Conference Schedule

About the Speakers

• Kendra Dean

  NorthEast Washington Educational Service District 101

  Kendra Dean leads NEWESD 101’s Farm to School program, connecting school districts to local food sources and helping to build sustainable relationships to grow farm to school in the northeast region. She moved to Spokane in 2015 from Cleveland, OH, where she earned her Master of Social Work and Master of Nonprofit Organizations from Case Western Reserve University.  Outside of work, Kendra co-manages Dogwild Farm with her husband and enjoys exploring the Pacific Northwest through snowboarding and hiking.

• Krysta Froberg

  Happy Mountain Mushrooms

  Krysta Froberg runs Happy Mountain Mushrooms in Colbert, WA, supplying gourmet mushrooms to local restaurants, grocery stores, and schools. The farm has recently expanded to include value-added mushroom products and plays an active role in farm-to-school programs—hosting student field trips, providing grow-your-own mushroom kits for classrooms, and supplying fresh mushrooms for school meals. In addition to operating the farm, Krysta works as the Eastern WA Produce Safety Specialist with the Northwest Food Hub Network, helping other farms improve practices and expand into wholesale, institutional, and school markets. 

• Leah Harp

  Valley School District

  Leah Harp has been the Food Service Director of Valley School District going on her 7th year and worked as a sub in the same kitchen two years prior to taking over as Food Service Director. Leah is very passionate about her community and School District. In the last few years, Leah has fully embraced the idea of using local foods in her menu as well as teaming with local farms for products to really become a district that offers scratch cooking with local ingredients. Leah has been utilizing the FFVP, F2S, and new last year the PLANTS grant to help facilitate her kitchen and menu. Leah is excited to keep growing her program and building strong relationships with local farms and producers.

• Denice Kwate

  Central Valley School District

  Denice Kwate serves as Senior Nutrition Services Manager at Central Valley School District, a position she has held for the past 15 years. Before joining Central Valley, she worked in the health care field as a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and also spent time at Cheney School District. She’s passionate about connecting students with fresh, local foods through Farm to School programs and loves seeing kids get curious and excited about trying new things. Outside of work, she enjoys visiting farmers markets, walking her two English Springer Spaniels, and going antique shopping with her husband, Dan.

• Madyson Versteeg

  Casa Cano Farms

  Madyson grew up in Spokane, WA, where her interest for organic farming began in her family garden and her high school environmental science class.  She went on to earn a BA in Environmental Studies focused in Sustainable Food and Farming at the University of Montana, volunteered in Billings, MT  with FoodCorps for a year, teaching kids to garden and helping connect local farms with institutions, and then moved back to Spokane to start Casa Cano Farms in 2014.  Madyson owns and operates Casa Cano Farms along with her husband, Jorge, where they grow organic produce, grass fed beef, pork, and spring plant starts.  Casa Cano Farms has a farm store and CSA, sells to restaurants, and sells to schools and institutions.