John Yengich, Board President
John was raised and educated in Southern California moving to the PNW in 1990 where he continued his education at WSU and Michigan State University. Many decades of participating in and managing events (14 years for the Long Beach Grand Prix Association, 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee) as well as development of Cimmaron City the Great Western Adventure family entertainment center and owning a number of businesses has given me the opportunity to bring to the MVFM Board of Directors a different and rather eclectic perspective.
Selling at the MVFM as a farm vendor has also given me the opportunity to share ideas and understanding of what it’s like to be a vendor with a business and marketing background in hope to grow this great market and expand outward to our community.
Dane Bratz, Vice President
Dane is originally from Lynnwood, has deep Washington roots coming up to visit his grandparents in the Skagit Valley on weekends growing up. After moving to the San Francisco Bay Area for college and his early career, Dane moved back home to the PNW with his wife and daughter and recently settled in Mount Vernon.
By way of trade, Dane designs and develops software products and platforms, and has worked for the past several years at a variety of early stage Silicon Valley startups. He is currently working as CTO of Skipper Hospitality, which builds ecommerce and direct distribution solutions for independent hotels.
Dane is deeply passionate about nourishing eating and lifestyles, cooking with local ingredients, and community food systems (he once built a mobile cooking application called Skillit to help people cook meals with the ingredients they had on hand.), and is excited to help support these things in the Mount Vernon and Skagit Valley communities through his work on the board.
In his free time, Dane loves spending time with his family, snowboarding, hiking and exploring outside, reading, and practicing and teaching yoga.
Jen Hart, Treasurer
Jen is a fifth generation Skagitonian, and is the owner of Hart’s Farm and Homestead, an Organic produce vendor at the market. She and her husband, Tim, have been fixtures at the Mount Vernon Farmers Market since 2016.
She loves to encourage and educate the public about farming and the Skagit Valley. She is currently a full-time student with Washington State University, continuing her educational goals.
In any downtime, she appreciates being creative and crafting with her hands. Prior to returning to the Skagit Valley, she was a costume designer and stage manager in Seattle. Sewing, painting, knitting, and woodworking fulfill her creative needs now.
Jen and Tim share their home with their two large rescue dogs, Josephine and Lily.
Leanna Badillo, Secretary
Rob Zwick, Director
“I grew up in an apartment in Chicago and always wanted to live on the west coast. I moved here in 1982 with my wonderful family to practice orthopedic surgery. I am proud to be part of our vibrant, aware community.”
Leeann Fox, Director
Leeann is the founder of Arrows Aim Greenhouse & Supply Co., a WSDA certified tropical houseplant nursery and mobile houseplant shop located on Whidbey Island. Arrows Aim Greenhouse joined the MVFM selling tropical houseplants and handmade pottery in 2021, and in the spirit of community building and supporting fellow vendors, Leeann accepted a position on the MVFM Board of Directors in 2022. Before planting roots in the PNW, she spent time living on both coasts and in the southern U.S. developing an appreciation for community relationships with land, plants, and agriculture, and developing a growing practice that would ultimately become a full-time business.