Our Team

Lauren Newkirk Maynard, Secretary

A part-time writer, full-time mom and apprentice-level gardener, Lauren joined the Gardens Buffalo Niagara board in early 2020. Previously, she was a volunteer with the Parkside Garden Tour before the neighborhood merged with Garden Walk Buffalo, and she also served on the 25th Anniversary Garden Walk Buffalo Committee in 2019. During the summer lockdown of 2020, she helped produce Garden Views, a season-long virtual celebration of Buffalo’s gardening scene that included social media outreach, blog posts, videos, virtual tours and more. A staunch advocate for protecting the natural environment, she serves on the Marvin Lunenfeld Beautification Grants Committee and helps the Development Committee communicate with current and prospective donors.

Elizabeth Foy, Assistant Secretary

Liz has served on the Garden Walk Buffalo committee since 2018 and has participated as a gardener on Garden Walk Buffalo since 2019, when the Park Meadow neighborhood was added. A licensed Real Estate Agent with MJ Peterson Real Estate, she is President of the Fordham Drive Block Club (and actively maintains the flowerbeds on Fordham's islands as well as the President McKinley marker alongside dedicated neighbors), and is President of The Park School of Buffalo’s Parent Association.

Jo Ann Bellotti, Assistant Treasurer

Jo Ann Belliotti has been on the Gardens Buffalo Niagara board since the early 2010s and has consistently and valiantly served on the Garden Walk Buffalo Committee for that entire period of time. She also serves as co-chair of the Volunteer Coordination Committee and Events Committee, and assists on the Garden Art Sale Committee. She uses her amazing skills gained through her career as a senior payment advisor at KeyBank to organize various events and fundraising raffles.

Catherine Carr Lincoln

Catherine has over 25 years of professional fundraising experience, which she has put to good use with Gardens Buffalo Niagara since 2017. Her garden in Allentown is on both the Tours of Open Gardens and Garden Walk Buffalo. She assists the East Side Garden Walk Planning Committee and is passionate about helping it grow. She also manages individual donor correspondence and secures sponsors of Gardens Buffalo Niagara, making sure all the sponsors are properly recognized.

Barbara Cavanagh

Barb has been involved with Garden Walk Buffalo for two decades, starting as a volunteer at the headquarters during the Walk in its early days! She subsequently became in charge of organizing the headquarters and has been involved with Garden Walk Buffalo ever since. She also serves on several committees, including the Development Committee, the Lunenfeld Beautification Grants Committee, the Volunteer Coordination Committee, and the Outreach Committee. She is currently chair of the Merchandise Committee. She retired from M&T Bank as an assistant vice president in the corporate procurement department.

Yolanda Fields

Yolanda Fields began her involvement with Gardens Buffalo Niagara as a Garden Walk Buffalo headquarters team leader over 10 years ago. She has served for many years as a Gardens Buffalo Niagara Board member, and she chaired the Garden Walk Buffalo Committee for the 2019-2021 seasons. When she’s not organizing Garden Walk Buffalo volunteers, she works as a commercial real estate/closing team leader for KeyBank. 

Adam Ianni

Adam is an experienced tech educator and maker, and believes that everyone should have access to the means of production and a bike to ride. As the workshop director for GObike Buffalo, he runs the community workshop, where anyone could learn the intricacies of bicycle mechanics and find a place they could call their own. Adam loves woodworking, playing with trash, dust collection, giant robots, and participatory learning environments.

Ellen Goldstein

Ellen is the founding editor of the Jewish Journal of WNY, a monthly magazine which began in 2013. Over her career, she has also worked as a marketing and community relations director, TV producer, ad agency copywriter, and photographer for The Associated Press. She began gardening as a child in North Buffalo and has never stopped. The gardens she has with her husband have been on Garden Walk Buffalo since 2005 and are part of the Tours of Open Gardens since its inception.

Beth Kruetzer

Beth has been on the Garden Walk Buffalo Committee since 2014 and is the force behind the Garden Walk Buffalo map! She became chair of the Garden Walk Buffalo Committee for 2022 and has previously served as secretary of the Gardens Buffalo Niagara Board of Directors. Beth has been the controller for Lackawanna Products Corporation since 2000. Her famous “Dragon’s Den” garden appeared on the Tours of Open Gardens.

Jay Jinge Hu

Jay joined Gardens Buffalo Niagara board in 2022, he contributes to marketing, Open Gardens and Urban Farm Day. He chronicled numerous gardens on his YouTube channel. Jay’s garden in Williamsville appeared on the Tours of Open Gardens and Garden Walk Williamsville. Jay is a poetry lover and an avid cook. When he is not digging in the garden or cooking in the kitchen, he runs a property management company.

