Meet the Team
Lisa Negri
Founder & Caretaker
Lisa is no stranger to math, science and working with the earth. As the CEO of an environmental engineering company for 20 years, she was also well known as a thought leader and has been a frequent catalyst for growth and change.
These days, SummerHome Garden allows Lisa to blend that engineer’s mind with a passion for education, commitment to community, active philanthropy, and dedication to curbing climate change. She believes that changing even one small corner of the world makes a difference.
When not speaking and giving tours, you’ll find her mentoring business professionals and walking her rescue dogs–a Chewadoodle named Willy and a Goldendoodle called Marge.
Kevin Philip Williams
Director of Horticulture
Kevin Philip Williams has an MS in Public Horticulture and is a naturalistic garden designer who uses active and passive materials to create dynamic and climate-appropriate gardens.
His work as a horticulturist and designer at the Denver Botanic Gardens has led to several celebrated gardens in Denver, including the Denver Art Museum Sensory Garden, the Alien Dream Worlds and Hello Food Forest at Meow Wolf, and the Abstract Expressions installation at the Clifford Still Museum.
“In my career in Denver I’ve seen a handful of extraordinary gardens come about in Colorado: the Betty Ford Garden in Vail, Yampa River Botanic Park in Steamboat Springs, the Gardens on Spring Creek in Fort Collins and the Great Plains Environmental Center in Loveland. Each of these represents the combined effort of dozens (if not hundreds) of city staff, volunteers and professionals.
SummerHome sprang seemingly out of nowhere in the midst of COVID—dreamed up by Lisa Negri and designed by Kevin Williams, and lovingly maintained by a small corps of dedicated neighborhood volunteers. I know of nothing comparable anywhere— always weed-free, stunningly beautiful in every season and fiercely drought tolerant.
Unlike so many native gardens that are shaggy and unkempt, SummerHome shimmers elegantly, like the folds on the chiton of a classic goddess dancing. I have never seen a more perfect garden.”
Panayoti Kelaidis, Founder & Writer of the Prairie Break Blog, Senior Curator and Director of Outreach at Denver Botanic Gardens