Meet our Team
Sue Davis (she/her)
Executive Director
Sue Davis combines her knowledge of business and personnel management with her passion for access to healthy and sustainable food, community-centered programming, and environmental education. She has been well connected in the Sonoma farming community for nearly 20 years, which now serves to support SGN in tangible and practical ways. Sue leads School Garden Network with high esteem for her Board and staff, the community, and the children and youth impacted by this work. Her values-driven guidance of the organization promotes the humanity of people, a connection to the land, collaborative decision making, vision for opportunities, and promoting the highest good for the community that SGN serves. Sue holds a MA in Leadership and Humanities with an emphasis in Culture, Ecology, and Sustainable Communities.
Contact: sue.davis@schoolgardens.org
Courtney Delello (she/her)
Farm-to-School Program Manager
With a BS in Ecology and an MA in Sustainable Communities, Courtney has spent her career involved in all aspects of local food systems - from research, to education, to getting dirty growing food. When she started volunteering on an organic farm during graduate school, her dreams of studying plants and birds in far off locations changed dramatically. She found she loved the practical application of serving her community by settling into the land and growing food. Over the next two decades she would work on a myriad of garden projects, large and small, many of them involving sustainable food systems education to diverse age groups. She has been an associate instructor in the Agriculture & Natural Resources Department at Santa Rosa Junior College for 15 years and spent the last few years directing adolescents in the management of a one acre market garden. Courtney also recently started a culinary garden consulting business, helping people to understand just how much food it is possible to produce in a small area. As the Farm-to-School Program Manager she enjoys bringing her passion for local food systems, knowledge of food growing practices, and excitement about what is possible to grow in small gardens to the schools she serves.
Contact: courtney.delello@schoolgardens.org
Michelle Krieg (she/her)
Schoolyard Habitat Program & Administrative & Communications Manager
As an ecologist, educator, farmer, and lover of plants and living ecosystems, Michelle has over 20 years of experience in native ecosystem stewardship, community-based agriculture, and place-based education. She has managed several native plant nurseries, farms, and gardens, coordinated and led outdoor science and land-based learning programs for preschool to college-age students, hosted community workshops and trainings in ecological land stewardship, horticulture, and gardening, and served as a native habitat consultant. With a passion for integrating ecoliteracy into schools, she also has a food craft consultancy—Foodways Education—through which she develops curriculum and designs garden-based school programming. Michelle believes that school garden habitats are the perfect setting for learners to engage their senses, cultivate relationships, and develop a sense of ecological belonging and stewardship. In her role with SGN she enjoys creating and promoting garden-based learning ecosystems—bringing life to schools, and schools to life.
Contact: michelle.krieg@schoolgardens.org
Jesse Schmieg (they/them)
Summer Garden Camp Manager
Jesse is an outdoor educator, ecologist, and full-time nature enthusiast with a Master of Science in Biology from Sonoma State University. Their graduate research focused on species interactions between aquatic beetles and California tiger salamanders on the Santa Rosa Plain, but they’re just as happy flipping over logs with students as they are collecting data! Jesse’s work centers on creating joyful, hands-on outdoor learning experiences that can inspire young people to feel curious, capable, and deeply connected to the natural world. They are especially enthusiastic about outdoor education and believe the best learning happens with muddy hands!
When they’re not leading programs, Jesse can often be found foraging for local edible mushrooms and plants, geeking out over amphibians, reptiles, and other wildlife, or hiking Sonoma County trails in search of their next favorite spot. They also channel their love of the natural world into painting, drawing, and textile arts.
Contact: summercamp@schoolgardens.org