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Board of Directors

Like most boards of nonprofit organizations, MOFGA's board of directors sets the strategic direction, ensures the organization's financial security, and supervises the work of the executive director.

A formal process exists for being nominated for election to the MOFGA board. Those interested in joining the board should discuss their interests with a current board member (see board profiles below) or indicate their interest by filling out this form. You can learn more about the nominations process here.

MOFGA members are welcome to attend board meetings. Please contact Sarah Alexander, MOFGA Executive Director, if you’d like information on attending.

Sam Brown

Year 3 of final term

IMG_2774 (1)

Sikwani Dana

Executive Committee
Year 3 of first term (she/her/hers)

Patty Duffy

Patty Duffy

Treasurer, Executive Committee
Year 2 of first term

Rob Dumas

Executive Committee
Year 2 of first term, (he/him/his)

Margaret Hathaway

Executive Committee
Year 2 of first term (she/her/hers)

Craig Hickman

Year 3 of first term (he/him/his)

Seth Kroeck

Seth Kroeck

Year 1 of first term

MOFGA board member, Martha Leggat, stands in front of a red barn.

Martha Leggat

Year 1 of first term

Abe Noyes

Abe Noyes

Year 1 of first term

BOD-Ellen Sabina

Ellen Sabina

Vice President, Executive Committee
Year 3 of first term (she/her/hers)

MOFGA board member, Jo D. Saffeir kneeling in tall grass and holding a pint of blueberries.

Jo D. Saffeir

Year 1 of first term

Anna Shapley-Quinn

Secretary, Executive Committee
Year 2 of second term (she/her/hers)

Jessie Spector

Year 3 of first term
(she/her/hers)

Ben Tettlebaum

President, Executive Committee
Year 1 of final term (he/him/his)

Annie Watson

Year 1 of final term

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Contact Us

The Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association

Mailing Address:
PO Box 170
Unity, ME 04988
Physical Address:
294 Crosby Brook Road
Unity, ME 04988

Media Inquiries:
Contact Jennifer Wilhelm [email protected]

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Sam was raised in Tacoma Washington. He moved to Cambridge, Maine in 1974, and has dabbled in most of the Mother Earth News subjects at one time or another since then. Cows, logging with horses, onions, hay, butchering, alternative school, old tractors, country dances, apples, chickens, lumber, firewood. But once he became active in MOFGA, around the turn of the millenium, specifically with the Low Impact Forestry Project, he has felt much more a part of Maine’s farm and forest evolution. He’s a licensed forester, is active on various Town committees (energy, planning, dam restoration), and thinks he’s a pretty good crossword puzzler (his sons disagree). He is fascinated by the malleable organization of MOFGA at all levels, and how volunteers cooperate to accomplish goals.
443 Smart, Parkman, ME 04443

Sikwani Dana is a high school science teacher and, with Nathan Dana, is creating the Dana Homestead in rural Maine. In 2018 Sikwani and Nathan purchased a hunting cabin in the woods, and they have been working to turn it into an off-grid homestead. Their house is completely run by solar power and heated by wood in the winter. They are building the soil in their garden and keeping bees. Sikwani is Penobscot, a tribe that is part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. Many of the rural living skills that Sikwani and Nathan use at their homestead they learned from Sikwani’s parents, Barry and Lori. “It is because of them I have made my life as environmentally friendly and sustainable [as possible]”, says Sikwani. Sikwani’s father, Barry Dana, is a former chief of the Penobscot Tribe. “My dad has done an incredible amount of work towards educating the Wabanaki people of Maine about why to have a garden, how to have a garden, food sovereignty and the knowledge that has been passed down from our ancestors.”

Patty lives in Belfast and has over 30 years of agricultural lending experience working with a wide range of farms. She moved to Maine in 2019 to assist in the creation Maine Harvest Federal Credit Union, the first credit union dedicated to financing farmers and food producers. Patty is an experienced ox teamster, operated a micro dairy & diversified livestock farms in VT and continues managing Vermont forestland she’s owned for 34 years. Finance work has been in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and New York. Other experiences include founding Board Member of VT CAN! (Low cost spay/neuter program), Excellence in Veterinary Nursing Award, Adjunct Professor at Vermont Technical College for agribusiness and veterinary technology, member of Vermont Meat Processing Task Force, Advisory Board member of The Carrot Project, Cornell Extension Service Clinton County Board Member and Treasurer and most recently Maine Beginning Farmer Advisory Council.  Passions include Reid State Park, the ocean, rowing on the Penobscot Bay in Cornish Pilot Gig Boats and wooden Dories, Maine seafood, local food, cooking, and traveling adventures with her dog Mia.

