Wendy Cashin spent most of her early years growing up in the desert of Tucson, Arizona.  She graduated as a University of Arizona Wildcat with a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting.  Her dream was to get a job and move to sunny California and the beach.  She moved to California, a small town, El Centro, close to the Mexican border and not quite the beach!  The next few years was working in several distinct industries, manufacturing, gaming and hospitality, and engineering, in an accounting capacity.  Wendy joined Green Our Planet as a financial business supporter of several CCSD school gardens in 2014.  She additionally transitioned to the GOP Board of Directors and just recently joined this fabulous team as a full-time employee.  She has lived in Arizona, California, Chicago, but can not get enough of the mountains and desert and landed in Las Vegas in 1990.  She has three adult children who were born and raised in Las Vegas and are products of the Clark County School District.  She could not be prouder of their accomplishments, thus far, and looks forward to what they will do in the future.  Wendy enjoys physical activity – weightlifting, tennis, running half-marathons and dancing, that keeps her young at heart.  She is a huge Vegas Golden Knights Fan and has traveled to Asia, Europe, Central and South America, Canada and most recently Ghana, Africa.  She is so proud to call Green Our Planet her new home.

Tami Lemire’s remarkable journey began by driving school buses to put herself through school, instilling values of perseverance and hard work. As an educator in three states, Tami’s passion was teaching STEM subjects, empowering students, and fostering a love for learning. Beyond teaching, Tami served as a mentor for STEM teachers from 60 school districts across Central Texas.. This experience led to greater challenges, selling software to the education sector and evaluating and acquiring EdTech businesses for a global software conglomerate. Tami’s love for travel, nature, animals, plants, and family fuels her drive to impact youth, communities, and society toward sustainable living. Her passion aligns with Green Our Planet’s mission to support educators in delivering STEM and financial literacy learning, social-emotional community building, and food sustainability nationwide and beyond. Together with Green Our Planet, Tami Lemire is committed to making a difference in the lives of students, educators, and communities. Her unwavering commitment inspires others to join her in working towards a greener, more sustainable future for generations to come.

Liz was born and raised in beautiful northern New Hampshire. She holds a Bachelor’s in Social Work and is passionate about equal access to quality food and education. Liz’s varied career includes starting and running an organic farm, managing an Amazon warehouse, and serving as operations manager for a fastener warehouse. She and her children currently call Las Vegas their home. Liz spends her non-working hours pretending she can dance, enjoying state parks across the country, improv quilting, and playing in her collection of plants. She is happiest when her hands are in the dirt.

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Gabriela was born and raised in Venezuela. She earned an associate degree in advertising. Gabriela believes that art is a language for people to express their thoughts and emotions. She has always enjoyed being surrounded by children and was a preschool teacher for 18 years. She is passionate about letting children explore and discover the world through their eyes and hands on learning. Gabriela believes that educating young children about their planet will make the difference in future generations. The most meaningful part of her life is her family, and they are her inspiration to continue on this extraordinary path.

Jennie was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. With a small city backyard to spend countless hours gardening and exploring the natural world, she lived her childhood engrossed in all the wonders that the outdoors provide. Her love of nature and animals led her to a long career in animal welfare. After receiving a degree in Writing and Communications, Jennie looked for a new career path that would continue to provide an outlet for her love of nature, which led her to joining Green Our Planet. She is passionate about environmental justice, sustainability, and equal access to quality food. Jennie spends her free time hiking with her dog and tending to her city garden plot and her home full of houseplants.

Katie Zimmerman, originally from Madison, WI, is a graduate of Indiana University with a Bachelor of Science in ballet and an Outside Field in business. Katie spent seven years as an Artist with Nevada Ballet Theater where she performed alongside NBT and also in collaboration with Cirque du Soleil. Throughout her dancing career, Katie enjoyed teaching both ballet and math in her spare time. Long passionate about nutrition, Katie has become increasingly interested in the space where the health of people and health of the planet meet. Katie is thrilled to be joining Green Our Planet and begin working at the intersection of sustainability, nutrition and education. In her free time, Katie enjoys anything that gets her outside. She loves to hike and bike and is becoming an avid camper!

