BloomMKE’s work is led by the dedicated volunteers on the Board of Directors. With no paid staff, all financial contributions directly serve our mission. We are inspired to grow healthy communities in the city that we all call home, Milwaukee.
Rick, Kelly & William’s photos courtesy of Ellen Cook Photographer
Originally from the Chicago area, Rick discovered Milwaukee while studying for his Bachelor of Science degree at Marquette University and has lived in the Milwaukee area for most of his adult life. In his own community garden plot, Rick found the joy of growing his own food and lowering his carbon footprint while increasing the quality of produce. At Cherry Street Community Garden, he grew passionate about the importance of food choice and the connection to family and culture that gardens can provide.
In 2011, Rick and his wife Lisa led a volunteer effort to build the Cherry Street Community Garden on a vacant lot owned by the Housing Authority of the City of Milwaukee in Milwaukee’s Midtown neighborhood, and in 2018, Rick helped establish another community garden at HACM’s Riverview apartment building.
Rick spearheaded the founding of BloomMKE to ensure that these gardens continue to thrive and become a focal point for community enrichment though adult and youth education opportunities. In recent years, BloomMKE has expanded to two additional gardens at HACM’s Convent Hill and Surgeon’s Quarters as well as helping other organizations plan and build new community garden beds.
Rick leads organizational outreach, building partnerships with other like-minded nonprofits and grant-writing for BloomMKE. In the Spring, Summer and Fall, you will find Rick out working in the gardens and planning our next infrastructure improvements.
Committed to the reduction of food waste and fighting climate change, you’ll find Rick in the kitchen converting excess or “ugly” produce into delicious pickles, soups and sauces. A self-described composting fanatic, Rick has a goal to divert 100% of food waste in his kitchen from landfills.
After receiving her Bachelors of Accounting degree from Marquette University and starting her career as a Certified Public Accountant, Kelly quickly realized that her passions lie in talent development and mentoring others.
Kelly is an Early Careers Recruitment Manager at Arch Capital Group Ltd., where she manages campus recruiting and early career development programs. Providing guidance and support to young professionals and seeing her impact on their development drives Kelly professionally.
Personally, Kelly enjoys the vibrancy of the Milwaukee community and finds joy and satisfaction through helping others. Seeing the growth of the community in BloomMKE gardens, year-over-year, fuels her passion for the organization’s mission.
Kelly brings financial accounting and talent development experience to our team, as well as advising us on best practices for engaging with youth and volunteer teams.
As a former Marquette University band member, Kelly enjoys getting back to as many basketball games a year as possible. Go Marquette!
Lisa’s passion for gardening started as a child in central Illinois in her family’s vegetable garden and grew into community gardening after moving to Milwaukee in 2009. Through her volunteer work, Lisa saw first-hand how the Cherry Street Community Garden Club is about much more than just growing healthy food; it’s about growing healthy families and communities.
Recently retired from Rockwell Automation, Lisa is enjoying life as a volunteer and recently earned her Master Gardener certification from the University of Wisconsin.
Lisa holds a General Engineering degree from the University of Illinois, and an MBA from the University of Chicago. She has spent 25 years in the factory automation industry in a variety of roles including sales and sales operations, marketing, project management and information technology.
Lisa leads commercial marketing and information technology support for BloomMKE, as well as horticultural practice and youth program curriculum development.
In 2018, Lisa and Rick were married in the Cherry Street Community Garden surrounded by family and their Garden Club friends.
Hj (they/them) grew up in a beautiful, rural part of England, growing vegetables with their grandad, hiking through old-growth woodlands and marshlands, and falling completely in love with nature. However, there was also very little diversity evident. As an adult, they are highly motivated by a strong sense of Environmental Justice, and the knowledge that diversity, representation and education (informal and formal) are fundamental to healthy communities, environments, and people.
Hj came to Milwaukee to accept a teaching job in Service Learning at the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design (MIAD), and spent several years learning about Milwaukee, nurturing local partnerships, connecting students with community leaders and volunteering. Their graduate degrees (New York and Wisconsin) focused on cultural and environmental history and science through the arts, as a multimedia storyteller. Hj’s work has also focused on oceans and sea life, fresh water, urban growing, and the Disabled and LGBTQ+ communities, of which they are a part.
Hj has been a volunteer for BloomMKE for several years and has facilitated many fruitful student connections. As a queer, trans and neurodivergent person, they hope to be able to continue supporting BloomMKE’s work while also bringing a different perspective on accessibility and inclusion.
Fun fact about Hj: Their trifecta is wild swimming from their canoe while birding!
Born and raised in urban Milwaukee, William is dedicated to making the community better.
“What motivates me is to become the highest expression of myself as a human being and to motivate another human being in spite of what could be holding them back and to be confident in their abilities and skills.”
William is a Supportive Services Case Manager for Sirona Recovery at St. Anthony’s Place. Drawn to their housing programming that provides strength-based care management to empower clients to build a more meaningful life, he provides assistance to residents in all aspects of obtaining and maintaining permanent housing.
William holds a bachelor’s degree in English and a master’s degree in Organizational Leadership and Development from Springfield College in Springfield Massachusetts. Previously, William has worked for Milwaukee Health Services, as a substitute teacher at Milwaukee Public Schools, and for the Boys and Girls Club in the Youth Diversion Program with at-risk gang members.
William brings an emotional connection to BloomMKE’s mission and guides Voice of the Client discussions and outreach.
William is an active urban gardener at Cherry Street Community Garden during the summer months, and is also an ordained elder at New Restoration Christian Church.
Montreal credits two mentors early in his career – Harry Lewis and Dr. Nancy Goranson – for his deep understanding of the PEACE Program’s Traffic Light Model. Motivated to help the inner city that he grew up in, Montreal has spent his career connecting people to services in Milwaukee using trauma informed care and building trusting relationships.
Montreal created the curriculum and has facilitated meetings for our Garden Clubs since 2012, as part of his role at SET Ministry and now Lutheran Social Services. While some gardening activities are included, the primary goal is building communication, self-esteem, feelings identification/management, and problem-solving skills in a group setting.
Through our work together in the gardens, Montreal was intrigued by BloomMKE’s mission and wanted to engage more through board membership. Montreal brings a deep knowledge of social work to BloomMKE as well as an engaged connection to our client base.
Montreal holds a bachelor’s degree in social work from Marian University and a Masters of Social Work from Loyola University Chicago. He currently holds an Advance Practice Social Work License and is pursuing a Clinical Social Work License.
Inspired by our community gardens, Montreal built raised garden beds to augment his backyard garden this summer to ensure his aging mother’s engagement in their garden. Montreal delights in seeing his young son witness the growth of plants as a metaphor for our own lives.
Zach has lived and travelled all over the world, including living abroad for short stints in both France and Poland, but has found his true home here in Milwaukee. He loves the urban vibrancy of Milwaukee and strives to design a lifestyle that allows the community as a whole to thrive.
Zach works as a Senior Advisor in cyber risk management for Evernorth Health Services. Having earned a double-major in technology and psychology from the University of Notre Dame, he finds the field of cybersecurity a unique challenge of understanding risks involved in a constantly shifting technology landscape.
Drawn to the impact BloomMKE has made in localized garden neighborhoods, Zach supports the organization by challenging us to think about our long-term growth options.
Fun fact about Zach: He does not own a car. “I support the public transportation system and want to see it continue to develop for economic and environmental reasons.”