CT NOFA Board & Staff

The CT NOFA Board of Directors meets monthly to conduct business of the organization. CT NOFA members are always welcome to attend the meetings.

Board and staff at the 2012 Board Retreat



Left to right: Jane Maher, Janet Heller, Ron Capozzi, James Roby, Sven Pihl, Bettylou Sandy,
John Turenne, Elizabeth Fleming, John Pittari
Not present in photo: Bill Duesing

Board Members

James Roby, President

 

Bettylou Sandy, Vice-President - Bettylou is the owner of Bettylou's Gardening in Manchester and a NOFA Accredited Organic Land Care Professional (AOLCP) focusing on Gardening Education.

TBA, Treasurer

 

Janet Heller, Secretary - A retired special education teacher, Janet is now an avid gardener and actively promoting sustainable living, environmental justice and local organic food, farming and landcare in her town (Manchester), in her UU church, and statewide.

 

 

Elizabeth Fleming

 

Jane Maher - Jane is the former owner of SnootyFood: specialty foods, a great home cook, and sometimes caterer. She loves growing, pickling, fermenting, and storing her own food and teaching others about it.  Jane founded the annual "Made in Connecticut" Fair in Oxford five years ago to promote CT made crafts, food, art, and farms. It is the only fair in the state that does not allow vendors with foreign made and mass produced products. An avid fashion re-sale and recycled goods fan, her full time job is with Goodwill Industries in Westport.
 

 

Ron Capozzi

John Turenne - Founder and President of Sustainable Food Systems, was one of the lead innovators in sustainable food practices during the creation of the Yale Sustainable Food Project. Realizing the impact of food service decision-making on the world around us, John transformed a conservative university food service model, of which he has 25 years experience, to create a sustainable dining program through careful planning, teaching and development.

John continues as a leading innovator and consultant for bridging the gap between conventional and sustainable dining programs working with the Culinary Institute of America, Harvard Medical School, The New Hampshire Department of Education, Kaiser Permanente as well as several public hospital and school systems. Check out his Facebook page here.

Sven Pihl

John Pittari, Jr.

Staff Members

left to right: Jenna Messier, Bill Duesing, Deb Legge, Marion Griswold, Melissa Gabso, Kristiane Huber, Clara Buitrago, Debbie Semonich (absent-Teresa Mucci)

Bill Duesing, Executive Director - For over 35 years, organic farmer, author and environmental artist Bill Duesing has been working to promote organic agriculture and greater local food sufficiency in Connecticut and the Northeast through lectures, writings, media and community work.  He is currently the Executive Director of CT NOFA, the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Connecticut, and president of the NOFA Interstate Council.  He is author of Living on the Earth: Eclectic Essays for a Sustainable and Joyful Future.  He was founding president of CT NOFA and founding chair of the New Haven Ecology Project and its Common Ground High School, located on a farm in New Haven.

Deb Legge, Office Manager

Marion Griswold, Bookkeeper

Clara Buitrago, Organic Land Care Accreditation Manager

Teresa Mucci, Program Coordinator

Debbie Semonich-Bacon, Administrative Assistant

Kristiane Huber, Outreach Coordinator

Jenna Messier, Organic Land Care Program Director

Melissa Gabso, Public Allies Outreach and Publicity Coordinator