Fork Farms is leading a Fresh Food for All revolution

Hunter is a former telecommunications designer specializing in fiber optic systems within existing and emerging markets. He initially worked for Fork Farms as a Marketing and Communications intern in 2019 and is overjoyed to rejoin the team as the Operations & Logistics Specialist. 

Hunter has had a passion for the environment since his collegiate days. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, where he co-founded a student organization, Titan Students for a Cleaner Community. The group made it their mission to educate others about environmental issues and they engaged in direct action by collecting trash and refuse around the campus and surrounding areas. During his time at UWO, they removed 200 pounds of trash from the area. 

Hunter is a Wisconsin native who thoroughly enjoys guitar, woodworking, the Green Bay Packers, and brewing small-batch beer with his father.

After graduating from Wesleyan University with a BA in Philosophy, Ben traveled west to San Francisco where he worked for the largest organic produce distributor in the Bay Area. Immersed in the world of value-driven produce, he applied his systems-oriented mindset toward understanding the ecological and economic impacts of how we produce our food. Life changes brought Ben home to Wisconsin, where he applied this passion for systems toward receiving a Master’s Degree in Urban Planning. He worked as an urban planning consultant for a half-decade, serving municipalities and developers in Southeastern Wisconsin and beyond. Spurred by a desire to be on the front lines of change, Ben left the world of planning consulting to join a friend in starting a greenhouse business with a desire to provide healthy, local produce. While this experience was incredibly rewarding, it did not take long for Ben to realize that he would be most fulfilled in a role that allowed him to utilize his strengths better.    

Ben is thrilled to be working for a company that responds to our pending global crises with a praxis of pragmatic hope. Fork Farms speaks directly to the mission Ben has been chasing (producing healthy, local food) while providing a role in which he can more naturally apply his strengths. As a Partnership Development Leader, Ben is eager to build relationships with educators, foster alignment among stakeholders, and help instill resilience into our communities through the deployment of the Flex Farm. He is honored to work alongside other motivated, value-driven individuals to help improve the landscape of possibility.      

Ben loves making and eating soup, playing piano and bass, and dominating board games. He and his wife enjoy camping with their giant dog and taking road trips with their two cats. When the weather gets warm, you will most likely find Ben playing disc golf.

Kevin’s roots hold true to Prairie Crossing, the small conservation community he grew up in in the far northern suburbs of Chicago. The fragility of our natural ecosystems and the cause & effect relationship of human impact on the planet was instilled at an early age.

With an itch for entrepreneurship, he ran his own landscaping business in high school and started a vintage Wisconsin apparel resale business in college. This itch ultimately led him to join Fork Farms in late 2020. Graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in ‘18 with a degree in Environmental Economics, Kevin was able to combine his eye for analytical thinking with his passion for the environment. He currently resides in Milwaukee with his girlfriend and Agility Aussie, Aspen.

Anna holds a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Wiscosin-Oshkosh and is passionate about environmental sustainability and sustainable farming. She previously worked as a Farm to School Specialist, where she maintained 29 Flex Farms for a school district and taught students about gardening, hydroponics, nutrition, local foods, and agriculture. Anna enjoyed being part of a team that provided fresh, local lettuce to students' lunch lines, an experience that ignited her passion to work at Fork Farms, helping more people grow their food year-round.

Anna is excited to assist and educate others on Flex Farm technology and to be part of a business that encourages people to grow their own food.

In her spare time, Anna enjoys reading, practicing yoga, and gardening in the summer. She also loves spending time with her husband and their dog, Camo.

Jack graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh with a Bachelor's degree in environmental science. While at UWO, Jack interned at an urban agriculture project called Growing Oshkosh where he maintained a small 2-acre urban farm and did community outreach on behalf of the project. This is what initially sparked Jack’s interest in working in sustainable agriculture.

He is excited to be part of Fork Farms, as the company’s mission to provide fresh food to those who need it the most resonates with his personal morals. He knew he had found the next step in his career.

In his spare time, Jack reminds people his full name is Jonathon, but he prefers Jack.  

Kit earned her B.S. in environmental studies and sustainability from Northern Michigan University in May of 2021. Fresh from her undergrad education, Kit has an intense passion for environmental, social, and economic sustainability.

She discovered Fork Farms when President Alex Tyink gave a guest lecture to one of her classes two months before graduation. After hearing his story and the mission of Fork Farms, she knew that this was the place for her. When she’s not tending to her Flex Farm, Kit is likely walking her Chesapeake Bay Retriever puppy Phoebe, playing with her kitten Feyre, enjoying some time in her favorite place, Marquette, Michigan, or curled up on the couch with a good book.

