Staff & Board

Board of Directors

Alice Price,
Board Chair

Alice M. Price is an attorney and mediator with over 40 years of experience leading and providing organizational development and conflict resolution services to a wide range of community non-profits and initiatives.

Alice has lived in the San Luis Valley for 35 years. She currently serves as Family Court Facilitator in the local courts helping families navigate and resolve disputes within the domestic relations and child protection systems.

She previously served for 15 years as the founding director of Center for Restorative Programs, a non-profit agency providing restorative justice options for youth in school, family and court settings.

Alice has a BA from Brown University and her JD degree from New York University. 

Shirley Atencio,
Vice Chair

Shirley Atencio has roots in the San Luis Valley that go back several generations. The Trujillo Homestead, a National Historic Monument near the Great Sand Dunes National Park, belonged to her great-grandparents and testifies to the founding contributions of early Hispanic families to farming and ranching in the settlement of the Valley.

At present, Shirley continues to work at the university as an advocate for bridge-building across world views and as Coordinator for the Office of Civic Engagement. She has served on a number of campus and community boards and committees over the years and enjoys being involved in anything that promotes community well-being.

Shirley and her husband raised five sons and now enjoy six grandchildren. The family has operated a small local food market in south Alamosa for twenty years which depends primarily on neighborhood support.

After full-time parenting and volunteering from home while her sons were young, Shirley worked at various jobs including teaching English Language Learners for the local school district, directing the music and liturgical ministries at Sacred Heart Church, and as lay Campus Minister at Adams State University where she has emphasized interfaith cooperation and social justice programming. A most rewarding part of that work has been developing student leadership around Alternative Break Experiences which have exposed students to people and places that have widened their understanding of the world and, in many instances, been life changing.

Shirley’ interests outside of family and work include taking long road trips to almost anywhere, reading biographies, listening to podcasts on interesting and weird subjects, lunch out with a sister or good friend, politics and public policy, and of course, dogs, cats and chickens.

Besides her long and continuing studies in the “University of Life”, Shirley holds a B.A. in Spanish from Adams State College along with various and sundry certifications.

Tim Yoder,
Board Treasurer

Certified Public Accountant with many years of work in the agricultural and non-profit fields in Ohio. Tim is a new resident of the San Luis Valley excited to be near his beloved son Luke Yoder and family.

Yoder is a motorcycle and outdoor enthusiast as well as a lover of fresh local foods.

Emma Reesor,
Board Member

Emma lives in Alamosa and serves as the Coordinator for the Rio Grande Headwaters Restoration Project, a local non-profit working to improve the health of the Rio Grande in the San Luis Valley.

Emma grew up on the prairies of Kansas and graduated from Bethel College (Kans.) with a BA in Biology. While at Bethel, Emma developed a strong passion for restoration ecology and sustainable agriculture, serving on the committee for the local Sand Creek Community Garden and working as a research assistant on Bethel’s Tallgrass Prairie Restoration Study.

Emma moved to the San Luis Valley in 2013 through Mennonite Volunteer Service and quickly fell in love with the landscape and vibrant community. Emma is excited to grow her involvement in the local agricultural community through serving on the LFC Board. 

Patrick Ortiz,
Board Secretary

Patrick Ortiz is Operations Director at San Luis Valley Great Outdoors and manages all operations, planning, and coordination of our SLV Great Outdoors Action Team (SLV GOATs), a locally based trail and restoration crew that works to build and maintain trail and recreation infrastructure in communities and public lands surrounding the San Luis Valley.

Prior to SLV GO!, Patrick has worked on and lead various types of trail projects for Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Southwest Conservation Corps in Salida, Saguaro National Park, Great Sand Dunes National Park, and City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks.

He is a native of Alamosa, CO and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Natural Resources Management; Physical Geography with a minor in Environmental Science from Adams State University.

In his current role, he also helps coordinate collaborative processes that work toward community improvement by promoting public land stewardship and increasing opportunities for outdoor recreation, trails, and healthy living.

