Executive Director – Cindy Finneseth
Cindy Finneseth is the Executive Director of the Kentucky Horticulture Council. At KHC, she is focused on supporting all segments of the horticulture industry in Kentucky, including helping entrepreneurs build and grow profitable horticulture businesses in both rural and urban communities. Dr. Finneseth is a graduate of the University of Kentucky, with degrees in Horticulture (BS), Plant and Soil Science (MS) and Crop Science (PhD). She has more than 20 years of experience working directly with producers, agribusiness owners, and multi-national companies to implement business strategies to increase operational effectiveness and profitability. Since joining KHC in April 2018, she has worked intensely with the horticulture industry in the areas of research, education, market development, and influencing industry policy.
Email Cindy at cindy(at)kyhortcouncil.org.
Direct Marketing Program Manager – Bethany Prekopa
Bethany Prekopa joined the Kentucky Horticulture Council in July 2020 as the Direct Marketing Program Manager. She comes to the Council from the University of Kentucky’s Food Connection. She is a fierce advocate for farmers markets across the Commonwealth, and she is proud of her past work with the Lexington Farmers Market promoting and assisting vendors with online store creation and setting up mobile payments.
Her role at KHC is focused on supporting growers selling products directly to customers. You might catch her over on the Kentucky Horticulture Council’s Facebook page cooking up a new recipe or out and about at your local farmers market. Prekopa is a Kentucky native and a graduate of UK.
Email Bethany at bethany(at)kyhortcouncil.org.
Grower Outreach Coordinator – Dakota Moore
Dakota Moore is the Grower Outreach Coordinator for the Kentucky Horticulture Council. He applies his experience in greenhouse production, public garden management, and floral design to create educational content and provide assistance to Kentucky growers. He received both his B.S. in Ag Science with an emphasis in Horticulture and M.S. in Ag Science from Murray State University. He grew up just outside of Nashville, TN but has family ties to Western Kentucky, where he currently lives.
His projects include cut flower production & marketing education, Kentucky Grown Cut Flower Promotion, ag water safety education, grower promotion, and supporting the Kentucky Farm to School Network. His past projects include a series of webinars & recorded content focused on crop insurance for specialty crops, work on the Kentucky Small Fruits Initiative, and sustainable ag focused webinars for growers & ag service providers.
Email Dakota at dakota(at)kyhortcouncil.org.
Special Projects Coordinator- Dani Zwischenberger
Dani Zwischenberger joined the Kentucky Horticulture Council in November 2023 as the Special Projects Coordinator. Prior to joining the KHC team, Dani spent years working on diversified vegetable farms in Kentucky, facilitating farm-based educational programs in Jefferson County schools and coordinating outreach for the Bardstown Road Farmers’ Market in Louisville. In her role with KHC, Dani works to build relationships with specialty crop growers and industry partners, offer technical assistance, and develop educational programming to reduce production and marketing barriers for growers across the state. Having worked in and around farmer’s markets for much of her career, Dani can say with confidence that there is no group more talented, harder working, or more forward thinking than Kentucky growers and she is thrilled to be a part of an organization whose mission is to uplift and spread awareness of the horticulture industry as a whole.
Dani graduated from the College of Wooster in Ohio with a B.A. in Spanish and Environmental Studies. You can usually find her in her backyard cut-flower garden or in the kitchen following one of the recipes from the Kentucky Horticulture Council’s Facebook page!
Email Dani at Dani.Z(at)kyhortcouncil.org.