Staff

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  Gunnar Liden

  Executive Director

  (612)872­-4226 x 700
  gunnar@youthfarmmn.org
  @gunnarliden

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  Gunnar Liden

  Gunnar joined Youth Farm in 1999 and spent his first 7½ years as the Program Director for the West Side neighborhood before becoming the Executive Director in 2006. Gunnar has a degree in Philosophy from the University of Minnesota, with an emphasis in Education and Social Change. Prior to his work at Youth Farm, he spent 3 years working at the Jane Addams School for Democracy on the West Side of St. Paul leading a variety of youth organized initiatives, including the Homeland Project, a group of Hmong teens that he traveled to Laos and Thailand with, in order to visit their homeland and families. In 2012/2013, Gunnar was a Policy Fellow at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota. He has also served on a variety of nonprofit boards including Community Shares of MN and the West Side Community Organization. Outside of Youth Farm, he can be found enjoying time with his family, coaching his kids in baseball/basketball, or throwing rocks down a sheet of ice, refining his new found love of curling. Originally from Pittsburgh, PA, he lives in West St. Paul with his wife and 2 children.

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  Amanda Stoelb

  Associate Director

  (612)872­-4226 x 702
  amanda@youthfarmmn.org
  

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  Amanda Stoelb

  Amanda started working at Youth Farm in 2004 as an Americorps member and continued that work for two years. She was the West Side Program Director from 2007 – 2011. During her time as Program Director, Amanda became an accomplished organizer with youth, developed Youth Farm’s in-school and after-school greenhouse programming, and was the driving force behind the development of Youth Farm’s progressive programming model. She was hired as Youth Farm’s first Associate Director in 2011 and has been a key element in Youth Farm’s expansion into new neighborhoods in 2011-2012. In 2012, Amanda was a part of the After School Matters Practitioners Fellowship. Originally from Sheboygan, WI, she is a graduate of St. Thomas University with a degree in Justice and Peace Studies/Spanish.

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  Sarah Sarzoza

  Director of St. Paul Programs

  (612)872­-4226 x 703
  sarah@youthfarmmn.org
  

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  Sarah Sarzoza

  Sarah was hired in summer of 2014 as the Frogtown Program Director and became the Director of St. Paul Programs in 2016. She has a wide repertoire of youth development work in the Twin Cities under her belt, but her love for Saint Paul and strong desire to foster leadership in young people brought her back to the Frogtown neighborhood. Sarah is a long time friend of Youth Farm and a trained Community Organizer. She is excited to be a part of the dynamic work being done by Youth Farm. In her spare time she enjoys cooking up storms of good food with her family, teaching yoga to toddlers, and traveling to warm places. She has an extensive collection of earrings from around the world that she takes great pride in. Sarah graduated from University of Minnesota Duluth in 2007 with a degree in Spanish Studies and Psychology.

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  Marcus Kar

  North Minneapolis / Hawthorne Organizer

  (612)872­-4226 x 704
  marcus@youthfarmmn.org
  

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  Marcus Kar

  Born in West Africa, raised in Minneapolis MN, Marcus Kar is using art and music to help grow a healthy North Minneapolis while providing community access to locally grown produce throughout the Northside area. Kar’s aim as an Organizer for Youth Farm is to work with Northside youth to implement a village concept and start a movement. This movement engages a larger community by connecting and collaborating with diverse organizations, communities, artists, and individuals working in the MN Food Fight (Food Justice) to build a healthier North MPLS. Within Youth Farm culture, we farm to grow. We grow young leaders, we grow food, we grow community, we grow progress. Youth Farm promotes food justice by growing new relationships between youth and food. This both meets the wellness needs of our communities and recognizes the historical narratives and current exploitation within the food system.

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  Heather Wiitala

  Business Director

  (612)872­-4226 x 701
  heather@youthfarmmn.org
  

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  Heather Wiitala

  Heather started as a student intern in 2000 from the University of Minnesota. From 2000 – 2005 she worked in the Lyndale Neighborhood Youth Farm as summer staff, serving as the Assistant Lyndale Program Director in 2002, and became Business Director in 2002. Heather provides strong business and financial leadership with the executive and program staff, as well as the Board of Directors. Originally from Mt. Iron, MN, she is a graduate of the University of Minnesota with a degree in Sociology.

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  Jesus Perez

  South Minneapolis Program Manager

  (612)872­-4226 x 705
  jesus@youthfarmmn.org
  

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  Jesus Perez

  Originally from Michoacan in the western part of Mexico, Jesus has been involved with Youth Farm for more than 10 years and has participated in every level of our progressive programming model, from Youth Farmer, to All Star, to Project LEAD staff, to Farm Steward. Now the manager of our programs in South Minneapolis, Jesus loves that at Youth Farm he can actively help his community through supporting youth with different skills. Jesus knows that he is a role model for all the youth in the neighborhood and takes that role on with seriousness and pride.

