Meet the 2026 Wild Ones West Cook Board

The West Cook Wild Ones Board is made up of eleven people who work together to run our organization. We have a lot of fun as we promote and advocate for native plant gardening. We do this by planning and implementing our educational programs, running plant sales, and awarding grants.

Laura Hartwell-Berlin, President, Garden Tour co-chair
Laura has been a longtime advocate, supporter, and volunteer with WOWC. She has made our chapter stronger than ever with her organizational skills, tenacity, and willingness to adjust and adapt. Laura oversees several critical areas: Programs, the Native Garden Tour, and plant sales.

Carolyn Cullen, Vice-President, Plant Sale Committee, co-chair
Carolyn has been with WOWC since 2014 and a Wild Ones member since 2000. A long-time native plant advocate and restoration volunteer, Carolyn joined to help bring native plants to home gardens. She is the woman behind our Shopify site, a model for so many other non-profits and WO chapters.

Sharon Storbeck, Treasurer, Plant Sale-co-chair
Sharon has also been with WOWC shortly after its founding. She is also on the Plant Sale Committee. She has given us steady guidance about our finances and plant sales strategies over the years.

Candace Blank, Membership Chair
A long-time member whom we finally convinced to join the board, Candace is an instrumental part of Wild Ones and has developed systems of welcoming and retaining members of our organization. She is passionate about our mission and about members. With whatever we do, she reminds us about where our focus should be: on members.

Douglas Chien, Grants Committee Chair

Douglas brings 25+ years of professional and volunteer experience in native landscaping, ecological restoration, and environmental advocacy. He’s a volunteer Steward of an Illinois Nature Preserve within the Cook County forest preserves. His home reflects his values with native landscaping and a high-efficiency building envelope.

Karen Crawford, Programming Committee

Since retirement from a 40+year career as an attorney specializing in general corporate and real estate law, I have pursued my interest in the protection and conservation of our precious natural resources, both in terms of education and volunteer activity. I have completed the class portion of the Cook County Master Naturalist program and volunteer in the Cook County Forest Preserves; I am an active member of the Western Springs Treekeepers program; and I am working on the N-Act certification from Morton Arboretum. In addition, I attended the Environmental Law Institute Boot Camp in 2024 and was a fellow in Cohort 7 of the Climatebase Fellowship program, as well as attending Loyola University’s annual Environmental Conference. Finally, I recently completed conversion of my yard to native plants and participate in review of local gardens for the Native Garden certification through the Master Naturalist program.

Laura Derks, Advocacy Committee

As a longtime health care professional, Laura believes that time spent in nature is some of the best medicine around. As an Openlands tree keeper, a naturalist, and a conservation at home evaluator, she practices her love for trees and care for native ecosystems often. She currently facilitates the Oak Park Climate Action Network and is a former chair of the Energy and Environment Commission for the Village of Oak Park.

Kate Hamerton, Advocacy Committee

When I started gardening, I hoped to show other Oak Parkers that even a small native garden can be a beautiful place of respite and enjoyment of nature. After reading Doug Tallamy’s work and learning about the Homegrown National Park project in 2020, I started looking for other ways to be involved, including finding and joining WCWO (and putting my garden in the garden walk). I would like to serve as an activist point person helping to mobilize and support the village government and new Sustainability Coordinator towards getting Oak Park to live up to (and exceed) the promise of our Climate Ready plan when it comes to biodiversity and native plants. In 2023, I retired from full-time teaching at Columbia College, where I’m an Associate Professor Emerita of History; my skills are in research, analysis, education, public speaking, and writing. My husband and I moved to Oak Park in 2004 and have raised our family here, with our son graduating from OPRF in 2023.

Summer Kee,

I’m a nurse practitioner with an interest in native plants, botany, and prairie restoration. Since I moved to Forest Park in 2020, I’ve been converting my yard into a space for native plants and am hoping to begin converting my neighbors’ parkways to no-mow native areas as well.

Emily Minor, Grants Committee

I have been a West Cook Wild Ones member since the early days and have always admired the organization and its leaders. I have often volunteered to help with the plant sale and would enjoy playing a larger role in the organization. As a professor at UIC, I could potentially make connections between Wild Ones and the university, its students, faculty, and facilities (including the UIC greenhouse). I have substantial experience organizing events such as conferences, and writing a wide variety of documents including grant proposals. I enjoy collaborating and problem-solving, and am proficient with technology.