Kristie Kapp, the founder and president of Resilient Roots, is a regenerative landscape designer who focuses on edible and native permaculture designs. Kristie has a master's in ecology from Yale School of Environmental Management and 30 years of farming experience. She has taught farming and gardening to every age group for several organizations. Marrying her two passions, ecology and farming, she completed a permaculture landscape design program in 2012 and has been creating designs for clients since. Kristie strives to encourage people to look at their environments holistically while incorporating elements of time-honored design and reinforcing a relationship with the natural environment. She lives in West Barnstable.

​

Beth Hardy Wade has deep roots in Chatham’s fishing community. Her dad was a commercial fisherman, and her lineage includes fishers and farmers all the way back. Her parents’ love of land and sea instilled in her the importance of carefully stewarding natural resources. Currently the director of Land Acquisition & Project Development for Habitat for Humanity of Cape Cod, she has a particular passion for ensuring low- to moderate-income families’ access to permaculture’s designs and philosophy. Beth has volunteered with many local nonprofit organizations, including the Community Development Partnership and Cape Cod Climate Change Collaborative. At Resilient Roots, she serves as the board’s vice president. She also has a special interest in local and sustainable food systems and farming, spurred on by her past work at Maine Farmland Trust.

Gisele Gauthier serves as the board’s clerk. She is an affordable housing consultant and also teaches yoga. Giselle has been a chef in a past life and learned to appreciate fabulous food and that growing the food she cooked brought her heart and soul together. Gisele considers herself a dirt digger, and the idea of turning her whole yard into an edible landscape just thrills her. Gisele lives with her husband in Brewster.

Deb Winther serves as treasurer for Resilient Roots. She recently retired from MassMutual Financial Group after 35 plus years in the financial services sector, focusing on insurance taxation. Deb is a self-taught perennial gardener and native plant enthusiast. She completed a Permaculture Design Certificate program through Cornell University in 2021. Deb is using her newfound knowledge of permaculture design principles to create a small forest garden on her property. In recognition of the fragile ecology of Cape Cod, she is relying on edible perennials native to the Cape’s unique ecoregion to create a resilient garden that provides an edible yield while supporting local pollinators, birds, and other wildlife.

Mark Nelson is a principal with the Horsley Witten Group, an environmental consulting firm based in Sandwich, MA. He has worked on water resource protection and land use planning projects on Cape Cod and around the country for the last 30 years. More recently, his work includes planning for climate mitigation and adaptation, including calculating his firm’s climate footprint and an appropriate offset. Mark has volunteered with Resilient Roots since its inception, supporting the organization's workshops and permablitzes. He enjoys sailing and paddle boarding with his family and his dog, Lila.

Rachel Todoroff is fairly new to permaculture, although she has been slowly creating her garden for many years, mainly from “pilfered” plants. She has greatly benefited from the various Resilient Roots workshops. The philosophy of creating a food forest suits her thrifty nature and desire to help her local environment rather than disrupt it. A resident of Hyannis and long-time administrative assistant at Sturgis Charter Public School, she is glad to serve as a director on the board of Resilient Roots.

Lillie’s bio to be added

Lillie is the assistant director of Leadership Giving for Mass Audubon, serving Cape Cod, and is a self-taught gardener and nature enthusiast. She has worked in nonprofits for over 10 years, with a focus on local and environmental organizations. An avid dahlia and vegetable grower, and reluctant tomato harvester, Lillie is turning her focus plant by plant to more native and edible options and less lawn, leaning on skills and knowledge gained through Resilient Roots. She has a special interest in all things local, sustainable, and community and environmentally focused.

Debbie is head of development for Resilient Roots. She has a diverse background in education, counseling, travel, and nonprofit development. She is a systems thinker and applies regenerative design principles to all her work. "I'm honored to be working with Kristie and the team at Resilient Roots to help expand the incredible work they've been doing the past five years. I met Kristie and the RR team through having our own permaculture garden design, then permablitz this year. It was immediately apparent to me that Resilient Roots is creating real change in the local landscape of Cape Cod—both literally and figuratively. Strengthening local food systems and developing our own capabilities to be more food resilient is becoming more critical each year.

​

Sharon serves as assistant to the director, focusing on administrative tasks that help the Resilient Roots team spend more time out in the field and less time behind a computer screen. She helps organize and implement workshops, events, and installations. An 11th-generation Cape Codder with both indigenous and colonial ancestors, she carries a love of foraging in the woods, recognizes the interconectedness of all life, and respects the fragility and resilience of this tiny sandspit we all call home. Sharon has a bachelor’s degree in journalism and works as an editor when she’s not walking barefoot outside or digging in the dirt.