Board of Directors
Meet the Nominees for the 2021 MOFGA Board
Beth Boepple
Boepple works for BCM Environmental & Land Law practicing real estate and land use, corporate, commercial and banking, and farm and food law with clients in farming and food production businesses throughout New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont. Boepple recently served as the chair on the City of Portland Planning Board and currently serves on the board of Community Housing of Maine. Boepple has also served for 10 years on the Vermont Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Vermont and her Juris Doctor degree from Vermont Law School. Boepple originally hails from the Green Mountain State where she owned and operated a successful restaurant in the mid-1980s into the early 1990s.
Sikwani Dana
Sikwani Dana is a high school science teacher and, with Nathan Dana, is creating the Dana Homestead in rural Maine. In 2018 Sikwani and Nathan purchased a hunting cabin in the woods, and they have been working to turn it into an off-grid homestead. Their house is completely run by solar power and heated by wood in the winter. They are building the soil in their garden and keeping bees. Sikwani is Penobscot, a tribe that is part of the Wabanaki Confederacy. Many of the rural living skills that Sikwani and Nathan use at their homestead they learned from Sikwani’s parents, Barry and Lori. “It is because of them I have made my life as environmentally friendly and sustainable [as possible]”, says Sikwani. Sikwani’s father, Barry Dana, is a former chief of the Penobscot Tribe. “My dad has done an incredible amount of work towards educating the Wabanaki people of Maine about why to have a garden, how to have a garden, food sovereignty and the knowledge that has been passed down from our ancestors.”
Jessie Spector
Spector lives on a small farm in Jefferson with her husband and baby. She works as a fundraiser and donor organizer at Thousand Currents, a small foundation supporting work at the intersections of climate justice, food sovereignty and building alternative economies. Prior to moving to Maine, Jessie was the executive director at a national non-profit focused on racial and economic justice and continues to serve as a consultant for organizations working to integrate a stronger framework and practice of equity and justice. She has served on the boards of Jewish Voice for Peace and the Markham-Nathan Fund for Justice.
Craig Hickman
Hickman is an organic farmer, small business owner, chef, poet and author. He is wrapping up his fourth term in the Maine Legislature where he has served as house chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry. In his service as an elected official he has championed food sovereignty, food security, food freedom, food processing infrastructure investments and other efforts to protect Maine’s small family farms and promote rural economic development. Hickman has also served on numerous community organizations and, in 2011, received the Spirit of America Foundation Award for Community Service. Originally from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Hickman moved to New England to attend Harvard University, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in government. He and his spouse, Jop Blom, live in Winthrop, where they own and operate Annabessacook Farm, a sustainable farm raising organic produce, dairy and livestock. They also host the Winthrop Community Gardens and a fresh food bank for anyone in need.
Like most boards of nonprofit organizations, MOFGA’s board of directors sets the strategic direction, ensures the organization’s financial security, and supervises the work of the executive director. A formal process exists for being nominated for election to the MOFGA board. Those interested in joining the board in 2021 should discuss their interests with a current board member (see board profiles below) or indicate their interest by filling out this form. MOFGA members are welcome to attend board meetings. Please contact Sarah Alexander, MOFGA Executive Director, if you’d like information on attending.
Like most boards of nonprofit organizations, MOFGA's board of directors sets the strategic direction, ensures the organization's financial security, and supervises the work of the executive director.
A formal process exists for being nominated for election to the MOFGA board. Those interested in joining the board in 2021 should discuss their interests with a current board member (see board profiles below) or indicate their interest by filling out this form. MOFGA members are welcome to attend board meetings.
Please contact Sarah Alexander, MOFGA Executive Director, if you’d like information on attending.
Eli Berry
Executive Committee
Year 3 of final term
Jeremy Blaiklock
Year 2 of second term
Beth Boepple
Year 1 of first term
Stacy Brenner
Board Vice President, Executive Committee
Year 1 of final term
Sam Brown
Year 1 of final term
Sikwani Dana
Year 1 of first term
Melissa Emerson
Year 2 of first term
Craig Hickman
Year 1 of first term
Todd Little-Siebold
Year 3 of second term
Sam May
Executive Committee
Year 3 of second term
Jo Ann Myers
Secretary, Executive Committee
Year 2 of final term
Ellen Sabina
Year 1 of first term
Beth Schiller
President, Executive Committee
Year 2 of final term
Anna Shapley-Quinn
Year 2 of first term
David Shipman
Executive Committee
Year 3 of second term
Jessie Spector
Year 1 of first term