Board Members
Dani Pieratos
Dani holds interests in healthy food access, tribal sovereignty, and sustainability. Dani is motivated to make this world more livable, which is why she is so excited to contribute her passions to food justice work. She currently freelances for Harvest Nation & Mazaan Tea.
Shannon Walz
Shannon is an organizational leadership and education consultant. She is interested in building a more socially and environmentally just future and believes that our relationship with the land and community engagement is core to achieving this future.
Abby Rohweder
Abby is a 2021 graduate of the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities with a B.S. in Food Systems, taking her love for food and where it comes from to a whole new level. She now works as the Wild Rice Project Coordinator with Finland Food Chain and hopes to bring local communities closer to their food through education, policy and activity.
Lise Abazs
Lise is the Executive Director of North Shore Area Partners and the Treasurer for the Town of Crystal Bay. She is also a family farmer growing fruit, vegetables, seeds and livestock. She embraces re-imagining sustainability and our relationship with the land.
Advisory Council
Teresa Kittridge
Teresa is the Founder and President of 100 Rural Women with a cross sector professional career and service in elected office. She lives in the Chippewa National Forest and is passionate about rural people, places, culture, justice and community.
Honor Schauland
Honor is the the Program Lead with Friends of the Finland Community. Her work with Friends of Finland attempts to bridge divides and expand access to essential community needs from access to local foods to youth mentorship and local business incubation. She is interested in how rural issues and land access issues intersect with race and class.
Kelsey Gantzer
Kelsey is the Executive Director at the Duluth Community School Collaborative. She is interested in removing barriers to food sovereignty faced by individuals and communities.
Lucia Carlson
Lucy is a senior at the University of Minnesota studying organic and Local Food Systems and is working with the Land Trust project as part of her capstone project this spring. She is passionate about improving food systems at the local level and reducing barriers to entry for emerging farmers.
David Abazs
David is the Executive Director of the Northeast Regional Sustainable Development Partnership and is the Supervisor for Lake County SWCD. He is also a family farmer growing vegetables, seeds, and climate-forward tree seedlings. He's working to bring equity, justice and sustainability to our region through collaborative partnerships and "on the ground" projects that make the change needed.