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MAGGIE MARKS
Director

Maggie is a 4th generation San Franciscan who grew up 10 blocks from the garden. She is a butcher’s daughter with 20 years of experience working with non-profit organizations. After working for social justice movements and experience consulting social sector organizations, Maggie found her way to gardening through a love of food. She spent time working on a small organic farm in Mendocino County, and then worked selling produce at farmer's markets. Maggie was the GFE Program Director for 4 years before becoming Executive Director in 2016. A graduate of the Get Up! program (2012), Maggie is an example that you too can learn to garden. Come find her at Garden for the Environment most Saturdays. Maggie's favorite plant at GFE is Grevillea 'Ivanhoe'.

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TRINA LOPEZ
Program Manager - Adult Workshops

After starting a backyard beehive in 2013 that prompted a life shift away from university library work to gardening and sustainability pursuits, Trina completed GFE’s Get Up! program and earned her Permaculture Design Certification in 2014, graduated from San Francisco Bee-Cause's two-year beekeeping apprenticeship program in 2015, and received her UC Master Gardener certification in April 2016. Trina completed her MFA in Cinema Production degree at San Francisco State University in 2004. In addition to managing our adult workshop program, Trina is GFE's Get Up! course facilitator and mentor. Her favorite plant in the garden is the native Phacelia tanacetifolia (Lacy Phacelia) because of its all-around fuzziness and distinctive curly clusters of light purple flowers, and because they attract equally fuzzy and fascinating native bumblebees when in bloom.

JAVIN DE MELLO-FOLSOM
Program Manager - Youth and Volunteers

Javin grew up in rural New Hampshire where he first formed his love for the outdoors and experienced gardening by doing so in the backyard with his mom. He moved to Oregon in 2015, where he attended Reed College to study Biology with a focus on plant physiology and ecology. Here, he also first began teaching through an outreach program where he brought science curriculum to Portland elementary schools. After graduating and having developed a passion for education, Javin moved to San Francisco in 2018 to pursue a teaching residency program at Town School for Boys, where he then became the 7th Grade head STEM teacher. He remained a classroom teacher through 2023, during which time he created and facilitated hands-on, project-based curriculum, as well as an outdoor studies program that ran during the pandemic. Javin first became involved with GFE as a volunteer before completing GetUp! in Fall 2023 and then stepping part time into the education assistant role in 2024. Now, Javin is the program manager for youth and volunteer, educating kids and adults through hands-on gardening and his continued love of plants and the outdoors. His favorite plant in the garden is the native Blue Blossom (Ceanothus thyrsiflorus) for its beautiful blue flowers and its versatility within the local ecosystem.

DAKOTA FREEZE HAFALIA YACKEL
Education Assistant

Dakota Freeze Hafalia Yackel was born and raised in San Francisco’s Excelsior District. Over the last 10 years, he has studied and worked in the urban agroecology field, with a focus in promoting ecological and social well-being through foodways education. Dakota recieved two Bachelor’s Degrees from UC Santa Cruz, with majors in Economics and Environmental Studies, as well as a Master’s Degree from the University of Hawai’i Manoa, in Geography. He has worked with experiential educational farming programs in San Francisco, Santa Cruz, and Honolulu, all of which emphasize place-based, culturally rooted curriculum. Through out his career, he has come to believe cultivating, cooking, and gathering around food can promote healing, a sense of belonging, and a connection to our ancestors. Now in the education assistant position at GFE, Dakota continues his commitment to fostering community and social well-being through our garden education programs. At GFE, Dakota’s favorite plants on site have been yarrow and lemon verbena for their medicinal properties.

ADAM LONG
Special Projects Consultant

Adam Long is an environmental educator based in Los Angeles whose work focuses on gardening, climate resilience, and sustainable transportation. After receiving a degree in Environmental Analysis from Pomona College, Adam managed the on-campus Organic Farm, caring for the 1.1 acre garden and orchard and developing learning opportunities for the community. Adam moved to San Francisco where he consulted for a wide variety of gardening and environmental education organizations. He soon became GFE’s Education Manager until moving to Los Angeles in 2018. Once in LA, Adam worked at the Mildred E. Mathias Botanical Garden at UCLA and volunteered at environmental education nonprofits around the city. When he doesn’t have his hands in the dirt, Adam enjoys using public transit to hike and camp in the mountains and going on bike rides around Los Angeles. Adam continues to work with GFE as a consultant for special projects including grant writing, tech support and strategic planning. His favorite plant in the garden is carrots, as they feel like a surprise each time you pull one up.

HILARY GORDON
Lead Volunteer + Garden Mentor

Hilary knows the common (and Latin!) name of nearly every plant in the garden. A life-long gardener, trained at the City College Horticulture program, Hilary worked as a professional landscape gardener in San Francisco for 30 years. Hilary consults on our the water-wise, perennial, and native plant demonstration beds and works with volunteers to keep the garden blooming year round. Formerly our head instructor, Hilary now trains staff and instructors in gardening with a changing climate and develops curriculum for our classes. Her favorite plant in the garden is Salvia clevelandii (Cleveland sage).