Seed Savers Exchange announces new Executive Director

The Seed Savers Exchange Board of Directors has named a new Executive Director. 

Lee Buttala will become executive director at Seed Savers on July 10th.  He succeeds John Torgrimson, who announced in July 2016 he would step down from the position after seven years of leadership.

A Midwest native, Buttala is currently overseeing a strategic plan for Bedrock Garden in Lee, New Hampshire after working as marketing communications director for the Berkshire Botanical Garden in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

Buttala writes a regular column called "The Self-Taught Gardener" and served as co-editor of the award-winning book ,"The Seed Garden: The Art and Practice of Seed Saving," published by Seed Savers Exchange in 2015.  He also served as executive producer and director of PBS's "Cultivating Life."  He won an Emmy Award in 2003 as a producer of programming at Martha Stewart Productions.

Said Buttala, "I believe the next step is engaging and connecting people with our mission even further—sharing what we have and what we know—and I am excited to be a part of that important work."