Our Staff

Steve Fortenberry - Founder and Board President

Steve also serves as the pastor of Common Ground Church Community.  From the beginning, Steve wanted the newly formed congregation to be as mission-oriented as possible.  He was glad when members saw how gardens and greenhouses could be used to serve in a world with hunger and need.  They also provide an opportunity for people to literally "get their hands dirty" in the name of Christ.

Steve is the husband of Nancy Crum Fortenberry and father of two children, Sarah and James. He went to high school in Fort Wayne, Indiana and graduated from Taylor University in Upland, Indiana. Steve received his seminary training from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.



Greg Bowman - Executive Director

Greg is working closely with Steve Fortenberry during a transitional leadership phase until the Bowman family relocates to the North Lima area. Greg served 15 years with the Rodale Institute in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, most recently as communications manager. He has researched and written extensively about sustainable and organic farming, including crop and livestock production, USDA National Organic Program standards, value-added enterprises, local food systems, and developing consumer support for well-raised food in schools, markets and direct from farmers. Bowman serves on the steering committee of the Mennonite Creation Care Network, and helped to found Living Hope Farm (an educational Christian non-profit centered around 10-acre CSA farm on church-owned land) in Harleysville, Pennsylvania, and God's Acre@BMC, an organic community garden of the Bally (PA) Mennonite Church. He delights in finding and nurturing new ways that God is at work in birthing new farms and gardens. He grows heirloom tomatoes.  Greg and Ellen (Witmer), his wife, are native the the area and have three grown children (in Goshen, Indiana, and Harrisonburg, Virginia) and two granddaughters.

Meagan Zeune - Program Director

Meagan has experience in program development and experiential education from working at an arts camp for at-risk youth.  As the Nutrition Coordinator, she involved students in preparing lunch, composting, and tending potted plants. The local-food based nutrition curriculum she used was from her senior composition, “Local Foods: the Key to a Healthier Future.”  She believes that building a successful program begins with a clear focus, realistic goals, and cooperative, hard work.

After receiving her Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies, she was hired by the dining service provider at Allegheny College.  As the Projects and Sustainability Coordinator she gained valuable community partnership skills. She increased local purchases, worked with Second Harvest food bank, and brought sustainable food to the forefront of students' conversation and cuisine. She mentored and involved college students in her work, in order to perpetuate momentum and equip others to be good stewards. 

Maurice Small  - Adjunct Educator

Maurice inherited his profound respect for the earth from his parents. This love for natural process and growth nurtures his desire to build community- while teaching and cultivating a national vision for sustainable agriculture and healthy lifestyles.

Maurice is a certified Permaculture Designer and Master Composter, having created over 300 gardens and hundreds of compost systems during the past two decades. Recently he established gardens for Cleveland Clinic Health Systems and Hispanic Urban Minority Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Outreach Program [HUMADOP].  He works with under served communities and promotes collaboration between growers in urban and rural settings.

Mr. Small co-founded and formerly coordinated the City Fresh program, an 800-member community supported agriculture enterprise located in Northern Ohio. Produce is grown within 75 miles of downtown Cleveland and is delivered to various distribution centers using vehicles that operate using vegetable oil. These distribution centers in Cuyahoga and Lorain County serve 10 low income neighborhoods. The City Fresh model is currently under development in Youngstown and Akron, Ohio, and Louisville and Lexigton, Kentucky, Kentucky; and Baltimore, Maryland. Maurice also worked as the Learning Garden Manager for the Cleveland Botanical Garden.  He managed 160 paid interns, coordinated 100s of volunteers, supervised 50 at-risk youth and hosted thousands of visitors while working on the three acre farm.  In this position Maurice shared his entrepreneurial spirit and gift of soil and plant knowledge with his students and guests.

 Maurice teaches cooking classes at various after-school programs for 5th- through 12th-graders.  Maurice directed a six week Market Gardener Training Program that Goodness Grows offered in February and March of 2010.

 

Board of Directors

Amanda Banner 

Paul Bowman

Mr. Bowman is a life long resident of Mahoning County.  He owned and operated a diversified farm for 38 years.  He also worked for Brookside Laboratories as a Soil and Animal Nutrition Consultant.  

 

Paul has been a board member of the South Range Council of Church and Community for 10 years.  Mr. Bowman serves weekly at the food pantry that the local organizes and operates. A native to eastern Ohio, Amanda is re-establishing roots after studying in Wooster and Chicago. 

