The Cowichan Green Community is made up of a dynamic group of community members.
Alan is a retired cartographer, passionate about hiking, biking, canoeing and food. He got involved with CGC to support his local food habit and help produce the Food Security Map. He loves the Cowichan Valley and is excited about CGC’s contributions to making it even better.
Boards: CGC, CGC Holdings
Email: aphilip@telus.net
After travelling the globe, Amy transplanted to the Cowichan Valley in January 2008 and immediately fell in love with the region and its people. She runs a small business and is a proud and passionate member of the Cowichan Green Community. Amy is currently living her dream on a small hobby farm with her husband and two young daughters.
Boards: CGC
Email: amyluck@hotmail.com
Beverly is a land use planner, passionate about supporting communities in their pursuit of sustainable community development. She got involved with CGC was as part of the volunteer team that developed the Cowichan Valley Food Security Action Plan. As a dedicated foodie, she appreciates the side benefits of food security work!
Boards: CGC, CGC Holdings
Email: bsuderman2005@gmail.com
Mark has lived in the Cowichan Valley for the last nine years, returning to the west coast after eighteen winters in Nova Scotia. He has a long standing interest in exploring what might make enlightened society possible and what it means to be native to a place. He became involved with CGC because of the last word in the Cowichan Green Community’s name.
Boards: CGC, CGC Holdings
Email: markhazell45@gmail.com
Nadeane is passionate about healthy food, fresh water and the healing power of nature, creativity and nurturing relationships. She enjoys gardening, cycling, paddling, and communing with trees. Nadeane is continually inspired by the energy, enthusiasm and skillsets of CGC staff and by the projects they undertake.
Boards: CGC, CGC Holdings
Email: n.nelson@telus.net
Following a career in marketing, Roanne recently moved home to a small acreage that she plans to farm with her husband and two kale-loving kids. Roanne’s work now focuses on sustainability initiatives and organizations that create positive change. With deep concerns about the impact of industrial farming, Roanne is an active proponent of sustainable agriculture and local food security.
Boards: CGC
She’s a mom first; of two incredible sons and two grand-hounds. An avid reader with an appetite for learning about other cultures. Curious and adventurous, enjoys hiking, travelling and meeting locals wherever she goes. Loves to grow, raise and preserve her own food. Passionate about the environment and reducing waste. Hits the road in February for a Mexican camping trip while the garden hibernates.
Boards: CGC
Born in Vancouver, Judy took a long detour through life and other countries before she was enticed back to this gorgeous Valley. Blessed to be living on a float house and working in a fabulous organization that fuels her creative and environmental fire, she’s reminded how much more inspiring life is when working in a place that is aligned with her passions.
Email: judy@cowichangreencommunity.org
A long-time locavore, Heather is keen to be putting her skills in agricultural communications back to work with CGC. When she’s not talking to farmers, she can be found hiking with her family, puttering in the garden and drawing up plans for a wood-fired pizza oven on her property.
Email: heather@cowichangreencommunity.org
Born and mostly raised in Ontario, Alyssa moved out to beautiful British Columbia in 2008. Not only is she very passionate for art and music, but also for working alongside her coworkers at CGC. Alongside working at CGC, Alyssa has also finished her studies at Vancouver Island University with a degree in Child and Youth Care. Her passions include working with children, youth, and others to create an inclusive, safe, and diverse community.
Email: alyssa@cowichangreencommunity.org
Laura is a gardener who moved to the Cowichan Valley in 2017 after years of too-short growing seasons in Quebec and Alberta. Throughout her education in Philosophy and Ethnobotany, she spent summers working in landscaping and farm management, and now prefers to keep her hands dirty full-time. Laura is inspired by small farmers around the world, and is dedicated to making water-efficient, biodiverse, food-secure cities a reality. She is eager to share her enthusiasm for unusual vegetables and further explore the rich web of of people-plant relations in Duncan.
Email: laura@cowichangreencommunity.org
With a background in Environmental Technology and experience in resource management for commercial fisheries, Debra is passionate about the current state of the environment, especially global warming. Working with all the good folks at CGC gives her a more proactive approach to climate change and the challenges we are facing now and in the future. A life long learner, Debra is excited to learn more about growing food, helping people with food insecurity and making a difference right in the heart of the Cowichan Valley.
Email: debra@cowichangreencommuntiy.org
Leslie has many years of retail management experience and expertise. She is thoroughly enjoying the challenges of taking the Garden Pantry Store in new directions, while supporting the objectives of the Cowichan Green Community. She is a passionate textile printer and gardener with a true love of all things organic.
Email: leslie@cowichangreencommunity.org
Returning to the Cowichan Valley, Jennifer is excited to be working with a team dedicated to positively impacting our region! Jennifer graduated from VIU in 2015 with a Bachelors Degree in Tourism Management Major Recreation. Her current dream is to give back to the place that gave so much to her growing up through promoting active lifestyles, community connectivity, and nutrition.
Email: jennifer@cowichangreencommunity.org
Born and raised in the Cowichan Valley, Foster planted his first pack of beans over 10 years ago and hasn’t let up since. Following a degree at UBC’s Faculty of Land and Food Systems, and a 3-year stint farming in the Comox Valley, Foster is thrilled to be back home working on the first of its kind Incubator Seed Farm.
Email: foster@cowichangreencommunity.org
Madelaine and her family arrived in the Valley in 1994 and homesteaded property in Cowichan Station. She was one of the founding member of the Cowichan Station Area Association. Her wealth of experiences and background in maintaining the revitalized HUB is a perfect fit for taking on management of The Station, as well as the administration of the Cowichan Green Community. She is excited to be part of all the positive ventures of the CGC.
Email: madelaine@cowichangreencommunity.org
Cyle has been getting his hands dirty since before he could walk. His Italian grandparents are urban farmers in Toronto and they inspired him to peruse a career in Edible Horticulture. Growing up on Saltspring Island and schooling in Victoria, he is a recent addition to the Cowichan gardening community. Cyle is excited to hone his horticulture craft amongst the plethora of passionate plant people in the valley.
Email: cyle@cowichangreencommunity.org
Luca moved to the Cowichan Valley to pursue his passion for the outdoors. He enjoys an active lifestyle and gets satisfaction from creating things out of natural materials. He has volunteered on numerous organic projects around the world and has experience installing and maintaining landscapes according to permaculture principles. His interest in horticulture centres on urban farming, and he spends his free time growing as much food as he can in his own garden. With a background in Architecture, Luca enjoys using his creativity to design landscapes to be both beautiful and productive.
Email: luca@cowichangreencommunity.org
FREE FAMILY PRESERVATION WORKSHOPS Funded by Our Cowichan Communities Health Network (OCCHN), Cowichan Green Community (CGC) is hosting a series of FREE food preservation workshops geared toward young families. This project aims to teach or feature a …
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