Rob Dumas is the food science innovation coordinator and facility manager for the School of Food and Agriculture based at the University of Maine’s Orono campus in Hitchner Hall. Dumas has a split appointment with the School of Food and Agriculture (SFA) and the Office of Innovation and Economic Development (OIED). In his role with SFA, he oversees the research and instruction that occurs in the Dr. Matthew Highlands Pilot Plant and the commercial kitchen. In his role with OIED, he works as a food system expert with connectivity to all aspects of Maine’s food system, from agriculture to food processing and retail foodservice. Dumas also leverages the pilot plant to serve industry in Maine by providing expertise in product development, process efficiency and capturing food waste. He is currently certified as an executive chef with the American Culinary Federation and serves as the chapter president for the Downeast region. 

Margaret Hathaway is a farmer, writer, and mother. She is the author of six books on food and farming, including the memoir, The Year of the Goat, which chronicles her journey from young adulthood in New York City to a family farm in Maine. A native of Kansas and a graduate of Wellesley College, since 2005 Margaret has lived with her husband, Karl Schatz, on Ten Apple Farm, their homestead and agritourism business in Gray. There, they raise three daughters, a small herd of dairy goats, pigs, miniature horses, and assorted poultry, tend a large garden and small orchard, lead goat hikes, teach workshops on basic homesteading skills, and operate a guest house. For the past two decades, Margaret has used her work to advocate for small scale, diversified agriculture, and for a return to life rooted in the land.

Ten Apple Farm, 241 Yarmouth Road, Gray, 04039 

Hickman is an organic farmer, small business owner, chef, poet and author. He is wrapping up his fourth term in the Maine Legislature where he has served as house chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. In his service as an elected official he has championed food sovereignty, food security, food freedom, food processing infrastructure investments and other efforts to protect Maine’s small family farms and promote rural economic development. Hickman has also served on numerous community organizations and, in 2011, received the Spirit of America Foundation Award for Community Service. Originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Hickman moved to New England to attend Harvard University, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in government. He and his spouse, Jop Blom, live in Winthrop, where they own and operate Annabessacook Farm, a sustainable farm raising organic produce, dairy and livestock. They also host the Winthrop Community Gardens and a fresh food bank for anyone in need.

Seth Kroeck has been an organic grower for 25 years and has been certified by MOFGA at Crystal Spring Farm in Brunswick, where he lives with his wife Maura and their two children Leila and Griffin, for the last 19. The farm’s primary crops are carrots, Brussels sprouts and wild blueberries sold to wholesale markets, schools and hunger relief organizations in Maine. Kroeck is an active member of the Organic Farmers Association, Real Organic Project and the Maine Grain Alliance, and is committed to supporting and building regional food systems. MOFGA has been a central part of the success of Crystal Spring over the last two decades. Certification, the apprenticeship program and technical services have all been invaluable sources of support to him as a grower.

Martha Leggat has lived in North Yarmouth, Maine, for 23 years. A former teacher, more recently she has dedicated her time to volunteer pursuits, serving as a member and chair of her local MSAD #51 school board, tutoring New Mainers in language and citizenship at Portland Adult Education, and leading social justice and education ministries at the Congregational Church in Cumberland. She and her husband have three children, and are fortunate to live on a property that allows for a big vegetable garden, an orchard and beehives. Leggat currently works part-time at a local organic vegetable farm in Durham, and runs a granola business called Martha’s Maine Mix, selling small-batch granola (made with her honey!) to local natural food stores. She joined MOFGA as a lifetime member the first year she moved to Maine, and has been involved in different ways since then. Leggat is passionate about MOFGA’s mission, in particular regarding farmer training, promoting local and organic food, engaging in food and agricultural policy, and addressing climate change. Hobbies that Leggat is most engaged in include gardening, writing, political advocacy, outdoor pursuits and tutoring.

Abe Noyes was born and raised in Southwest Harbor. Noyes is an experienced organic gardener and was brought up growing vegetables as a way of life and has continued that tradition and practice into adulthood. Noyes’ involvement with MOFGA has mainly come through being a long-time Common Ground Country Fair attendee. At 29 years old, Noyes has been to at least 20 fairs!

