Island Grown Initiative Staff

LEADERSHIP TEAM

Noli is passionate about the power of food to bring communities together and deepen our relationship to the natural world. She has done environmental and agricultural advocacy and organizing work with non-profits and community groups from Philadelphia to Seattle, Albuquerque to Kaua’i. Noli graduated from Haverford College and the Green Corps Field School for Environmental Organizing, and served on the boards of the Massachusetts Dept. of Agricultural Resources and Massachusetts Farm to School. She began her work with IGI in 2006, and lives with her family next to the Gay Head Lighthouse in Aquinnah.

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Emily has done food systems education and worked on farms since 2008 and brings a deep love of the Island’s agricultural heritage to her work with Island Grown Initiative. Together with her husband, Taz, and son, Theo, she grows a large vegetable garden and raises most of her own meat. Emily, who has a degree in history from Fordham University, founded the preschool program for Island Grown Schools in 2012. Emily love breed-specific wool and knitting.

Merrick grew up in Canada where she received her degree in Latin American Studies and then went on to the Stratford Chefs School. Merrick's first job on the Island was at the Norton Farm working in the fields while also working in the kitchen at Cafe Moxie, where she soon became the Chef. After building a house, getting married and starting her family, Kitchen and Bath design sustained her creative passion for the next 10 years. Then a friend lured her into small business ownership where she co-owned Little House Cafe. As Director of Food Equity Programs Merrick can use her years of experience in the food industry to help guide our programs towards accessible, healthy and nourishing food for all.

Tim hails from Schenectady, New York, and has worked for farms and environmental education programs around the Northeast. He moved to the Island in 2013 and served as Education Director of The Farm Institute for three years while working brief stints at numerous Island farms. Tim joined IGI in 2017 as Program Manager of Island Grown Schools and has recently transitioned to managing IGI’s regenerative agriculture program. Tim hopes to use soil to heal humanity’s woes, but in the meantime, he’ll settle for providing the Island with as much nutritious and ethically produced food as possible.

Kaylea grew up on Martha’s Vineyard and graduated from Wesleyan University with a BA in Latin American Studies and a concentration in Art History. After graduating, she spent time traveling in South America and Europe. Upon her return, she moved to Boston to work for a nonprofit and further her education at Boston University, where she received a certificate in the Culinary Arts and an MLA in Gastronomy. In 2011, she moved back to the Vineyard to cook professionally and write about food. She has been with IGI since 2012, and when she is not at the computer crunching numbers, she works with the Island community as the Legislative Liaison to Martha’s Vineyard.

ISLAND GROWN STAFF

Tara is a south coast Massachusetts native. She relocated to Copenhagen, Denmark in 2002, where she first received her bachelor’s degree in International Business from Copenhagen Business School. Deciding a different path was calling, she enrolled in the Ringsted Pastry Academy becoming a pastry chef. Moving out of bakeries and into restaurants, Tara began working with top rated and Michelin-starred restaurants, becoming a chef along the way. She then returned to Massachusetts with a love for the New Nordic Food Movement, which highlights seasonal eating, ethics, sustainability, and quality. Tara believes that food should aspire to combine good taste, promote generosity, and shed light on the responsibility and challenges related to the production and consumption of food. In her spare time she enjoys fishing, hunting, foraging, traveling and live music. 

Taz has been working in agriculture since coming to the Island from California in 2009. He’s worked as field crew at the FARM Institute and Morning Glory farm and is the hydroponic grower at IGI's Thimble Farm. Taz has a passion for regenerative animal production, sourdough, and backyard homesteading. He worked at a butcher shop in New York City, operates the IGI Poultry processing unit, and raises most of his own meat. Taz’s work here has allowed him to learn from the Island’s experienced farmers and provide service to some of its newest.

Maggie grew up on Cape Cod and then lived in Rhode Island until studying Elementary Education and American History at Lesley University. She has been farming for the last 3 years, both on Island and in Rhode Island. She taught environmental education at Shaver's Creek Environmental Center in Pennsylvania and farm-based education at the Farm Institute here on MV. Maggie is passionate about building connections with children and where their food comes from. Off the clock, you can find Maggie trying out new recipes, reading at the beach and crafting.

