innovative in creating solutions to solve complex problems. As an Associate Consultant for Campbell & Company, Katy supports nonprofits to streamline fundraising systems, grow revenue, and increase impact. Katy’s passion for being outdoors has led her to discover the joys of gardening and growing fresh produce. She is eager to bring her many years of experience in the nonprofit and public sectors to support GROW’s mission.
Katy Herko
Noah brings professional experience in urban planning and policy to the GROW Board. He currently serves as Senior Public Engagement Specialist with the Puget Sound Regional Council and focuses on community outreach and equity. Prior to moving to Seattle in 2019, Noah spent 10 years in Chicago, where he worked to repurpose vacant lots into community gardens as part of his Master's in Sustainable Urban Development at DePaul University. Noah's favorite activities include hiking, backpacking, snowboarding, biking, and gardening on his Beacon Hill rooftop.
Noah Boggess
Maria Covert
Maria Covert's approach has an emphasis on capacity-building, focused on the question, "What does it take to create environments where people can operate at their best?". She has diverse experience in Program Management and Human Resources (People Operations, Immigration, Global Mobility). She was a P-Patch gardener at the Queen Pea P-Patch for a short amount of time and loved that community and the experience of urban gardening. She now lives in West Seattle with her husband and adorable cat Papaya. Maria joined the GROW Board in January of 2022.
Ann joins GROW as a new board member since 2022, bringing her experience of working in the green building and sustainability industry, and as a board member of the Seattle Chapter of the NW EcoBuilding Guild. She works as a project manager and business analyst for most of the day, but prefers to spend her time biking, gardening, and with her zoo of dogs and birds. She started gardening at the Judkins P-Patch and fell in love with the community and collective spirit that our Seattle p-patches foster.
Ann Shi
Andrew is a management consultant with deep experience working with financial services firms and other companies of all sizes develop strategies and programs to manage risk, create large-scale change, and implement large technology changes. He is also a lawyer and a chartered financial analyst (CFA) coupling an understanding of the law and finance, in line with his understanding of change, technology, and strategy. Andrew is passionate about the green spaces that bring opportunity, energy, and beauty to Seattle—the very spaces that GROW advocates for and supports. He joined GROW’s board of directors in 2022.
Andrew Solow
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