Maggie has 15 years of experience within the nonprofit world and throughout that time she has been dedicated to uplifting others and creating equitable opportunities for individuals and communities to thrive. Maggie is passionate about creating long-lasting positive change, fostering collaboration, and contributing to the growth of innovative projects. As a part of Fork Farms, she will leverage her experience in nonprofit management, relationship building, and strategic planning.

Maggie was drawn to Fork Farms’ purpose-driven approach to leveraging technology to create access to locally grown, fresh food. She will help support this work as she oversees the development and launch of the Clock Tower Farms project, in partnership with Rockwell Automation.

Maggie earned her degree in Communication Studies and Sociology from DePaul University, followed by two years of AmeriCorps service in Chicago, IL and Duluth, MN. Maggie lives in Milwaukee with her husband and two kids. When she’s not chasing around her kiddos, she is cooking, getting outside, reading, spending time with family, and on the hunt for her next favorite Milwaukee restaurant!

Kyle got his start in the hardware and software distribution industry over a decade ago. His primary focus was supporting 21st-century classroom initiatives in K12 schools and districts throughout the US and Canada. 

Kyle left the city life for a rural property in south central Wisconsin where he maintains a home garden of more than 1,500 square feet, as well as pasture-based systems for producing eggs, poultry, and beef. Fork Farms combines his passions for locally produced food and K12 technology. 

In his free time, Kyle likes to collect axes, play with his two kids, and watch farm videos on YouTube.

Delo was drawn to Fork Farms due to his love of cooking and growing food. Having the opportunity to help feed people worldwide was a major driver for Delo in wanting to join the team. His professional history includes over 10 years of leadership and management at various jobs, primarily at Culver's. He also has over 12 years of entertainment experience playing in a band called Doozey.

Delo loves to cook as much as he can in his spare time and is excited to share his passion with the partners of Fork Farms and his coworkers. He enjoys cooking everything and likes to play with various cuisines which helps him marry flavors of multiple foods and fuse different cultures. 

Delo also has the utmost love for music and has played in his band, Doozy, for over 12 years. He enjoys participating in musical projects and seeing live music as much as possible. Basketball is also one of his loves, both playing and watching as a fan. As a tried and true Wisconsinite, he’s a fan of the Bucks, Packers, Brewers, and Badgers.

Jared has had exposure to a multitude of industries. Whether it was warehouse work with Weyco Group, ticket sales with the Lakeshore Chinooks Baseball Club, or serving tables at Toast Milwaukee, he has always been passionate about serving his community.

Due to his desire to join a mission-focused, impact-first organization, Jared jumped at the opportunity to join the Fork Farms Partnership Development team. He holds a B.S. in Business from Concordia University Wisconsin. 

Jared is a native of Milwaukee Wisconsin, and despite his 23 years in Milwaukee, he still enjoys finding new activities around the city. He enjoys every season the Midwest has to offer by partaking in activities from fishing to skiing, hiking to snowshoeing. 

Audrey has always loved gardening, plants, and environmental sustainability. Her introduction to urban and sustainable farming began during her upbringing in Georgia, just outside of Atlanta, where she showed lambs with 4-H and helped out on a local FFA farm. This early experience blossomed into a passion while Audrey was studying sustainable agriculture at the College of Wooster. During that time, she wrote her senior thesis on food sustainability, emphasizing the importance of fresh vegetables on school campuses and how the lack of fresh food can negatively impact students' physical and mental health.

Before joining Fork Farms, she worked in Residence Life, driven by her passion for helping students learn and teaching them self-advocacy. Discovering Fork Farms was an exciting moment for Audrey, as it allowed her to return to the world of sustainable agriculture at a company that aligns with her values.

She is most enthusiastic about working with people and helping to provide them with access to fresh food. The phrase "everyone is a farmer" at Fork Farms resonates deeply with her, and she is eager to contribute to making that philosophy a reality.

In her spare time, Audrey enjoys hiking, reading, drinking lots of coffee, crocheting, gardening, spending time with friends, and hanging out with her ferret, Otis!

Michael has 20 years of experience in the non-profit and education industry. He is as passionate about growing communities as he is about growing vegetables. Michael puts his skills and interests together as the Executive Vice President of Social Innovation, which has a primary focus on enabling Fork Farms’ partners to grow fresh food, nourish communities, and heal our planet.

Michael has extensive fundraising and philanthropic experience, including having raised over $3.5M to install interactive LED lights on Milwaukee's iconic Hoan Bridge. He lives in Milwaukee with his wife, pup, and many plants.

