Our Team
Growing Opportunities has a highly committed volunteer leadership team with extensive experience in regenerative agriculture, farming, produce marketing/sales, nutrition and cooperative land use agreements.
We are forever grateful for the contributions of Founding Director Craig Evans, who passed away in March 2023.
We'd also like to acknowledge and thank employees, contractors and volunteers, past and present, who have contributed to GO over the years. Thank you for your support!
Board of Directors
Founding Director
Jen Cody
A registered dietician with the Nuuchahnulth Tribal Council, Jen has 25 years of experience in the field of food sovereignty and food systems development. Jen helped found Growing Opportunities with her life partner Craig Evans. She has 15 years of farming experience and is passionate about seed saving and carrot growing.
Founding Director
Isabelle Morris
Isabelle has 20 years of experience in organic vegetable production. She is a founding director of Farmship Growers Cooperative in Ladysmith which has grown from 2 acres to 12 acres, and employs about 10 people. Isabelle is a founding director of GO and a valued mentor for the farm team.
Director
Ben Glassen
Ben is the owner/operator of Glassen Farms, a regenerative livestock farm operating on leased land in Nanaimo, and The Good Place Abattoir. He is a director of the Small Scale Meat Producers Association, Coombs Farmers Institute, Vancouver Island Roots Farmers Market and District A Farmers Institute. In this spare time, Ben is co-host of the popular agricultural radio show, The Tuning Fork, on CHLY.
Director
Heather Pritchard
A pioneer in promoting different forms of land tenure that will allow people who want to farm to have access to land in the future, Heather is a founding member of FarmFolk CityFolk. She is also a co-founder/farmer with Glorious Organics Co-op in the Fraser Valley, and a resident member of Fraser Common Farm Cooperative in Langley, BC where she has been farming since 1985. Heather is on contract with Foodlands to build a Foodland Trust Cooperative. We're grateful for her wisdom and support.
Farm Manager &
Inclusion Coordinator
Jesyka Clarkson
Jesyka manages all aspects of farm operations and is a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion.
Jesyka works with all of our community partners to coordinate events and activities at the farm, oversees the Seniors Growing Seedlings program, and manages administration, invoicing and all of the other bits and pieces that keep GO humming along.