Meet the Team

Jamie Marie Christian

Executive Director
Board President
Education Curriculum Writer/ Segment Host (E3 Explorers)

Jamie Christian is the Executive Director and founder of Lettuce Turnip the Beet Sustainability Collective©(2020) and co-founder and Executive Director of its predecessor Lettuce Turnip the Beet CSGA©(2015). LTBCSGA began as a school garden initiative and has bloomed into an organization that provides sustainability and regenerative agriculture education to schools and communities in South Western PA. Jamie teaches “attainable sustainability and agriculture” methods that illustrate how to use easily obtainable materials to build, cultivate, and sustain a beautiful life. She is a lifetime lover of food, agriculture, and the environment.

In 2017 Ms. Christian moved on from a 15 year career in finance to the fulltime operation of LTBCSGA . She has continued her education through certification programs include Master Naturalist, Master Gardener, permaculture, mycology, solar and alternative energy, and biomimicry. She is the creator of E3 Explorers, Little Sprouts (birth-5yr), Farming Friends (K-8), and Sustainability Sleuths (3-8);BLOOM (Building Lives Outside of Our Military), a therapeutic and vocational transition program; and The Metavasi Project, a program that assists at risk middle school students with a successful transition to high school. Jamie is an advocate of education in sustainability, mindfulness, and farm to cafeteria/ farm to school programs for all pre-primary – secondary schools, her future endeavors are focused on changing education policy to support these initiatives. 

Ms. Christian has been a single mother since 2009. With the help of our dedicated volunteers she created our community outreach program, OHM (Our Helping Meals)in response to the covid-19 pandemic to support to single family households (particularly single mothers) and economically disadvantaged, immunosuppressed, and elderly individuals. OHM provides no contact delivery of prepared meals, dry goods, gardening supplies, personal care items, local produce and dairy. Since March 16, 2020 OHM has supplied over 90,000 pounds of food with assistance

from private donors, local businesses, farms, and other non profit organizations.

Lena Leghart

Program Assistant

Lena Leghart is the Assistant to the Executive Director and the Program Assistant. Lena joined LTBSC in 2020. She graduated from California University and has a Bachelors degree in Social Work. She resides in Pittsburgh and in her spare  time she flys dragons and swims with mermaids with her dog (Daisy Shark) and love Nic. 

Brenda Provident

Director of Customer Support (Native Nosh)
Workshop Contributor (OHM)
Board Vice President

Brenda Provident grew up in Pittsburgh and attended Penn State University, receiving a BS in Psychology. Brenda has over 20 years of client support and managment experience in the financal and insurance industries and has been instrumental in the planning an coordination of our Native Nosh Customer Fulfillment Center. Brenda also contrubutes to our OHM Wellness Program as a business professionalism and relationship consultant. She is a single mother who resides with her teen daughter, cat, birds, and a few other furry friends just outside of Pittsburgh PA.  She is a nature lover who also loves singing, traveling, and gardening with her daughter.

Etta Flanagan

HR/ Benfits Coordinator
Accountant 
Treasurer (nomination)

Etta Flanagan is an Accountant/Bookkeeper with a BS in Finance and a Masters in Accounting. As an Accountant/Bookkeeper, she is QuickBooks Certified and has experience in bank reconciliations and has handled a variety of financial issues with tact, diplomacy, and privacy. 
In addition to education, she has a passion for helping others volunteering in various nursing & retirement homes, and recently completed a 2 year mentor/mentee relationship with Big Brothers Big Sisters.  She has volunteered for Sickle Cell Warriors, as a social media manager growing their followers from 200 + to 800 + in a matter of a few months. She is the CEO/Owner of Flanagan Books LLC which offers bookkeeping services and tax preparation.  Etta assists Lettuce Turnip the Beet in managing finances and  benefits.

Erin Ward

Education Programing Production Director 

Erin Ward is an Instructional Media Designer for the online division of South College. She and one other Instructional Designer build, format, and design all of the online courses within the LMS of Canvas. They take all of the content from the content experts and transform it into a usable format for students in the various degree programs.Ward earned a B.A. in Telecommunications and an Associate degree in Business at Penn State University, as well as minoring in Photography. Prior to working at South College, she worked at the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute for Learning as an Instructional Media designer and Video & Media Producer. She has also worked in video production for over 20 years in a variety of aspects, from education work to commercial advertising to national television networks. Ward also designed and taught Photography and Video Production courses at two high schools in a charter school district in Pittsburgh. She freelances in photography, video production, and dabbles in several other artistic mediums. Erin resides in Pittsburgh with her two legged and four legged loves. 

Natalie Shearer

Education Curriculum Writer/ Segment Host (E3 Explorers)

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Ms. Shearer is a Natural Resources Project Manager. She has a diverse background including conducting rare, threatened, and endangered plant surveys and wetland and stream delineations. She is a Qualified Environmental Professional (QEP), Professional Wetland Scientist (PWS), and maintains a valid Pennsylvania wild plant management permit. She is qualified to conduct conduct Virginia spiraea surveys in West Virginia. In her spare time Natalie volunteers with Animal Friends and Rabbit Wranglers. She resides in Washington county with her fur babies and fur baby fosters. 

Jennifer Torrance

Education Curriculum Writer/ Segment Host (E3 Explorers)

Jennifer Torrance is an Erie PA native and  attended Allegheny College. She motivated and enthusiastic environmental educator with a drive to connect people with nature. Jennifer is passionate about fostering a community of biophilic young people and dedicated to increasing high quality science education programming in the Pittsburgh area and beyond. Jennifer has been sparking curiosity at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens for over 4 years and currently works as their Science Education Coordinator. Jennifer resides in Pittsburgh PA with a household of furry friends, trains horses, and teaches horseback ridingin her very limited spare time.