Ab graduated from Hennepin Technical College with a certificate in Urban Forestry. Before that, they completed a B.A. in Interpersonal Communications at the University of Minnesota. Ab has a background working in retail greenhouses as well as for the Conservation Corps. Their passions include plant identification, going to art museums, seeing plays at local theatres, and spending time with their loved ones.
Alayna graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences, Policy & Management and a minor in Sustainable Agriculture. After graduation, she worked as a Youth Education Intern for Growing North Minneapolis, where she mentored Northside teens on the importance of growing food in their communities. Alayna’s primary passions surround understanding, and sharing to others, the healing power of nature; this is exactly why Alayna is thrilled to be serving as a Greencorps member at Metro Blooms.
Aleli has a Bachelor of Arts in History of Ideas from Williams College. She has experience as a freelance writer, newspaper reporter and in publishing. Working for Metro Blooms has opened her eyes to the importance of the natural spaces in our urban environment. She has a great appreciation for the way Metro Blooms engages individuals to take action in their own backyards and motivates communities to work together to improve their landscapes.
Alexandra has a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and Religion from St. Olaf College. After graduating, Alexandra spent time working in healthcare before coming to environmental work. Her undergraduate research exploring the intersections of religion and the natural world inspired her desire to work directly with communities and how they relate to the environment surrounding them. Alexandra is thrilled to be serving as our Minnesota GreenCorps member this year! In her free time, you can find her in her garden, spending time with her resident and foster dogs, or on the side of a trail trying to identify plants.
I don’t consistently do anything for fun on the weekends. I have a gourmet/medicinal mushroom-growing company and usually work on that on the weekends.
Rebecca (Becky) Rice served as Executive Director of Metro Blooms starting in December 2007, and as President of Metro Blooms Design + Build starting in March 2021, until May 9, 2022, when she stepped back to direct the Blue Thumb – Planting for Clean Water program. She has an undergraduate degree in Business Finance and graduate work toward an MBA from the Carlson School of Management. She has a background in fund development and finance, with more than twenty five years in nonprofit management. Becky built her first raingarden after a neighbor shared the information he’d received at a Metro Blooms raingarden workshop. During her tenure as executive director, Metro Blooms has received multiple awards for citizen engagement, environmental initiatives, environmental excellence, and work with neighborhoods throughout the Twin Cities Metro area.
Chris graduated from the University of Minnesota with a Master of Landscape Architecture, class of 2021. He also has a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) in Nairobi, Kenya. Before relocating to the United States, he ran a landscape design-build company in Kenya. Chris is interested in green infrastructure and how it can be a critical component in climate change adaptation and resilience.
Deborah has a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and has completed post-grad work with licenses in Special Education and Family Education. She joined the Metro Blooms team in 2008. She has 30+ years of experience as an educator in public and private settings and formerly worked full time for the St. Paul Public Schools as a Special Ed teacher. Her background serves her well in collaborating with team members and responding to staff and client needs. She was inspired by Metro Blooms to install a raingarden on her property. She enjoys outdoor activities, has interests in music and yoga, and sings in a community chorus.
Erin has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Kansas City Art Institute and a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Prior to working for Metro Blooms, Erin worked as an organizer, librarian and youth worker. They are passionate about activism, transformative justice, eating good food and photography.
Evan is obsessed with music (he plays multiple instruments), board games, video games, and enjoy reading books. He loves to cook and also to camp.
Jacqueline supports Metro Bloom’s mission by managing educational programs and marketing strategy. Her work gives her the opportunity to connect with communities across Minnesota and share resources and information to help protect the environment and people. She enjoys learning about all of the diverse stories of people connecting with the environment. Jacqueline earned her B.S. degree in Marketing at the University of Minnesota, Carlson School of Management. As a student, she interned with Metro Blooms as a Digital Storyteller in the Healing Roots project. Since completing her internship, Jacqueline has worked with Metro Blooms as a Marketing Consultant and Marketing and Communications Specialist. She has a background in fine arts, digital media, social media management, and graphic design. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with friends and family, painting, and traveling.
Jaiden, a North Minneapolis resident, studies environmental sciences at Alabama A&M University. She became an environmental and social justice advocate to make communities of color more aware and more educated on climate change. In her free time she loves planting trees and traveling the world. She can’t wait to continue to make a difference within her community.
James is a student in the Masters of Landscape Architecture program at the University of Minnesota, where he also received his undergraduate degree in Environmental Design and Planning. James has a focus on sustainability and equity within design. Outside of design, topics that interest him include mycology and ornithology. In his free time he paints, plays the banjo and Dungeons and Dragons, and enjoys summer sports leagues.
Jennifer has a Bachelor’s Degree in Plant Science + Sustainable Agriculture from Cornell University and a Masters of Landscape Architecture from North Carolina State University. She has worked on merging ecological and aesthetic principles in site design for 16 years, including commercial and public projects at CLH Design in Raleigh, NC, as well as stormwater-focused residential and commercial design in North Carolina and Minnesota. Her work at Metro Blooms combines her passions for plants and planting design with engaging and educating people about creating resilient and beautiful landscapes. Jen leads the design team at Metro Blooms Design+Build, ensuring that equity principles are incorporated throughout company culture and projects. She has a strong passion for this work, leading design on numerous affordable housing projects, ensuring that design processes and implementation center resident voice, values and needs.