Isa (she/they) was raised along the Kennebec river in midcoast Maine and joined the Island community in 2018. She began farming as a MOFGA apprentice in western Maine and moved to the Island for a job at Morning Glory Farm, where she gained several seasons of experience working in the greenhouses and herb garden. Isa has a special interest in culinary and medicinal herbs, and believes in using nutritionally dense food as medicine to support both individual and collective wellbeing. They love to spend their time floating in the ocean, reading several books simultaneously, and tending their medicinal herb garden alongside their cat, Manchego.

Spencer is originally from Buffalo, NY. He moved to the Vineyard in 2020 and started working at North Tabor Farm. Spencer has been farming seasonally since he was 18 and started his full time career in farming in 2019 at the UBC research farm. He graduated with honors from the University of British Columbia BSC with a degree in Global Resource Systems specialization in soil science and plant biology. He holds accreditations in soil ID courses (2018) and is certified in sustainable food systems (2019). His hobbies include photography, guitar, biking, reading.

Nicol was born and raised on Martha’s Vineyard and is well traveled. She has mastered many professions along the way and specializes in customer service, freshwater aquatics and administrative technology. Inspired daily by her twin daughters she is a powerful force in the workplace. Nicol uses her positive attitude and tireless energy to encourage others to work hard and succeed.

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Ali moved to Martha’s Vineyard in early 2023 and has been farming for just as long. She previously worked in government at state and county public health agencies. She comes to IGI with a background in food safety and program coordination. Ali holds a bachelor’s in public health and a master’s in public health from UMass Amherst. She enjoys working outside and bringing local food to the community. Outside of work, she enjoys exploring new places, walking with friends, and reading. 

Sam has been an educator on the island for over 20 years. She is currently pursuing a certificate in Sustainable Food and Farming through the Umass Stockbridge School of Agriculture. She is particularly passionate about connecting plants and food systems with History and Social Studies in the garden and in the classroom and exploring weeds, wild foods and herbs as medicine. She also loves cooking and spending time with her children and grandchildren.

Pia is a native New Yorker now living on Martha’s Vineyard for the last 27 years. She earned her BFA in Sculpture from Hartford Art Institute, and although not currently carving blocks of alabaster or marble, enjoys searching the beaches for perfect rock specimens to add to her collection. After 12 years of preschool classroom teaching and being a peripheral part of IGS as a parent and as an educator, Pia decided it was time to share the joy and wonder of growing food and happiness in the garden with as many of Martha’s Vineyard’s preschoolers as possible. Her favorite garden smell is that of tomato. She shares her garden with her family as well as 2 cats and assorted chickens.

Mary Sage was born and raised on Martha's Vineyard. She received her BA in Environmental Studies and Ecological Agriculture from UVM in 2012 and went on to her MS in Ecological Landscape Design from The Conway School in 2019. Mary Sage has worked professionally as School Coordinator/Educator with Island Grown Schools and is currently the IGI Farm Landscape Manager. She also manages private home food gardens and is a landscape designer. Her passion and focus is on collaborative design, farms as intersection of social/environmental issues in the landscape, and perennial and native foods for ecosystem health and food sovereignty.

Natalie was born and raised on Martha's Vineyard. She attended Bridgewater State University, where she earned a BS in Business Management. Upon graduating she worked at Island Grown Initiative as an office manager. She later moved to Boston and worked in human resources at a nonprofit for several years. Knowing she always wanted to settle down and live on the Island, she recently moved back and rejoined the team at IGI. In her spare time, she enjoys working out and baking anything sweet.

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Astrid was born on Martha’s Vineyard and graduated from Hampshire College in May 2020 with a concentration in photography. Astrid has worked at IGI since 2014. Besides leading the Gleaning program Astrid has been a garden coordinator for Island Grown Schools and worked in the Mobile Market and Community Lunch programs during their pilot years, among other things. Astrid's favorite parts of the job are being generous with people, spending time with wild plants, and watching the light at the farm change with the seasons.

Grace grew up in Harvard Massachusetts. She graduated from the University of Vermont where she studied Elementary Education. Her passion for connecting children to nature, their food and their local place has led her to the role of Island Grown Schools Educator. She loves spending time outside biking, gardening, at the beach and exploring the woods on the Island.

Andrew Woodruff has been farming on Martha's Vineyard for 44 years. He is the owner of Whippoorwill Farm in West Tisbury and has served as Island Grown Initiative's Regenerative Farming Consultant for the past four years. Andrew is passionate about the power and potential of regenerative farming, and has seen first hand how soil health-focused practices impact farms, farmers, and the food they grow.