Denver Sustainable Food Policy Council

Yuridia is the Re:Own Program Manager and a Community Promotora for Re:Vision, her role is helping families to start vegetable gardens at their home to have access to healthy food and work with the neighborhoods to create and economy owned by the community. Yuridia is involved with the Westwood Food Cooperative, this co-op is a community-owned business created with the intention of helping this community to have access to healthy food. Yuri loves to talk and help to the community because she comes from there and knows the people and the problems and issues that they have.

Fluent in advanced research techniques & statistical methods. Skilled at performance management and measurement. Trained in group facilitation & inclusivity. Adept at managing databases & social media outlets. Comprehensive learner and patient teacher. Celebrated for written and oral communications. Trained to listen. Lover of artistic creative expression. Enthusiast of food & agriculture policy, environmental & social justice and social innovations & technology.

Fatuma Emmad currently works as the Director of Urban Farms for Groundwork Denver, as an adjunct Professor at Regis University in the Community Food Systems Minor and is the owner of Bountiful By Design (a sustainable high end landscape company). Fatuma was born in Denver and raised in Denver and Ethiopia. Fatuma has worked farming organic and heirloom vegetables on her own acreage as part of a land co-op, setting up farms for restaurants, and as farm manager for multi acre community farms in Milwaukee and Denver. Before becoming a farmer, Fatuma was a political scientist who engaged in issues affecting marginalized farming communities such as the push for genetically modified seeds across Sub-Saharan Africa She believes in resistance by the world’s land caretakers to single solutions for crop productivity and seeks to work on re-framing ideas of food security. Fatuma has been certified and teaching yoga since 2004 and is a graduate of the Center for Agriculture and Ecology at the University of Santa Cruz.

While Brittany has lived in in five different states and the District of Columbia, Denver is the place she calls home. With a background in public policy focused in public health, Brittany provides a unique perspective to add to the SFPC team. Much of Brittany’s public health work has been focused on how to address public health concerns using both a food systems and health equity lens. Occupying positions in Colorado including at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), Denver Department of Environmental Health (DEH), and the Denver Office of Economic Development (OED), Brittany has been able to work on Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) initiatives aimed at revitalizing not only communities but also Coloradoans’ health. Today, Brittany is the Business Development Manager for Salud Family Health Centers, a nonprofit community health organization that provides integrative health care services to predominantly low-income, medically underserved, and migrant and seasonal farmworker populations in NE Colorado.While Brittany has lived in in five different states and the District of Columbia, Denver is the place she calls home. With a background in public policy focused in public health, Brittany provides a unique perspective to add to the SFPC team. Much of Brittany’s public health work has been focused on how to address public health concerns using both a food systems and health equity lens. Occupying positions in Colorado including at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), Denver Department of Environmental Health (DEH), and the Denver Office of Economic Development (OED), Brittany has been able to work on Healthy Eating Active Living (HEAL) initiatives aimed at revitalizing not only communities but also Coloradoans’ health. Today, Brittany is the Business Development Manager for Salud Family Health Centers, a nonprofit community health organization that provides integrative health care services to predominantly low-income, medically underserved, and migrant and seasonal farmworker populations in NE Colorado.

"If you have food on your table with friends joining around, you are truly rich." Patti's grandfather described this richness" that she would like for all Denver families--regardless of zip code, age, ethnicity or color. Patti brings a wealth of experience to the SFPC: 10+ years writing/speaking on community-based participatory research (CBPR), 10+ years university/graduate-level teaching (Social Work), 20+ years organizational development and community bridge-building. Patti lives/works in NE Denver. She is a board member/leader in Taking Neighborhood Health to Heart, Inc., a resident-led 501(c)3 non-profit engaged in CBPR.

In 1977 Joanne co-founded the Three Tomatoes Catering Companies, a full service catering organization. Passionately committed to providing “from scratch” beautiful food served at myriad events on the Front Range, she and her partner sold the business after 38 entrepreneurial years. She has served on the boards of Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver Film Society and the Woman’s Presidents Organization.

Currently she is volunteer, dilettante, activist and concerned citizen. Denver has been her home since 1964. The city has grown exponentially since then. Her dream for this City is that there would be a garden in every yard and vacant lot, and that we could get back to a time like the Victory Garden era when fresh food was cultivated by individual citizens and shared freely in their communities.

Along with her husband, they proudly grow organic vegetables from seed in their front yard which they share with neighbors and family. Her husband holds a board position for Denver Urban Gardens. Drawing, cooking and preserving the bounty of her garden fills her time, and sharing beautiful meals fulfills her passion. 

Kristin is a researcher at Spark Policy Institute where she provides evaluation services focused on food systems, health equity and community engagement. She has a strong background in community-based public health at the nexus of agriculture and nutrition. She co-founded Semilla Nueva, a Guatemalan conservation agriculture organization, and worked locally with Re:Vision, helping build one of the largest community-led urban agriculture programs in the country. Fluent in Spanish, Kristin is committed to building equity and diversity into food systems in Denver. She serves on the board of the Athmar Park Neighborhood Association, is a member of the Westwood Food Co-op and grows a lot of food in her backyard with ducks and fruit and veggies galore!

Mayra Olivas is originally from Chihuahua, México, and has live in Denver, Co since 1999. Currently working as a Program Manager for Re:Vision a community-based nonprofit organization . Mayra has a lot of passion for the community and for building justice in our food system. She believe all deserve a healthy life and access to healthy food.

Nate Reyher is a fourth-generation Coloradan who’s called Denver home since 2005. Having grown up in agriculture and seeing food at the intersection of so many social and economic opportunities, Nate started podcasting about Denver’s local food landscape in 2015 and joined the SFPC in 2017. Nate’s a graduate of Trinity University and works as a business and IT consultant for clients of all shapes and sizes.

Damien Thompson, PhD is Associate Professor of Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, Sociology and Criminal Justice at Regis University and Director of Center for Food Justice and Healthy Communities at Regis University. In addition to his training in anthropology, Dr. Thompson also holds a certification in Permaculture Design and a 200 hour Yoga Alliance Teaching Certification. His interests center on the building of community food systems, small scale urban food production, developing community and cultural practices related to food and medicine, teaching and learning in education and permaculture as one method related to how to pursue those interests. Most specifically Dr. Thompson is interested in how communities can utilize traditional and new information and practices to build food systems which uplift marginalized and oppressed peoples, restore ecosystems, build biodiversity, support cultural diversity as well as provide individuals and families with the highest level of access to the means to support their own health.

Turner Wyatt is the Executive Director of Denver Food Rescue, a nonprofit organization in Denver, Colorado, focused on improving health equity outcomes for low income families by increasing access to healthy food in areas with insufficient access to healthy food. In 2014 he graduated manga cum laude from the University of Colorado at Boulder with focuses in environmental studies, leadership studies, and sustainable energy studies.