Executive Committee:
Melanie Puckett, Optimist & Volunteer, Co-president
Melanie Puckett has been in love with Missoula since the day she and her husband, Andy, moved here in 1997. She finds the beauty we see in every direction combined with such a caring and compassionate community to be an inspiring combination. She believes that Garden City Harvest offers a perfect opportunity to help Missoula’s land and its people at the same time. Her two sons, Jack, 12, and Daniel, 10, have inspired her to extend her second career as a "stay at home mom." Before heading West, Melanie worked as a speech-language pathologist, mostly in pediatric rehabilitation. In Missoula, she has volunteered in many different capacities, including for Danmore Stables/ Therapeutic Horseback Riding, the Missoula Community School, and Rattlesnake Elementary. She has also been involved with a camp in Ohio for 17 years. "CHAMP Camp" serves children who are ventilator-dependent. At camp, she is a counselor, cabin leader, and horseback program coordinator. Her friends there have taught her that anything is possible.
Mark Phares, Department of Natural Resources Conservation, Co-president
Mark is an attorney with the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC). He has an extensive expertise in forestry, wildfire and state natural resource policies. He has a wealth of non-profit experience, serving on several Missoula boards including Northwest Connections.
Jodi Allison-Bunnell, Northwest Digital Archives, Secretary
Jodi has been involved with Garden City Harvest as a CSA shareholder since 1997. Since 2002, as part of their obsession with local food, she and her family have obtained 100% of their vegetables year-round from the River Road CSA. Her husband Steve and sons Camas and Cedar get involved in this food fest as well. When you don't find her putting something into the freezer, canner, or oven, you'll find her running the Northwest Digital Archives program at the Orbis Cascade Alliance, University of Oregon (yes, Oregon).
Amber Daugherty, Western States Insurance, Treasurer
Amber was born and raised on a dairy farm in Charlo, Montana; a dairy farm which her parents still own and operate. She holds a Master of Accountancy degree from The University of Montana and is a licensed Certified Public Accountant. Currently, she is the Senior Accountant at Western States Insurance Agency. When she is not working, Amber is busy reading, sewing, playing hockey, and riding dirt bikes with her partner, Luke.
Board Members
Aaron Brock, YMCA
Aaron was born in Lansing, Michigan, and moved to Bozeman when he was 2 years old. . . So he’s not quite native, but pretty close. Aaron has worked as the Director of Development at the Missoula Family YMCA since April of 2009. Previously, he served as the Development Director for Missoula Food Bank, and the Development Officer for Missoula Aging Services. At the Y, Aaron is responsible for the donor relations and fundraising, including grant-writing,special events, annual campaign work, special capital campaign work,and major donor cultivation. He has his Masters in Nonprofit Management from Regis University. When not working, Aaron and his wife Melanie are usually having fun with their daughter Annabelle, or enjoying the great outdoors (hiking,fishing, snowboarding or folfing) in and around Missoula.
Caroline Byrd, The Nature Conservancy
Caroline is the Western Montana Program Director for The Nature Conservancy and works primarily on the Montana Legacy Project and works primarily on the Montana Legacy Project and in the Blackfoot River Valley. She has called Missoula home since the early 1980s, but is thrilled she finally gets to live here full time with her husband, Garry Edson, and their nine-year-old daughter, Cate.
Rosalie Sheehy Cates, Community Investment Initiative
Rosalie has worked over 30 years in community development finance, entrepreneurship, and advocacy for sustainable resource management. She was President of Montana Community Development Corporation from 1995-2010, a $15 million business loan fund that also managed $45 million in New Markets Tax Credits. In the 1980s she worked for the Wisconsin Rural Development Center, organizing farmers around soil conservation and family farm issues. She also raised cattle there with her family. In 2010 Rosalie co-authored Connecting CDFIs and Socially Responsible Investors with funding from the Ford Foundation. She is now working to develop social investment tools for CDFIs as consultant to the CDFI Community Investment Initiative. Rosalie has a BS in Forestry and a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Montana. She lives in Missoula, where she serves on the local tax-increment financing board. Other pursuits include yoga, singing and hiking.
Jeff Crouch, CTA
Jeff Crouch is an architect with the architecture and engineering firm, CTA, in Missoula. He founded and is co-owner of Sustainable Building Systems (a green energy business). He is passionate about sustainable urban development and growth. As such, he has served on the Board of Directors for Garden City Harvest for two years and is also a member of the Board for the Clark Fork Coaltion (a river advocy group.) Jeff lives in downtown Missoula with his partner Jennifer Boyer, their two dogs and their new baby.
Amy Zekos Dolan, noteworthy paper and press
Amy is a Co-owner of Noteworthy Paper and Press, a retail stationery and paper gifts boutique. She holds her undergraduate degree from Lewis and Clark College and her Masters in Print and Photo Journalism from the University of Montana. She and her husband, Drew, ski, bike, and hike all accross Montana, the US, Canada and beyond.
