Chris Corkery

Hundred Acre

Chris Corkery is a chef, urban farm, marketeer, and farsighted visionary. He is the Founder and CEO of Hundred Acre, Milwaukee's largest indoor vertical hydroponic farm.

As a former NYC advertising jockey burnt out from the rat race of an ever-changing landscape, he turned his sights to food as a medium for change.

"There is something both refreshing and inspiring when you look at your basket of ingredients with all the raw potential they possess. From the experience of bringing them together to the impact this can have on those you serve, we find our everyday bond. After all...we all have to eat." - Corkery.

Transplanting from New York City to the Midwest, Chris aims to bridge the gap between our ailing food system and innovation through a network of local growing spaces.

Grian Hollies-Maxwell is currently the Community Programs Manager for Groundwork Milwaukee. This position leads over 100 community gardens in the city of Milwaukee. Grian is also the Owner/Producer for Maxwell Farms, an urban farm in the heart of Milwaukee.

Cooking is a passion for Grian, having worked previously as a Nutritional Services Director for schools and healthcare facilities. Canning and food preservation are also in her wheelhouse. 

Grian is not native to Milwaukee, but married into the state. EHarmony brought Grian 50 miles across the lake and the rest is history. Grian is happily married to Don Maxwell and is the mother of 5 children.

Lifetime Entrepreneur, New CEO, Sales Profit Maverick and Future Thinker, Shelley Mathews has used the skills and knowledge of professional sales, marketing and business creation to offer access of education, food and jobs through growing plants hydroponically.

She started her destiny in entrepreneurship as a child with a dream, lemon-aide stand and side hustles through-out adulthood to obtain money. Her journey from sales representative to vice president of sales for top brands including Memorex, Rubbermaid, Crayola, McGraw-Hill Children’s Publishing and Dixon Ticonderoga Company, solidified a track-record of success and confidence needed to leave corporate life and start her company FullCircle26 Inc.(FC26I) in January 1, 2017 as a sales organization. 

As a country girl, Shelley has returned to her roots of gardening and desire to make a difference by offering the future of farming to children, consumers, farmers and businesses through hydroponic and technology-based plant growing and training. Her company provides a 3D Model of Sustainability for STEM Education, Food Sustainability and Jobs and has seen the results and excitement of seed to harvest plant growing in children and adults alike. 

One of Shelley’s confirmation of living in purpose was the journey back to her grade-school to start an urban hydroponic lab with the Dominican Center for Women in Milwaukee, WI. This was a life-changing experience that opened her eyes to the challenges faced by childhood area residents due to lead-filled soil, lack of fresh produce, high crime and lack of jobs. 

Shelley Mathews believes that it is essential to gain control of your food supply in the best manner that suit you, your family and community needs. As a soil-based and hydroponic farmer, her mission is to help the underserved and those most in need through growing plants.

She and her team of experts provide growing solutions based on the needs of her clients that can be done easily and provide a sustainable model for decades and family generations.

Ali Schultz has been a faculty member of the Horticulture Department at Gateway Technical College for six years. Ali comes from a social service background and found her passion for urban agriculture while working a second job in a production greenhouse. 

While continuing to work in the greenhouse industry, Ali earned her associate's degree in horticulture from Gateway and managed Gateway’s Urban Farm on the Kenosha campus for 4 years before operating her own Community Supported Agriculture Farm for 3 seasons. Ali was hired as a faculty member at Gateway in 2018. 

Her favorite classes include Vegetable Science, Alternative Growing Methods, and Horticulture Events. 

Ali is dedicated to providing students with experience and opportunities outside the classroom and has taken students to the Netherlands, Scotland, Ireland, and France for horticulture-related and hands-on experiences. 

Ali lives on a  acre hobby farm with her husband and two daughters.

Alex Bruzan is an education consultant, general contractor specializing in inner city home remodels, co-host of the 53206 Cast and author of the book Bad Neighborhoods (currently available in audio format on the Bad Neighborhoods podcast feed). He is also part of the leadership team at We Got This, a local non-profit empowering kids to take action within their community through the care of its physical spaces. Last year We Got This employed over 300 different kids and paid out $30,000 to kids for making their neighborhood a better place to grow up in. 

We Got This employs youth on Saturdays in the summer to beautify their neighborhood and manage its garden spaces. We Got This operates on 10 formerly vacant lots around 9th and Ring growing food and flowers for the community.  Meg is a part of the We Got This leadership team and on Saturdays works with the neighborhood beautification team traveling around the community planting flowers. Meg is a web developer and also co-host of the 53206 Podcast which aims to rewrite the narrative around inner city spaces.

