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. 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) 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 three 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 and stays strong with Olympic weightlifting. Languages: English, NVC/trauma-informed communication
Austin Amaya
Earth Steward Lead
Austin grew up in the NW and graduated from the University of Redlands with a B.S. Environmental Science and B.A. Anthropology. He volunteered with an Ecuadorian NGO outside the city of Tabacundo where he was first introduced to permaculture and bio-intensive agriculture and volunteered for 27 months in Peace Corps Paraguay working alongside an all-women’s farmer committee. As the pandemic began to settle, he found NW Bloom and it was a perfect place to continue his sustainable agricultural journey. Austin is always seeking new knowledge and love to read when he is not getting my hands dirty with the crew he is either buried in a book or at a local crag rock climbing….. Languages spoken: English, Spanish and Guaraní.
Marco Hernandez
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
Earth Steward
Bio coming soon!
Hanisha Bakshani
Community Communications Coordinator
Hanisha was born and raised in Malaysia and earned her B.A. in Psychology from R.D. National College in Mumbai, India. She has gained considerable experience in community communications across various platforms through her work in non-profit organizations. Hanisha held many positions in Northshore School District schools, including Secretary and Communications Coordinator of the Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA). She is currently volunteering as the Ambassador Communication Lead at Northshore Schools Foundation. Hanisha was awarded the Golden Acorn Award by the PTSA at Skyview Middle School in 2020 and by the North Creek High School PTSA in 2022. She is a Kukkiwon certified 2nd degree black belt in Taekwondo and a mom to 3 fabulous 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
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
Ecological Landsacape Design Assistant
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.
Coming Soon!
We are hiring for several positions
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!