Angelo is from Yakima’ Washington. Growing up in the Yakima Valley he was immersed in Agriculture and the Outdoors. From the smell of Hops, Cherry blossoms and the beautiful glow of the heaters keeping the Apples warm at night, there was always something growing. As Angelo himself grew, he entered High School where he took FFA (Future Farmers Of America) and where he learned a lot more in depth of the Agriculture and Farming that surrounded him. After High School not having a direction on what he wanted to pursue, he moved off to see what the world had to offer. Landing in Las Vegas where he met is wife, they set off to Baja, Mexico’s wine country (Valle De Guadalupe). They lived on a 80 acre Ranch and built a successful B&B, where they also grew and sold their produce in the Valley. Now back in Vegas he has the opportunity with Green Our Planet to continue working in something he loves and for a great cause.

Christy (Christine) Carlson is an adventurous soul with a passion for sustainability, apiculture, and the great outdoors. With a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education and as an MBA Candidate at the IU Kelley School of Business, she has years of experience in teaching (in-person, virtual, and hybrid) 2nd and 3rd grade in both Las Vegas, NV and Plainfield, IN, as well as business acumen in the education nonprofit world. Christy has meshed her passion for teaching, sustainability, and nonprofit business as the Director of Business Development at Green Our Planet. Christy is deeply committed to fostering a love for sustainability and gardening in students across the globe through project-based STEM education.

Liliana was born and raised in Los Angeles County, CA. She attended California State University, Fullerton where she received a bachelor’s in history and a teaching credential. In 2018, she worked as the programs assistant at the Workman and Temple Family Homestead Museum where she enjoyed teaching children local history, putting special events together, and working with volunteers. Liliana believes that teaching all students to become critical thinkers will help create a better future. She enjoys traveling and watching musicals.

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Yolanda grew up on a farm in Ensenada Baja, Mexico, and with a parent in the exotic flowers business in Los Angeles, she was naturally drawn to plants, gardening, sustainability and an outdoor lifestyle. She started skateboarding and surfing at a young age and became a competitive surfer for all of her teens and twenties. Yolanda became passionate about the environment and sustainability when she was very young. Yolanda has a technical degree in Environmental Lab and a BA in Tourism Business and Marketing. She opened a surf school in a hotel in Baja, and a boutique hotel on her family farm, where she also began to grow and sell her own vegetables. Yolanda has continued this passion of plants, growing and a sustainable lifestyle here in Las Vegas and has an urban farm in her backyard.

Madelynn Sneed was raised in Campbellsville, KY. Growing up she began farming as a child and continued to build a love for gardening. She attended Blackburn College in Carlinville, IL where she received her Bachelors in Environmental Biology in 2021. During this time she developed a passion for sustainable food systems, native plants, and pollinators. She hopes to develop a community with our educators and provide the best support possible for our gardens. Madelynn believes that giving access to hands-on food education will encourage more children into the STEM field to create a more sustainable future.

Chris Anderson graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Community Health in 1989, and a bachelor’s in Elementary Education in 2001. After teaching for 18 years (5 in CCSD) Chris joined the Green Our Planet team to help bring the vast educational possibilities of gardening to more teachers and students in Las Vegas and beyond. She hopes to support and empower more educators to integrate gardening into their classrooms to connect more students with the natural world and with their food. Chris enjoys sports, the outdoors, travel and the entertainment of the Fabulous Las Vegas Strip, where she enjoys the lights, the excitement and the plants.

