Meet the Team

A woman standing in a garden, smiling, with tall green bean plants behind her, wearing a Mitchell Givin Garden t-shirt and a gray button-up shirt.

  • Executive Director

    Christine grew up in Oklahoma and comes from a long line of farmers As Executive Director she has grown MGG”s programs and impact by building organizational capacity through grant writing, community partnerships,and strategic planning. Her work revolves around the intersection of education, sustainable food systems, and collaborative community projects. Trained in permaculture, biodynamics, and sustainable agriculture, she enjoys tending the land to create the most abundant, beautiful, and resilient gardens possible. Her  training at the Findhorn Foundation in Scotland was instrumental in developing a participatory learning approach and helped refine her skills as an educator. A garden is the perfect place for curiosity and wonder to guide the learning journey.

Woman smiling and sitting outdoors in a garden with green plants and trees, blue sky in the background.

  • Operations Assistant

    Sondra’s experience in sustainable agriculture and permaculture shape her approach to gardening and community food systems. As Operations Assistant, she wears many hats and is integral to our work. Sondra coordinates MGG’s Home Gardener and Harvest Table programs. Her systems approach helps Mitchell Giving Gardens stay organized. As a teen, she joined a program where participants grew, harvested, and cooked their own food—an experience that inspired her lifelong passion for community food education. She believes everyone deserves to know where their food comes from, and places like MGG grow strong connections between people, place, and food.

Meet the Board

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  • Board Chair

    Hannah-Marie works as a fundraiser at Penland School of Craft and has experience in digital marketing, as well as a Master’s of Public Administration from the College of Charleston. She grew up hearing stories from her grandmother about how their family never went hungry because they maintained a robust homestead in Grassy Creek.

Smiling man with a beard and backpack standing in a garden filled with orange flowers on a sunny day.

  • Treasurer

    Eron Thiele joined the MAY Coalition as the Executive Director in February of 2018. Before that, he coordinated the Mayland Community College Earth to Sky Park, and was an entrepreneur and business owner. He graduated Davidson College with double majors in Political Science and Economics, and obtained his MBA from East Carolina University. He is highly active in non-profits and service organizations in the Mitchell, Avery, and Yancey County, NC, area.

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  • Secretary

    Marianna works for a nonprofit and has a background in hospitality, events, and marketing. In her family, food has always been at the heart of their gatherings. Whether it’s a holiday, a celebration, or a simple dinner with loved ones, sharing a meal is how she connects with people. She also loves caring for houseplants and tending to raised garden and flower beds—with varying degrees of success.

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  • As Sustainability Manager at The Quartz Corp, Courtney is dedicated to advancing intergenerational wellbeing for people and the planet. With a home in Mitchell county, school in Yancey county, family in Wyoming, and work internationally, her definition of community is broad. While gardening is a strength for her mom, you will find Courtney resigned to less challenging garden tasks like watering with her kids.

A woman with dark brown and grey peppered hair in a ponytail, smiling outdoors, standing among yellow and maroon flowers with a sunflower in the background, under a blue sky with some clouds.

  • Flo’s job is to help people get things done in the world with words. She uses related skills at MGG, whether it’s drafting bits of our policy manual or helping think through grant applications. At home in Spruce Pine she grows flowers (and, let’s be honest, weeds). When she was little, her mom had a vegetable garden, a grape vine, and apple and cherry trees in the backyard.

A smiling man with gray hair and a beard, wearing glasses and a plaid shirt, standing in front of a green textured wall.

  • Jeff has been an avid gardener, food preserver, and seed saver for several decades. He also has a blueberry U-pick farm in Mitchell County. His agricultural education, lifelong growing experience, and deep connection to the natural world makes MGG a natural effort to support and help foster growth.

Our Partners