Sabina serves as outreach and communications director at Maine Farmland Trust (MFT). After graduating from Bates College with a degree in history, and with several summers of farming and fisheries work under her belt, Sabina spent years away from Maine, working for food- and farm-related businesses and nonprofits in Vermont and Washington. She moved back to her home state in 2013 to work with MFT and lives in the small town of Morrill. When not amplifying the stories of MFT’s work and of Maine farms, Sabina can be found in the garden, exploring Maine’s mountains and coastlines, or in the fields of the tiny flower farm she co-owns, Half Hitch Flowers.

Jo D. Saffeir recently joined the Commissioner’s Office of the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry as special assistant to the Commissioner. For the past 30 years, she was a natural resource consultant assisting nonprofits, state agencies, academic institutions and foundations achieve conservation and public policy results. Her areas of expertise include agriculture and food systems, state and federal natural resource policy, sustainable forestry, land conservation and natural climate solutions. Her work has included technical facilitation, strategic planning, academic research and technical report writing, administration of public and private sources of conservation funding, editing and fundraising strategy development. She holds a bachelor’s of science in agriculture from the University of Connecticut and a master’s in environmental law and policy from Vermont Law School. Her past board service relevant to MOFGA’s mission includes the Maine Board of Pesticides Control, Maine Farmland Trust (founding board member), Cumberland County Soil and Water Conservation District (treasurer) and Wolfe’s Neck Farm’s Agricultural Advisory Committee. She currently serves on the board of trustees of Sterling College, which offers degrees in sustainable agriculture and food systems, and draft animal power systems. Saffeir lives in Pownal, Maine.

Anna Shapley-Quinn is a farmer, mother and lifelong environmental and social justice activist. She was born and raised in central North Carolina and has been farming since the age of 16. From her first farm internship in high school with NC’s organic farming association, to work on farms and academic study of sustainable agriculture in college, to full-fledged commercial farming, Anna was drawn to farming by a deep love for the outdoors, food, manual labor and communal work. In 2009, Anna co-founded North Branch Farm, a MOFGA-certified organic farm in Monroe, Maine (Waldo county) with Seth and Tyler Yentes. Currently, they produce nursery stock, fruit, hay, grass-fed beef and forest products. Anna believes that MOFGA and its members have important roles to play in the face of the climate crisis: to lead in building rural, agrarian unity and resilience as well as modeling how organic farms can act as carbon sinks and centers of ecological renewal. She thrives on working to re-stabilize the planet so that humans, plants and animals can all live good, full lives.
120 Stream Rd
Monroe, ME

Spector lives on a small farm in Jefferson with her husband and baby. She works as a fundraiser and donor organizer at Thousand Currents, a small foundation supporting work at the intersections of climate justice, food sovereignty and building alternative economies. Prior to moving to Maine, Jessie was the executive director at a national non-profit focused on racial and economic justice and continues to serve as a consultant for organizations working to integrate a stronger framework and practice of equity and justice. She has served on the boards of Jewish Voice for Peace and the Markham-Nathan Fund for Justice.

Ben grew up on a small farm in central Missouri. They raised beef cattle and grew corn and soybeans. That hilly, forested land of brush and trouble instilled in him a lifelong love of the outdoors. Currently, Ben works as senior staff attorney for The Wilderness Society and also runs a boutique law practice specializing in risk management. Formerly, he practiced law at the Maine Advocacy Center of the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) focusing on agriculture, climate change, and clean energy policy and litigation. He launched CLF’s Legal Food Hub in Maine in 2015 offering pro bono legal assistance to income-eligible farmers, food entrepreneurs, and food-related organizations and hosting dozens of legal workshops for the agricultural community. As he has for the past 20+ years, Ben stays connected to the field of experiential education, teaching emergency medical courses for remote environments with NOLS Wilderness Medicine. He lives in New Gloucester, serves on several nonprofit boards around Maine, and is humbled to work with the dedicated people at MOFGA.

Annie Watson and her husband Michael Moody are co-owners of Sheepscot Valley Farm, a MOFGA certified organic dairy farm located on the beautiful Townhouse Road in Whitefield. She is a 2005 graduate of Brown University, where she received her B.A. in Theater Arts. When she isn’t covered in cow manure, Annie is also owner and operator of A. Watson Design, a boutique event design firm. She and Michael live on the farm with their one-year old son, Oliver, their tiny farm-dog, Otis, and their herd of Holstein ladies.
Sheepscot Valley Farm
163 Townhouse Road, Whitefield, ME 04353
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