Board of Directors & Staff
Gaining Ground is managed by an active Board of Directors whose members represent diverse backgrounds in the arts, business, law, education, human services, public relations, and community activism.
Board of Directors
Sue Mildrum, President
Lisanne Wheeler, Vice President
Sigmund Correa, Treasurer
Kristen Van Damm, Secretary
Laurie Engdahl
Sam Hiersteiner
Karen Perkins
Yvette Philip
Lucy Rosborough, Emeritus
Polly Vanasse
Staff
We are fortunate to have talented farm and office staff to manage our day-to-day operations. Currently, we have eight year-round employees including an executive director, a director of agriculture, an operations director, a farm manager, a development and communications manager, and three assistant growers. We also typically employ several seasonal staff members including field crew members and a groundskeeper.
Brenna Broderick
Development & Communications Manager
Brenna (she/her) joined Gaining Ground in the summer of 2024, bringing a lifelong passion for sustainable food systems. Her journey in fundraising began on local Boston campaigns, eventually leading her to the Harvard ecosystem, where she is currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Global Development with a focus on sustainable food systems. A lifelong curiosity about how food systems work — and how they can work better — has driven her educational and professional path. Brenna is excited to continue her work in development and philanthropy, supporting a cause she aligns with so closely. Outside of work, you can find her running, cooking, or camped out in a museum.
Skylar Cheng
Field Crew Member
As a native New Yorker, Skylar (she/her) is beyond excited to experience Boston, and to join Gaining Ground for the 2025 season. This will be her first farming season, and she looks forward to learning more about different cropping methods and enjoying the outdoors with volunteers. Skylar’s love for the outdoors comes from spending a transformative summer in Anchorage, Alaska, where she got to work in land stewardship and hike west coast mountains for the first time. She strongly believes that fostering resilient connections to the land allows for a greater appreciation of its ecological and cultural importance. Skylar studied international development, environment, and music at McGill University, and hopes to later pursue further education in soil science. She also enjoys teaching piano, crocheting hats, and sharing yummy food with friends.
Mark Congdon
Director of Agriculture and Volunteer Experience
Born and raised in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, Mark(he/him) joined Gaining Ground as our first Director of Agriculture in 2023. He received his two years of farmer training as a farmer’s apprentice at Caretaker Farm in Williamstown. Mark continued to grow as a farmer managing Saltbox Farm in Concord for 9 years and then Honey Nut Farm in Hopkinton prior to bringing his experience here to Gaining Ground. He is excited for the opportunity to direct Gaining Ground’s expansion onto newly leased land in the Minuteman National Historical Park. Mark loves to travel and experience unique plant life all over the world. He also enjoys hiking, meditation, supporting local farmer’s markets, and being part of a food movement that brings sustainable agriculture to local communities.
Allison Goodwin
Operations Director
Allison (she/her) joined Gaining Ground in 2017. A farm field trip in third grade sparked her lifelong passion for sustainable agriculture, connecting to the land, and increasing equitable access to fresh, healthy food. She has worked on organic farms throughout the United States as well as in Wales, Ireland, Thailand and Australia. Allison currently directs Gaining Ground’s operations including partnerships, produce distributions, and volunteer scheduling. She worked previously at Chelsea Green Publishing and at several environmental non-profits, and earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from Marlboro College in Vermont. In her free time, Allison enjoys gardening, hiking, and spending time with beloved family and friends.
Celia Harnish
Senior Field Crew Member
Celia (she/her) started farming through an apprenticeship at the Natick Community Organic Farm in 8th grade and has been hooked ever since. Through working on a few veggie and flower farms in the area, her once-afterschool job has become a lifelong passion. She is thrilled to be joining the GG team this season and can’t wait to bring her joy for farming to the community here. Celia is constantly inspired by the farmers she’s learned from over the years and is eager to learn the ins and outs of no-till production. Originally from Natick, Celia is currently studying Sustainable Food Systems and Farming at U-Mass Amherst. Outside of work and school, she enjoys all things backpacking, trail running, and outdoor adventuring. In her free time, you might find Celia tramping through the woods, cooking elaborate noodle bowls, or arguing with friends about the meaning of life. Her favorite farm job is picking summer squash.
Christine Hicks
Field Crew Member
Christine (she/her) began her farming journey when she started working on Cross Street Flower Farm in 2021 (though she credits her time at U-Mass Amherst as her spiritual introduction to the peaceful ambience of farmland). At Cross Street, after a trial by fire through a rigorous dahlia dig, she quickly became obsessed with the joy that comes with being a member of a hardworking team. She spent two seasons at Siena Farms learning how to grow and harvest vegetables, as well as managing their flower program and their mushroom program. After spending the past year exploring the other end of the flower world and fine tuning her design skills working as a florist in Cambridge, she is eager to get back into the field with a renewed desire to bring impactful change to the earth and the surrounding community. During her free time she loves sketching and painting watercolors, especially of all the beautiful vegetables that exist!