Hailing from the Lowcountry of South Carolina, Liz has been immersed in wetland ecology since she was a toddler wading around tidal creeks with her dad. About ten years ago she left home to get married, moving to North Carolina and then Southwest Florida with her husband’s career. In 2019 she earned a BA in Environmental Science from FGCU, where she spent her senior year researching phytoplankton succession in the Caloosahatchee River. It was at FGCU that Liz began to study botany and food forest permaculture, gaining a huge appreciation for the architecture and mechanisms of plants. In Florida she also enjoyed spending her time volunteering at a horse rescue. This year, her family moved to Las Vegas, where Liz has been getting used to the desert and having a great time adding new observations to her iNaturalist account. When she isn’t busy looking for a reason to bake a cake, Liz can often be found hiking or watching football with her husband and daughter.

Jacob is a Filipino-American who has lived in Las Vegas since his family moved from California when he was 3 years old. Jacob has grown up around Northern Las Vegas where he developed a strong connection to the outdoors and the local desert which was always just a short walk away. Even in his home, nature was never far as he has spent most of his life caring for an ever-growing garden of plants and an ever-expanding family of tortoises. His family has had a strong influence on his interests, often going on camping trips and hikes, collecting information and learning about the natural world, and valuing the application and practicality of the sciences. In the spring of 2022, Jacob was drawn by his interests to intern at Green Our Planet where his value of and fascination with their work has only grown. That same season, he graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) with a bachelor’s degree in Public Health and then fully joined the Green Our Planet team soon after.

Suzie was born and raised near Minneapolis, MN but spent her summers on a lake in northern MN where she fell in love with nature. After graduating from University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire with a BS in Mathematics, Suzie moved to Las Vegas in 2001 and taught geometry and algebra at a local high school. Suzie lives with her husband, two daughters, two yellow labs and 21-year-old tortoise, Sammy. She ran the school garden at her kids’ elementary school and is passionate about the environment, nutrition and teaching children to explore and to be curious.

Jessica was born and raised in Las Vegas, but her family is originally from El Salvador. Before coming to Green Our Planet, Jessica worked in the accounting department for a nightclub on the Las Vegas Strip and as a program assistant for a nonprofit that provided books to children. In recent years, she has developed a passion for sustainability which during the 2016-2017 school year brought her to volunteer at Green Our Planet. Now as a full member of the team, Jessica helps bring awareness to younger generations so that they can both gain a passion for the environment and also learn that growing your own food is not only exciting but can help preserve our Earth. Jessica loves exploring the world, hiking and anything to do with the ocean.

Andrea Martinez knew from a very young age that she wanted to make a difference in the world and now her career at Green Our Planet allows her to do just that. Andrea is deeply passionate about people, education, and our planet. At Green Our Planet, she is always looking for creative ways to efficiently, effectively, and sustainably execute systems and processes to ensure positive organizational impact. She joined Green Our Planet in 2021 as an HR Coordinator and shortly after moved into a Senior HR & Accounting role. Andrea is a proud California State University Northridge alumni, where she received her Bachelor's in Business Management. She is the first generation in her family to attend and graduate college. Andrea has had the privilege to live in Los Angeles, Houston, Las Vegas and now Phoenix. When Andrea is not working, you can find her either reading a book, hiking, or traveling with her fiancé and three pups.

Leah grew up in the beautiful Driftless Area of Wisconsin, and fell in love with the outdoors at an early age. If she wasn't frolicking in the woods of her family's 40-acre backyard, she could be found kayaking the winding Kickapoo River or working in the gardens at her Organic Valley farming internship. Her passion and curiosity for nature and science continued to grow as she attended Northland College, where she received bachelor's degrees in chemistry and mathematical sciences. She then went on to obtain a master's degree in chemistry education at Ithaca College and soon became a compassionate and eccentric science teacher, gaining the nickname Miss Frizzle thanks to her students! In addition to her teaching experiences, Leah has also worked as a research scientist in a variety of laboratory settings. She is excited to be a part of the team at Green Our Planet, where her passions for analytical research, gardening, and STEM education can be utilized to make a positive change for young minds all across the country. Leah currently lives in Corning, NY, and in her free time she enjoys hiking, kayaking, biking, tending to her enormous plant collection, and spending quality time with her partner Andrew and their fur baby Daisy.

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