My longstanding interest in food and agriculture has taken a winding path, leading me right here to Fort Collins. My undergraduate degree is in agronomy and plant sciences, but I found my place when I started working in local food. After serving as an AmeriCorps member at a food systems nonprofit in Maryland, I came to Fort Collins for a master’s program in Agricultural Economics with a focus on local and regional food. I continue supporting local food in my current role with The Food Corridor, a technology company founded in Fort Collins that supports shared-use commercial kitchens across the country. To get back down to earth, I also had the pleasure of being a working member at Native Hill Farm this past summer (the dirt under my nails reminds me where it all starts!) I'm excited to spend more time engaged in building a strong, healthy food system in my own community.

My longstanding interest in food and agriculture has taken a winding path, leading me right here to Fort Collins. My undergraduate degree is in agronomy and plant sciences, but I found my place when I started working in local food. After serving as an AmeriCorps member at a food systems nonprofit in Maryland, I came to Fort Collins for a master’s program in Agricultural Economics with a focus on local and regional food. I continue supporting local food in my current role with The Food Corridor, a technology company founded in Fort Collins that supports shared-use commercial kitchens across the country. To get back down to earth, I also had the pleasure of being a working member at Native Hill Farm this past summer (the dirt under my nails reminds me where it all starts!) I'm excited to spend more time engaged in building a strong, healthy food system in my own community.

Born and raised in Fort Collins, I've been involved with local Colorado food systems, supply chain, and logistics for the last 10 years, first as the Operations Director at LoCo Food Distribution (way back in 2012-2015) and currently as the Operations Director at the Food Bank for Larimer County. In that time I've worked on and advised in the development of multiple startups in the local food space, and have advocated consistently for a more resilient, vibrant local food economy here in Northern Colorado. Most recently, I started a program at the Food Bank called the Local Farm Purchasing Program aimed at providing economic safety nets for local producers by channeling available funding into existing market streams. This program launched in April of 2020 and has since infused the local food economy with over $150,000, distributing over 100,000 lbs of locally-produced food to low-income individuals and families throughout Larimer County.

Born and raised in the Black Hills, I come from a bloodline of farmers and ranchers that settled down across South Dakota and Nebraska. Last year, I graduated with a Journalism/Creative Writing degree from the University of South Dakota, where I led the student newspaper and wrote for a handful of publications in Sioux Falls. After moving to Fort Collins in late 2020, I covered the presidential election for the Colorado News Collaborative, an employee-owned news co-op that supports over 50 outlets across Colorado. I joined ReKaivery soon after, and have made it my goal to help build a better food system through storytelling and community-building in our physical and digital spaces.

I learned Spanish growing up on an eastern NM cotton and alfalfa farm. After 40 years as a founding partner of an international irrigation design firm and ten years at CSU convening and facilitating water policy dialogue among ag/urban/environmental stakeholders, I retired. In retirement I am focusing on creating opportunities for Hispanic immigrant women to farm, having launched and managed for three years the Hispanic Women's Farming Proyecto at my family farm, Buena Vida Farm.

I worked on a small farm in Greeley that focused on providing CSA shares directly to customers. I received my bachelor's degree in Horticulture with a concentration in business management from Colorado State University in 2020. Currently, I work for CSU Extension in Larimer County managing the Larimer County Farmers' Market.

Without formal training as a farmer, I have pursued a compelling interest in all aspects of what makes an ecological farm. Experience working with a number of local producers and experiential learning have rewarded me with a broad understanding of many aspects of nature and our community.