Meet Our Team
Liz WhitemanOperations Director, Co-Director
liz@brwia.org 
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Liz grew up in northern Minnesota, spending summers helping her parents dig potatoes and carrots in their backyard gardens. After graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Liz followed her passion for regenerative agriculture and food sovereignty to urban gardens in New Orleans and tropical farms in rural Ecuador.
She spent 5 years in Washington DC working on federal farm policy, focusing on increased funding for sustainable agriculture and strengthening nutrition programs such as WIC and SNAP. In 2019, Liz found her way to Western North Carolina, spending a season working for Tumbling Shoals Farm in Wilkes County. Drawn to the High Country by the impressive local food economy, Liz is excited to work with local farmers and community members to continue striving for a vibrant, equitable, and sustainable food system. Liz works to direct BRWIA's programming and staff with a focus on strategic expansion and reach and the impact of BRWIA's programming. Contact Liz for any of the following:
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Dave WalkerDevelopment Director, Co-Director
dave@brwia.org 
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Dave grew up in the North Carolina Piedmont and would visit his grandparents' home places in Watauga County each summer to camp and hike. Dave joined BRWIA in 2015 as the CRAFT Program Manager and has served as the Programs Director and Interim Executive Director.
He holds a MA in Appalachian Studies and Graduate Certificate in Geographic Information Sciences from AppState and a BA in American Studies from Sewanee: The University of the South. Dave's Masters Thesis concerned how first-generation farmers become successful in Blue Ridge Appalachia, and he counts himself amongst them as he started Daffodil Spring Farm in the spring of 2017, raising Certified Animal Welfare pigs on pasture and delicious vegetables. Dave also held an internship with AppState's Edible Schoolyard where, he mapped Watauga County's community gardens and encouraged a network amongst the shared growing spaces. When he is not working with BRWIA, you may find him in his garden with his dog Fred, fly fishing in Wilson's Creek, or spinning really, really fast at a contra dance. Dave works to expand BRWIA’s financial capacity and raise its public profile. Contact Dave for any of the following:
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Haley RiordanFood Hub Manager
haley@brwia.org 
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Haley was raised on family farmland in Hickory, NC where she was taught familial homesteading practices by her Granny. She then made her way to Boone for school and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology with a concentration in Natural Science from Appalachian State University, making her a first generation college graduate. During her time in Boone, she became exposed to the organic grassroot culture of Southern Appalachia and decided that this was home. Since then, Haley has worked for two small business owners, Andy Long of Over Yonder and Madelyn George of the Valle Crucis Lavender House. Both graciously taught the importance of supporting local and the impact that “acting small” has on our rural economy. While working for Andy, Haley was able to see how the food industry can support farmers, as he chooses to source local, even sometimes from Yonder’s garden! Haley learned how to run a multifaceted business as the manager of The Lavender House and from the coaching of Madelyn. While managing the Lavender House, Haley was able to build confident relationships with members of our community. She loves: making and experiencing irreverent art, desert trips, laughing, and her cat Mr. Spaghetti. Contact Haley for any of the following:
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Rachel KinardDouble Up Food Bucks Coordinator & Farmers Market Manager
rachelk@brwia.org 
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Rachel grew up in South Carolina before moving to Bozeman, MT to attend Montana State University. It was during her time in Montana that she got involved with growing food through volunteering on the student organic vegetable farm. That experience sparked her passion in farming and from there she volunteered, interned and worked on a variety of farms up and down the East coast before settling in Western North Carolina.
Rachel started her own farm, Just Ripe Farm, on leased land in Brevard where she sold produce and flowers to restaurants and the Transylvania County farmers market and operated a CSA. After coping with serious flooding three years in a row, she took a job as a farm crew leader on a 22-acre vegetable farm in southern Minnesota that specializes in growing hot peppers. After a long and intense pandemic season, Rachel has relocated back to Western North Carolina, where she is excited to work with the High Country food system and get to know the local community in Boone. In her free time, she enjoys checking out new trails on foot or bike, gardening and skiing. Contact Rachel for the following:
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Shannon CarrollFinance Coordinator
shannon@brwia.org 
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Shannon grew up in the Piedmont area of NC and moved to Boone in 1983 after spending a year teaching Biology on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona.
