Meet our Board of Directors
LYNN WALTER- PRESIDENT
Lynn is the Founding Director of UWGB’s Center for Food in Community and Culture, co-editor of Critical Food Issues: Problems and State of the Art Solutions. She grew up on a farm and worked her way through school as a cook at the Green Lantern Co-Op restaurant in Madison, WI.
"My experience and passion for promoting healthy, local food will help sustain the time-consuming and complicated project of developing New Leaf Foods as a thriving and vital community food hub and educational center connecting consumers, growers, and artisan producers to support health and wellness, prosperous local farm and food businesses, good jobs, equitable communities, and a thriving local food economy."
KIM R. DIAZ- VICE PRESIDENT
Kim recently retired as a NEW Curative Rehabilitation Worker with the Brown County Community Support Program. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Green Bay with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Planning & Policy degree. She is a Leadership Green Bay Graduate and is interested in building sustainable and equitable food systems that support a resilient and healthy community and environment.
MARY POTT- Treasurer
Mary recently retired from her position as Finance Manager at the Green Bay Botanical Garden. Prior to spending 10 years in this position, Mary spent many years working primarily with the small business sector at a regional public accounting firm. She is happy to contribute her expertise to this wonderful nonprofit.
LINDA GUSTKE- Board Member
Linda is the Education Manager at the Green Bay Botanical Garden. Since starting at the Garden in 2015, her interest in sustainable food systems and the healing power of food has exploded. As a result of this, she became involved with New Leaf Foods in 2017 as the Volunteer Coordinator for the 2018 Green Bay Garden Blitz. She now joins the New Leaf Foods Board of Directors and is excited to continue connecting the community to their role in the food system to help make healthy choices for their families. Linda has a Bachelor of Science in Biology and Chemistry from St. Norbert College, a teaching certification in Broadfield Science from UW-Green Bay and is a certified Master Gardener.
MALLAIDH MLEZIVA - Board Member
Mallaidh is a farmer and a marketer. She is passionate about connecting farmers and consumers to create a thriving local food system.
As the owner of MJM Farm Marketing LLC, she helps farmers, ranchers, and rural business owners sow and grow their marketing efforts. During her free time you can find Mallaidh spending time with her cows or chickens, baking a new sourdough creation, or buried deep in yet another home renovation project.
LAUREL PHOENIX- Board Member
Laurel has a doctorate in Watershed Management and Hydrology. She has taught at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay for 22 years where she offers courses in: Water Resources Planning and Management, Coastal Resources Planning and Management, Transitioning to Sustainable Communities, Building Sustainable Landscapes, Environmental Planning, Sustainable Land Use, and Environment and Society. Her courses are aimed at preparing students to shape their communities and to be resilient to the environmental and economic forces the future brings us.
"Every summer I tend a large organic garden to which I add improvements each year, and then I store, preserve or give away whatever I can't eat fresh. Each year I learn from my mistakes. My first garden was back in the late '70s on an off-grid farm in upstate Maine. My experience there with hand-pumping all water, cooking on a wood stove with hand-chopped wood and having no electricity is what taught me how water and energy are precious and shaped my career."
MELISSA WASS - Board Member
Hi, my name is Melissa Wass, and I am so excited to have been asked to join New Leaf Foods! A little about my background: I grew up in the Green Bay area and left when I was 18 to serve 4 years in the Air Force. During that time I worked as a medic, mostly stateside but I did one deployment in Iraq where I had the opportunity to help teach local nationals basic EMT skills. I also during that time was able to get my Bachelors degree in Business Management. After our time in service was complete, my husband and I moved back to the Green Bay area. I worked for a while in management and then went back to school to be a nurse. During school I worked as a traveling CNA, then a prison nurse. Once I completed school I worked in nursing homes and then home health until the pandemic when I decided to stay home full time with our 2 kids.
I have always loved gardening and cooking, so I sought out organizations that could help me learn and get more involved. I started volunteering with the Community Garden program, became a Master Gardener and joined the Steering Team for the Brown County Seed Library. I try to grow and preserve our own fruits and veggies, we raise chickens, and I am working on learning as many homesteading type skills as possible. Reading books, hanging with my cats and spending time with family are some of my favorite things to do. I feel very strongly that everyone is happier when we all help where we are able. I look forward to being a part of the team and being able to work towards improving food access and education in Northeast Wisconsin.