Team 
Jessi was born and raised in the PNW and has 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. Seattle Times named her a “rockstar in the ecological gardening movement“, with her leadership combined with artistic design talents she led N.W. Bloom to numerous environmental awards, traveling nationwide as a speaker and is the best-selling author: Free-Range Chicken Gardens (2012) Practical Permaculture Design(2015)which is now in 6 languages; and Creating Sanctuary: Sacred Garden Spaces, Plant Based Medicine and Daily Practices to Achieve Happiness and Well-Being (2017) and its companion workbook Everyday Sanctuary(2019) 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 passionately 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 helped develop the EcoPro program for WA State. Currently she was appointed as an Agriculture Commissioner for King County, as well a member of the WA DNR Urban and Community Forestry Committee. She has 3 kids and spends time with them around their little farm, with a handful of animals and gardens to look after. When she is not working, she enjoys the outdoors: snowboarding, hiking, her horses, running, yoga, biking, rollerskating and stays strong with Olympic weightlifting. Languages: English, NVC/trauma-informed communication
Marco Hernandez (he/him)
Earth Steward
Marco has been with the NW Bloom earth steward team since 2015 and has become a pivotal member of our crew. Over the years he has gained extensive knowledge in organic horticultural practices and construction – from carpentry, masonry to fine detail garden maintenance. He enjoys learning and mastering the diversity of the work. He hails from Mexico and in his free time he enjoys spending time with family and friends, and playing soccer. Languages spoken: Spanish, some english
Sarah Edwards (she/her)
Earth Steward Lead
Sarah is a PNW native, born and raised in Seattle, and a University of Washington graduate. In recent years, she has grown her love of gardening and sustainable agriculture from her hobby into her dream career. She particularly relishes replacing lawns with more sustainable landscaping, and is enthusiastic about biodynamic growing practices. In her free time, she loves to read, bike and garden, and she is an avid ultimate frisbee player. Languages spoken: English and Spanish
Hanisha Bakshani (she/her)
Community Communications Coordinator
Hanisha was born and raised in Malaysia and earned her B.A. in Psychology in Mumbai, India. She has gained considerable experience in community communications across various platforms through her volunteer work in non-profit organizations. Hanisha has held many volunteer positions within Parent Teacher Student Associations (PTSA) in the Northshore School District. Hanisha was awarded the Golden Acorn Award by the PTSA in 2020 and in 2022. The Golden Acorn award is given to volunteers who go above and beyond in their dedication and service to their school communities. It is the highest award given by a PTA organization. She is currently volunteering as the Ambassador Communications Lead at the Northshore Schools Foundation. She is a Kukkiwon certified 2nd degree black belt in Taekwondo and a mom to 3 children. In her free time, Hanisha enjoys spending time with family, walking with friends and painting. Languages spoken: English, Malay and Hindi.
Katie Vincent (they/she)
Horticultural Lead
With over 17 years of working with plants, Katie brings a strong background in horticulture, ecological restoration and herbal medicine to the team. They offer ecological garden coaching, consultations and classes with a special focus on medicinal and edible plants. Katie supports clients in navigating overwhelm to find a plan for their yard that they love, mentoring people in building the skills to grow abundant food and medicine for their communities. Katie got started working at a local plant nursery and on organic farms all over the world. Over the past decade, they were Garden Supervisor of Bastyr University’s medicinal herb gardens & Sacred Seeds Ethnobotanical Trail, and taught organic and ecological gardening classes all over King County as a Garden Hotline educator for Tilth Alliance, also offering personal coaching and consultations rooted in permaculture principles. Katie teaches at both the UW’s School of Landscape Architecture and Bastyr University’s Holistic Landscape Design program. They own and operate an ecological gardening consulting business called Tending Alive. Katie marries their services with a background in rites of passage ceremony and trauma-informed facilitation. They believe gardening is a therapeutic act, enhancing our personal healing and major life thresholds. They believe grief and ancestral repair is an unavoidable part of healing our relationship with land. They believe the earth heals through us and, in these extraordinary times of climate upheaval, that the earth needs all the “green thumbs” it can get. Beyond this work, Katie is a passionate wildlife tracker, poet, astrologer, writer, paddleboarder, singer, and baker of wildly delicious herbal desserts. Languages: English, Spanish, Italian
Sara Parker JD, LLM, PDC (she/her)
Horticultural Crew
Lawyer turned ecological designer with a passion for empowering people to respond to climate change with hope and concrete action. After obtaining an LLM from UW Law in sustainable international development, Sara built a consulting practice for global climate policy research focused on women’s and indigenous land rights as foundational pillars of equitable climate change mitigation and adaptation. Sara has written on the dual issues of forced migration and trapped populations due to climate change impacts, large scale agricultural land concessions and management, land reform for subsistence farmers, community forest governance, and carbon markets. From that experience she gained a deep respect for those making the largest impact: the individuals coming together to make good choices for their land, natural resources, families, and communities. This led to transition toward direct action on local landscapes. After obtaining a permaculture design certificate, Sara furthered her environmental studies in soil biochemistry and formed Octarine Landscape Design to help others create and maintain beautiful, healthy, and resilient landscapes that support life.