She has 30+ years of experience providing leadership and support for instructional technology for Watauga County Schools. She retired from Watauga County Schools in 2013 and is currently dividing her time between three part-time positions - being the Finance Coordinator for BRWIA, helping with the Lettuce Learn at Parkway School, and helping her husband, Terry, with his SunCatcher Passive Solar Greenhouse business. She also recently earned her Master Gardener certification. In her free time, she enjoys gardening, traveling to visit her sons, and going for long walks. Contact Shannon for any of the following:
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Katie FerrellSatellite Project Coordinator
katie@brwia.org 
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Katie grew up in Tuscaloosa, Alabama where she remembers hot afternoons as a kid in the garden with her father, picking and eating strawberries. She is currently BRWIA’s Food Hub Satellite Location Coordinator and is excited to expand the options where customers can pick up their local farm orders.
Katie studied Geology at the University of the South in Sewanee, TN and learned about ecological and cultural connections as an environmental educator in Alabama and rural Nicaragua. Upon her return to the States, she found her home in Asheville and taught Spanish while exploring the mountains, music and dance. Katie wanted to get back to her roots and study renewable energy systems so she came to Boone and got her Master’s degree in Appropriate Technology at ASU. Her focus was on resource conservation, anaerobic digestion on small farms, and solar water pasteurization. With experience in education and with a new sustainability lens, Katie spent 7 years coordinating the NC Green Schools program. Katie’s personal foray into local food started out with a small home garden and grew into raising backyard chickens, fermenting vegetables, making molasses with friends, supporting local CSAs, and shopping at the Food Hub. She has called Boone her home for 9 years and is passionate about contributing to the forward momentum of the local food landscape. In her free time, Katie enjoys the meditative act of pulling weeds in the garden, yoga, reading, trying new recipes, spotting wildflowers on hikes with her daughter, camping with her family, and playing bass with her husband in an old time band called the Heel Raisers. Contact Katie about the following:
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Sam SpringsDistribution Coordinator, Satellite Project
sam@brwia.org 
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Originally from the Sandhills region of NC, Sam was raised on camping trips to the mountains, where she imagined creating a life in one of the most beautiful places on earth. That dream was realized in 2018 when she moved to the High Country, and it's been getting better ever since!
Sam has always been enthusiastic about improving the lives of the people around her. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Community Health Education from UNC Greensboro, where she helped create programs focused on improving health outcomes in areas of Guilford County most affected by socioeconomic challenges. She further developed her skills working with the Department of Social Services, the Edible Schoolyard at the Greensboro Children's Museum, and other community- and service-based positions across the state. Over the course of her career, she has become passionate about creating and supporting sustainable food systems and increasing accessibility to local food and mutual aid networks that create interdependent, self-reliant communities. She is excited to have the opportunity to help design and launch the Satellite Project that will expand the Food Hub, not merely for the sake of customer convenience, but ultimately to reduce food disparities related to accessibility. In her free time, Sam loves hiking, cooking, making art, dancing to live music, and cuddling with her kitty, Orion. |
Jessica McClellandProducer Programs Coordinator
jess@brwia.org 
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Jess is originally from Spokane, Washington, but now calls Boone home! She just graduated from Appalachian
State with a degree in Sustainable Development. She has spent the last four years working in the outdoor industry as a guide and photographer, and her passion for nature has fueled her interest in sustainability and environmentalism. Conducting research into the High-Country food system’s responses to COVID-19 sparked her interest in becoming directly involved with building local food systems. She was one of the Food Hub's spring 2021 interns and is excited to be part of the BRWIA team for another season as an AmeriCorps Summer Associate! In her free time, she can be found cooking, climbing, or running with her dog. She looks forward to a career working with non-profits and community development. |
Taylor GriffisFood Hub Assistant
taylor@brwia.org 
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Taylor grew up in Jacksonville, FL where she gained a deep appreciation for the diversity of the Florida landscape. After graduating from the University of Florida with a Bachelor's degree in English and Education, she moved to Atlanta to pursue a career in the Arts where she worked as a Gallery Administrative Assistant for ABV Agency and Art Gallery.
Over the Summer of 2020, she took her first trip to the Mountains of NC and was captivated by the magic of the mountains in every sense. Since settling here, she has gained a deep appreciation for organic and sustainable agriculture through her work as a Biodynamic Gardener and as an assistant at the Food Hub. She strives to be part of an agriculture renaissance, where younger generations are encouraged to move back into more rural and underdeveloped areas to cultivate the land left by their ancestors. She believes that through access to fresh organic food and a love for the land, a community can withstand anything. In her free time, you can catch Taylor sculpting at her new studio at High Country Clay, experimenting with nature photography on her long hikes throughout the mountains, and dancing any chance she gets. |
