Our shared core values
Respect is at the heart of Wild Ones. We have respect for each other, for nature and for the earth.
We’re an inclusive community. Diverse voices and backgrounds make us stronger. That’s why we welcome everyone to join us.
We provide evidence-based information, because the seeds of change spread most efficiently when grounded in data. We monitor and share the latest evidence informed strategies.
We’re action and growth oriented. Just dig in! We learn, grow, and share our knowledge.
You can view our chapter’s bylaws here.
Meet our board of directors
Janice Arch, President
As a Northeast Ohio native, Janice knew she wanted to design landscapes from a young age, but it was that first plant ID class back in her sophomore year of college that really sealed the deal for her. Her love of plants began then.
After obtaining her Bachelors in Horticulture, she went on to get her Masters in Landscape Architecture and took a native plant ID course which drove her love of natural, healthy, and thriving ecosystems even more.
Now, as a licensed Landscape Architect in the state of Ohio, her projects at work range from commercial-retail sites, to new school buildings and libraries, as well as NEO stream restoration.
At home in Stow, her yard is filled with 20+ native species and is ever-growing. In her spare time she loves to hike with her husband and daughter, talk to anyone who will listen about plants and dogs, and is always up for trying new things & meeting new people.
Jessica Ausnehmer, Vice President
Jessica is an Ohio native who is a Business Consultant, Strategic Project Manager, and Professional Visionary Life Coach. She volunteers with Wild Ones both at the local chapter level and on the national membership committee.
Inspired by friends over the years, she dove into her native plant journey in late 2020 and spent months studying and creating a design to turn her yard into a beautiful biodiverse native landscape and monarch waystation. She feels passionately about Wild One’s mission and hopes to help people understand not only the benefits of planting native, but that there are ways to help no matter your level of knowledge or experience.
Sarah Blair, Treasurer
Born and raised in Northeast Ohio, Sarah has been passionate about native plants for many years. A designer and online retailer by day, she spends as much of her free time as possible in her garden or in nature.
She has worked in environmental fields such as invasive plant removal and wildland firefighting, and has studied environmental science at the graduate level. Recently she has been working on slowly establishing a food forest and native plant garden in her yard.
Anya Milgrom, Co-Secretary & Membership Chair
Anya has lived in Southern California & New York City, and moved to Northeast Ohio in 2014.
She is a Training & Process Improvement Manager for a legal research company during the day, but having gotten the gardening bug later in life, spends a lot of her spare time learning about plants, insects, and birds to make up for lost time. Her exposure to native plants and their importance for a healthy ecosystem began with a lecture by Doug Tallamy, and she has not looked back since.
She has been a certified Master Gardener Volunteer in Cuyahoga County since 2022, with particular interest in native plants and horticultural education for children and youth, and she volunteers with West Creek Conservancy and Holden Arboretum. She lives in Strongsville with her husband and two rescue dogs, and is currently working on removing invasive plants from her yard and replacing them with native alternatives that support wildlife. She loves meeting others who are passionate about native plants, and can’t wait to hear your native plant stories!
Cassie Hoover, Co-Secretary & Social Media Chair
Cassie is a passionate nutrition and sustainability professional with a husband and 3 cats. She loves the textures, sounds, shapes and possibilities of the natural world, especially in the context of native plants.
She’s inspired by the idea that we can use our own corner of the world to make life a bit better for ourselves and others (human and not) by planting native and thoughtfully evolving our practices. And finally – she believes you never really know a plant until you’ve killed it at least three times, which tells you a lot about how she is still constantly learning and evolving in her understanding of plants!
Diane Davis, Board Member & Volunteer Coordinator
Diane Davis is a retired HR executive, having spent most of her life in the Akron area but also lived in Virginia and California for 15 years. She graduated from the University of Akron with a degree in Business/Human Resources and received her Masters in Human Resources from Cleveland State. She has two adult children, Emily and Zach, and lives with her husband, Robert and dog, Bernie in Uniontown.
Diane is incredibly excited to be able to help our Wild Ones chapter in the Treasurer position. Native plants and healing the Earth are her passions, and she looks forward to getting to know more of our members.
Ray Stewart, Board Member
Raymond Stewart is the founder of Webbedfoot Designs, Inc., a carbon-neutral, sustainable landscape design, and consulting non-profit. He is an environmental landscape horticulturist specializing in Ohio’s native plants and is a Certified Master Rain Gardener, Certified Interpretive Guide, retired science teacher, and founder, past president, and current wetland ambassador of the Ohio Wetlands Association.
As lead designer at Webbedfoot Designs, Inc., Ray comes with a wealth of experience as a botanist, landscape manager and naturalist with a strong focus on plant ecology. Ray’s suburban 1/4-acre lot is 30% vegetable and flower garden, with rain gardens and rain barrels managing runoff from most hard surfaces. The process continues as native plants expand into a shrinking lawn.
Allison Welch, Board Member
Allison Welch is a Northeast Ohio native and a passionate environmental advocate. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Spanish from Hiram College and a Master’s in Special Education from Cleveland State.
