Laura Kinter
Interim CEO
Laura Kinter’s nonprofit career began in Chicago in 2014, where she spent the last 13 years working at the intersection of social justice and alternative healing modalities. As Executive Director of Awakenings Art and Chief Strategy and Operations Officer at Braver Collective, she built community-based spaces where survivors could heal through creative expression and connection.
Now in a new chapter in New Haven, Laura serves as Interim CEO of Gather New Haven. She brings the same values that guided her arts and health work—creating accessible healing spaces, centering community voices, and recognizing that wellness requires connection—to Gather’s mission of environmental justice and nature-based learning. Whether through creative expression or connection to land and water, Laura believes in the power of alternative healing modalities to build healthier, more resilient communities.
Laura holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where she was recognized as both a Neubauer Civic Scholar and an Obama Foundation Scholar, and a BA from Vassar College. She serves as Finance Committee Chair and Fundraising Committee Chair for the National Organization for Arts in Health, and has previously served on the boards of the Ravenswood Chamber of Commerce and the National Association of Certified Death Midwives
Zion Jones
Director of Community Agriculture and Nature Stewardship (CANS)
Zion Jones is an emerging leader in sustainability from Denver, Colorado and comes to Gather New Haven with a background in Ecosystem Science, Sustainability, and Ethnic studies from Colorado State University, as well as a wealth of experience in environmental education and leadership.
Zion is dedicated to a personal passion of restoring our relationships to our natural environments through community centered leadership, cultural humility, and forging lasting connections to people and the environment through social-environmental justice ethics.
In her free time, she is an avid traveler, artist, farmer, eco-therapist, and lover of nature.
Karen Nelson
Schooner Program Director
Karen brings decades of experience and skill leading youth summer camp programs for not for profits. As the Senior Program Director, Karen’s primary responsibility is to plan, implement, manage and coordinate all aspects of the Schooner day camp program.
Celin Garcia
Farm Based Wellness Program Manager
Felicia Moore
Operations Manager
Felicia Moore is a dedicated advocate for nonprofits and human rights. At the University of Connecticut, she studied political science and journalism. From arts to education to the environment, Felicia is passionate about helping nonprofits meet the needs of the communities they serve. Before joining Gather New Haven, she worked for Solar Youth and the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. Felicia’s commitment to the New Haven area stems from growing up next door in Hamden