Becca Stevens

Founder & President

Becca Stevens is an Episcopal priest, a speaker, justice advocate, and the founder and president of Thistle Farms. In 1997, Becca opened one recovery home for five women survivors from the streets to offer them free housing in a loving community for healing. Over twenty years later, Becca's work has helped grow Thistle Farms from its Nashville base to a national network of sister organizations and global partners. Becca has been named a White House Champion of Change, a CNN Hero, and holds numerous honorary doctorates and she has been featured on The Today Show, ABC World News, NPR and in the New York Times and has founded eight social enterprises to date.

Becca's active speaking helps grow the community of friends and advocates for Thistle Farms worldwide. Becca has written 10 books, her most recent, Love Heals, was published by Harper Collins.

Tasha Kennard

Chief Executive Officer

Tasha is a native Nashvillian who brings a wealth of both non-profit and for-profit leadership experience to the Thistle Farms CEO role. Driven to serve the community, Tasha has led innovative solutions that simultaneously closed gaps for the underserved while lifting up entrepreneurs. 

As Executive Director of the Nashville Farmers’ Market, Tasha led efforts to revitalize the 200 year-old beloved institution, including a $7 million renovation; establishment of small business incubation programs; and a statewide food-security program that doubled the buying power for EBT customers, and secured $1 million in grant funding during the pandemic. 

Tasha has most recently served at Southall Farms, a farm resort and hospitality company, and has also served as Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee. 

She is now grateful to call Thistle Farms home and put her hand to the healing and hospitality deeply engrained in its DNA.

Scott Ryder

Chief Financial Officer

CYNDI DEMICK

Sr. Director of Manufacturing Operations 

Cyndi joined the Thistle Farms team in the midst of the pandemic. She is a visionary, and expertly guides our growth through a trauma-informed lens.

Cyndi holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from University of Missouri and an MBA from Webster University. She is notably the youngest plant manager of a Kraft manufacturing facility.

Cyndi and her son moved from St. Louis to Nashville, and she has happily lent him to Thistle Farms for photoshoots, volunteering, and other times a trusted pair of hands are needed. In her spare time, Cyndi is an avid needlepointer and is very passionate about baseball. Go Cards!

Val Holden

Sr. Director of Marketing

Val, together with her team, is the steward of Thistle Farms’ on and offline brand. Having spent the last several years of her career working in the for-profit sector for a consumer products company with multiple brands, Val is grateful to put her hand to a purpose close to her heart. 

Prior to joining Thistle Farms, Val was an avid patron of The Café at Thistle Farms, so being able to walk across the street for a Honey Lavender Latte is close to paradise.

ALISA BERNARD

Director of Public Policy & Advocacy

Alisa provides leadership that helps Thistle Farms and its network partners address harmful practices and policies that promote the sexual abuse and exploitation of women as well as identifying legislative opportunities that can help more survivors of trafficking and prostitution access the supports they need to heal.

Previously, she served as the Executive Director of Education and Partnerships for the Organization for Prostitution Survivors, was appointed to the Washington State Attorney General's CSEC Coordinating Committee, was a founding member of King County's Ending Exploitation Collaborative, and has consulted to such organizations as Amber Alert, Demand Abolition, and World Without Exploitation, while continuing to work as a consultant to NCMEC and NCOSE.

She has authored articles featured in the Seattle Times, Crosscut, and Dignity Journal.

KENNY CORBETT

Director of Logistics

Kenny was a long time volunteer before joining Thistle Farms in 2018, after spending many years in the music business. He enjoys traveling and photography, using both to provide endless memories.

TARA HAMILTON

Director of Development & Community Engagement

Tara Hamilton oversees the Development Department, including volunteer management, donor cultivation and stewardship, and community engagement. Tara has worked with other nonprofits, including Vanderbilt University and Tennessee Performing Arts Center. Tara holds a BS in Family and Consumer Sciences from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and a MS in Strategic Fundraising and Philanthropy from Bay Path University. She loves to read and spend time outdoors.

SALLY ANNE HARRELL

Director of Global Shared Trade

Sally Anne joined our Global Team in early 2018 to build and structure our community involvement with our partner. She worked for the Peace Corps for 2 years in Mongolia as a community and youth development advisor. Sally Anne learned about Thistle Farms back in 2004 and after returning to Nashville, was inspired by the growth of the organization. With a background in international and non-profit development, Sally Anne has a passion to build Global Shared Trade to become a space of information sharing and growth for all.

Ty Johnson

Director of Manufacturing

KYLE MATHENEY

Director of Information Technology

Kyle first learned his way around a computer while he was a manager at Subway after a customer came in and asked to use the dumpster to throw a computer away. He took it and it wasn't long after that he had it rebuilt and was playing Super Nintendo games on it.

From there, he spent 10 years in many IT verticals, including end-user support, networking, programming, project management, and engineering. His experience gave him the vision to see what Thistle Farms needed. As our first official IT hire, it was only a matter of months before Kyle was promoted to director and built a team to support our growing technology needs.

Kyle fits right into Music City! He plays the guitar and piano, and is a Vols fan. During his time with us, he has found that he loves being part of a community that emphasizes recovery and grace and has also celebrated 8 years of sobriety.

