Team 
Jessi is a NW native and comes from a strong background of horticulture and environmental sciences. Her early experience ranged in project management, from organizing restoration projects with community volunteers, to high-end residential and commercial landscape design/build. In early 2000, she decided to start an ethical business in the green industry to fill a niche for organic and ecological landscaping. Her leadership combined with her artistic design talents have brought N.W. Bloom numerous environmental awards. She is passionate about animals, permaculture and making functional gardens beautiful. She travels nationwide as a speaker and is the best-selling author of Free-Range Chicken Gardens and Practical Permaculture Design. (Timber Press 2015) and Creating Sanctuary: Sacred Garden Spaces, Plant Based Medicine and Daily Practices to Achieve Happiness and Well-Being (Timber Press 2018). Jessi’s work has gotten press and been featured in many national and local media outlets from the NY Times, Better Homes & Gardens, Sunset Magazine, DISNEY, Martha Stewart Living, Mother Earth News, UTNE Reader, Fine Gardening Magazine and PBS’s Growing a Greener World TV.
Jessi is strongly committed to volunteering in the community and sits on several advisory boards within the green industry and educational/environmental organizations; hoping to empower people, also raising industry standards, and recently helping to develop the EcoPro program for WA State. She has two boys and spends time with them around their little farm, with a handful of animals and gardens to look after. When she is not helping others with their gardens, traveling or writing, she enjoys the outdoors: snowboarding, hiking, running, biking and stays strong with Olympic weightlifting.
Zac Kopra
Project Manager
Zac manages N.W. Bloom’s construction projects. A die hard Husky, Zac got his Resource Management degree from the Washington School of Forestry and was also one of the first in the field to receive the Washington Sustainable Landscape Professional certification called EcoPRO. Always furthering his knowledge base he has also achieved the Master Pruner certification from Plant Amnesty. He has been with us since 2008, enjoys being outside working hard and constantly learning new things. He is passionate about his family and his job and enjoys sports, hiking, gardening, fishing, reading and spending time with his wife and kids. Jessi calls him “mud paw” – just be sure to ask him why!
Will Rak
Landscape Designer
After earning his BA at the University of Michigan in Philosophy & Comparative Religion and building a decade-long career in marketing, Will chose to return to school to pursue a vocation in horticulture. Now with a degree in Landscape Design, a degree in Ecological Restoration, and a certificate in Permaculture Design, Will’s passion lies with sustainable, ecologically restorative, and food-producing outdoor environments – not to mention stunningly beautiful ones. His mission is to leave this world better than he found it, and to eat delicious food along the way. His personal obsession is peppers: the sweet and the spicy and everything between! When he’s not growing plants, Will also enjoys reading, live music, and is an avid hiker.
Heather Merritt
Community Outreach Coordinator
Heather has lived here in WA her whole life, earning a BA in Psychology from Western Washington University, then settling down with her husband and raising two kids while starting a farm. Heather is new to the team as of 2019, but excited to facilitate Community Outreach immersed in permaculture as she is pursuing her Permaculture Design Certificate. Outside of work she enjoys roller skating, having played roller derby for 8 years, and loves learning new things, gardening, raising pigs, foraging, hiking, snowboarding and teaching her daughter to ski.
Alvaro –also goes by Alex
Earth Steward Crew
Alvaro (or Alex) our newest member of the construction team and been in the landscape industry for 15 years. He is enjoying learning new aspects of sustainable construction and looking forward to learning pruning this winter. Alvaro has been married for 12 years with 2 kids, a boy and a girl, and loves to spend time with them, and also playing soccer.
Marcos Hernandez
Earth Steward Crew
Marcos has been with the NW Bloom maintenance and installation crew through 2015. He hails from Mexico and enjoys learning landscape construction techniques. In his free time he enjoys spending time with family and friends, and playing soccer.
Jeff Davis
Assistant Farm Manager
Jeff Davis is a writer, artist, designer, and earth steward. He grew up surfing, sailing, swimming, and exploring the coastline of S. California. In 2008, he earned his bachelor’s degree in cultural anthropology from UC Santa Barbara, and worked for four years at The Ecology Center, a non-profit environmental education center in his hometown of San Juan Capistrano. He is fluent in permaculture design, land and watershed restoration, greywater and rainwater harvesting systems, and more. He served as a land steward on small farms and in communities across California, Costa Rica, and Hawaii. In 2016, he migrated to Washington and studied the intersection of nature, community, and self with the Wilderness Awareness School. Upon graduation, he went to live and work on Hawthorn Farm a community teaching permaculture farm in Woodinville. In addition to his work in land stewardship, he is a self-published poet and graphic artist, and he shares some of his work here: https://jeffldavis.com.He enjoys eating real food, going for walks, and doing almost any activity that involves the water.
Spanky
Office Dog
This excitable Staffy Bull Terrier pup greets guests enthusiastically when they visit the office. He is also known as the resident foot warmer and has many jobs around the farm, but his favorite job (by far) is being a snuggle bug. He loves to chase off pesky garden rodents, insects, Frisbees and his tail in his spare time.
Rocky
The Ninja Farm Cat
This silly tabby likes to do yoga in the lawn (we’re not kidding) and his impressive ninja skills ensure that any trespassers are surprised and well alerted to his skills – watch your legs! He keeps a watch over the farm and his mad hunting abilities keep all pest rodents in check. Rocky has a knack for herding the poultry out of gardens and can be found spending much of his time near the catmint; rolling in it, eating it, and hugging it. He always smells delicious!