Keith Stechschulte, President, Windsor
Keith Stechschulte has been on the CFT board since 2018 and is a Vice President and Eastern Regional Manager at Farm Credit East. Keith is a 26-year veteran with Farm Credit whose roots go back to his family’s corn and soybean farm in Ohio. Keith is a graduate of The Ohio State University, having obtained a B.S. (‘91) and M.S. (‘93) in Agricultural Economics. Keith lives in Windsor, CT with his wife Deana and two children, Alexandra and Jacob.
Baylee Drown, Vice-President, Lyme
Baylee and her partner Ryan Quinn are the farmers at Long Table Farm in Lyme, focused on regenerative agricultural methods and building community. The farm runs a 170 share CSA program, sells produce at two local farmers markets, and works on food security for all people. Baylee earned her Masters of Science in Sustainable Food Systems from Green Mountain College in 2014, as she was turning the soil in Lyme for the first time. In 2022, Baylee and Quinn were given the Cooperator Award from the Connecticut River Coastal Conservation District.
Michele Murray, Treasurer, Manchester
Michele Murray has served on the CFT board since 2020 and is Vice President and Financial Services Leader for Farm Credit East. During her 30 year career, she has obtained designations as a Connecticut State Certified General Appraiser and an Enrolled Agent with the Internal Revenue Service. Michele holds a Bachelor Of Science (’90) from the University of Vermont with dual majors of Animal Science and Business Management.
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Dawn C. Adiletta, East Woodstock
Dawn Adiletta has served on the CFT board since 2008. A long-time advocate of farmland preservation, she was a founding member of the Woodstock Open-Space Preservation Group, a member of the Open Space and Land Acquisition and Farmland Preservation Committee in Woodstock, CT since 2003, and has served as its Chair since 2004. Adiletta received the Farmland Preservation Pathfinder Outstanding Individual Award in 2007.
A museum professional by training, Adiletta is the former curator of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center in Hartford, and the author of numerous historical articles and books. She lives in Woodstock with her husband Joseph.
Lisa Bassani, New Haven
Lisa Bassani is Associate Director of Development at the Yale School of the Environment (YSE). In this role, she focuses primarily on corporate and foundation fundraising to support the School’s educational mission and programmatic work. Prior to her work at YSE, she served as Project Director for the Working Lands Alliance, where she directed all aspects of WLA’s efforts to protect Connecticut’s productive farmland and promote agricultural viability. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of CitySeed, a New Haven-based nonprofit dedicated to creating an equitable, local food system. She also represents New Haven’s 18th Ward on the New Haven Democratic Town Committee. She holds a Master of Environmental Science degree from the Yale School of the Environment (formerly the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies), and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
Chris Casiello, Litchfield
For over 20 years, Chris Casiello has worked in Connecticut agriculture. For the first 11 years he managed a community-focused farm for a non-profit education center. In the last decade, he has overseen the creation and operation of Arethusa Farm Dairy in Litchfield, Connecticut. At Arethusa, he oversees the creation of the most diverse line of dairy products in the state, taking raw milk from our herd of cows building a brand around flavor and quality. He is a certified cheesemaker — In 2013, Arethusa’s Camembert cheese won second place in a competition by the American Cheese Society Judging and Competition in Madison, Wisconsin.
Robert Chang, Woodstock
Robert Chang is the owner of Echo Farm, an organic vegetable and cut flower farm in Woodstock, CT. Robert is a Steering Committee Member of the Southern New England Farmers of Color Collaborative, and a Steering Committee Member of the New Connecticut Farmer Alliance.
Robin Chesmer, Lebanon
Robin Chesmer is the owner of Graywall Farms in Lebanon, CT. Graywall Farms is part of The Farmer’s Cow, a group of six farm business that produces a wide variety of dairy products. Robin’s farm was once named the Connecticut Dairy Farm of the Year for the New England Green Pasture Program in 1998.
Robin is a recipient of the Farmland Preservation Pathfinder Outstanding Individual Award.
Nicholas Moore, Sharon
Nick is a recipient of the Farmland Preservation Pathfinder Outstanding Individual Award. Nick has made the preservation of Connecticut farmland his personal cause for more than a decade. He is one of the founding members of CFT. He successfully steered the fledgling organization into a vital and growing institution that has protected more than 4,000 acres of working farmlands with a robust pipeline of future projects.
Joan Nichols, Franklin
Joan is a forestry consultant and formerly the Executive Director of the Connecticut Farm Bureau Association. She is a recipient of the Farmland Preservation Pathfinder Outstanding Individual Award.
James Shepherd, Sharon
Dr. James C. Shepherd is an infectious disease specialist based in New Haven, Connecticut. His work takes him around the globe, including working with the World Health Organization in New Delhi advising the Government of India on Tuberculosis control, directing a research program in TB and HIV for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Botswana, and assisting the University of Maryland to start a large AIDS treatment program in Nigeria. As of 2020, he is currently involved in managing the COVID-19 pandemic.
He still finds time to run Smokedown Farm, a hops farm in northwestern Connecticut. Smokedown Farm supplies hops to many local breweries in the region.
Tim Slate, North Franklin
Tim is the manager of Kahn Tractor & Equipment. Kahn Tractor in North Lebanon provides agricultural and construction equipment sales, parts, service, and rentals.
Mary Claire Whelan, New Haven
MC is the Farm Manager at Massaro Community Farm in Woodbridge and has been working on farms since she was a teenager. She is passionate about farmer-led organizing and believes that farmers can be a big part of the solution to critical issues like climate change and racial injustice. Before taking on the role of Farm Manager, MC was the Coordinator of the New CT Farmer Alliance for more than three years, and worked with other farmers to successfully advocate for state funding for climate-smart agricultural practices.