Young Kim - Executive Director

Young Kim has been the Executive Director of the Fondy Food Center since 2003. Prior to coming to Milwaukee he spent eight years in Seattle working with the city’s homeless population. Young describes himself as a “hardcore foodie” and is always on the lookout for exciting and simple recipes. He believes that good food makes for a strong community.

A second-generation Korean-American, Young was born and raised in the Deep South. He is the co-founder of the Asian/Pacific Islander Caucus of the Unitarian Universalist Association, former Chair of the Unitarian Universalist Nominating Committee, and a member of the Milwaukee Rotary. He currently serves as Vice President of the Community Food Security Coalition’s Board of Directors. When he’s not thinking of food and food systems, he likes to read poetry and restore vintage fountain pens. Young is a graduate of Oberlin College, and lives in Wauwatosa with his wife, the Rev. Suzelle Lynch, and daughter, Grace.

Nancy Ketchman - Director of Development and Communications

Nancy is a Milwaukee native who loves all things Milwaukee, especially the Fondy Farmers Market.  She has worked in marketing communications for more than 20 years.  And like Fondy’s Stephen Petro, she’s testament to the fact that English majors can get jobs.  She received her BA in English from Marquette University and her MA in English from the University of Connecticut at Storrs.

At Fondy, Nancy returns to what she loves best: supporting and singing the praises of Milwaukee neighborhoods and organizations like the Fondy Food Center.  Nancy lives less than 2 miles away from the Fondy Farmers Market in Milwaukee’s historic Brewers Hill neighborhood with her husband and two sons, making her and her family frequent and enthusiastic shoppers. When not cajoling everyone she meets to shop at the fabulous Fondy Farmers Market, Nancy loves wilderness camping, travelling, and enjoying Milwaukee’s many great restaurants.  

Stephen Petro - Fondy Farm Project Director

Food is a universal experience – an act that brings us all together. This simple yet profound realization has led Steven to dedicate his life to growing food. Steven comes to Fondy with 5 years of extensive agricultural experience. He has worked on and helped manage several small, diverse farms around Madison, WI as well as in Maine and Georgia. In the coming seasons, he will be collaborating with Fondy farmers and gardeners to establish a farm on 80 acres of land near Port Washington. You will see the fruits of their labor every week at Fondy Farmers Market. Steven tries to spend as much time as possible outside, loves to learn, and is an avid reader and student of sustainable agriculture. Time with family, friends, his girlfriend, her horse and two cats are cherished. Each day is a poem, but when spare time permits he enjoys reading and writing them too. Steven is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in literature and creative writing (and cannot think of a more logical way into farming). He currently dreams of growing Charentais melons.

Chevis Walker - Market Assistant