Leadership
Our directors, managers, and advisors are committed to saving America's heirloom seeds.
Board of Directors
Neil Hamilton, JD
Chair of the Board
Distinguished Professor of Law and Director of Agricultural Law Center at the Drake University Law School, Neil has taught agricultural law for 30 years and is the author of numerous books and articles for farmers and lawyers.
Diane Ott Whealy
Board Member
Diane co-founded Seed Savers Exchange with Kent Whealy in 1975. She has been a national leader in the heirloom seed movement and a strong advocate for the protection of the earth's rare genetic food stocks for over 36 years. Diane retired from SSE in 2015 and remains an advisor to the organization.
Sean Sherman
Board Member
Sean is a successful chef, educator and entrepreneur, who is very committed to his Native American community. Founder of the company The Sioux Chef, Sherman’s main culinary focus has been on revitalizing indigenous food systems in a modern culinary context. He also sponsors a food truck (Tatanka Truck) with the Little Earth Community of United Tribes in Minneapolis.
Denise E. Costich, PhD
Board Member
Denise is a passionate defender of maize genetic resources, devoting the past 18 years to research topics related to its taxonomy, evolution, and conservation. She recently retired from CIMMYT, the international Wheat and Maize genebank near Mexico City, where she curated their maize collection and focused part of her research on community conservation of landrace varieties. Photograph by Teake Zuidema.
Jim Morrow
Board Member
Jim Morrow has 43 years of experience in banking and finance—currently Chief Credit Officer and EVP at Decorah Bank and Trust. He is a farmboy, a lifelong gardener, and a longtime Seed Savers Exchange supporter.
Jeff Dawson
Board Member
Jeff Dawson has farmed organically for 32 years. He has grown heirloom produce for San Francisco restaurants and designed/managed wine country demonstration gardens. He’s been saving seed from SSE and developing new tomato varieties. He manages a small farm and is a biodynamic vineyard consultant in the Napa Valley.
Beth Schnieders
Board Member
Beth Schnieders and her husband, Rick, moved to the Twin Cities in 2022 to be closer to their daughters and their families. She grew up in Missouri but has also lived in Iowa, Tennessee, Texas, and New Mexico and found gardening (especially in the kitchen garden) was an important way to be grounded in every new location. Beth’s philanthropic interests center around striving for a healthy and equitable food system, which includes healthy soil and water.
Rebecca Webster, PhD
Board Member
Rebecca Webster is an enrolled citizen of the Oneida Nation in Wisconsin. She serves as assistant professor at the University of Minnesota–Duluth’s American Indian Studies Department. In addition to her academic interests, Rebecca grows heirloom traditional foods with her family on their 10-acre farmstead Ukwakhwa: Tsinu Niyukwayayʌthoslu (“our foods: where we plant things”) and with Ohe·láku (“among the cornstalks”), a co-op of Oneida families that grow Iroquois white corn together.
Carina Cavagnaro
Board Member
Carina Cavagnaro is head chef at La Rana Bistro, a small, seasonally driven restaurant in Decorah, Iowa. Raised alongside heirloom seeds and plants (and homegrown food), she developed a passion for gardening and growing that endures to this day. Carina is committed to her local community of farmers, food producers, service professionals, and diners, as well as to the value and importance of seed security, genetic food diversity, and the health of our future generations.
Teresa Wiemerslage
Board Member
Teresa Wiemerslage lives on a four-generation family farm near Dorchester, Iowa, devoted to raising cattle, growing corn, and making hay. She has a strong academic background in plant science, including horticulture and agronomy. Teresa serves as a small farms specialist for Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, where she specializes in food-system development, food hubs, farm-to-school, and on-farm food safety.
Amy Goldman Fowler
Special Advisor to the Board
Amy is a gardener, author, artist, philanthropist and advocate for heirloom fruits and vegetables. She is the author of THE COMPLEAT SQUASH, MELONS FOR THE PASSIONATE GROWER, and THE HEIRLOOM TOMATO: From Garden to Table—all three books were recipients of the American Horticultural Society Book of the Year awards.
Rowen White
Special Advisor to the Board
Rowen is a seed saver, farmer, and educator. She is from the Mohawk community of Akwesasne and curates an extensive collection of rare northeast native seeds. Rowen is a co-founder of the Sierra Seeds Cooperative.
Directors
Mike Bollinger
Executive Director
Mike Bollinger has a long connection with Seed Savers Exchange. He has served as a member of SSE's garden crew and contracted as a seed producer. For more than a decade, he has collaborated as the primary producer of transplants for the SSE plant sales with his wife Katie through their certified organic farm, River Root Farm. As co-founder of an agricultural solutions company Mike has also provided support to SSE on greenhouse design and organic production practices. Mike not only has a practical understanding of organic and sustainable growing practices, but he has also dedicated years of service as an active member on the board of directors for organizations focusing on farmer education services and local and regional food systems.
Lynne Rilling
Deputy Director - Administration
Lynne is a Certified Public Accountant who was born and raised in the Decorah, Iowa area. She received her B.A. from Upper Iowa University. Lynne joined SSE as the chief financial officer in 2011, serving both as corporate treasurer and chief accountant.
Meredith Burks
Director of Marketing & Communications
Meredith joins Seed Savers Exchange with more than 10 years of communications experience. Starting her career in New York City publishing, Meredith has a passion for storytelling and mission-driven work. With fond memories of visiting Seed Savers Exchange Heritage Farm while growing up in Decorah, she is excited to cultivate a new connection with the land and community.
Gary Barness
Director of Sales & Business
Born and raised near Decorah, Iowa, Gary returned to the area in 2018 after spending 25 years in Colorado. He joined the Seed Savers Exchange team as Seed Rack Program manager in 2019 and is now responsible for the business and sales operations of the Seed House and Lillian Goldman Visitors Center at Heritage Farm. Gary loves to cook and especially enjoys cooking with fresh ingredients from his garden in the summer and fall.
Cindy Goodner
Director of Membership & Development
Cindy Goodner joined SSE as fundraising coordinator in 2014 and subsequently held the positions of development coordinator and development officer before assuming the position of development director. Her community leadership includes serving on the boards of the Decorah Community Schools and the Decorah Area Chamber of Commerce. Cindy is a member of the American Fundraising Professionals, Upper Mississippi Valley Chapter.
Michael Washburn
Director of Preservation
Michael Washburn has served as a member of the Blount County Soil Conservation Board since 2017. He also serves on the Good Food Awards Grain Committee (San Francisco) and has been a tasting judge for the organization since 2016. He joined SSE after most recently serving as farm manager of Nature’s Way Montessori School in Knoxville, Tennessee. From 2014-21, he was culinary garden manager for the acclaimed Blackberry Farm in the Great Smoky Mountains, where he worked alongside longtime SSE member John Coykendall.
Advisors
Dan Beard
Clive Blazey
David Cavagnaro
Rosalind Creasy
David Ellis, PhD
Jim Henry
Lindsay Lee
Lee Zieke Lee
Craig LeHoullier, PhD
Rob Johnston, Jr.
Deborah Madison
Laura Merrick, PhD
Phil Sponnenberg, PhD
John Swenson