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Gorge Grown Staff

Sarah Hackney, Executive Director Contact via Email Sarah has served as Executive Director of Gorge Grown Food Network since 2007. At Gorge Grown she works to develop and implement regional food and farm initiatives, overseeing day to day operations and managing projects both new and ongoing. Sarah has worked with farmers' markets as both a manager and vendor in Oregon and New England, has on-farm experience in organic vegetable and livestock production, and has a background in community organizing and social justice. An avid home gardener, cook, and food preserver, she hails from rural Arcadia, Florida, where she grew up helping her family manage citrus and cattle on the farm. She is passionate about finding solutions that work to build healthier, more economically viable rural communities. She has a B.A. In Environmental Studies from Dartmouth College.
Todd Dierker, Market Manager Contact via Email Todd Dierker has managed the Gorge Grown Farmers’ Market since 2008 and is looking forward to helping the market grow. He was also instrumental in planning and developing the Mobile Farmers’ Market project. His 2 terms of service with the US Peace Corps in Southern Africa and Thailand provided a solid foundation for the community development work he continues today. Todd completed a Masters degree in Environmental Education and believes that the dinner table is the best place to start conversations about living sustainably. Todd is a Master Gardener and active volunteer with community gardens in Hood River, where his family feels fortunate to have settled. He is thrilled by the enthusiasm in the region around local food and loves that his 2 kids are growing up surrounded by farmers and fresh food.
Kate Stoysich, Project Manager Contact via Email Kate is our project manager, currently serving through RARE AmeriCorps. Before moving out to Oregon to work for Gorge Grown, she served in the US Peace Corps in Paraguay as an Agriculture Extensionist. Her time in South America changed her life and strengthened her passion for agriculture, healthy food as a way of life and community development as the way to see change in the world. She is excited to spend this year exploring and getting to know the Gorge, but is always on the lookout for the next adventure and new place to explore.
Rachel Sanders, Community Food Access Coordinator Contact via Email Rachel Sanders joins Gorge Grown through NWSA AmeriCorps. Rachel is an Oregon native, who most recently worked as the Water Field Instructor at MESD Outdoor School in Multnomah County, mentoring high school students to be successful teachers of hands-on water science curriculum to 6th graders. Rachel has a passion for promoting social change through working with children and sustainable agriculture. During her undergraduate studies at Bard College in New York, Rachel founded and ran a hands-on, outdoor education program called Eco-Discoverers, which combined ecology and agriculture to foster a greater appreciation and knowledge of the outdoors in children. Upon completing her B.A. in music, Rachel moved to Panama, where she lived in the rural, agricultural town of Cerro Punta and worked with Grupo Orgánico de Agricultores Cerropunteños (GORACE) as a grant writer, translator and organizer, helping to promote organic agriculture in an area reliant on chemical use. Rachel is excited to return to her home state with the opportunity to combine her love of healthy local food and working with children here in Hood River.