Patrick enjoys exploring public lands throughout the West, fly fishing, mountain biking, snowboarding, and is learning to play the banjo.

Meghan Stalzer, Board Member

Owner of Mudita Camel Dairy; a diverse vegetable farm, fiber, and camel dairy in Conejos County.

Meghan contributes to the team and brings thoughtful new ideas to the organization.

Ben Valdez,
Board Member

ben_valdez@gmail.com

Ben Valdez is a Valley native who graduated from Johnson and Wales in 2013 and worked along the front range and Denver in various hotels and restaurants for 6 years. During this time he held many different roles throughout the hospitality and food industry.

His passion for healthy food and family have brought him back home to contribute to the community he was raised in. Currently he works on his family’s farm helping raise grass-fed lamb and cattle as well as cooking for patients at the Conejos County Hospital.

Moving forward he would like to help educate members of the community on healthy cooking and teach about the benefits of diverse diets. He is also interested in helping farmers connect with local consumers to form bonds within our local area and is excited to serve on the LFC board.

Staff

Administration

Liza Marron, Co-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.

Max Gibson, Co-Director

Max grew up in Kansas City and Boulder, and has been playing in the San Luis Valley since he was a kid. With an undergraduate degree from Naropa University and dual graduate degrees from CU-Denver in Public Health and Urban/Regional Planning, he has worked on healthy community design and food system planning in Colorado, and humanitarian response in East Africa and the Middle East. Before all that, he spent years leading wilderness trips across the Rockies and abroad, and working as an EMT in a number of Denver and mountain hospitals.

He is skilled in writing, research methods, teambuilding, risk management, community organizing, bureaucracy navigation, and strategic planning.  

Max is an avid cook and fermenter, and can be found hiking, skiing, climbing and mountain biking in the Cochetopa Hills.

Daliah Torrez, Marketing & Outreach Coordinator

daliah.slvlocalfoods@gmail.com

Daliah (she/her/ella) is a Colorado native with roots spreading from Northern New Mexico to Greeley, Colorado. Born in Denver, CO and living in Alamosa. She’s passionate about her cultural foods, finding new ways to honor the ingredients, learning how to grow, harvest, and preserve them, and connecting with the people in her community who are doing the same.

She’s been in social media and online marketing for over 13 years and is passionate about sharing tips and tools for others to utilize the power of the internet to support their community efforts.

When it comes to local foods, green chile, bolita beans, blue corn, purple potatoes, free-range, farm-fresh eggs, and organic grass-fed beef & bison are some of her faves.

Joshua Phifer, Equity Coordinator

josh.slvlocalfoods@gmail.com

I am a graduate of Adams State University. Afterwards, the San Luis Valley became home for me while I served as a Health Educator. For over a decade now I have traveled, worked in many places, earned a Master of Public Health Degree, become a Dietitian and Certified Diabetes Educator. My goal has always been to return to the SLV to serve the people who won my heart and adopted me as one of their own.

I enjoy hiking, snowshoeing, and sleeping out under the night sky. I have listened online to KRZA Community Radio in the many places I have lived. I enjoy gardening and look forward to living in a place where I can start gardening again.

Jerald Montoya,
Finance Director

Jerald, born and raised in the San Luis Valley, is passionate about our local treasures, including Colorado potatoes and green chile. You can find him hiking in the San Juans or supporting a local mission that’s important to him, Tu Casa Domestic Violence Outreach and Prevention.

Rio Grande Farm Park

Jesus Flores,
Farm Manager

Jesus is from Charcas, S.L.P. Mexico. He grew up in a farming family in Mexico, and he is the third of twelve: eight brothers and three sisters. Early in his life, Jesus learned the importance of healthy and locally grown foods and hard work. His father had a 2-acre garden where he grew many things, like beans, beets, squash, fava beans, cilantro, broccoli, jalapeño, chili de marrones, carrots, and cauliflower. His father began teaching Jesus and his brother about agriculture at an early age. 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.