Marisa has a B.S. in Environmental Studies and Sustainability from Northern Michigan University. Her post-graduate career led to her working in the hydroponics industry for two years. Marisa had the opportunity to be a panel member at the Growing Jobs and Economic Opportunity: 2023 Farm Bill Perspectives from Michigan, where she spoke to members of Congress about sustainable environmental agriculture. 

As Marisa expanded her passion for growing plants, sustainable food systems, and educating youth about the importance of fresh food, she found herself wanting to work at a mission-first company focused on these passions. She stayed connected to a former professor at NUM, which led to the opportunity to work together again at Fork Farms. 

Marisa has two rambunctious dogs, a house full of plants, and a love for crafting and crochet.

Alex came to Fork Farms to work with good people, represent a product with an impact, and live out an authentic mission. Fork Farms is the company he was looking for, and now his work is truly about helping people access fresh food.

Alex has worked in the software and professional training industries as a sales manager and sales producer. His primary focus was on team-building and helping others grow professionally, skills which he now brings to the Fork Farms team as a Partnership Development Director.

Alex lives in Milwaukee with his golden retriever, Rizzo, and recently became a first-time uncle to his nephew Jack.

While pursuing her Environmental Studies degree at UW-Oshkosh, Nina was introduced to the campus' indoor hydroponic farm by her advisors and mentors. It was here that she first encountered the Flex Farm. Working a few hours a week in the Harvest Room, Nina was welcomed by the Fork Farms team as an intern in 2022. During her internship, she was exposed to a large-scale commercial hydroponic farm in Manitowoc, WI. After implementing consistent crop rotation and other hydroponic farm management practices, she seized the opportunity to become Grow It Forward's Urban Farm Manager.

Nina is happy to be back at Fork Farms as the Partnership Support Representative for Wisconsin. In this role, she will enjoy every moment of educating leaders on how to unleash the full potential of the Flex Farm and create meaningful opportunities for their communities.

In her spare time, Nina can usually be found tending to her needy cat or traveling to visit her family. One day, she hopes to fulfill her dream of building a homestead complete with gardens, orchards, chickens, and ducks

Josh has a passion for innovative design, experiential learning, sustainability, and health. Prior to joining Fork Farms, Josh managed laboratory, facility identification, and water filtration product lines for Brady Corporation and Pentair. Josh became passionate about food issues when he was awarded an “Indians for Collective Action Scholarship” to support the Self Employed Women’s Association in Ahmedabad India, where he spent one month developing a business plan for environmentally responsible solar cookstoves. This experience fundamentally impacted his perspective on food production and distribution systems.

After a few health scares of his own and growing awareness of the critical flaws in our food distribution system, Fork Farms became the perfect path to meld these passions into a personal and professional lifestyle that creates change.

Josh is a Milwaukee native, first-time father to an amazing little boy, a creative writer, wilderness camper, Big Brother, and a very average accordion player. You will often find him with a good bourbon arguing the merits of Tolkien’s works around a campfire.

Sam is an avid outdoorsman with a deep background in biology and plant diseases, which brought him to take an early interest in Fork Farms. While Sam had Fork Farms in mind as an employer, he gained work experience as a former Senior Territory manager for a Fortune 100 CPG company, in addition to other work in Product Safety Science at Kimberly Clark, and lab work involving environmental analytics.

Sam joined the Fork Farms team in 2022 and is now the company’s New England Partnership Development Director working out of Concord, New Hampshire. He is beyond excited to be a part of an organization that perfectly aligns with his interests, education, professional experience, and most importantly; his values.

Originally from Wisconsin, Sam met his wife while thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2019. This is also when they fell in love and knew New England would be their future home. He is passionate about hunting, fishing, conservation, camping, music, and spending time with friends and family.

Alena's director once asked her, "What do you think about Nutrition Services adopting hydroponics?" Soon after, she was building a pilot Flex Farm in the Central Kitchen, shaping the vision for the 2022 CDFA Farm to School Incubator Grant Program. This project aimed to increase students' access to hyper-local foods and promote educational equity in Lodi's high-poverty district.

Alena's path was unconventional. While earning a degree in Nutrition and Food Science, she spent ten years in food services before becoming a certified substitute teacher just before the pandemic. During that time, she developed online high school curricula and collaborated with educators on teaching nutrition, which fueled her desire to address food insecurity.

