MANAGEMENT TEAM

Nona Yehia

Co-Founder & CEO

An accomplished architect by training, Nona built Vertical Harvest from the ground up as North America’s first vertical hydroponic greenhouse. She also pioneered the company to focus on inclusive, customized employment for people with physical and/or intellectual disabilities alongside her co-founder Caroline Croft-Estay. She conceived the company based on her experiences growing up with a brother with developmental disabilities, love of fresh and local food, obsession with great design and long-standing community involvement. And her organic connection to all aspects of the enterprise continues to fuel Nona’s insight into the business and her dynamic leadership style.

Caroline Croft Estay

Co-Founder & Director of Diversity and Inclusion

An expert in behavioral health and workforce management, Caroline crafted and implemented Vertical Harvest’s innovative “Grow Well” employee model. Her role as a unique “grower of people” is to develop new approaches and modalities for fun, individualized and meaningful employment based on employee feedback. She is passionate about providing underserved communities and differently-able individuals with the education, support and development to thrive at work.

Arik Griffin

CFO

Bringing an MBA and a deep belief in vertical farming’s potential to revolutionize agriculture, Arik joined the Vertical Harvest pre-launch board in 2009. After witnessing the impact of the company’s social mission and the tremendous community support behind it, he joined the team full time in 2016 to develop and implement Vertical Harvest’s financial and operations systems.

Todd Hanna

COO

Taylor Eckerson

Project and Executive Coordinator

Taylor has been with Vertical Harvest since the doors first opened in 2016. She’s worked her way from volunteer, to greenhouse job support, to her current vital role juggling special projects for administration, finance, operations, and payroll.

Kyra Vail Foley

Marketing Coordinator

Kyra is the go-to professional for everything from handling outbound sales and inbound produce orders, to designing and managing digital marketing campaigns. With a BA in business administration and a background in graphic design, she oversees our social media channels, writes and develops our email newsletters, and is the creative voice behind much of our marketing material.