About Us: Board of Directors

Amy Arcand, Treasurer
Amy Arcand, Executive Director of the Corcoran Neighborhood Organization, earned a Master of Public Affairs degree with a concentration in Leadership and Civic Engagement from the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. A 2007 recipient of the Thomas Swain Fellowship for Leadership, Amy studied community organizing in Namibia and South Africa. With over ten years of experience running neighborhood organizations in both north and south Minneapolis, Amy brings a dedication to community building, local food, sustainability, and organizing.  Amy is one of the founders of the Midtown Farmers Market in South Minneapolis and served as the Vice President of the Midtown Greenway Coalition.

Collie Graddick
Collie Graddick is a specialist in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and gives community presentations on non-toxic pesticide alternatives.  He earned a BS in Plant Science from Fort Valley State College in Georgia and an MS in Plant and Soil Science from Tuskegee University in Alabama.  Collie has served on the Boards of Directors of Environmental Justice Advocates of Minnesota (EJAM), Minnesota Environmental Partnership (MEP), and continues to serve on the Boards of the Alliance for Sustainability, Preventing Harm Minnesota, and Women’s Environmental Institute (WEI).

Dan Halsey
Daniel Halsey is a certified permaculture designer and teacher working nationally on community and ecological design. Daniel graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelor of Science degree in Temperate Climate Polyculture Design and is currently a graduate student working on his Horticulture Masters degree. He is also a board member of the Woodhill Urban Agriculture Education Center and designer for numerous community gardens in the Twin Cities.

Michelle Horovitz
Michelle Horovitz is a Minneapolis native, and has served on the Board of Gardening Matters for one year.  She is an avid home gardener and loves to grow and cook food.  Michelle is the founder and Executive Director of a nonprofit organization in North Minneapolis called Urban Baby, Inc. Its mission is to empower families to grow and cook healthy foods for their children.  Urban Baby is an active leader in the Northside Fresh Coalition, and Michelle is a member of the Northside Local Food Resource Hub.  She is passionate about food justice, and impacting health disparities by increasing the growing and consumption of fruits, vegetables, and local, healthy foods.  Michelle graduated from the University of Minnesota Law School, was formerly an Assistant Public Defender in Miami-Dade County, and worked for a James Beard Award Winning Chef before returning to the Twin Cities.  She, her husband, and their 2 year old son live in South Minneapolis. 

Jim Howitt, President
Jim Howitt has been a community gardener at Soo Line Community Garden in Minneapolis since 1993. For the past many years he has been Soo Line's treasurer and membership coordinator. He joined  Gardening Matters' Board in 2009, first serving two years as treasurer and now in his second year as president. His interest in being part of Gardening Matters comes from his first-hand observations of how community gardens are an asset to their neighborhoods and how they bring neighbors together. His long term goal is to see enough permanent community garden space available to match the strong demand for garden space. Jim also volunteers at Jazz88 KBEM-FM and Transit for Livable Communities. He works for the Elections division of the City of Minneapolis.

Seth Kuhl-Stennes
Food production has been central to Seth's life - beginning in his childhood tending a vegetable garden, berry plants, and fruit trees with his family at their home in Baudette, MN to a very strong commitment to sustainable food and food justice today.  He was a community gardener for several years with Celeste’s Dream Community Garden in St. Paul before purchasing a house (with a double lot) in East Phillips with his partner, Megan, in December 2010. The following year marked the beginning of Kuhl Beans Urban Farm. Prior to their move to Minneapolis, Seth served on the St. Paul-Ramsey County Food and Nutrition Commission.  He is serving on the board with two main goals in mind: 1) foster the development of community and backyard gardening to all areas of the state, and 2) advocate for growing more fruit and permaculture.

Mary Morse, Secretary
Mary Morse is director of development and communications at the Neighborhood Energy Connection (NEC), a nonprofit organization that provides energy efficiency programs and services to residents across Minnesota. Morse served as the NEC's executive director from 2002-2008, where she spearheaded a corporate reorganization, founded the HOURCAR car sharing program and brought home energy improvement lending into the NEC portfolio. Prior to joining the NEC, Morse served as director of community affairs and the Urban Lands program manager for Minneapolis' Sustainable Resources Center. Morse has focused on community development and environmental issues for 19 years, specifically on urban gardening, residential energy efficiency, and children's environmental health. She is the author of two books and numerous magazine articles. Morse’s expertise includes strategic planning, team building, community and partner outreach, and program capitalization. Morse has a B.A. from Macalester College in Saint Paul.

Towle Neu
Towle Neu is a Minneapolis attorney who brings over 11 years of legal experience to the Board in the areas of real estate and small business law. Because of his lifelong passion for protecting the environment and his more recently acquired fatherhood status, he understands the importance of locally produced, organic food. This is why he finds himself on the Board of Gardening Matters. He has also been known to take photographs and shoot and edit video for Gardening Matters, which are other passions of his. During his first year on the Board, he and his wife, a landscape architect, started their family’s first garden in their backyard.

Ann Putnam
This year was Ann's first attempt at community gardening after many years of solo gardening. A diverse group of people in the Whittier neighborhood of Minneapolis came together to start a community garden, and they had a very productive first harvest.  The Whittier garden was such a positive experience for Ann that she joined the board of Gardening Matters to support their mission of promoting community gardens. Currently, she is working toward a Masters in Professional Studies in Horticulture at the University of Minnesota. Her area of concentration is Urban Horticulture.

Chris Vanecek
Chris Vanecek has been a member of Gardening Matters board since 2010.  He joined Gardening Matters because of his love for food: good, local, just, fresh food.  While he currently does not garden he is hoping to find an outlet for the love of gardening his parents instilled in him.  Gardening, especially community gardening, brings together three of his favorite things: food, being outdoors, and working with other people.  He joined Gardening Matter's board to use his skills and energy to allow more people to experience these pleasures.  Besides serving on Gardening Matter's board he currently works as an energy auditor/crew leader for the Home Energy Squads in Saint Paul.  He is also working on a Sustainable MBA from Bainbridge Graduate Institute.  He enjoys eating, cooking, biking, gardening, and working to make our food system better for people and the planet.

Kelley Houlihan
Kelley Houlihan, a resident of the Camden Neighborhood in North Minneapolis, is a grad of Carlson School of Management and works as a Media Supervisor at Haworth Media & Marketing in Minneapolis.  She has a personal interest in, and passion for, the growth of sustainable, healthy food for all people, regardless of their socioeconomic status. She hopes to aid in bringing awareness of Gardening Matters' efforts to the public and perpetuate its mission because she believes it can play a large role in bringing communities together, creating a collective sense of responsibility for the health of the community.