Born August 13, 1960, Andre' Lee Ellis has been a part of many Milwaukee movements.  From theater to festivals. From bands to activism.  He is married, 17 years to Angela Ellis and they have a blended family of 5.  1 Son deceased.  They have 23 grandchildren and serve many more throughout the city.  Mr. Ellis began his AGRICULTURAL career with the "We Got This, Inc." movement urban gardening, on 9th and Ring Street in Milwaukee's Northside. In 2021, Mr. Ellis founded "CAGE, Community Agricultural Growing Experiences, Inc." located in the city of Milwaukee.  CAGE, is a community garden where young African African American boys can come and learn how to grow food.  The food is free to the community.  Restoration Justice is a major part of his teachings, as many of the young many are exploring their second chance at life.  Mr. Ellis has received local and national awards and attention for this work.  He is the only two time winner of the TMJ 4 Positively Milwaukee Awards 2023.  Mr. Ellis has many accomplishments.  Too many to list them all here.  Proud to be a panelist today and share his life of recovery and advancement.  He says "good healthy foods, saves lives"

Monica Gahan is the Animal Science Pathway teacher at Vincent High School of Agricultural Sciences. VHSAS is the only Milwaukee County school that has a robust agriculture program featuring 6 pathways that students can choose from. Pathways include Animal Science, Agribusiness & Entrepreneurship, Horticulture Science, Environmental Science, Food Science and Culinary Arts; which takes their students from the farm and field all the way to the fork.

 Gahan has been part of the Vincent Ag Team since 2015 and currently serves as Agriculture Department Chair. The Ag Department continues to encourage urban students to get involved in agriculture through showing at the WI State Fair, making and growing products for the farmers markets, and participating in community events including Harvest Fest, Fish Fry Friday’s, and Ag Ventures in the spring. Gahan earned the first Agriculture Youth Impact Award from Sav-A-Caf Products in 2017 through her work at the school. 

She currently serves on the Wisconsin Agriculture Education and Workforce Development Council. She has a bachelor’s degree in Animal Science from UW-Platteville and a master’s of science in Ruminant Nutrition from South Dakota State University. She also volunteers as a 4-H leader in Ozaukee County 4-H for numerous projects including beef, horses, and goats.

LaDonna Green is a passionate advocate for sustainable gardening and environmental education in Milwaukee. As the founder of Growing Green Gardens Network Inc., a nonprofit community garden based in Wauwatosa, she is dedicated to empowering individuals to grow their own healthy food. LaDonna serves as the Farm Manager at Victory Garden Initiative, where she also cultivates community engagement around urban farming.

In addition to her roles in the gardens, LaDonna works to promote environmental stewardship, serving as a Conservation Educator for Wisconsin Women in Conservation and a board member of the Milwaukee Audubon Society. Her experience as an Early Childhood Educator with the Five Star Educational Training Center taught her how to instill a love of nature and gardening in young learners.

LaDonna's enthusiasm shines through in her efforts to help others build environmentally friendly gardens, create habitats for pollinators and birds, and foster self-reliance in organic food consumption. In 2023, she expanded her teaching to include adult classes for aspiring urban farmers, focusing on essential conservation skills, from planting and harvesting to composting and establishing pollinator habitats. Through her work, LaDonna Green continues to inspire and empower her community towards a more sustainable and informed approach to gardening and conservation.

Nalani is a Greenhouse Manager at Webers Greenhouse, a space that has been running in the Rufus king neighborhood for almost 100 years! Weber's is part of an organization called 'Teens Grow Greens' that provides alternative job experiences for Milwaukee youth such as our horticultural, marketing and education apprenticeship programs.

Heidi Katte

Milwaukee Area Technical College / UAGI

Heidi Katte, MS, RDN, CD, FAND is an Instructor, Lead Faculty and Program Chair in the Nutrition and Dietetic Technician Program and Department Chair of Health Promotion within the Healthcare Pathway.   Heidi is a a master’s prepared Registered Dietitian Nutritionist as well as  WI State Certified Dietitian and Fellow of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.  She has over 14 years of experience as a faculty member at the Milwaukee Area Technical College (MATC).  She has been working in food since in utero!  As a farmer’s daughter, Heidi is passionate about food and nutrition and has been practicing for 30 years.  She has collaborated with a variety of academic facets in the program planning, course development and implementation process within MATC and other higher education institutions.  With support of the MATC Innovation Grant Initiative, she developed and maintains the Mobile Nutrition Classroom, a community-based nutrition education project.  These experiences of teaching throughout the Milwaukee neighborhoods have led her to develop innovative ways to help teach food preparation techniques to a community where hunger related health disparities are evident.  Since 2021, Heidi has been the Urban Agriculture and Green Industry (UAGI) Initiative Lead for MATC.  As such has created 3 digital badge credentials, holds quarterly internal Green City Pact Team meetings and external UAGI Coalition meetings bringing like minded academics, community members and partners together to lift up heal hy food access and future green jobs potential opportunities.  She hosts annual UAGI Coalition Meetings at MATC to bring the groups together in an effort to improve the food related health disparities and future green sustainability jobs in Milwaukee.  