KATRINA ROBERTSON

Director of Sales

If you carry Thistle Farms products in your store, you’ll have the good fortune to work directly with Katrina. A 2008 graduate of Thistle Farms Residential, Katrina has been in charge of the company’s wholesale accounts since 2007. Her long history with the organization and her nurturing personality make her an incredible support not only for customers, but for all her sisters at Thistle Farms. Her hospitality extends to her home life, too, where she can often be found hosting a barbeque or fish fry on her back deck, feeding and celebrating friends and family. She is an active member of her community, serving on the Board of Directors of Nashville CARES.

SHERRI RODDICK

Director of Business Development

Sherri’s dedication to the Thistle Farms community goes back to almost day-one. In 2001, she read an article about Thistle Farms in the paper and heard a voice tell her “go.”

Since then, Sherri has served as a volunteer candlemaker, a sales contractor, and, now, the Director of Business Development. Through cross-country moves and career changes, Thistle Farm’s devoted sisterhood and mission to love others has kept her connected to the community. 

In her current role as Director of Business Development, Sherri designs intentional customer experiences that help people around the world experience radial hospitality, love that heals, and, of course, smell good. Long term, she looks forward to working herself out of a job and seeing a graduate or resident take her place. Sherri is also a clinical aromatherapist and consults on scents for many of Thistle Farm’s products. Her favorite scent they’ve created is Bulgarian Lavender.

Sherri’s zest for life and love of people informs everything she does. She enjoys sailing and hiking with her family and cooking nourishing meals that bring people together— her banana pudding is beloved by the community. A lover of books and opera, she lives by the philosophy that “words matter” and dedicates herself to speaking life to those around her.

SHELIA SIMPKINS-MCCLAIN

Director of Residential Services 

Shelia Simpkins-McClain is a 2007 Thistle Farms Residential graduate. Her past trafficking experiences are the driving force behind her desire to help others who have experienced trafficking. Shelia serves on the Human Trafficking Advisory Council for the State of Tennessee, and is a survivor advocate for Grace Empowered, a court-ordered prostitution intervention program operated by the Nashville-Davidson County Office of the District Attorney General. In addition, Shelia completed the Human Trafficking Leadership Academy fellowship program in 2018.

She has a B.A. in Psychology and in 2021 graduated from the University of Tennessee–Knoxville with a Master’s in Social Work, with a concentration in Organizational Leadership.

COURTNEY SOBIERALSKI

Director of Human Resources

Courtney grew up in a tight knit community where you never had to face challenges alone. Drawn to a similar feeling at Thistle Farms, Courtney started volunteering in 2012 and was quickly recruited to open the very first café. 

For nine years, Courtney served as the Director of Café Services, opening a total of three restaurants and providing outstanding leadership to her team.

Courtney has always cared deeply about the people, culture, and mission of Thistle Farms. So, when the Director of Human Resources role opened up—her dream job—she was a natural fit.

In her new role, Courtney hopes to protect and scale the culture that makes Thistle Farms unique as we continue to grow. She aims to create a safer, more affirming, trauma-informed atmosphere where employees feel seen, heard, valued, and appreciated at work, regardless of their role in the organization. 

A woman of many talents, Courtney is a musical theatre enthusiast, a hula-hooper, and has the voice of an angel. When not at work, you can find Courtney spending time with her husband, two daughters, and labradoodle Lyla, reading/listening to anything by Brené Brown or Glennon Doyle, or traveling to explore new places.

MELISSA WERT

Director of Innovation & Training

After volunteering for 10 years, Melissa joined the Thistle Farms staff in August 2014. She can be found most days standing at her desk, headphones on and healing oils close by. She is responsible for implementing Thistle Farms’ complex logistics and  inventory management systems that begin with the reception of raw materials and end with the shipment of finished goods.

Her patient nature—developed during her years as a classroom teacher—makes her a go-to for training and problem-solving.

Melissa maintains a bountiful home garden, and her love of nature has led to an impressive collection of bird feathers and heart-shaped rocks.

DANA WRONSKI

Director of Café & Hospitality

Dana nurtures the daily operations of The Café and events with her love of hospitality and wealth of expertise in executive leadership.  A San Francisco native, Dana studied theatre and moved to New York City at 23 to follow her dreams. In the process she fell in love with  restaurants, opening 7 new restaurants and serving in management roles for Ark Restaurants. 

Eventually moving back to San Francisco, she had a 10 year run with The Kimpton Hotel Group managing several properties and operating the company's flagship restaurant, Scala’s Bistro, earning a nod from The James Beard Foundation.

With two kids in tow, Dana and her husband relocated to a small seaside town in Rhode Island where they opened 4 restaurants, receiving critical acclaim and later partnering with the owners of the boutique restaurant, Beso’s Kitchen and Cocktails.

The award-winning, 35 year veteran has owned, operated and opened successful restaurants across the U.S.  Dana is founder of Butter + Grace, a Nashville based restaurant hospitality company. 

Thistle Farms is a dream job for her, combining her love of hospitality, community and purpose.