RCMG 2026-2027 Board Candidates

10/10/2025

RCMG members are asked to vote for candidates running to join the 2026-2027 RCMG Board of Directors.

• Maggie Maggio (2026 Vice Chair, 2027 Chair)

• Kathy Passe (2026 Treasurer)

• Travis Sandland (2026-27 New Member Co-chair)

• Jo Sullivan (2026-27 Education Co-chair)

• Amanda Swanson (2026-27 Marketing and Communication Co-chair)

• Nanette Boudreau (2026-27 Marketing and Communication Co-chair)

• Julie Bechtold (206-27 Finance Committee Chair)

A ballot will be sent to all active and certified volunteers (including interns who have completed the Core Course and have both completed and entered 50 volunteer hours) beginning on October 21. All votes must be in by midnight October 31. To certify the new board members, a quorum of 30% (number of responses from voting members) is required.

Maggie Maggio

Candidate for: 2026 Vice Chair, 2027 Chair

Joined RCMG: 2022

About this Candidate

Gardening has been a lifelong interest, rooted in early memories of watching my grandmother and mother tend their gardens. After years of apartment living, I was eager to have outdoor space when I bought my home seven years ago. Since then, I’ve steadily transformed the yard into a mix of raised beds, native plants, and cut flowers—while keeping enough lawn for my dog to enjoy. I value practical, sustainable gardening and enjoy experimenting with different growing methods.

Garden and nutrition education, along with food access, are deeply important to me and my volunteer work with RCMG reflects these values. I spend many summer Saturdays at the Downtown Saint Paul Farmers Market, answering questions and learning from both the public and fellow Master Gardeners. I also grow produce and flowers for donation through Gardens for Good. This year, I served as co-captain for the tomato section of the RCMG Plant Sale, where we successfully sold out of over 1,100 tomato plants. Beyond RCMG, I served on my company’s Community Impact Council for the past two years, helping direct $200,000 in donations toward workforce development and rural hunger initiatives. I’m excited about the opportunity to help shape the future of RCMG and ensure we continue to meet the evolving needs of our community.

Kathy Passe

Candidate for: 2026 Treasurer

Joined RCMG: 2020

About this Candidate

One of her favorite volunteer activities has been growing a variety of tomatoes, peppers and native plants from seed for the annual plant sale. Each spring her basement is transformed into a massive indoor greenhouse. She lives in the Highland Park neighborhood of St. Paul where her small urban yard is perfect for hosting a pollinator perennial garden. In the summer you will also see her deck and patio overrun with many Menards and Home Depot buckets transformed

into containers for growing vegetables. In March of 2021 she stepped in to backfill as an interim treasurer for RCMG and realized it was a perfect fit for her interests in finance and accounting.

During the winter and early spring months she also volunteers as a tax aide counselor for AARP

Foundation Tax Aide program. When she isn’t volunteering, she enjoys spending time with her

four young grandchildren. She also enjoys being outdoors taking e-bike trips throughout the

metro area’s bike trails.

Travis Sandland

Candidate for: 2026 New Member Co-Chair, 2027 New Member Chair

Joined RCMG: 2022

About this Candidate

I was born and raised on a wild rice farm in northern Minnesota and was very involved with another UMN extension project (4-H) all through elementary and high school, doing lots of indoor gardening projects with my Grandma Betty. She pressured me to become a Master Gardener for several decades but the busyness of life kept me from taking the plunge.

In the meantime, my job at the IDEAL Center at the Science Museum of MN working with teachers, faculty, and other adult professional audiences has kept me steeped in the Extension Service work of helping folks bridge the knowledge-to-action gap: i.e., not just learning new things but actually taking action with that new knowledge.

In 2021, I decided I needed to go undercover in someone else’s extension service to up my game, and I’m so glad I found my way back to UMN Extension, joining RCMG in 2022. I’m still focused on indoor gardening, starting several hundred plants from seed every winter/spring, helping with the indoor plant section at the plant sale, and keeping a collection of oddball indoor plants. My favorite volunteer activity my first year was helping out with interviews for the 2023 class, and I’m excited to help lead that work in the coming years.

Jo Sullivan

Candidate for: 2026 Education Co-Chair, 2027 Education Chair

Joined RCMG: 2024

About this Candidate

I have always felt a connection to nature, and that connection has deepened over the years and is at the core of who I am and what brings me joy. Increasingly, I feel concern about wildlife populations in decline, decreases in biodiversity, the need to do something good for our environment, and recognize the importance of respecting nature, not being its adversary, but working in partnership. My MG program personal priorities are horticultural skills, plant biodiversity, and pollinator health, and I am passionate about native plants. I also have a strong science background and appreciate the MG focus on research-based information.

Over the past twenty plus years I’ve worked with nature to transform my backyard into a series of native flower beds connected by mowed paths. It’s a sunny garden surrounded by oak trees, and is a haven for insects, birds, and other wildlife. My grandkids and I collect the monarch caterpillars from the milkweed and raise them into butterflies which we release. My garden was on the Garden Gate Tour in 2024. Some of my most memorable MG volunteering efforts have been working with youth to engage them in hands-on horticultural activities as well as help them understand the importance of conservation efforts.

I’m a strong proponent of the Homegrown National Park and Bring Conservation Home movements which encourage the practice of conservation at the local level, one yard at a time.

I want to help expand ecosystem stewardship through community education. There is so much research-based information to share on this topic, as well as the opportunity to spread the enthusiasm and increase the buy-in, among our youth as well as the adults in our community. I am an experienced educator and would like to help inspire others to be lifelong horticultural learners.

Amanda Swanson

Candidate for: 2026 Marketing Communications Co-Chair, 2027 Marketing Communications Chair

Joined RCMG: 2023

About this Candidate

I grew up in Reno, Nevada and moved to Minnesota after college in Washington, DC. I took up gardening during the COVID pandemic and haven't looked back! I even grew the flowers for my wedding in 2024.

I joined RCMG in 2023 to grow as a gardener (pun intended) and to find a community, and this organization has helped me do both! I've had the chance to utilize my professional experience in social media and graphic design to help manage our Facebook and Instagram pages, make graphics, and more. I'm excited to take these skills further and join the board of directors.

Nanette Boudreau

Candidate for: 2024-25

Representative of marketing & communications committee

Joined RCMG: 2010

About this Candidate

I grew up in northern Minnesota helping to plant and tend a large garden that provided most of the vegetables for my family of seven. My St. Paul garden contains mostly perennials and natives, including a division of my great-grandmother’s 78-year-old peony.

I joined the Master Gardener program in 2010 and previously served on the board as the New Member chair. I have an extensive background in healthcare Communications and marketing and co-lead a team of Master Gardener volunteers to help increase RCMG visibility on social media and in the community.

I believe the rapid growth of RCMG requires increased communications within the organization and to the community to help keep MGs engaged and to develop new partnerships and opportunities to further our priorities.

Julie Bechtold

Candidate for: 2026-27 Finance Committee Chair

Joined: 2022

About this Candidate

Julie lives in Roseville on a half-acre that she is converting from a neglected dirt bike track to a space bursting with natives, perennials, and vegetables. She loves learning about houseplant propagation, alternative growing mediums and tree identification.

Julie has been both Vice Chair and Chair of the RCMG nonprofit Board of Directors. She currently has an active role in the Communication Committee and Finance Committee, and is the technology administrator for the RCMG nonprofit. She looks forward to once again serving on the Board of Directors to encourage communication, keep operations running smoothly, and expand our community outreach efforts.