As the RGFP Manager, Jesus applies his extensive farming and agriculture knowledge as well as his other professional experience in business administration, community support, education, and advocacy. Jesus is very passionate about farming. He says, “Where there is a lot of water, there is a lot of life.” Jesus enjoys conversing with people, hearing their stories, teaching what he has learned along the way, and sharing experiences and risks.

Seth Armentrout, Program Co-Director

Seth continues his service at the Rio Grande Farm Park as Program Director after VISTA service. During the past year, Seth helped manage volunteer, education, and land projects at the Farm Park with the SLV community.

Originally from Brighton, Colorado, Seth’s background includes youth development in New Orleans, data and mapping with US EPA in the Mountain West, and Peace Corps service in the mid-hills region of Nepal.

Seth loves bats, yak, carrots, writing songs, and cutthroat trout. 

Salai Taylor,
Maintenance Steward

Salai has been a volunteer at the Farm Park for the last 3 years, working land projects, planting seedlings and watering trees.  Salai has a background in gardening, landscaping and has been serving our community through the public library.  She implemented  literacy projects like the “Little Free Libraries”.  She is joining our team at the Rio Grande Farm Park where she will be able to apply her abilities on the land and with our community.    

Liz Breckbill,
Land Coordinator

Liz Breckbill is from Kidron Ohio, and went to College at Goshen College in Goshen Indiana. During college she studied environmental science with a specific focus on earth and climate science, and a minor in accounting. During her time at Goshen she was involved in choir and participated on the women’s volleyball team.

In her free time she enjoys listening to music, and learning about different cultures and languages. She enjoys spending time outside and making connections with those around her.

Brayan Flores, Seasonal Assistant Manager

brayanslvlocalfoods@gmail.com

Hi, my name is Brayan Flores and I am the Assistant Manager for The Rio Grande Farm Park. I am a full time student at Trinidad State Junior College where I also run Track.

During the summer, I will also be one of the on site Managers at the Alamosa Farmers Market. I’m also a Community Leader for the Colorado Trust. In my free time I like to travel, fish, and learn new skills.

Kristine Reyhons, Maintenance Contractor

Reyhonskristine@yahoo.com

Kristine is the fun, passionate person you’ll find keeping the Farm Park facilities in tip top shape.

Armando Vigil, Education Coordinator

armando.slvlocalfoods@gmail.com

The Jiu Jitsu Farmer

Armando is the farmer extraordinaire behind Elevation Farm & Orchard. He’s passionate about health and fitness and enjoys lifting weights, running, mobility work, & Jiu Jitsu. He’s also into hunting, fishing, and farming.

His goals for the future are to inspire more youth and community to be outdoors and to be connected to the land and the food they eat, and get to know more about regenerative agriculture and how to conserve our land and water.

Local Food Local Places

Abe Rosenberg, Local Foods Local Places Program Director

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.

Gloria Van de Walle, MoKi Coordinator

Trinity Lucero,
MoKi Coordinator

I am someone who strives past personal indifferences to make a smile go beyond my face. My purpose is to create whether it’s art or through food. Creativity is what makes the beauty in a dark world a little brighter for me!

Alyna Martinez, MoKi Coordinator

I am a born and raised local with a passion for baking. Will always try to get a smile on your face, whether it be with silly jokes or with my yummy baked goods. I’m a sweet tooth in a lady! 

Cooking Matters

Zoila Gomez, Cooking Matters Coordinator

Zoila is a community leader, liaison, and our Cooking Matters Coordinator.

Raised and born in Mexico she made a name for herself as the best female athlete of the year for all sports while at Adams State University. Upon graduation in 2004, she chased the Olympic dream for the next 12 years as a marathoner, made 3 world championship teams, and became an Olympic alternate for Team USA in 2008.

In 2016, she applied for her first-ever job outside running with Cooking Matters. Nutrition was a big part of her life as an athlete and she loves teaching nutrition education both in her native language, Spanish, and in English all around the San Luis Valley.

