Staff

Rob Reiman, Executive Director

rcreiman@gmail.com

Rob is a devoted environmentalist and serves as the Executive Director for the Giving Grove. He retired from Deloitte Consulting after nearly 30 years of implementing technology systems and associated organizational improvements. After having provided consulting services to many of the largest companies in the world, Rob is now engaging in environmental policy, social justice programs and projects that support a more ecological, healthy, equitable and sustainable world.

Matt Bunch, Horticulturist

matt@kccg.org

As the horticulturist for the Giving Grove, Matt selects the fruit and nut varieties, consults with new sites, and advises Giving Grove site stewards on the best practices for growing fruits and nuts biologically in the Kansas City area. Matt has been in the horticulture profession since 1994, but his love for plants and gardening grew from the gardens of his parents and grandparents. Schooled as a history major, Matt has worked in horticulture in retail, municipal, and public garden capacities. From 2004 to 2013 Matt was with Powell Gardens (Kansas City’s Botanical Garden), first as a Native Plant Landscape Specialist for the Missouri Department of Conservation Discovery Center, and later as the Horticulturist for The Heartland Harvest Garden, a 12 acre edible landscape featuring over 2000 distinct edible plant varieties; fruits, nuts, berries, vegetables and herbs. Over the years Matt has written for The Best Times and the Missouri Gardener and has spoken at many Master Gardener gatherings, the Great Plains Growers Conference, Growing Power, The National Green Centre, Grow Native Workshops and more. Work follows him home where he grows mainly natives and edibles with his wife and two children in Kansas City, Missouri.

Amanda Lindahl, Community Engagement Coordinator

amanda@kccg.org

Amanda joined the Giving Grove team in the fall of 2015 as the Community Engagement Coordinator. Her role is to assist sites in bringing together the neighborhood around the edible tree garden harvest. Previously she has worked with the Kansas City Community Gardens in the Schoolyard Gardens Program. In addition to growing vegetables at schools, Amanda has worked in nutrition education with K-State Research & Extension and Harvesters. , Amanda graduated with her Masters of Horticulture degree with a specialization in Urban Food Systems at K-State Olathe in December 2016. Amanda gets excited about fermented foods, preserving the garden’s harvest, baking sourdough bread in many forms, exploring the city on her bicycle, and sitting around campfires with friends.

Kathy Jenkins Hart, Development Director

kathy@kccg.org

Kathy was raised as a Missouri farm girl and enjoys learning about sustainable agriculture. She earned a Master of Public Administration degree with an emphasis in nonprofit management from the University of Georgia and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Missouri. She joined The Giving Grove team in 2016, previously serving as Development Coordinator for Kansas City Community Gardens for four years. She has raised more than $7 million for nonprofit organizations in Kansas City and New York City, including KCCG, The New York Public Library, and Children’s Museum of the Arts. Kathy serves as a board member of the Platte Land Trust and became passionate about conservation, social and environmental justice issues after studying abroad in Western Australia and visiting Standing Rock Sioux Reservation during an Alternative Spring Break experience as a college student. When not working, she can be found writing stories or hiking and exploring nature with her family.

Justin Lark, Horticulture Assistant

justin@kccg.org