Mara Montante

Mara began working with GBN when she joined the Vibrant Buffalo Beautification Grant Committee in 2020. She now serves as Co-Chair of the Lunenfeld Beautification Grants Committee. Mara is the Knowledge Management Coordinator at the WNY Women’s Foundation, where she researches and analyzes data to support their advocacy efforts for policies that promote gender equity and economic mobility. Mara also serves as the director of People’s Park, a community park on Main St. near the Tri-Main Building that hosts community events and educational programming. Outside of work, Mara enjoys traveling, gardening, cooking, and spending time with her family.

Nikki Ronan

Nikki is the founder and lead consultant of City of Light Consulting. She began the organization with over a decade of experience in various not-for-profit settings.

She made the jump to consulting when she realized that she'd become the go-to person for people with questions about the nonprofit world, with a firm belief that there is nothing more energizing or fulfilling than helping an organization reach its full potential.

With a Masters in Community and Economic Development and a second in Organizational Leadership, Nikki brings knowledge and experience to her work with clients.

Nikki is honored to support the incredible work of organizations around the world. In addition to her experiences in higher education, she has had the opportunity to learn through experience in local direct-service organizations, relief organizations, and government settings.

Samantha White

Sam is an attorney, a wife, a mother and current Gardens Buffalo Niagara board member, and East Side Garden Walk Chair. Sam received her JD from SUNY University at Buffalo School of Law and her bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Rochester. She is a longtime resident of Buffalo’s East Side and vice president of her block club. As a social justice activist, Sam organizes community activities and helps to distribute resources to those in need. Through the East Side Garden Walk, Sam has been a vocal advocate for the revitalization of the East Side. Her efforts have resulted in a NYS $743,000 grant to repair the streetscape surrounding the Freedom Wall. Sam has served as a public defender in Buffalo City Court from 2019-2022, and is currently President of the Minority Bar Association of WNY. Sam also serves on the Board of Trustees for Temple Beth Zion, and chairs the Social Action Committee for the Temple.

Mary Van Vorst

Mary began gardening as a child amidst her father’s roses and her grandfather’s vegetables. Her connection to Gardens Buffalo Niagara started with flower gardens. That interest quickly turned to bus tours of places like giant urban rain gardens, followed by a stint highlighting East Side destinations like the Farmer Pirates’ compost site. And those were followed by the East Side Garden Walk, and now Urban Farm Day. Her aim is always to educate and encourage community building, regardless of how that happens. This followed 30+ years in radio.

Mike Shadrack

Mike founded and serves as the chair of the Tour of Open Gardens, and also led bus tours and the Garden Art Sale. He is a gardener, a hosta grower, and an Open Gardener. Mike is president of the Western New York Hosta Society, and has been a member of The American Hosta Society since 1986. He is the former chairman and executive bulletin editor of the British Hosta and Hemerocallis Society. Mike is a former board member of the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens and was chair of their Plant Collection Committee. Mike has been growing hostas since 1986 and has been trying to hybridize almost as long. He is the author of The New Encyclopedia of Hostas, Timber Press Pocket Guide to Hostas, The Book of Little Hostas: 200 Small, Very Small, and Mini Varieties.

Jeffrey Tooke

President Emeritus

Jeffrey Tooke has been involved with the organization for over twenty-five years, having served in several capacities, among them as Co-chair, treasurer and President. Jeffrey previously served as Chief of Staff in the 57th District Office of the NYS Senate (1994-2000), as Chief of Staff of the Buffalo City Comptroller’s Office (2000-2004) and as Senior Administrative Clerk with the Erie County Legislature (2008). Jeffrey now serves as Chief Compliance Officer for Four Points Capital Partners LLC and provides ongoing compliance consulting as Managing Partner of Bay Harbor Advisors LLC. Jeffrey is an active member of Trinity Episcopal Church in Buffalo. Jeffrey lives in Buffalo’s Cottage District with his spouse John where they have been on Garden Walk Buffalo since 1997.

Jim Charlier

Jim is the owner of JCharlier Communication Design, a graphic design/advertising studio. He is the author of Harry Potter: Herbology Magic: Botanical Projects, Terrariums, and Gardens Inspired by the Wizarding World. His garden design book, Buffalo Style Gardens, is co-authored with Buffalo News garden columnist Sally Cunningham. Jim has a garden blog at ArtofGardening.org and has written many articles for garden magazines on garden tourism. His photography has been published in dozens of magazines and books. He is an international speaker on garden tourism and design. You can visit Jim’s garden during the tours of Open Gardens in July and Garden Walk Buffalo. He is a board member of the Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens, and a member of GardenComm International, an association of garden writers.

Audrey Clark

Audrey is Gardens Buffalo Niagara’s indispensable part-time administrative coordinator. She takes minutes for various committee meetings, handles our databases and bookkeeping, ships merchandise purchased through our website, creates newsletters, and updates our apps and website, among other administrative duties. She works full-time as Curator of Exhibits and Interpretive Programming for the Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor Commission.