Menu

CISA welcomes Klippenstein, Johnson to board

The Greenfield Recorder, April 20, 2017

CISA, Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture, welcomes two new board members: Ronn Johnson and Amy Klippenstein. The two newest board members were voted in on March 30 and will serve three-year terms.

CISA, a South Deerfield-based nonprofit, strengthens farms and engages the community to build the local food economy. CISA’s board is made up of both farmers and community members who represent a range of business and community ties.

Johnson is the president and CEO of Martin Luther King Family Services in Springfield. This nonprofit organization provides academic after school programs, college preparation, parenting assistance, emergency food and housing and support services to families with mental health and/or substance abuse issues. Johnson has held a variety of community-based positions including director of community responsibility for MassMutual, where he worked with CISA to enable local farmers to sell their products on campus.

Klippenstein, with her husband Paul Lacinski, owns Sidehill Farm in Hawley. Their creamery produces more than 1,500 gallons of yogurt and sour cream a week, which is available all over Massachusetts. They graze their cows on 125 acres of certified organic pasture. Klippenstein has served on CISA’s Emergency Farm Fund committee since it launched in 2012.