Her journey eventually led her to Nutrition Services. As an Operations Supervisor, Alena managed the daily school meal program, serving 6.4 million meals annually. In addition, as the department's grant manager, she spearheaded farm-to-school initiatives dedicated to serving underrepresented and marginalized communities. She knew that achieving this mission required strong partners—and Fork Farms was the perfect fit.

Fast forward to today, and the Lodi Hydroponic Program has successfully implemented 20 Flex Farms across various Lodi USD school sites. Alena transitioned from being a Fork Farms partner to joining their team, where she now creates real solutions to improve food access.

She is excited and deeply grateful for the opportunity to help communities access fresh food, promote sustainable solutions for the planet, and empower people to become farmers.

In her spare time, Alena is an avid yogi and loves adventuring with her German Shepherd, Frida. In her space, music is always playing, and the scent of coffee or a candle—or both—fills the air. Her home is adorned with Legos and memorabilia from the international travels she enjoys with her brother and sister-in-law.

Leah grew up in a small town in northern Wisconsin, where she enjoyed spending time outside from a young age. She attended the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and later earned her Master’s Degree in Forensic Science, with an emphasis in Behavioral Science. Leah’s career path has taken quite an interesting trajectory, from pharmacy manager to fingerprint tech for the state patrol to GIS work at Kohler Company. Leah also had her own vintage clothing business. More recently, she worked in social media and digital marketing for some notable 90s boy band members. 

Leah is excited to be part of Fork Farms because of the company’s commitment to sustainability and the community. She is excited to work for a company that not only values these principles but actively promotes them.

In her free time, Leah enjoys spending time with her two kids, thrifting, hiking, and competing in functional fitness competitions, like Hyrox and Deka.

Anne’s first job at a family-run farm at age 14 and the neat rows of beautiful veggies in her family’s garden sparked an early love of farming, and she has always found ways to grow her own food ever since. Her love of growing food made her a natural fit for the Fork Farms team, which she now represents as a Partnership Development Director, based in Ohio.

Anne has over 15 years of experience leading interdisciplinary teams and implementing federally-funded research projects. She founded and directed a company in the apparel industry for which she oversaw product design, manufacturing, web development, fulfillment, and business and financial management.

Stepping into the world of green things, indoors and out, puts her to rights, and her tiny yard is packed with native pollinator-friendly and edible plants. She built a monarch butterfly enclosure where neighbors can peer in on caterpillars and chrysalides in all their stages and release monarchs to begin their journey to Mexico.

Rylee worked in the food service industry as a busser, server, barback, hostess, expo, etc. during her high school and college years. During her senior year of college, she transitioned to her role as Indoor Agriculture Assistant Lab Technician managing and taking care of over 10 different hydroponics systems, and one of those systems was the Flex Farm! Rylee graduated in May of 2023 from Northern Michigan University with a B.S. in Biology and a minor in Botany with an emphasis in Sustainable Indoor Agriculture and Ecological Conservation so as to further her role in protecting our planet's precious biodiversity and resources.

Thanks to both sets of grandparents, Rylee has always loved working with plants. Growing her own food and sharing her harvest with others has always been very rewarding. The best way to someone's heart is through their stomach. In high school, she was a member of her local FFA and a botany/horticulture enthusiast. After her ecology and conservation-focused college academics, sheI reignited her love for horticulture and community-focused farming with the new Indoor Agriculture program at NMU, which allowed her to share the food she grew in class with her friends and roommates! While using the Flex Farm in our labs, her instructor encouraged Rylee to apply for a summer internship position with Fork Farms. The rest is history!

Rylee enjoys a variety of outdoor activities including hiking, swimming, kayaking, and foraging. She can identify 200+ plants and mushrooms found in the surrounding Marquette County area of the beautiful Upper Peninsula! 

Alyssa is a dairy farm-raised Wisconsinite with a passion for growing vegetables and sharing them with others. Her love of agriculture and feeding people nutritious food made Fork Farms the solution to combine her interests and professional experience to make an impact on hunger relief around the world.

Alyssa began her career as a newspaper reporter in Northeast Wisconsin with the USA Today Network, where she covered topics including, agriculture, business, and local government. After three years, she pivoted to corporate marketing for H.J. Martin and Son, where she gained further communications and project management skills. She has a bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.

Alyssa and her husband live in Oconto County, Wisconsin with their daughter and two dogs. When she’s not photographing her garden, you will find her reading fantasy novels, spending time outside with her family, or enjoying a plate of tacos while watching The Office.

Gil is a self-proclaimed recovering attorney with more than three decades of management, partnership development and hydroponics experience.

Hailing from the Southwest, Gil farmed and gardened in the Arizona Highlands for over 30 years. He says he primarily started gardening to keep his sanity while practicing law.

