Growing Leadership in the Garden
The San Carlos Community Garden is guided by a single mission: Growing Community. As an all-volunteer run non-profit organization, we strive to achieve this by activating volunteerism through our four pillars: Gardening for nutrition and beauty, Knowledge for healthy living and stewardship of the earth, Collaboration of neighbors and schools, and Spirit through inspiration and healing. Our SCCG Board of Directors plays an essential role in carrying out SCCG’s mission, activating its engagement pillars, and represent and serve our SCCG community.
The SCCG board is pleased to welcome three of its newest board members: Michael Land, Elena Banks, and Asha Muhiddin - each bringing years of SCCG volunteerism and gardening, unique skills and professional expertise, and a clear passion for education and community engagement. We are thrilled to introduce them and hope you’ll say hello the next time you see them in the garden!
Michael Land teaching about benefits of using compost in your home garden.
Michael Land joins the board after nearly three years of hands-on involvement at the garden, bringing with him a deep commitment to service, education, and community-building. A longtime San Carlos resident who first connected with the garden during the slower pace of the COVID years, Michael began as a volunteer pulling weeds. Under the guidance of SCCG’s Board co-chair, Gayle Mill’s, Michael steadily grew into a leader of the garden’s composting efforts. Mentored early on by other local composting educators, he has since pursued formal training through the Solana Center for Environmental Innovation, led workshops, and built partnerships with nearby schools – welcoming high school students into the garden to learn by getting their hands dirty. A scientist by training and a volunteer by nature, Michael sees the garden not just as a place to grow food, but as a hub for connection, learning, and friendship. As a board member, he hopes to continue doing what he’s always done: expanding access to education, strengthening ties with local schools and neighbors, and helping the garden remain a welcoming resource where opportunity and community can take root.
SCCG Board Member, Elena Banks, happily planting native seedlings.
A longtime San Diego native and dedicated educator, Elena Banks joins the board after more than two years of meaningful volunteer leadership in the garden’s native plant spaces. A science teacher at Grant Elementary in Mission Hills, one of San Diego’s oldest schools, she brings a rich background in conservation biology, ecology, and environmental education, along with a lifelong passion for teaching learners of all ages. Her path to the garden began through her work with Wild Ones San Diego, where she supports native plants and pollinators through seed sharing, workshops, and hands-on education, efforts that naturally expanded into stewarding the garden’s extensive native plant area, which spans from fence to fence. Whether stocking SCCG’s native seed library, leading workshops, or quietly tending to SCCG’s native plants, she sees the garden as both a peaceful refuge and a dynamic hub for community connection. As a board member, she hopes to continue nurturing sustainability, education, and inclusivity, helping others discover what she has found here: a rare and magical place where community, stewardship, and curiosity grow together.
SCCG gardener turned Board Member, Asha Muhiddin, with her fiancé.
Avid SCCG gardener and volunteer since 2022, Asha Muhiddin, joins the board bringing focus for growing a sense of community. Upon moving back to San Diego in 2021, one of the first things Asha wanted was to get involved in the community and get back into gardening. Gardening was something Asha did with her parents growing up and was an activity that always grounded her and has brought herself calmness and fulfillment; she feels there is no better reward than growing food for yourself.
Thankfully, Asha discovered the San Carlos Community Garden. Asha and her boyfriend (now fiancé) leased their first SCCG plot in 2022, adding a second plot in 2023 and then a third in 2023. Together they have enjoyed growing succulents, flowers and various vegetables. Asha first volunteered with SCCG’s compost posse and expanded her generosity offering to help with any of the tasks the garden needed., including working in the orchard and helping with the set-up of SCCG’s monthly garden education workshops. Being more involved made her more aware of the demands of running an all-volunteer organization and how we can contribute to creating better communities wherever we live by working together. As a board member, she hopes that her perspective as a community gardener will help SCCG and other neighborhoods around San Diego improve how we can all contribute to a growing community.
Together, Michael, Elena, and Asha represent the kind of leadership that defines the San Carlos Community Garden—grounded in hands-on involvement and a commitment to the community. We’re grateful for the time, skills, and perspective they bring to the board, and look forward to the impact they will continue to make as the garden continues to grow and serve our neighbors.
