
Liza Marron LFC Executive Director
Liza is the founding director of the San Luis Valley Local Foods Coalition in rural southern Colorado. She has been a community organizer with a focus on social justice, wellness and prevention for many years.
Ms. Marron has a Master's Degree in Community Counseling and a Bachelor's degree in Spanish. Her skill set includes grant writing, government, visioning and strategic planning, non-profit management, finance, coalition building, economic development, education, fund raising, public speaking, and managing a budget.
Liza is an avid gardener, horsewoman and student of life. ~ Email ~
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Amber Middleton Development Director
Amber is the new Development Director for the San Luis Valley Local Foods Coalition. Amber has returned to the Local Foods Coalition after two years back in Wisconsin, where she coordinated 2-1-1 Wisconsin and planned a statewide AmeriCorps program for United Way of Wisconsin.
Previously, Amber served as an AmeriCorps VISTA for the Rio Grande Farm Park, where she built capacity by fundraising, developing systems, and growing the volunteer program.
So far in Amber's career, she has gained experience in community engagement, volunteer management, national service programming, emergency and disaster preparedness, database management, and data analytics.
When Amber isn't building capacity for small nonprofits, you can find her volunteering with local animal shelters and libraries, hiking and enjoying the outdoors, or weaving a new tapestry. ~ Email ~
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Lois Harvie Cooking Matters Coordinator
"Miss Lane" (Lois), hails from Albuquerque, NM and moved to Colorado in 2014 from Santa Fe to manage the Montrose Farmers Market. Her professional experience centers around elementary education, healthy living and local food access.
As an elementary teacher with a passion for local food, she realized it was important for kids and families to return to the dinner table and learn how to make healthy meals. She is a certified Holistic Health Coach and graduated from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition in 2011.
She is passionate about helping communities to improve their health and wellness through finding connection to their local food sources and teaching families how to make healthy lifestyle choices.
In her spare time she enjoys writing, yoga, walking her dogs, gardening, cooking and traveling. She looks forward to learning more about the San Luis Valley, and becoming a part of a community that celebrates its connection to its people and the land. ~ Email ~
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Jesus Flores, Farm Manager Rio Grande Farm Park
Jesus is a lifelong farmer and farm worker. Jesus brings a great love and knowledge of agriculture to the farm park. He is skilled in vegetable production, irrigation, soil health and caring for bees. ~ Email ~
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Hannah Wallace, Environmental Education Coordinator, Rio Grande Farm Park 2019-20
Hannah is an Americorps member serving as an Environmental Educator at the Rio Grande Farm Park. She majored in Environmental Science and Biology with a minor in Sustainability from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, MN. Growing up in Northern Colorado she has been waiting to get back to her Colorado roots and serve in the San Luis Valley.
Hannah loves sustainability, veggies, hiking and everything the Valley has to offer. She is excited to engage with students on the Farm Park! ~ Email ~
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Abe Rosenberg, Program Director Local Foods, Local Places
Abe grew up in Crestone Colorado and graduated with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Adams State University. This "Jack of All Trades" background has lead to Abe working in a variety of fields including food, art, music, theatre, permaculture, sustainability, agriculture, mass communications and video production.
Abe started working with the SLV Local Foods Coalition in 2013 as a MoKi Coordinator and has also worked for the Valley Roots Food Hub and volunteered for the Rio Grande Farm Park and Cooking Matters.
In 2016 he was hired by Conejos Clean Water as the Director of Community Gardens and Outdoor Programs and was involved in the SLV Inspire coalition to bring 1 million dollars of grant funding from Great Outdoors Colorado to the SLV for outdoor programs, pathways and places. He has worked on community projects with partners such as SLVGO, Alpine Achievers Initiative, Boys and Girls Club of the San Luis Valley, S.P.M.D.T.U, South Conejos School District, City of Alamosa, Town of Antonito, Fresh Tracks, the Children and Nature Network, Nature$s Table, Taste of Native Cuisine, Integrated Nutrition Education Program, La Puente and VEGI, and the Orient Land Trust.
In 2019 Abe was hired as the Local Foods Local Place Program Director for the San Luis Valley Local Foods Coalition and is working to make more community connections around the local foods movement in the San Luis Valley.
Abe lives on his 35 acre farm in Antonito, Colorado with his wife Morgan Velasquez and son Izrael Rain and continues to perform original music with his band, Sweet Radish and produce videos with his company Jack Rabbit Hollow. ~ Email ~
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Ally Jean Arnold, AmeriCorps Vista SLVLFC Outreach & Engagement
Ally graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in Conservation Biology, where she learned to appreciate the interconnectedness of ecosystems. She is passionate about reminding people of our reliance on nature, which is why she is so excited to be serving as an Outreach & Engagement AmeriCorps VISTA for the San Luis Valley Local Foods Coalition.