John graduated from American University in Washington, D.C. with majors in International and Environmental Studies and Philosophy. He worked as an educator in the Mid-Atlantic region for a few years—savoring every opportunity to help students draw connections between themselves and a greater world—before joining Metro Blooms as a Minnesota GreenCorps member in 2015. John enjoys reading, cooking, fixing things, every sort of people-powered movement, and the way atmosphere and stellar bodies play together to paint the sky. He is a certified Minnesota Water Steward.
Kale graduated with degrees in Environmental Sciences and Horticulture from the University of Minnesota. They have dabbled in shoreline restoration, greenhouse production, invasive species management and organic farming. Kale’s favorite aspects of working for Metro Blooms include the emphasis on water quality improvement and wildlife encounters. In their free time they love backcountry adventures, especially along the North Shore and in the BWCAW.
Kyle graduated in 2022 from the University of Minnesota with a Bachelors of Environmental Design degree. He plans to continue in the Masters of Landscape Architecture program at the University of Minnesota. Kyle has prior experience in landscape installation and maintenance. You can usually find him drawing, hiking around the state parks, walking by the river, or sitting in a hammock on a nice day.
Laila is a student at Minneapolis Community & Technical College studying business and social media marketing. She graduated from Robbinsdale Cooper High School in 2022. She’s been interested in environmental justice and social justice for almost four years because she loves to know what’s going on in her community. Because she’s a member of the BIPOC community, she think it’s important to learn about these things that are not taught in school. In 10 years she hopes to be in a teaching career, and maybe to open a safe place for kids and teens to hang out in and provide things they don’t have at home. A fun fact about her is that she loves to travel.
Laura became President + Executive Director in May 2022, after 10 years serving in other roles at Metro Blooms, most recently as Associate Director + Director of Fund Development. She first joined the organization in 2012 as a MN GreenCorps member. She has a Bachelor of Science in Fisheries, Wildlife and Conservation Biology from the University of Minnesota, as well as a minor in Spanish Studies. Learning on the job, she combines a deep understanding of green infrastructure design, implementation, and care with a community-centric approach, fostering the expansion of supportive relationships to heal our earth. Outside of work, she enjoys hiking, kayaking, spending time at the lake and camping with her family.
Makayla is studying communications at Minneapolis Community & Technical College. She is a 2022 graduate of Robbinsdale Cooper High School. Her passion is environmental justice and becoming a leader in the movement. She is an apprentice in Youth N’Power, a community organizing program working through the lens of environmental justice. Working with Metro Blooms is a great opportunity for her to be engaged in her community and make new connections, and also to add bioswales, gardens and trees in her neighborhood, and more.
Megan graduated in 2022 from Johns Hopkins University with a Master of Arts in Science Writing. She recently completed a Minnesota GreenCorps service term with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency’s We Are Water MN program. Megan is passionate about strengthening relationships between humans, non-humans, and place through community-centered storytelling.
Mike graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with Bachelor’s degrees in Botany and Conservation. He spent several years with the US Forest service in California conducting botanical surveys near Yosemite NP, before moving to the Twin Cities and starting a small landscaping company. Mike joined Metro Blooms in 2017 and is also currently working on a Master’s degree in Landscape Architecture at the University of Minnesota. He can usually be found in the garden with his chickens during free time.
Neely has prior experience with nonprofits and working with natural landscapes. She is currently involved with The Resilient Activist, Northstar Sierra Club, Land Stewardship Project, and Friends of the Mississippi River. She is an environmental advocate working toward a zero-waste lifestyle. Through her strong desire to help others, animals, and the planet, she is a constant supporter of mental health and sustainability. On the weekend you can find her attending local farmers’ markets, cooking, biking along the river, gardening, and hammocking with her dachshund Pete!
Rich Harrison is a Registered Landscape Architect with a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Minnesota. His work focuses on sustainable design, place making, and community development. Rich has worked on water quality issues for 21 years, including research at Mankato State University, working for the Met Council studying non-point source pollution, and research at University of MN focusing on transit-oriented development and organic Infrastructure. For Rich, on-site treatment of stormwater is the best way to prevent pollution and preserve our precious water resources, and he has focused his career on design. Rich believes that education and facilitating the understanding of how our actions impact our natural environment is critical to successful design.
In her free time, Sara enjoys hiking, swimming, wild food foraging and generally exploring the world of plants/fungi. She is a watercolor artist with a focus on botanical works and portraiture. She has been heavily invested in the Stop Line 3 movement for the past several years and does community legal support advocating as a part of follow-up to that commitment.
Taj recently graduated high school and loves to longboard around the city. He discovered Metro Blooms through the Step Up work-readiness training program in 2019 and returned for a second season in 2021. He loves the fine detail work of beautifying raingardens and planting. Taj grew up in Minneapolis and loves working to make the rivers and lakes healthier.
Yirga is a student at Hopkins High School and is graduating in June of 2023. He has completed a sustainable landcare training program with Blue Thumb. Yirga has taken advanced math and science courses and wants to study engineering in college. Yirga is interested in the biology of plants and environmental justice. When he is not working, he enjoys cuddling with his dog, bingeing shows, playing lacrosse, and listening to podcasts. He hopes to learn more about plants and learn about environmental justice and equity while working with Metro Blooms.
