Inspired by her professional life in the city of Buffalo, Dawne Hoeg founded Stitch Buffalo in 2014. A creative at heart, Dawne has always loved the textile arts and has centered her career around this discipline. She taught in the Textile and Fiber Arts Design Department at Buffalo State College and served as the handwork teacher at the Aurora Waldorf School. In 2019, The Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo selected her as a finalist in the Up and Comer category for their prestigious Centennial Awards, honoring change makers in our community.

Michelle Perkins is a textile artist and community organizer with a background in project management, marketing, and instructional design. She serves on the planning committee for Elmwood Avenue Festival of the Arts, as a board member for Stronger Together WNY, and is a lifelong textile artist. She has a passion for the roles of creativity, sustainability, and communication in building safe, equitable communities.

Linda Crist is a graduate of Marketing and Business Administration at SUNY Fredonia, and comes to Stitch Buffalo from SHECAN! (501c3), where she served as the Director of Membership Development and Operations. Linda has a long tenure in sales, management, and operations for non-profit growth. She describes herself as a heart-centered community and network builder.

Dakota Follis-Ziarko brings over ten years of retail and merchandising experience to her role as manager of Stitch Buffalo’s retail and wholesale operations. She is an experienced stylist as well as a seamstress and sustainable fashion advocate. At Stitch Buffalo, Dakota looks forward to combining her passion for the arts and her love of community.

Whitney Crispell is a textile artist and owner of Local Color, a quilting studio founded in 2017. She also comes to Stitch Buffalo with a background in program management, government relations, and community organizing. Whitney is passionate about Stitch Buffalo's mission, and thrilled to play a role in making secondhand textile and fiber arts supplies affordable and accessible to the larger community.

As a social worker, Patricia spent thirty years at the Erie County Department of Senior Services, working with home and community based services designed to enable older people to live independently. Having retired in 2012, she has been active in many community groups, including the Fargo Estate Neighborhood Association, Massachusetts Avenue Project, Schofield Care, Hearts and Hands, and the Food Policy Council. She is very excited to work with such a dynamic and valuable organization as Stitch Buffalo.

Elizabeth Lovria was born and raised in Western New York. She graduated from Syracuse University with bachelor’s degrees in Public Relations and English and Textual Studies. After a decade in the mortgage industry in New York and North Carolina, Elizabeth decided to pursue a new path and begin a non-profit career with WEDI and she proudly supports its mission and clients. Elizabeth is an avid runner, hiker, and supporter of Buffalo sports teams, and she enjoys creating through crafting, cooking, and cross-stitch.

Meenakshi Gupta is the Senior Program Manager at Rich Products and was nominated as the 2023 changemaker by Women’s Foodservice Forum (WFF). She holds an MS from the University at Buffalo, an MBA from IBS Hyderabad, and earned a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Calcutta in India. She also holds several professional certifications, including Project Management Professional, Certified Scrum Master, Advanced Scrum Master, and is a Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. Meenakshi lives in Buffalo, NY, with her husband and two children. She enjoys cooking Indian cuisine, traveling to new places, and spending time with her family in the outdoors.

A life-long resident of WNY, Amy is a proud supporter of all things Buffalo with a particular interest in the arts. She believes Stitch Buffalo, through its use of textile crafts promotes empathy and understanding among a diverse group of people and cultures. Amy is a retired physician, board certified in Anesthesiology and Hospice/Palliative Care, but her proudest achievement is being a mother to triplet boys.

Jane Cameron was a member of the inaugural class of CUNY Law School at Queens College and was a senior trial attorney with the Criminal Defense Division of the Legal Aid Society in Brooklyn. She also founded and was the president of the canine-loving nonprofit FIDO in Prospect Park. She returned to her hometown of Buffalo to work as an Assistant Attorney General in the Environmental Protection Bureau of the New York State Attorney General's Office. She is now a devotee of yoga, sewing, and travel.

Christine is a non-profit professional with more than 20 years of experience fundraising for social service and medical organizations. A native of Western New York, Christine is committed to the continued resurgence of the area and all who live here—supporting local arts, outdoor infrastructure, and the advancement of women. She currently serves as the Chief Advancement Officer at The Buffalo Zoo.

Tashi is a Refugee Resettlement Case Manager at the International Institute of Buffalo where she helps new refugee families navigate their relocation to Buffalo. With family from both Western New York and Nepal, Tashi has seen many of her family members migrate to unfamiliar countries and cultures and hopes to help ease that process for new families resettling in Buffalo. Tashi graduated from Colgate University in 2019 where she majored in Peace & Conflict Studies and started volunteering at Stitch when she returned to Buffalo in 2020. Now as a board member, Tashi is so grateful to connect new clients with the Stitch Buffalo community.

Munawara Sultana was born in Pakistan and belongs to a religious minority group called Ahmediya Muslim. She holds a degree in science. In 2010, Munawara started a small textile business called MS Collection to support to economically empower her female family members and allow them to stand for their own rights. The business grew to almost 150 artisans from her hometown and started doing trunk shows and then international trade shows like Texworld New York. Munawara left Pakistan due to the inhumane treatment of women and minorities, coming to Buffalo, NY, for political asylum. She fell in love with the city and Stitch Buffalo—and considers them her new home.

Naomi Thompson is a crafter, researcher, and educator. She is new to Buffalo, having moved to accept a position as an assistant professor of Learning Sciences in the Graduate School of Education at the University at Buffalo. Particularly as a daughter of immigrants, she is fascinated by intersections of craft, culture, community, and learning. She explores these relationships in her research as well as her personal life, and is excited for the opportunity to help support the mission of Stitch Buffalo.

Joann Tomasulo has worked as marketing manager for the Lexington Co-op Market for 18 years, and also serves on their Strategic Leadership and Brand Teams. Previously she owned Hello World, an Elmwood Avenue store filled with art, fashion, and gifts. Joann has sewn since she was fourteen and used to love to make her own clothes and home furnishings. Now, it's simple hemming until there is more time!