Dawn Barker
Dawn currently works for The RiverWoods Group, which is the parent company for three Continuing Care Retirement Communities, located in Exeter, Durham and Manchester. As Vice President of Human Resources, she is responsible for the strategic human resource planning to provide the organization with the best talent to meet the RiverWoods’ mission which is to provide community and peace of mind for all. She holds a Master’s in Organizational Leadership from Southern New Hampshire University and a BA in Marketing from Bentley University. She has lived in New Hampshire for the majority of her life and never plans to leave. She shares her life with her husband and two daughters. She loves to learn new things, read, and spend time outside with her family. She has a passion for gardening and cooking with local ingredients and letting them shine!
Board member since June 2019
Email: [email protected]
Anton Bekkerman
Anton is the Director of the New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station and Associate Dean in the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture at UNH. As the director, he helps facilitate science for the public good at the state’s public R&D agency for sustainable agriculture and food systems, natural resource management, and environmental quality topics, which are inspired by yet unanswered questions critical to Granite Staters’ economic, environmental, and societal well-being. He holds a PhD of Economics from North Carolina State University and conducts research in agricultural economics. When life and time permit, he is looking forward to his “old dudes playing slow hockey” career.
Anna Cantelmo
Anna Hayward Cantelmo is the owner of Bell & Goose Cheese Co. in South Hampton, NH. She is a cheese maker, farmer’s wife, mom of two, and has been involved with the local food community since 2008. Before opening her cheese kitchen Anna worked for Heron Pond Farm and Jewell Town Vineyards managing a farm stand, tasting room and doing farmer’s markets. Most recently she was the cheese maker at Appleton Farms, a non-profit educational farm in Ipswich MA. Creating food that connects people to their community, the land and each other is why Anna has chosen this work. She is excited to deepen and expand these connections through Seacoast Eat Local.
Board member since March 2018
Email:anna
Kristen Deshaies
Kristen rejoined the Board of Seacoast Eat Local in 2020 after serving a previous term from 2013-2016. She has worked for 20+ years Marketing purpose-driven brands like Ben & Jerry’s, Seventh Generation, Stonyfield, and Orgain, and currently runs a consulting business focused on helping purpose-driven brands (and the teams behind them) grow and thrive. Kristen lives in Exeter NH with her family. She loves to cook with local ingredients and has a tradition of cheerily listing the local ingredients in each night’s meal (despite playful teasing from her teenage children). She is thrilled to return to Seacoast Eat Local!
Board member since June 2020
Email: [email protected]
Eleanor Kane, Vice-Chair
Eleanor Kane is the co-owner of Brasen Hill Farm in Barrington, NH. She became interested in the movement towards local, sustainable food and humanely raised animals during college and is excited to provide her community with healthy, local meat, eggs, and vegetables. Since joining the New England farming scene in 2010, she’s never looked back! In addition to farming, she has worked in various capacities at a range of nonprofits, where she has focused on environmental education, social justice, local food access, and community building. She holds a Masters in Public Affairs from Brown University and is currently a PhD candidate in Education at the University of New Hampshire.
Board member since March 2018
Email: [email protected]
Abby Lamothe
A licensed New Hampshire CPA, Abby is a Senior Accountant with Leone, McDonnell, and Roberts in Dover, NH. She received her Master of Science in Accounting in 2015 and entered the workforce, gaining significant professional auditing experience as a healthcare and nonprofit auditor traveling throughout the northeast. She gets to use her auditing skills on an almost daily basis, but she also spends her time helping new staff, organizing, and planning jobs, and working directly with many nonprofit organizations. Abby loves helping individuals and organizations navigate their financial data with confidence.
Abby is a member of both the New Hampshire Society of Certified Public Accountants and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. She enjoys getting involved in the community and is the founder of Seacoast Sweet Stitches, a group for fiber enthusiasts that focuses on knitting, crochet, embroidery, sewing, and more. Abby also enjoys exercising and getting outside whenever possible, and has been known to combine two of her passions by knitting while completing 5Ks! Abby first got involved with Seacoast Eat Local while she was completing her undergraduate studies at UNH, by volunteering at the SNAP booth.
Annette Lee, Secretary
Annette Lee is co-owner of Throwback Brewery – a small, inspired brew pub at Hobbs Farm in North Hampton, NH, dedicated to crafting delicious farm-fresh food and beer with ingredients sourced in the New England area. Annette spent close to 20 years working as an environmental engineer before making the jump to a small brewery owner in 2011. An avid gardener with a passion for full circle sustainability, Annette always finds time in her busy schedule to help the farmers at Hobbs Farm. In fact, Annette considers one of her most meaningful achievements to be the restoration and rehabilitation of Hobbs Farm – returning it to a working farm that provides ingredients for Throwback’s food and beer.
Board member since April 2017
Email: [email protected]