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Farm Steward Fellows

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  Yasmin Banishoraka 

  South Minneapolis Farm Steward

  (612)872­-4226 x 710
  yasmin@youthfarmmn.org
  

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  Yasmin Banishoraka 

  Yasmin began her time at Youth Farm in 2006 as a Youth Farmer at the age of 8. Prior to starting her Farm Steward Fellowship, she was a Project LEAD staff for 4 years. During her time as a Project LEAD Staff, Yasmin feels Youth Farm encouraged her to take on bigger leadership roles within Youth Farm and the Lyndale neighborhood. She is also a full- time college student, serves on the Lyndale Neighborhood Association Board, and studies Herbal medicine.

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  Zainab Youngmark 

  South Minneapolis Farm Steward

  (612)872­-4226 x 706
  zainab@youthfarmmn.org
  

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  Zainab Youngmark 

  Zainab grew up through Youth Farm in the Powderhorn neighborhood as a child into adulthood. She began her work as a LEAD staff in 2010. Zainab has worked as an adult staff with various Farm Steward responsibilities for the year of 2015. She is currently a South Minneapolis Farm Steward including serving as summer program manager. She is also a freelance photographer.

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  Sergio Payan

  North Minneapolis / Hawthorne Farm Steward

  (612)872­-4226 x 711
  sergio@youthfarmmn.org
  

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  Sergio Payan

  Sergio has been involved with Youth Farm since his middle school years at Nellie Stone Johnson, and has continued all the way to high school and now into college. He has always been involved in his community and credits our first program director in Hawthorne, JP Mason, for his interest is staying with Youth Farm this long. He started off as a Youth Farm participant and then a Project LEAD for 4 years, and now is a Farm Steward while he pursues a degree in Youth Development and Sports Management at the University of Minnesota. Sergio’s love for Youth Farm is palpable and shows best through his work with youth in North Minneapolis.

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  AJ Zozulin

  Saint Paul Farm Steward

  (612)872-­4226 x 707
  aj@youthfarmmn.org
  

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  AJ Zozulin

  AJ started his work with Youth Farm in 2011 as an intern during the Frogtown neighborhood’s first year of summer program. Since then he has returned as a summer staff in 2012, 2013, and 2015. This year he is thrilled to take on the role of Frogtown Farm Steward and work to strengthen the community and neighborhood where he lives. When he’s not at Youth Farm, AJ spends his time cooking at home, feeding his cat, biking between jobs, working in his own garden, or drinking coffee. He also collects aprons and chopsticks from all the places he visits and is currently collecting garden gnomes if you’re trying to get rid of any. AJ graduated from Macalester College in 2014 with a degree in Classical Languages, which on the one hand is not a field he will ever go into, but on the other hand has led him to the place he is today. It’s a good place.

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  Divine Islam

  Saint Paul / North Minneapolis Farm Steward

  (612)872­-4226 x 714
  divine@youthfarmmn.org
  

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  Divine Islam

  Divine has been a part of Youth Farm for over 5 years, starting when she was 16 years old as a Project LEAD staff in Hawthorne in North Minneapolis. In addition to her Farm Steward Fellowship, Divine is a Junior at St. Catherine University pursuing a degree in Marketing and Management. She has continued to stay with Youth Farm over the years because of her love for having fun, for the sense of community, the ability to build and maintain such amazing relationships, as well as the cooking, eating, and growing food.

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  Zo Spratt

  South Minneapolis Farm Steward

  (612)872­-4226 x 712
  zo@youthfarmmn.org
  

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  Zo Spratt

  Zo began his involvement in Youth Farm when he was 8 years old in the summer of 2007. Working and growing along side Youth Farm, Zo spent six years as a Youth Farmer, and 3 years as a Project LEAD Staff member. He spent that time learning and now loves teaching youth the joys of growing your own food, pedaling through Minneapolis with the biking group, and always building community within Youth Farm. After spending a decade with Youth Farm, Zo is moving into the Farm Steward role in the Powderhorn Neighborhood. Zo is a full time PSEO student at MCTC. He is working to earn his degree in Business Management before he graduates from High-school in 2018. Zo is thankful for all the experiences Youth Farm has given him, feeding his love of farming, biking and community building while always believing we can’t grow anywhere if only one person moves.

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  Peter Vang

  Saint Paul Farm Steward

  (612)872­-4226 x 715
  peter@youthfarmmn.org
  

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  Peter Vang

  Peter was born and raised in the Twin Cities. Growing up, his dad always brought him along to family gatherings where they would show him how to cook everything from scratch. This is where his love for cooking first began. He has helped in butchering and cookery as a child. In 2005, his family bought a deli shop downtown St. Paul, MN and that is where his culinary journey began. In 2012, he met his lovely fiancé who motivated him to go to Culinary school. Peter graduated, in 2016, with his Associate of Applied Science Degree in Culinary Arts. While going to school Peter worked for high end restaurants, such as Meritage, which is where he learned a lot of his culinary skills. He also assists with pop-ups, and running his own catering. Peter wanted to give back to his community by teaching young adults, and those who don’t have the resources to do so, about food. “I didn’t choose the food life; the food life chose me”

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