Garden to Table has committed and experienced staff members and volunteers to help foster school partnerships and support to ensure the growth of your school gardens.
Katie Poirier, Executive Director (she/her)
Katie Poirier is a new Boulder County transplant originally from Phoenix, Arizona. Prior to arriving in Colorado, she was the former executive director of the Mollen Foundation where she empowered Arizona youth and families to adopt healthy habits through engaging gardening, cooking, mindfulness, and physical activities such as the 48th Annual Phoenix 10k. Previously, Katie was the project director of PHX Renews with Keep Phoenix Beautiful, a 15-acre community garden collaborative and health hub. Katie graduated with a B.A. in Sustainability from the School of Sustainability at Arizona State University and recently completed her M.S. in Sustainable Food Systems from the same institution. Her professional experience includes project management, fundraising, curriculum development, and collective leadership. She credits her initial love of gardens and food to her grandparents’ peach tree and homemade pierogis.
Lindsey LeCuyer, Program Director (she/her)
Lindsey grew up in the Washington, DC area and received a BA in Music Education from Virginia Tech. After spending some years reconnecting with her roots in Texas, she has happily settled in her husband’s homeland of northern Colorado! Lindsey brings 15 years of public school experience as a music educator. Intrigued by the opportunity to learn more about gardening while volunteering at her daughters’ school, she joined the parent team at the Louisville GTT garden. Directing program at Garden to Table was Lindsey’s dream “next step” in her professional life, providing the opportunity to work with schools to educate the next generation of environmentally aware students while building community around the wonder of growing our own food.
Leslie Norcross, Community Engagement Director (she/her)
After graduating from Purdue University, Leslie moved from Indiana to California’s wine country. She pursued a career in the wine industry, obtaining positions managing Tasting Rooms and Wine Clubs, all while learning about viticulture and enology. She then transitioned to managing the Novato, CA Pharmaca Integrative Pharmacy, where she was immersed in the world of herbs, supplements, and integrative health. There was an opportunity to come to Boulder to manage the South Boulder Store, and so began her journey to Colorado, where she remained as the Store Manager for several years. Leslie started volunteering at Emerald Elementary in the garden when her son was in Kindergarten, and quickly found a love for the Garden to Table Program, assisting with lessons, promoting healthy eating, and building community. She now promotes GTT through corporate, foundation, and volunteer outreach, community and fundraising events, garden programs, in-kind and financial support, and social media and marketing. She still volunteers at Emerald Elementary in the school garden.
Adoree Faul, East County Garden Manager (she/her & ella/la)
Adoree is a nature and animal lover who grew up exploring in the mountains west of Boulder. She has spent a good part of her life traveling outside of the United States and worked on various permaculture and organic vegetable farms in Patagonia. She is passionate about inspiring others to grow their own food and to see the world. She’s bilingual (speaking both Spanish and English), a certified yoga instructor, has guided nature tours in New Zealand, and studied Nutrition and Food Science at Colorado State University. On weekends you will find her in the kitchen fermenting her latest harvest, rock climbing or in the mountains attempting to trail run.
Courtlyn Carpenter, Boulder Garden Manager (she/her)
Courtlyn grew up in western Colorado where she took full advantage of abundant opportunities to spend time outdoors hiking, biking, and skiing. Her love of the outdoors and concern for the environment led her to study environmental engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, from where she graduated with her masters degree. Courtlyn has worked on several farms across the United States, and she spent a summer studying food systems in Denmark and England. Not only was this farming experience rewarding, but it also created an appreciation for the hard work that goes into agriculture and the importance of providing educational programs about food systems. In addition to farming and working at Garden to Table, Courtlyn plays cello in the local folk band Sturtz.
Mandi Leigh, Garden Educator and Curriculum Developer (she/her)
Mandi Leigh thinks happiness is seeing students taste homegrown vegetables for the first time. She seeks to connect young people to the places where they live through food, outdoor education, and project-based learning. She was introduced to community gardening while attending Western Colorado University as an Ecology student. Mandi realized the power of gardens to cultivate community empowerment. She moved to Kelly, WY to attend the Teton Science School and finished her masters in Natural Science Education at University of Wyoming. Mandi mentors students to increase agency in and outside of school. In 2016, she followed her students’ lead. They funded and built the Lotus Garden Laboratory at the Lotus School for Excellence. Recently she filled an empty greenhouse with life and 6th grade learning at Outdoor Lab. Mandi is overjoyed to be a part of the Garden to Table team, and is also an EdD candidate studying education reform.
Lexi Bernstein, Garden Coordinator (she/her)
Lexi Bernstein graduated with a B.A. from College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University in Minnesota in 2017 and her M.F.A in Arts & Humanities at University of Dundee in Scotland in 2019. Lexi became interested in food systems and food security after studying in Thailand and believes that art can be a conduit to food system engagement and access. Her passion is creating confident and competent communities around gardening and farming. When Lexi is not dreaming about the perfect urban farm/art experience, you can find her rock climbing, napping, walking her cats, canning tomatoes, or listening to podcasts.
Sjoukje Schoustra, Garden Coordinator (they/them & she/her)
Sjoukje is freshly transplanted to the front range. They spent the past decade in the pacific northwest studying herbal medicine and garden-based education, graduating from The Evergreen State College with a B.A. in Ecological Education in 2020. Connecting youth to their food through engaging with a garden brings them tremendous joy! When they aren’t digging in the gardens of Boulder County, Sjoukje is studying to become a Clinical Herbalist. They dream of one day weaving their experience in education with an herbal practice. They hold a vision of supporting people to grow and make their own food and medicines, to empower individuals in their health sovereignty.