Meet Our Experienced Team

Steve Lynch

Steve has spent over a decade working in marketing and digital strategy, with experience spanning social, content, paid media, and production. He previously led social and content marketing for a national retailer with more than 300 locations, overseeing efforts at both the national brand level and across local markets at scale.

He has also consulted for standalone retail businesses, e-commerce coffee sellers, distillers, and music festivals. A lifelong musician, Steve brings an interest in craft, process, and how things are made, which shapes his approach to marketing and storytelling.

Jalita Boffman

Jalita has spent close to a decade in management roles within a variety of fast-growing startup companies, including those in the hemp CBD and cannabis industries, where she led teams and helped organizations scale in dynamic, emerging markets.

She began her career in the association space in 2022, first serving as Membership Manager for Maryland’s craft alcohol associations and more recently as a Customer Manager for a global association management software company. In that role, she assisted dozens of associations across North America with the implementation of new AMS platforms and brings a wealth of knowledge to Cultivate + Craft on leveraging technology to develop data-driven membership initiatives.

Jalita received her bachelor's degree in Biology from Penn State University.

A social butterfly by nature, Jalita is energized by connecting with people and is deeply motivated by opportunities to serve others.

Kelly Dudeck

Kelly has spent over a decade working in either agricultural policy, land preservation or local food systems work. She was Howard County’s first Food Policy Director, making huge strides from food and farmers. Before that, she was the Executive Director of the Maryland Agricultural Resource Council and prior to that Kelly served as Director of Rural Lands at 1000 Friends of Maryland, where she administered the Keep Farmers Farming campaign, as well as the Partners for Open Space coalition. She has also worked for the Ohio Department of Agriculture and Baltimore County’s Agricultural Land Preservation Program. In addition to serving on the Rural Legacy Advisory Board, the Partners for Open Space Executive Committee, and the Maryland Food Policy Blueprint Advisory Committee, Kelly is also a LEAD Class VII alumni.

Janna Howley

Food, farms and economic development have been Janna’s passions since the early 2000s. Janna spent the last nine years at Grow & Fortify, working on value-added agriculture issues and activities.

Prior to that she worked for the USDA National Organic Program’s Accreditation and International Activities Division, where she conducted auditing and accreditation activities related to organic certifiers and international partners. Prior to that, Janna was the Agricultural Marketing Specialist at the University of Maryland Extension, Prince George’s County. Prior to the Extension position, she was the Marketing & Outreach Manager for FreshFarm Markets, where she managed four Maryland farmers markets, developed community level partnerships, conducted farm visits and helped increase farmers’ visibility.

Janna also spent three years at the Center for a Livable Future at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, working on public health nutrition campaigns. She received a masters degree from the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies & Public Health at New York University, with an emphasis on the environmental and social impacts of food production systems.

Janna is also a LEAD Maryland Class VII alumni, holds a WSET Level II in Wine, and enjoys a good IPA and rye whiskey.