Interested in joining us at Foodscapes?
Please reach out to [email protected] to get involved.

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Meet the Foodscapes Team!

Board of Directors

​Lee Klarman (he/him)
Board President

Lee loves being outside.  His passions include kayaking the Saco River, camping in the White Mountains, and growing garlic.  He received an undergraduate degree in Community and Justice Studies with a Minor in Sculpture from Guilford College in Greensboro, North Carolina and a Master’s Degree in Policy, Planning, and Management with a concentration in Non-Profit Management from the University of Southern Maine.  In his free time, he has been employed doing Restorative Justice in the court system of North Carolina, Youth Development with Boys & Girls Club, and building strong & equitable communities with United Way.  ​

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​Dora Mancia (she/her)
Board Vice President
FGP Gardener '21
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Dora, born in El Salvador, moved to Maine at the age of nine. Graduated From SMCC in 2007 with an associates, then attended University of Maine at Farmington graduated with Bachelors in Early childhood education in 2020. When I am not working at Catherine Morrill Day Nursery I am taking road trips with my children or taking nature adventures. I also love to support my children in their many, many sports interests. I love to garden and do art and crafts, crocheting and reading. I joined the Foodscapes program as a gardener in 2021 and have also added a garden to the School that I work at. I joined the Foodscapes board this year, 2024. My goal is to help families learn to eat healthy without having to spend a lot at the grocery store. Seeing young children see the process of growing their own food and feeling accomplished when they harvest the foods brings joy to me.

Margaret Patkus (they/she)
Board Secretary

Margaret grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York, and graduated from St. Olaf College in 2019. Throughout her college years in Minnesota, she immersed herself in learning about environmental justice, global food security, and local food systems. Margaret has held a number of roles at various nonprofit organizations, including Education Intern at the Poughkeepsie Farm Project, Community Engagement Assistant and Volunteer Coordinator at Keystone Community Services (St. Paul, MN), and Conference Program Assistant with the Institute on Science for Global Policy. She has also worked in food retail in both co-op grocery store and on-farm market settings. Margaret believes strongly in the power of access to green space and nutritious, culturally fulfilling food and can often be found practicing yoga, cooking, reading, and spending time with friends and family.

Doug Sisko (he/him)
Board Member 
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​Doug is a dedicated marketing professional and community advocate with a passion for helping organizations grow and make a meaningful impact. As a co-founder of Adapt, a digital agency, he works with businesses and nonprofits to develop strategies that connect people with important causes and services. Doug also teaches marketing at the University of Connecticut School of Business, where he enjoys sharing real-world insights with students who want to make a difference. With a background in both business and education, he loves helping organizations tell their stories in ways that inspire action and engagement.
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Outside of work, Doug is deeply committed to his local community. He serves as a Board Member for the Maine International Trade Center and Maine Foodscapes, supporting economic development and food security efforts. He has a strong appreciation for the natural world and spends much of his free time gardening, especially planting native viburnums to support local wildlife. Doug enjoys spending time with his wife, who shares his love for community and the outdoors. At home, he plays music, collects vinyl records, and relaxes with his two tuxedo cats, Duncan and Phil. Doug believes in the power of collaboration, storytelling, and grassroots efforts to create lasting change.

Ali Mediate (she/they)
Founder & Board Member

After studying at the University of Southern Maine, Ali went on to receive a degree in Community Agriculture and Food Science from The Evergreen State College. She made her way back to Maine to serve as a FoodCorps Service Member at Healthy Acadia. She holds Master Gardener and Master Preserver Certificates through the University of Maine Cooperative Extension. In 2018, she started Maine Foodscapes and the Foodscapes Garden Project (FGP), inspired by her AmeriCorps service at Garden-Raised Bounty (GRuB). Since her return to Maine, Ali has worked with the Cumberland County Food Security Council, the Portland Farmers Market (promoting EBT nutrition incentive programs like Farm Fresh Rewards and Maine Harvest Bucks), and the Maine Farm & Sea Cooperative (MFSC). She has a passion for helping raise awareness of the many benefits of strong local food systems. She spends her time trying to excite everyone she meets about growing their own food and reconnecting with the land that feeds us. She can be found reading a book or seed catalogue, riding her bicycle, or in the garden... preferably with bare feet and dirt under her fingernails!

Key Personnel

​Leah Kovitch (she/her)
Foodscapes Accountant

Leah is an avid vegetable gardener, big tree enthusiastic, and all-around outdoorsman. In 2021 she completed her climb of New Hampshire's 48 4,000-foot mountains and is working on her Maine big mountains list. Leah works in public accounting, specializing in non-profit audit, tax and finance. She holds a B.A. in Human Ecology from the College of the Atlantic and a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Maine at Augusta. She lives in the woods of Brunswick with her partner and their seven chickens.

Key Volunteers

Peter Mason (he/him)
Foodscapes V.I.V.* a.k.a. Very Important Volunteer
*Since 2018
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Peter is a native New Englander and a 32-year resident of Maine, and raised two daughters here. He is almost at the end of a career in IT, primarily the utility industry, and recently downsized to Portland with his wife so they could get more involved in initiatives around food security and support of local growers and purveyors. As a long-time gardener, Peter can't think of a simpler and more effective way to empower a family than providing them with an opportunity to garden and is grateful to be assisting Maine Foodscapes in making that happen.

​Tom Hatch (he/him)
Foodscapes Volunteer

Joining the Maine Foodscapes Board after three successful build seasons, Tom comes to us from Biddeford, Maine. Tom graduated from Virginia Tech with a Bachelor's in Biochemistry and from California State University San Marcos with a Master's in Business Administration. He is currently a process improvement coach that develops critical problem-solving skills and strategy for a global audience. While living in different parts of the country, he has done work with a couple vineyards and built a few gardens of his own. Tom loves exploring islands in Southern Maine in his tiny boat with his fiancee and black lab. He is excited to support the growth of this important organization and learn more about growing food!

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