Jennifer Johnson
Executive Director
Jennifer is passionate about equitable access to healthy food and the healing power of nature. She’s found her dream job at Gaining Ground and loves working with Gaining Ground’s staff, board, volunteers, and partners to grow food and grow community. She earned a degree in communications from Boston University and completed the in-residence Business for Impact program at Georgetown University. Jennifer began her career in marketing communications before pivoting to non-profit development and management. Outside of work you’ll most likely find her making soup, sharing her love of Dolly Parton, or sitting around a campfire with friends and family. She lives with her family in Concord and enjoys reading, running, hiking, gardening, and kayaking.
Jared Kimler
Farm Manager
Jared grew up in nearby suburban Natick, where he mostly did schoolwork and played video games. Other than a few field trips to the Natick Community Organic Farm, he had little exposure to how food is grown. He started farming in the summer of 2014 after he saw how much fun a friend was having in the fields. Since then, he’s been committed to the craft by working on different farms and running his own profitable market farms. He returned to Gaining Ground in 2024 after working here as field crew for the 2018 and 2019 seasons. Sharing the wonders of vegetable growing is one of his greatest joys and there are few better places to do this than at Gaining Ground. In his free time he likes to play in the woods with his wife and two kids. His favorite vegetable is fennel.
Ava Lublin
Assistant Grower
Ava (she/her) is thrilled to return to Gaining Ground this year for her fifth season. She first began at Gaining Ground in high school as a volunteer before joining the field crew in 2021. She has found her life’s calling in farming ever since. Ava studied agroecology at the University of Vermont and is now fully invested in her farming career. She loves working hard in the fields—tending to the soil and all the life it sustains; one of her favorite parts of the job is sowing as much cover crop as possible. Ava is passionate about fostering reciprocity between us and the Earth and how, through that, we promote justice and wellbeing for people and the land. She is grateful to cultivate this connection at Gaining Ground and to share that connection with the community. When she’s not farming, Ava loves to read, write, wander in the woods, curate the latest memes to share with her coworkers, and relax with her dog and two cats.
Geoff Nelson
Groundskeeper
Geoff has a long interest in farming and helping those experiencing food insecurity. He works at Drumlin Farm in Lincoln and volunteers at the Acton Food Pantry. He earned a degree in visual communications (photography and graphics) and worked for a small publication firm before shifting his focus to outdoor education. After working at an outdoor education center in Virginia, he worked as an exhibit designer and property manager at Discovery Museum in Acton. He lives in Maynard with his wife and son. When not working, you can find him cooking, taking photos, reading, hiking, surfing, biking, and gardening.
Zoe Tallmadge
Senior Field Crew Member
Zoe (they/she) is excited to be starting their third farming season in the greater Boston area and their second season at Gaining Ground! They learned about Gaining Ground during their first week in Boston while visiting with the Boston Area Gleaners, where they were lucky enough to be apprenticing at the time. Zoe was born and raised in North Carolina, and feels that Food and Water Justice and the way that they have affected the South has always been a big part of their life. They find joy in connecting with the land and through that, finding connection with themself and other people. Zoe has loved the way that farming has expanded her ability to do this since graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2023 with a degree in sustainability and the environment and a minor in Social and Economic Justice. In their free time you can find them biking, reading, practicing yoga, collaging, cooking with friends, or enjoying the sun from the comfort of a hammock.
Rachael Walton
Assistant Grower
Rachael is excited to be starting her sixth season farming and her second season at Gaining Ground. Rachael grew up in Arizona but has lived in Concord since middle school, and feels very lucky to have moved to a place with such a vibrant farming community — which helped her discover her love for farming early on. While gaining her degree in Agroecology at the University of Vermont, she spent her summers working on farms in Concord and learning about local food systems. She is inspired and driven by the belief that our food systems can and must be both environmentally sustainable and also equitable and just for every person involved in that food system. She is excited to continue her work at Gaining Ground and do her part in making sustainable and just food systems possible. When she isn’t farming, Rachael loves to hike, read, crochet, and bake lots and lots of sourdough bread.
Maddie Weikel
Assistant Grower and Education Coordinator
Maddie (she/they) joined the Gaining Ground team in 2023 after three-ish growing seasons learning about organic, no-till systems at a different farm in the area. They find joy and power in farming and in the notion that cultivating deep connection to land offers us tools for dismantling systems of harm and for building the world that we want to live in. Maddie believes that we all have a role to play in the work to nourish our communities and that it is our duty to take care of each other and of the land. Since graduating from New York University in 2020, Maddie’s farming journey has moved alongside a reintroduction to Judaism. She is inspired by the many lessons that ever-evolving Jewish tradition has to share about liberatory land stewardship, and vice versa. When not out in the fields, you can find Maddie making to-do lists, collaging, roasting vegetables, yelling, vacuuming, and sharing meals with friends.