MEET OUR TEAM

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fred gifford

farm manager

Fred brings years of hands-on experience in sustainable agriculture to his role as Farm Manager at Allegheny Mountain Institute. He oversees daily farm operations, including managing the market garden and coordinating with local farmers markets and food pantries to support AMI’s mission of food access and community resilience. His background includes managing CSA programs and working with small-scale, regenerative farms across western Maryland and West Virginia. He holds an academic background in Wildlife and Natural Resources with a focus in Agroecology, which informs his land-conscious approach to farming.

lindsey hayes

farm assistant

Lindsey Hayes has lived in the higher Allegheny mountains of WV for the last 22 years. She moved here to work on stream restoration projects on the Monongahela NF, and has since fallen in love with these mountain ecosystems. She spends her time immersed in all things organic farming, enjoying constantly learning from the earth, growing fruits, vegetables, chickens and homeschooling her two girls. She has experience with local farmers markets, CSAs, and preparing and selling herbal remedies.

jamie sauNders

programs coordinator

Jamie manages community and farm programming events. Her experience encompasses over a decade in Appalachian food systems, finance and creating systems where healthy, sustainable choices are available to rural communities. She believes extending the knowledge of growing, and preparing Folk Foods is an act of resiliency demonstrated by the Appalachian region. In her free time you can find her swimming, reading, taking plant cutting to propagate, gardening, cooking, and hiking with her dog, Murph.

nick mullins

operations manager

Nick Mullins is a native of Dickenson County, Virginia in the central Appalachian coalfields. Following time working in the coal industry, Mullins took interest in the impacts of resource extraction on mountain communities. He later attended Berea College where he focused his studies on environmental communication and Appalachian issues, finding special interest in the connection between Appalachian folkways, rural resilience, and present day sustainability concepts. In his free time, he enjoys amateur photography and spending time hiking and camping.

Elizabeth mullins

education & outreach coordinator

Elizabeth comes to AMI with a passion for teaching, especially when it comes to local foods, nutrition, and cooking. She grew up in Northern New Jersey and attended Caldwell University to study education but later changed directions to more community service-based work. After graduating, she was an AmeriCorps long-term volunteer with the Christian Appalachian Project, working for two years at a local food pantry in Eastern Kentucky. She eventually re-realized her passion for teaching when she became involved in a high school culinary arts program and sought to incorporate aspects of local sustainable agriculture and proper nutrition into the curriculum, encouraging students to adopt healthier habits in their cooking. In her free time, she enjoys spending time outdoors, reading, learning new creative hobbies, baking gluten-free bread and testing new recipes.

RICK GATLIN

Administrative Assistant
and Bookkeeper

Rick comes to AMI with over 30 years of accounting and business management experience. He worked with grants, capital budgets, and accounting software implementation at the University of Virginia. He also put in many years of corporate accounting at the former Rocco, Inc, poultry company in Harrisonburg. A graduate of James Madison University, Rick originally hails from Tidewater, Virginia, but has developed deep roots here in the Shenandoah Valley. When not trying to get on the golf course, his other passion is training, showing, and loving his herd of English Springer Spaniels.

Sarah fitzgerald

communications assistant

Sarah manages Allegheny Mountain Institute's website. She has experience in administrative work, technology and social media presence, and a million other unrelated things. When she's not working, she enjoys quad skating, playing with her cat, tending to her own garden, and enjoying live music with her husband Cameron.

Allegheny Mountain Institute Outreach Manager Sarah Fitzgerald. She has shoulder length curly blonde hair and black rimmed glasses. She has various nostril and ear piercings. She smiles at the camera. She is wearing a red cardigan atop a black shirt.

farm pest management team

murph

fin