Our Team

Michael Rozyne has been a marketer of small farm products for three decades. He worked on conventional and organic farms in Maine, and was Purchaser and Marketer for a regional food distributor in New England. He was cofounder of the fair trade coffee company, Equal Exchange. He started Red Tomato in 1996 and is now RT’s Co-Director. He lives with his partner Kimberly and two daughters in Middleborough, Massachusetts.

Betty MacKenzie is Co-Director of Red Tomato. She also manages RT’s program with the Federation of Southern Cooperatives. She held positions as the grocery buyer, education director and marketing director at Harvest Cooperative in Boston for many years and before that, was a VISTA worker in Roxbury, Massachusetts. Her other life revolves around her family including husband Jim, teenage daughter Sofia, son Jeff, daughter-in-law Gigi, and granddaughter Vida. Much of their time is spent outdoors: cycling through apple country in the Nashoba Valley, and fending off groundhogs from the summer garden.

Angel's full name is Luis Angel Mendez. Angel came to Red Tomato in 2002 as warehouse manager, and says he was introduced to Red Tomato by Derrick Lane, the awesome former truck driver for RT. Angel held positions as Warehouse Manager for Boston Baby Superstores and T.V.I. for 7 years prior to joining Red Tomato. He is now our Operations Manager, handling transportation, trade logistics, bookkeeping and IT support. Angel says, "My journey here at Red Tomato has been an extreme learning experience. I have learned so much about agriculture and the politics that surround it. I love every aspect of the business."  Angel spends his free-time enjoying his family and his summer mornings in his garden, which he calls, his farm.

Susan Futrell has been involved in food and sustainable agriculture endeavors for over 30 years. She spent 25 years in distribution, sales and marketing, most recently as Director of Marketing for Blooming Prairie Warehouse, a Midwest organic and natural foods wholesale cooperative. She’s a writer, and has an MFA in nonfiction writing from the University of Iowa. She is Marketing Director for Red Tomato, and divides her time between Massachusetts and Iowa, where she lives with her husband, Will, two cats, and a tiny garden.

Red Tomato is thrilled to welcome Ciaran Foley as the Trade Team Leader. Ciaran developed a passion for produce while working at Whole Foods in Berkley, California. To hone his expertise in the industry, Ciaran spent 8 years as a Produce Team member followed by ten as a Produce Team Leader for the national chain. Outside of the office, Ciaran puts his BFA in art from BU to practice every Monday night by painting into the wee hours with friend John. Ciaran lives in Brookline, MA with his wife Liz (an avid gardener and excellent cook), 7 year old son Finn, and 2 dogs Loretta and Carmine.

Kate Howell is our sales director, manages our heirloom tomato program and is a food system development consultant. As a consultant, Kate researches and develops new markets, products and logistics for farmers and groups seeking to develop a wholesale food business for farmers in their community. Kate worked as a part-time leadership coach to Red Tomato prior to leaving her 20-year leadership consulting career to join Red Tomato’s staff. Kate consulted with large and small companies in eight countries and numerous industries. Kate’s Dad was a business visionary and her Mother a civil rights activist, so Kate was pretty much destined to be a change-agent with a mission in mind. But Kate says, “My real claim to fame is my love of animals. My house-sitter told me if reincarnation exists, she wants to come back as one of my cats.”

Diane Stalford a native of Hawaii is our Designer/Print Purchaser. Working part time, she has been with RT since 1996. She traffics how we visually portray ourselves and strives for design continuity between print and packaging. Diane is responsible for selecting appropriate produce packaging solutions while keeping abreast of sustainable packaging.

Tim Huggins is from Clarksdale, Mississippi, known to many as simply “the Delta.” He was born and reared inside of the produce industry as his family has owned wholesale and retail produce businesses for a few generations. He is the founder of Newtonville Books & The Lizard’s Tale, an award-winning independent bookstore that he opened in 1998 in Newton, Massachusetts. After selling the bookstore in 2003, he sought new paths in life and discovered Red Tomato through his companion Eliza Brown and neighbor Jonathan Rosenthal (the Equal Exchange connections). He now works for Red Tomato in the areas of trade, business development and research. He currently lives with Eliza, her son Aidan and his daughter Ilana in Watertown, Massachusetts.

Jon Wright, CPA is Red Tomato’s Finance Manager. He keeps our books, and those of many other non-profits, in top shape, while maintaining a busy life with his family in Newburyport, Massachusetts.

Laura Edwards-Orr is Red Tomato's Marketing and Communications Manager. Laura is a writer, researcher and consummate foodie dedicated to making food systems change understandable (and hopefully attainable) to everyone. Laura works closely with the Trade, Marketing, and Food Systems Development teams at Red Tomato to tell the wonderful, and sometimes quirky, story of good food, the farmers who grow it, and how it travels from farm to plate.