Kristin Loock 

Farm Service Agency United States Department of Agriculture

Kristin Loock is a County Executive Director for USDA’s Farm Service Agency and has been with the Agency since 2012. 

As a County Executive Director,  Kristin oversees the Farm Service Agency staff and Federal farm programs for the Union Grove and Elkhorn USDA Service Centers.

These two USDA Service Centers combined serve four Counties in Southeast Wisconsin, including Racine, Kenosha, Milwaukee, and Walworth Counties. The Farm Service Agency delivers agricultural and conservation programs for all Americans.

Rafael Gonzalez Pagan

USDA National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) 

Rafael Gonzalez Pagan is an Urban Conservationist for the Southeast area of Wisconsin. He started his career with NRCS in 2018 as a Soil Conservationist in Jackson County Minnesota. In 2020 he decided to move to Council Bluffs Iowa, where he learned about Urban conservation and small-scale farming. In 2023 Rafael accepted the position of Urban Conservationist in Juneau, Wisconsin. Working with underserved urban farmers in Milwaukee and Madison. It was a challenging but rewarding task for Rafael, to figure out assistance for small-scale and urban farmers. 

Rafael graduated from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayaguez. Where he got a bachelor’s degree in general agriculture and Horticulture. Rafael enjoys riding his bike, hiking, traveling and cooking. 

Andi serves as the Environmental Sustainability Program Coordinator, and coordinates the FEED MKE Project, which will drive implementation of Waste Reduction and Sustainable Consumption in the Milwaukee Climate and Equity Plan. Her position is funded through a 2-year grant from the USDA Compost and Food Waste Recovery Cooperative Agreement and her work will be focused on the design, promotion, and management of the grant initiatives, including a Milwaukee Food Saver Challenge. Andi previously worked with The Culinary Institute of America as the dean of faculty and instructional development, where she developed their graduate degree programs–including a Master’s in Sustainable Food Systems. Her academic career also includes positions with The Milwaukee Institute of Art + Design, The City University of New York, The State University of New York, Marist College, Bard College, and The European Graduate School. Andi is a former board member of the Milwaukee Food Council and a current member of ReFED’s Food Waste Action Network, Food Tank's Academic Working Group, and the Second Nature Climate Coalition. She is a graduate of the City University of New York, of Harvard Kennedy School's Public Leadership Credential program, and of the Social Impact Leadership certificate program at the UC Berkeley-Haas School of Business.

Noemy Serrano (she/her/ella) is Michael Fields Agricultural Institute (MFAI)’s Urban Food Systems Specialist. She leads their Milwaukee Urban Ag Network (MUAN) project, which connects Milwaukee-area individuals to sustainable agriculture and agricultural conservation education, community networking, and resource sharing. 

Noemy comes from a farming family, with her 91 yr old maternal grandfather still actively farming. She understands the challenges that growers, especially women, BIPOC, and small/urban growers, face on a daily basis. She is passionate about supporting them in whatever way she can! 

You can reach Noemy at nserrano@michaelfields.org.

Laura Stevens has over ten years of professional experience in sustainability programming and operations, with seven years specifically in the waste and recycling industry. Her qualifications include vendor relations, contract management, process improvement, and waste management. In her current role as the Resource Recovery Program Manager for the City of Milwaukee, Laura administers the City’s waste reduction and resource recovery programs. The role manages the citywide recycling program, which includes two drop-off centers and the residential curbside collection program.

Hannah Trasser is a Public Health Strategist at the City of Milwaukee Health Department focused on advancing a more equitable food system in Milwaukee. She graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2017 with a Master’s in Public Health. While in school, she ran track and cross country and still enjoys being active today, however now she is usually accompanied by her dog, Marty. In 2023 she joined the board of directors with the Milwaukee Food Council and is excited about this opportunity to serve Milwaukee by building relationships that strengthen our local food system. She is passionate about creating spaces where we can learn from one another, talk about food injustice, address root causes to these structural barriers, and create actionable steps towards systems change.