In her personal life she is a proud nerd, fiber arts crafter, and avid fantasy reader; spending time puttering around and experimenting in my garden, baking delicious treats, and running half marathons around the country. Sara is also a volunteer with the Elk Run Community farm harvesting produce for the South King County food banks and developing their food forest and at the Shadow Lake Nature Preserve working on restoration projects. She strives to serve the community by sitting on the Covington Human Services Commission and as a board member of Puget Soundkeeper Alliance. Languages spoken: English, Mandarin Chinese and Japanese
Megan Jackson Bragg (she/her)
Horticultural Crew
Megan grew up in the Sierra Nevada foothills of Northern California and earned her B.S. in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior at UC Davis. She moved to Lake Stevens three years ago with her husband and two young sons. She was bitten by the gardening bug and began her journey of transforming her small, suburban yard into a food production oasis. Since, she has completed Home Horticulture certification through WSU and her Permaculture Design Certificate through OSU. When she isn’t taking care of her two small boys, you can find her starting seeds, turning compost, and cutting out vast strips of lawn, in attempt to cram in as many plants as possible. She particularly enjoys the challenge of balancing functionality, productivity and aesthetics in small spaces.
Kay Luft (they/them)
Earth Steward
Having lived in the Pacific Northwest since birth, Kay developed a passion for our native ecosystems and relationships with invasive species. They received a B.A.S. in Sustainable Practices from Cascadia College, and worked in the habitat restoration and environmental education fields before finding their way to NW Bloom. Kay is currently pursuing a certificate in Holistic Landscape Design from Bastyr, with the goal of enhancing native ecosystems in urban environments. In their down time, they enjoy binge watching cartoons, hiking with their dogs, reading, and pursuing various crafts. Languages: English
Timothy Gobel (he/him)
Associate Landscape Designer
Tim moved to Washington after getting his Bachelor’s in Landscape Architecture from CalPoly, San Luis Obispo, and joined NW Bloom shortly after. He has experience in all aspects of the landscape world, including maintenance, construction, design, and project management. In his spare time he enjoys listening to music, hiking around the PNW, reading science fiction, and drawing on his tablet. Languages: English
Alex Kim (he/him)
Earth Steward
Alex moved to Washington in 2016 from Martensdale, Iowa and started working with us in the summer of 2021. He loves the PNW and all of its many landscapes – spending most of his free time fly fishing, practicing archery, hiking, drawing, or on jiu jitsu mats. He currently lives in Lake Stevens with his partner and two cats.
Ollie Fisher (he/him)
Earth Steward
Ollie Moved to Seattle in 2022 from Madison, Wisconsin where he graduated with a
degree in Environmental Sciences and began his career working in native plant
landscaping and prairie restoration. He really enjoys removing conventional
landscaping and lawns and replacing them with more ecologically functional
landscapes and is looking forward to continuing this passion in the Pacific
Northwest. In his free time Ollie enjoys fishing, exploring both the city and the
mountains and building furniture at the Pratt School in Seattle. Languages: English, Spanish
Coming Soon!
We are hiring
If you or anyone you know would be interested in joining our team, be sure to check out our career page for more information:NW Bloom – employment opportunities
Spanky
Office Dog
RIP 2008-2022
This excitable Staffy Bull Terrier senior 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!