Jean Dougherty

Jean Dougherty previously worked for Wick Neighbors, a neighborhood revitalization project in Youngstown. Currently, she serves as the Executive Director of the Keck Foundation www.keckfoundation.org - an organization that opposes GMO technology for the use in food and the outdoor release of Genetically Engineered Organisms that can persist or reproduce and supports mandatory labeling, long-term independent safety testing, more stringent regulation and full corporate liability for damages resulting from the irresponsible introduction of GMOs to the food supply and environment.

 

Moving to Ohio in 2003 allowed Jean to find her "inner farmer" and carve out a little paradise in North Lima, Ohio.  She and her husband, Peter, have a 7 acre farm with chickens, dogs, cats, a horse and garden.  Their daughter Lana Gail is a toddler, who fills their home with joy.

 

 

Bob Fortenberry

Bob Fortenberry is a member of Common Ground Church and a member of the Session as well as Chair of the Building and Grounds Committee. Bob spent thirty five years in corporate life holding many different jobs in management. Using the management skills learned over that time, Bob is a strong asset in helping the Board focus on developing our resources as well as strategic planning.  Bob and his wife Peggy reside in Columbiana and will celebrate fifty years of marriage in August, 2012. They have two sons and six grandchildren.

 

Steve Fortenberry, board president (see above)

Kathryn Hatch

Kathryn Hatch is a local farmer, mother of two, and insurance representative.  She and her husband keep sheep and bees on their sustainable farm.  They use organic methods to raise greens and vegetables they sell to community supported agriculture programs.  

Lashale Pugh

Gary Schoonover

Gary has experience in small-farm marketing and home gardening, having owned a small-farm in Pennsylvania before moving to Ohio.  He has an MBA in Organizational Planning and Leadership Development from the University of Phoenix-Pittsburgh. Mr. Schoonover recently completed a Master of Divinity program at Liberty Theological Seminary.

Jane Stoffer

Jane has a long history of involvement with peace and justice ministries of Eastminster Presbytery.  She is an alumna of Kent State University with degrees in Integrative Change and Community Counseling, and worked to encourage recovery in the chemical dependency population.  Gardening, reading, hiking and enjoying creation are among her hobbies.  Seeking to contribute to the shalom of creation and justice for all creatures is her passion.

 

Advisory Board

Goodness Grows is privileged to have leaders in the field from across the nation advising and consulting with us. All of our advisory board members have visited our facility and gardens.

Dr. Job Ebenezer

Dr. Ebenezer received his Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology. Upon receiving his degree, he pursued the common good by teaching at several colleges and universities. In those positions, he often focused on using technology to further energy conservation and environmental stewardship.

Wanting to see technology make a difference "on the ground," Job spent a year in India developing technology that people in developing countries could use. His work was featured in the New York Times and in Hindu papers. In the mid-80's, he designed and introduced non-formal education programs for inmates. His efforts received national recognition and he was elected as the employee of the year of the Corrections Department of the State of New Mexico.

Dr. Ebenezer also served 14 years as the director of Environmental Stewardship and Hunger Education for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. While there, he created the environmental stewardship program and produced hunger education materials for congregations, outdoor ministry, colleges, and seminaries.

Since 2006, Job has been president of the non-profit organization, Technology for the Poor .

Dr. Martin Price

Dr. Martin Price recently retired from the position of Senior Agricultural Resources Director at ECHO, a non-profit, Christian organization that operates a Global Farm in Florida and provides technical support for international development workers.  Since 1981 he has worked to established ECHO as a tropical agriculture education facility with interns and multi-day programs. With a B.S. in chemistry, Ph.D. in biochemistry and Post-doctoral research in agricultural chemistry, Martin is interested and experienced in gardening plants for humid tropics, fruit trees, edible landscaping and rooftop gardening.

Martin has seen a need for an Echo-like organization that serves North American urban agricultural efforts and is pleased to be a part of it's creation and design.

Maurice Small (see above)

Phil Steiner

Phil Steiner has extensive experience in the garden and nursery business, having managed a national gardening business for many years. People in the Mahoning Valley know him as the gardening expert that answers everyone's questions on his "All That Grows" gardening program on WKBN. Besides being an expert gardener and experienced businessman, Phil is very active in his church and community.