ERIKA APPLEBAUM - TREASURER

Erika is passionate about doing work that makes a difference in the lives of individuals. She was the founding Executive Director of the Innocence Project of Minnesota and an Executive Board Member for the National Innocence Network where she spent 12 years working to free people imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit by bringing attention to wrongful convictions and partnering within the local and national criminal justice communities to fix the system. Erika has also worked as a Non-profit Management and Operations Consultant and is currently the Practice Manager of Wigren Forensic. 

Erika is a life-long gardener and her gardens have been featured in garden tours, on garden TV shows, and in magazines. Erika is currently living in Captain Cook, Hawaii on a farm where she grows coffee, pineapple, avocado, macadamia nuts, papaya, and vanilla. She has 23 chickens who follow her around the farm as she performs her daily farmwork. Erika is also a master preserver and cans her own salsa made from papaya and pineapple that she grows. Her knowledge of farming and non-profit management makes her a perfect fit for the Chicas Verdes team.