John Hart, Rossbach Hart P.C.
Paul Hubbard, Community Food and Agriculture Coalition
Every day, Paul Hubbard fails to be a perfect locavore, but that does not stop him from trying. Paul works as the Community Food & Agriculture Coalition's Land Use Program Coordinator. He coordinates CFAC's efforts to conserve farm and ranchland, assist beginning farmers in securing land, and re-build a community-based food system where he does not have to try so darn hard to eat local food. He is also responsible for raising money, drafting budgets, and some outreach activities at CFAC. In previous lives, Paul has taught high school Spanish, writing and literature, and gardening; worked on farms around the world; developed on-farm curriculum for the Youth Roots Project at Homestead Organics Farm; and worked with Missoula's City Council to legalize chickens. Paul spends most of his free time eating and sleeping, though he also enjoys political dialogue or banter, as the case may be; hiking; skiing; and chasing elk, deer, or other tasty creatures across western Montana's landscapes.
Janet Donahue, Management Consultant
Janet was born in Lincoln, Nebraska but has lived in Missoula for more than 30 years. She holds a Master of Business Administration degree from The University of Montana. Along with being an elected official in Missoula, Janet served as the City's Director of Planning and Grants and Chief Administrative Officer from 1993 to 2005. Janet has also been a private consultant for non-profits since 1992 and specializes in troubleshooting and organizational development. When she is not working, Janet can often be found on the golf course, whacking weeds and tending the garden, or traveling with her husband, Ed. Janet also serves as a member of the Missoula Airport Authority Board, the City's Impact Fee Advisory Committee, and as Soroptimist International Finance Chair.
Joshua Klaus, Ecology Project International
Josh has worked in education since graduating from college in 1998. After teaching bilingual elementary students in Oakland, California, as a second- and combined fourth and fifth-grade teacher, he took a year off to work as a carpenter and to backpack in South America. Upon returning to the US, he moved to Missoula where he earned his Masters in Environmental Studies. Upon graduating, he accepted a job with Ecology Project International (EPI) managing international field science and cultural exchange programs in Mexico and Ecuador. Currently, his main task with EPI is to recruit US students and teacher participants via sales and marketing strategies that generate the majority of EPI's revenue, in addition to helping direct the organizations future developments. When not working, he can be found snowboarding, mountain biking, climbing, floating, hunting, reading, playing the guitar, enjoying time with friends, and of course battling the astounding number of weeds in his vegetable garden. Josh has worked on a few different farms, including the PEAS farm, Rattlesnake Vineyards, and the Delaney Community Farm in Denver, Colorado.
Mike Kustudia, Milltown State Park
Mike Kustudia is the Milltown State Park Manager for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. Mike has studied journalism, had a short career in newspaper work, and a slightly longer career as a ski bum/river guide, served in the Peace Corps in the Philippines and Dominican Republic, worked in ecological restoration with Park Service and private sector and picked up a Master’s in environmental studies at UM. Following grad school, he worked for nonprofit groups such as the Butte-based National Center for Appropriate Technology and later as a freelancer for the Clark Fork River Technical Assistance Committee. Outside of work, he is a passionate grower and consumer of chili peppers.
Wendy Ninteman, Land Trust Alliance
Wendy Ninteman works for the Land Trust Alliance, a national non-profit that promotes voluntary private land conservation to benefit communities and natural systems. As Western Program Director, Wendy guides the development and delivery of the Alliance’s conservation programs and services to land trusts in 14 western states. Prior to joining the Alliance, Wendy served as executive director of Five Valleys Land Trust (FVLT) in Missoula for ten years. During her tenure at FVLT, Wendy worked with private landowners on a number of conservation easement projects in Missoula County and with state and local partners on several public land acquisitions, and she helped lead a successful campaign to pass a $10 million local open space bond measure. Wendy came to Missoula 30 years ago and has lived here ever since. She enjoys exploring the high country, skiing, biking, and eating good, healthy, local food.
Virginia Tribe, Virginia Tribe Professional Facilitator, Inc.
Virginia Tribe is an experienced facilitator, mediator, educator, and trainer, having spent nearly 30 years in public education, county and federal service, and private consulting. She combines a background in education with 15 years of professional management experience working in local and federal agencies in strategic planning, organizational development, conflict management, citizen participation, and community building. In 1987, Virginia established herself as a private contractor, working as a professional facilitator in organizational problem solving. She received her education from the University of Montana, Missoula. While Virginia is recently retired, she continues her studies in mediation and negotiation, interpersonal communications, and "people dynamics".
Rick Wishcamper, Rocky Mountain Development Group
Rick has a bachelor’s degree in human ecology, a master’s in business and an MFA in poetry and is the founding partner and President of the Rocky Mountain Development Group. After teaching business classes at the college level, Wishcamper co-founded the Rocky Mountain Development Group in 2003 with fellow University of Montana alum Justin Metcalf. Since then, Rick has focused on adaptive re-use projects.