She has worked in horticulture at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, Kendal at Oberlin and is an active member of the Lakewood Tree Advisory and Education Board. Allison is also pursuing a degree in Sustainable Agriculture at LCCC.
Her work and personal life reflect her commitment to regenerative practices, urban reforestation, and ecology. At home in Lakewood, she enjoys the company of her wife and many plants and animals.
Shelley Tender, Board Member & Medina County Regional Coordinator
Shelley Tender is a NE Ohio native and naturalist who has been fortunate to make her living for the past 20 years inspiring others to love nature too while working for the Medina County Park District.
With a combined passion for native plants and desire to make them accessible to everyone, she and her partner Bill started Camel Creek Natives, a home-based native plant nursery. The duo grows native plants, trees and shrubs to sell during special sale dates through the park district, with sale proceeds going to the non-profit support group Friends of Medina County Parks for use in future stewardship projects.
Meet our officers
Jane Lindmark, Assistant Membership Chair
Jane Lindmark joined Wild Ones as an Assistant Membership Chair because she has a keen interest in the work that Wild Ones does to promote knowledge about the value of native plants and how they work to sustain landscape diversity. Jane majored in Biology and graduated from Kent State University.
She is now retired from various careers and could not wait to get involved in projects that have lasting impact for the future. She is slowly working to convert her lawn to support more native species and maintains a large herb garden and a pocket prairie garden. Her 2 rescue cats observe her digging in the dirt from their window perch and wistfully watch the birds at the feeders. She enjoys hiking, birding, reading, gardening, and the many cultural attractions offered in NE Ohio.
Erin Jennings, NEO Native Habitat Corridor Chair
Erin Jennings is an engineer by day and a botanist at heart. She got her degree in Environmental Engineering and Biology at Ohio State.
She grew up hiking in the Fall hiking spree through Summit Metro Parks and has wanted to be in the woods ever since. She focuses on restoring native communities, stream and wetland restoration, and environmental education.
She lives in Tallmadge, Ohio with her husband, dog, cats, and chickens and is working on creating a homestead and native garden.
Jim Wolen, Assistant Volunteer Coordinator
Jim has been a gardener all his life. His dad always had a vegetable garden and he would help him as he was growing up. As an adult Jim also had a vegetable garden and as homeowner he began planting decorative plants.
About ten years ago he went to a lecture on host plants, mostly highlighting trees. After that lecture, he began to notice bugs in his garden and would get excited when seeing bugs. He then began adding natives and eliminating non-natives, including 100 square feet of beautiful day lilies.
Jim and his wife get a lot of joy seeing bees, butterflies and birds who frequent their garden. Jim also appreciates the many benefits of using native plants and has a desire to share his knowledge with others.
Julie Slater, Web Chair
In addition to acting as Web Chair, Julie co-owns Meadow City Native Plant Nursery, which sells local ecotype native plants at its brick-and-mortar location on Cleveland’s east side!
Julie is a recent transplant to Greater Cleveland, having grown up in Virginia and overseas. She has an M.S. in Environment and Natural Resources from Ohio State and has worked in environmental consulting, wetland research, and environmental education.
Jen Horn, Grant/Fundraising Chair
Jen Horn lives in Massillon and her favorite places are outside in nature or inside a library. Her favorite plant changes more often than seasons, but right now it’s the sugar maple. She has experience in business, nursing, and managing grants and is excited to bring those skills to the Wild Ones movement!
Antonio Zodda, Community Garden Chair
Antonio is a native of the city of Cleveland where he runs his ecological consulting company, Paradise Natives.
A graduate of Ohio State’s Ecosystem Restoration major, he has enjoyed several years of experience working on projects across our state’s varied landscapes. In his career, Antonio relishes the opportunity to rewild the yards of Northeast Ohioans as well as help restore larger tracts of degraded woodland and wetland habitat.
He aims for a complete cultural overhaul regarding the way in which we relate to the natural world. He sees and seeks to bolster the strong potential for the Northeast Ohio community to be a national leader of this paradigm shift in the coming years.
Diab Dar-Issa, Cuyahoga County Regional Coordinator
Diab Dar-Issa lives in Cleveland as a proud homeowner of a gorgeous historic Victorian home with beautiful native gardens.
He has always loved native plants and has always been stressing the importance of native plants to his local ecoregion. Through education, Diab wants people to re-wild, un-lawn, and move away from boring monocultures of non-native turf grass. He refers to his yard and gardens as ‘My Urban Woodland & Meadow,’ which is how he has it listed on the Northeast Ohio Native Habitat Corridor Map!
It was at Meadow City – his favorite native plant store – in Summer, 2024 where he first saw the yard sign for the Northeast Ohio Native Habitat Corridor and that was what led him to discover the Wild Ones organization. A sign was purchased, and Diab became a member of Wild Ones Greater Cleveland chapter that day. Since then he has attended WOGC events and started volunteering with the chapter in 2025 (including processing gardens for the Northeast Ohio Native Habitat Corridor). Now, he is proud to represent the west side of Cuyahoga County as the Cuyahoga County Regional Coordinator!