Kim co-founded Northern Michigan University's Indoor Agriculture program and served as the core faculty member and program coordinator. She has an Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from Central Michigan University, with her research focusing on plant biology education and women’s experiences in the newly emerging STEM field of indoor agriculture. Kim has taught biology and science education and served as a STEM education consultant for the Glenn T. Seaborg Math and Science Center. She also owned a specialty cut flower farm and flower shop.

Kim is passionate about addressing food insecurity and increasing health and well-being by empowering people to grow their own food and localizing food sourcing community by community. Before joining the team, Kim worked with the Fork Farms team as an educational institution partner for two years. The Flex Farm provided students in her labs with their culminating commercial crop production experience. Kim believes all people benefit from working directly with plants.

Kim embraces any time spent with family, friends, and in the outdoors. She loves gardening, hiking, snorkeling, playing tennis, doing artwork, reading, cooking, playing euchre, and traveling. She married her husband, Michael, in her favorite place, Hawaii, and has two grown children, Abby and Seth. A fun fact is that Kim has been practicing yoga for 35 years.

Andy is the Chief Operating Officer of Fork Farms and is responsible for worldwide operations, including end-to-end management of the Fork Farms supply chain and fulfillment, product development, technology, and other organizational administration functions.

Before joining Fork Farms, Andy spent over 20 years leading operations, driving innovation, and executing technology solutions for start-up and mature organizations. He spent many years in the financial services industry in multiple leadership roles, including operations, technology, continuous improvement, and project management. With an eye for aligning strategy and execution, he is an architect for emerging business needs and a catalyst for customer value.

Andy has a long-time passion for sustainable agriculture and locally sourced food. He has done business consulting and volunteering for local farms and is using his broad business experience to help drive the Fork Farms mission forward. Andy is originally from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area but has called Wisconsin home for over 20 years. He lives with his wife and two sons and is an outdoor enthusiast and avid home gardener.

Alex is the co-founder of Fork Farms and the inventor of its farming technology and methods. He is a former opera singer with 10 years of leadership experience in the social service sector, who works to inspire vast food system change across communities.

He began his urban agriculture career in Brooklyn, New York where he first worked on rooftop gardens and then started building indoor growing systems of his own for educational and food security purposes. This eventually led to the development of Fork Farms intellectual property, and the rest is history.

After relocating back to Wisconsin, Alex continued his work as program director at Goodwill Industries of North Central Wisconsin and as director of innovation and programs for Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin. In 2018, he was a Fox Cities Future 15 winner and featured as Fox Cities Magazine’s ‘Big Idea’.

Alex currently lives in Appleton, Wisconsin with his wife, son and their dog Maya.

Steve is widely known for his work with experience-based design methodology and for creating thought-leading, innovative customer experiences in a wide variety of industries. After 35 years in the business world, Steve saw the light and the need for fresh food in communities across the world and joined Fork Farms as one of the Partnership Development Directors. His role positions him to act on his personal beliefs, that everyone should have access to fresh food and the ability to live a balanced life.

His professional experience includes vice president of business innovation at Miron Construction, founder of Attach (a nationally recognized industrial design firm), vice president of Saturn operations and leadership development with Bergstrom Corporation, and general manager of numerous private country clubs.

Steve is an Appleton, Wis. native, husband, and grandfather. He loves the outdoors and anything to do with his kids and grandkids.

Terry has more than 20 years of rewarding experience in the education profession as a teacher and administrator at various districts in Northeastern Wisconsin. When he left his teaching career at the end of the 2022 school year, he was looking for a new challenge and specifically wanted to be part of a value-driven company with a positive culture. Fork Farms and its mission and connection to TitletownTech proved to be the perfect fit for him.

Terry taught business subjects including business management, finance, and economics, and also taught college-level courses to high school students through the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Terry enjoys outdoor activities including kayaking, winter camping, hiking, and running. He also has been a track and cross country coach and has worked with many incredible young athletes.

Alex is driven by the Fork Farms mission to revolutionize food growth. He's particularly passionate about educating youth, hoping to inspire the next generation towards healthier, greener futures. 

He pursued higher education at Iowa State University, laying the groundwork for a future in entrepreneurship. Post-graduation, Alex remained in Central Iowa, where he successfully led a residential painting business and a real estate acquisition company, demonstrating his knack for innovation and leadership. 

Alex is a Green Bay local and was raised in the heart of De Pere. Outside of work, he is a sports enthusiast, enjoying volleyball, basketball, and flag football. He also loves board games and traveling with his wife!