In the past, she focused on marine ecosystems, her favorite research project was a study on Kelp Crab embryo development.
In her free time, she writes music, goes backpacking whenever she can, and seeks out local hangouts. ~ Email ~
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Addelina Lucero, Program Director Rio Grande Farm Park
Addelina Lucero (Taos Pueblo/Yaqui/Chicana) is a mother, grandmother, traditional pueblo farmer, a seed keeper, educator and a food activist.
She has been working with Indigenous community food systems and food sovereignty for over 10 years now on the local and national levels. She has wrote curricula and created education programs for regenerative farming/agriculture, greenhouse technologies and social studies programs from an Indigenous perspective for 10 years.
Addelina is also a small business owner and creator of natural and organic products that focus on her Pueblo roots, utilizing ingredients from her home and from other Indigenous sources. ~ Email ~
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Nicholas Chambers, General Manager Valley Roots Food Hub
Nicholas Chambers is a Colorado native who earned a degree in Anthropology from University of Montana, and has been in the valley full time for 15 years.
With a back ground and training in Permaculture, Biodynamics, and Deep Organics, he and his family, as well as a host of international interns, have been running a small CSA mixed farm and homestead in Crestone for the last 10 years.
Nicholas has also been an Adjunct Instructor with Santa Fe Community College's Biofuels lab, and has given presentations and trainings on biomass energy around Colorado and New Mexico. His consulting firm, Living Arts Systems, offers solutions for individuals, communities, and municipalities in renewable food and energy systems
Nicholas comes to the Valley Roots Food Hub and the SLV Coalition after 2 years with the Colorado start up SOURCE Local Foods serving Summit County, Chaffee County, and the San Luis Valley.
Nicholas is deeply passionate and excited to be a part of the evolving local food system that is happening both regionally and nationally. ~ Email ~
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Allyson Stone, CSA Market Manager Valley Roots Food Hub
Ally grew up in Marietta, GA. Upon graduating from Georgia Tech in 2015 with a B.S. in Science, Technology, and Culture, she took a one-way train ride on the Amtrak to Eugene, OR to seek adventure. There she did work-trade through World Wide Opportunities for Organic Farming on a small homestead for 5 months. She quickly fell in love with the healing properties of being connected to the land, good nutritious food, the town, and ended up being all consumed by the vast and supportive local food system Eugene has to offer. She worked at a small family-run cafe, volunteered with Farm to School initiatives and School Garden Project.
Wanting more, her life took a small detour and she ended up in the San Luis Valley volunteering with Alpine Achievers Initiative for 2 years, primarily helping run an after school program in Crestone as well as bringing garden education to the South Conejos School District and Boys and Girls Club of the San Luis Valley. Post-AmeriCorps, Ally worked a seasonal position with the Valley Educational Gardens Initiative (VEGI), a program of La Puente before finding herself at the Valley Roots Food Hub as the CSA Market Manager.
Ally is passionate about regenerative agriculture, reconnecting others to the food they eat, and nutrition access for all. In her free time, she loves hiking, running, practicing yoga, sewing, reading, and of course cooking in the kitchen. ~ Email ~
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Zoila Gomez Spanish Nutrition Educator
Bio coming soon! ~ Email ~
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Seth Armentrout, Project Coordinator Vista, Rio Grande Farm Park
Seth will help oversee the sprouting of projects at the Rio Grande Farm Park, including construction of new facilities and supporting those who come to learn, work, and create. Seth joins the Local Foods Coalition after working with smallholder farmers in the mid hills region of Nepal as a Peace Corps volunteer. Though the pandemic abruptly ended his service abroad, he is thankful to continue supporting rural communities in their visions for thriving local food systems embedded in local culture and history. He returns to his home state eager to learn from the people and places of the San Luis Valley.
Seth graduated with a degree in Political Economy from Tulane University. His experience includes climate communications, youth development, and projects with local, state, and federal agencies.
Seth's dreams include bats, fly fishing, songwriting, and carrots of all shapes and sizes. ~ Email ~
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Erin Kauffman, Environmental Education Coordinator, Rio Grande Farm Park 2020-21
Erin is from Lancaster, PA but has spent the last four years at Colorado State University and graduated in 2020 with a BS in Soil and Crop Sciences. She focused on soil health and forage/grazing systems and spent two years as a Research Associate in CSU's Forage Lab, participating in research on management-intensive grazing (MiG) and grazing cover crops.
Erin comes to the Valley through Mennonite Voluntary Service and is excited to learn from local farmers and other participants in the food system, facilitate productive partnerships, and share her passions for soil and regenerative agriculture.
In her free time, Erin enjoys hiking, reading, writing, and spending time with her horse. ~ Email ~
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