Staff TeamRosedale Development Association

Executive Director

Erin Stryka

Erin joined RDA as Healthy Kids Club Coordinator in July of 2011. She became an Americorps VISTA member in November 2011, and was hired as program manager in 2012. Her prior experience is in campus organizing, and her degree is in English and Religious Studies. Stryka serves on the board of Rosedale Farmers Market and the Healthy Communities Wyandotte Nutrition Action Team. She has graduated from the Healthy Lifestyles Leadership Academy and Wyandotte Leadership 2000. Contact her at erin@rosedale.org.

Program Director

Je T'aime Taylor

Je T’aime is a native of Kansas City, KS and graduate of Washington High School and Ewing Marion Kauffman Youth Advisory Board. She completed her Bachelors of Science degree in Social Work from a small Mennonite liberal arts college, Bethel College. During college Je T’aime worked as a Servant Leader Intern with the Children’s Defense Fund Freedom Schools program. Later Je T’aime worked as a regional Service Program Administrator with American Indian sovereignty issues and community organizing in New Orleans. She also coordinated two young adults programs: International Volunteer Exchange Program, which gave young adults outside the U.S. the opportunity to serve communities in the U.S, and Summer Service, which supported youth of color who were committed to serving their community for the summer.

Currently, Je T’aime is the Healthy Kids Program Director at Rosedale Development Association. RDA, with the help of AmeriCorps volunteers, serve Rosedale through many programs and events. A few of the programs include Minor Home Repair, Community Gardens, Kids in the Kitchen, Summer Youth Employment and more. Contact her at jetaime@rosedale.org.

Program Coordinator

Joshua Ellermann

Josh grew up in the Brookside area of Kansas City and attended Bishop Miege as a high school student. Before attending college, he spent a summer in Boaco, Nicaragua in a small community called Ojo de Agua where he taught health, nutrition, and art to elementary and middle school students. After returning home, Josh attended college at Truman State University, a small liberal arts school in Kirksville, Missouri, and graduated with degrees in Sustainable Development and Economics and a minor in Spanish. In college, he was involved in a number of on-campus organizations that focused on social justice, and worked as a Garden Manager for a small nonprofit called the Green Thumb Project.

Josh returned to Kansas City after graduating and spent a year serving as an AmeriCorps volunteer for Kansas City Community Gardens. At RDA, Josh works as the Program Coordinator for the Rosedale Future Professionals Program and the Rainbow Summer Program, where he teaches soft job skills and health to middle and high school students. Contact him at josh@rosedale.org.

Development and Event Coordinator

Alissa Workman

Alissa joined the RDA team in 2013 as our office manager, managing much more than just our office. She managed our accounting, planned programs like Summer Youth Employment and Feed-a-Family, and wrote and edited our print newsletter. Currently, Alissa is the Development and Event Coordinator, where she leads all of RDA’s fundraising efforts such as grant management and donor relations, as well as planning and coordinating all community events.

Alissa earned her Masters of Public Administration in nonprofit management from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She also holds a Professional Certificate in Nonprofit Fundraising from the Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership. Contact her at alissa@rosedale.org.

Community Relations Coordinator

Kimberly Hunter

Kimberly moved to Rosedale in 2016 to join RDA’s AmeriCorps Kansas team as the Community Gardens Coordinator. Now as the Community Relations Coordinator, she manages RDA’s marketing and communications, recruits and trains volunteers and helps coordinate community programs and events. In addition to serving at RDA, she is pursuing a certificate in Conflict Resolution from Kansas Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution and enjoys participating in Rainbow Mennonite Church, sharing a car with her neighbor and walking between her home, job, church and community garden.

After living in ten states, Kimberly is grateful to call Kansas home. Her prior experience is in community supported agriculture, high school education and labor, immigrant and faith-based community organizing. She holds degrees in English and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages and is also a graduate of Proyecto Linguistico Quetzalteco, Wyandotte Leadership 2000, KSU’s Growing Growers Farm Apprenticeship and Wyandot Center’s Mental Health First Aid. Contact her at kimberly@rosedale.org.