Zoila’s free time is spent with family and helping out the community as a member of Promotores Del Valle de San Luis and Alamosa Schools as a community liaison. Recently she created the “Zoila Gómez, Si Se Puede Scholarship for DACA” to support documented and undocumented immigrants from the San Luis Valley.

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.

Valley Roots Food Hub

Nick Chambers,
General Manager

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.

JD Kettle, Warehouse Aggregator & Driver

Denver born but cast yonder to the prairies of Nebraska a westward wind bad ended JD’s sojourn in the Midwest and dropped him here in the Valley. Always ready for the spontaneous with a chunk of spunk, he’s the Red Hot Chili Pepp’r with plenty of spice. Locals living on Lane 5 N know him as the legend that sings solo karaoke on late night runs. When he’s not delivering deliciousness on 4 wheels, anyone can catch him tearing it up on two. He’s an avid cyclist with a thirst for dirt and the open road.

Al Stone,
Markets Manager

Al 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, Al 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 Markets Manager.

Al is passionate about regenerative agriculture, reconnecting others to the food they eat, and nutrition access for all. In her free time, she loves hiking with her sidekick pup Elio, practicing yoga, sewing, reading, sharing her poems at Open Mic Nights and of course cooking in the kitchen.

Ally Jean “AJ” Arnold,
Director of Business Development

Ally Jean graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in Conservation Biology, where she learned to appreciate the delicate interconnectedness of ecosystems. She was a Fellow for the Sunrise Movement, a grassroots environmental justice movement that advocates for progressive policy changes.

She stumbled upon the Coalition as an AmeriCorps VISTA in 2020, then stayed on as the SLVLFC Outreach Coordinator. The best part of her role has been providing a platform for local food stories to be shared.

In her role as Director of Business Development at the Valley Roots Food Hub, she works to build up the local food economy. She finds much joy in connecting new customers with the fresh, local ingredients available all-year-round at VRFH.

In her free time, she writes music and seeks out local hangouts.

Ryan Davis,
Operations Manager

Ryan Davis grew up in Atlanta, Georgia with baseball, Boy Scouts, and punk rock. His parents grew up on farms and he was always indirectly around their horses and cattle. Ryan has been around food and restaurants since he was 16. He worked with many different chefs and restaurants, and those experiences taught him how to recognize quality foods through taste and appearance. Ryan came out West to the Sangre de Cristo Mountains first as a teenager, and then returned to Crestone in San Luis Valley for meditation retreats. He then eventually moved to Crestone to experience the various Buddhist retreat centers. Ryan is now about to graduate from a traditional Tibetan medicine program which focuses on the interrelationships between plants, food, medicine, and the elemental processes of the seasons. 

Alex Disbrow, Warehouse Aggregator & Driver

Alex Disbrow grew up in Clearwater, Florida and graduated from the University of Colorado – Boulder in 2013 with a BA in English Literature. 

 After graduation, Alex lived in New York and California working in the art, music, and cannabis industries. Focused on independent communities and networks, Alex worked with Know-Wave Radio, Shea Stadium BK, Pehrspace, Moran Bondaroff Gallery, The Standard Hotel, Foggy Daze Delivery and Disbrow Family Farms. 

In 2017, Alex returned to Colorado. The next few years in Denver were spent in the DIY scene and working at Angelo’s CD’s and More. 

Alex’s desire to develop a more direct relationship with the Colorado food network and to continue working with independent communities led him to the San Luis Valley and Valley Roots Food Hub. 

In addition to his work with Valley Roots Food Hub, Alex grows cordyceps mushrooms, collects movies, and runs a record label and mail-order record club called BEERMONEYUSA.

Kim Duran,
Accountant

Josh Wagner, Colorado Springs Driver

Special Projects

Jae Sanders, CFAA Coordinator

jae.slvlocalfoods@gmail.com

Whoever controls the food controls the people. I want to keep farming and ranching in the hands of people I know. I also think one of the most radical acts we can perform these days is growing our own food and being self sufficient. So inspiring, encouraging and enabling those around me to grow food is important to me.