Andrea Fuller
Community Member

Andrea Fuller is a protective mom to two amazing children, an advocate, entrepreneur, independent researcher, and policy analyst. She has an M.A. in International Human Rights and works on the issues of hunger, housing, healthcare, and improving the rights of victims and survivors of abuse. Andrea has over 25 years of experience working with nonprofits and businesses. She also teaches fitness, yoga, and self-defense.

She’s also been a participant of the Hunger Through My Lens project (Hunger Free Colorado) since 2013, served on various task forces, and has been featured in multiple media interviews about hunger. She has lived experience with poverty, hunger, and homelessness — and believes that no one in this country should ever have to be without the food they need.

Andrea loves to cook, bake, spend time in the sanctuary of nature, and soak up the best moments in life with her little family and her friends, especially with great food, drinks, and music.

Brandi Adakai
Empowerment Center Director, Rocky Mountain Service Employement Redevelopment

Brandi Adakai currently serves as the Empowerment Center Director for Rocky Mountain Service Employment Redevelopment (RMSER). She’s passionate about children and families, food access and systems, workforce development, community development, and small business development. Brandi helped build the first-ever empowerment center in Pueblo with RSMER and is working towards creating empowerment centers for all ages across Colorado.

She holds a B.S. in Business Administration from Colorado State University-Pueblo, as well as two associate degrees – one in early childhood education and another in general studies with an emphasis in Business Management from Pueblo Community College. Brandi also received a director’s certificate from Pueblo Community College.

Brandi is very active in her community. She’s currently a board member for the Latino Chamber of Commerce and Pueblo Rescue Mission, as well as serves on the Governing Council for the Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger and the Commission on Housing and Homelessness. Brandi is also Treasure for Hasan School of Business’ alumni chapter and volunteers at many food pantries and banks, churches, schools, community gatherings, and chamber events.

She’s the blessed mother of two heaven-sent children, Christiana (10) and Josiah (7). Brandi’s motto is “with every negative, THERE IS a positive.”

Donna Garnett
Executive Director, Montbello Organizing Committee

Donna Garnett has a long history of leading successful nonprofits and has raised over $60 million to support community-informed, community-led initiatives.

She has been involved with the work of Montbello Organizing Committee (MOC) since 2014, originally serving on the organization’s first Board of Directors, then as a consultant and grant writer/project manager. Currently, she is the Executive Director and leads the Montbello FreshLo Initiative, a comprehensive community development effort. She

Long before sustainable agriculture and growing food locally became a hot topic, Ms. Garnett was a pioneer in establishing an urban farm in Denver for the purpose of teaching city kids about agriculture and where their food comes from. More than 20 years ago, she and other forward-thinking partners created a program model that has nurtured more than 26,000 kids in a natural agricultural environment in the heart of Denver.

She was the co-founder of the Urban Farm at Stapleton and is the founder of Children’s Farms in Action, a nonprofit dedicated to helping local neighborhoods establish small-scale farms where kids learn to grow, eat, and sell healthy food.

Duane Gurulé
Co-Founder, Small Town Project

Mayor Pro Tem and Council Member, City of Rocky Ford

Duane Gurulé brings a unique lens to food security and health equity as a formerly incarcerated person who has navigated state and private prisons, community corrections, and re-entry. He also has a passion for serving low-income communities and those experiencing food insecurity, stemming from first-hand experience growing up facing many of the barriers and inequities that historically disenfranchise low-income populations.

He is a co-founder of Small Town Project, which works to improve health equity in Otero and Crowley counties by increasing access to healthy foods and empowering the underserved. Duane also serves his community as Mayor Pro Tem and Council Member for the City of Rocky Ford, as Board Director for Southeast Mental Health Group, and on the Governing Council for Otero College.

As a first-generation college graduate, Duane holds a B.S. in Computer Information Systems from Metropolitan State University in Denver. He’s the Senior Database Administrator for Hunger Free Colorado, and prior to that role, was a community organizer for The Colorado Trust in Southeast Colorado.

He and his family live, work, and attend school in Rocky Ford, as well as enjoy traveling around Colorado and the Southwest connecting with nature and exploring the secrets left behind by generations of ancestors.

Erika Righter
Owner, Hope Tank

Erika Righter is a social worker turned small business owner, consultant, community advocate, and mom.

She worked for more than 15 years as a caseworker in the foster care system, rural social work, and programs serving low-income older adults. In 2012, Erika founded Hope Tank, an online gift store and creative event space that gives back in Denver. Hope Tank uses retail to connect customers to justice-focused organizations, artists, micro-businesses, and groups doing important work in our community. 

That Hope Lady Consulting works with businesses, nonprofits, and leaders to identify their values, put them into action, and articulate them to their clients, customers, donors, and investors.

Erika views the micro-business community as an integral part of building and sustaining healthy communities, and devotes a large part of her efforts towards uplifting their contributions.

Fatuma Emmad
Co-Founder, Executive Director & Head Farmer, Front Line Farming

Fatuma Emmad is the Co-Founder, Executive Director, and Head Farmer of Front Line Farming. She is an affiliate professor at Regis University and lecturer in the Masters for Environmental Studies Program at CU Boulder. She’s also the owner and operator of Bountiful By Design, a sustainable high-end landscape company.

Fatuma was born in Denver and raised in Denver and Ethiopia. She 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 a 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. She currently serves as a Mayor-appointed member of the Sustainable Food Council for the City of Denver, a co-chair for the City’s Good Food Purchasing Policy Group, and president of Mile High Farmers. She’s also a fellow at Transformational Leaders for Change, promoting leaders of color in Colorado, as well as a 2020 Rocky Mountain Farmers Union Fellow. Fatuma was the recipient of the inaugural Kathy Underhill scholarship, which annually recognizes a community member who’s changing hearts and minds in the hunger space with advocacy, policy, and/or community engagement through the lens of health equity.

Jodi Walker
Executive Director,
Kids at Their Best

Jodi Walker has never been afraid to take on controversial issues and has frequently used unorthodox approaches to bridge the cultural, economic, and generational challenges of her Eastern Plains community. Kids At Their Best, which she founded, exemplifies the strength of her commitment to all children and all families. Jodi’s understanding of the complex interplay of major political, financial and distribution systems – and the impact at the local level – has led to national recognition for both her and her organization.

She has brought together immigrants from Mexico and South America and refugees from Somalia, along with local children whose families have lived on the Eastern Plains for generations, to build a network of youth who use peer support and other means to increase their job potential and to promote the value of diversity in rural Colorado. This work has allowed Jodi to develop sustainable programs to serve not only local children but to inspire others.

Her work extends beyond her county to encompass regional, state, and national missions to improve the lives of children. Jodi also serves on the board of the statewide Community Resource Center, Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger, and Morgan County Food Coalition. She also has served as a member of the state Americorps advisory group. One of her favorite projects is working with a national cohort of nine agencies tasked to bring innovations to solving rural childhood hunger.

Jodi overcame a traumatic brain injury to pursue her soul work on behalf of children and families. She and her husband run a 300-acre family farm in Wiggins, raising cows, chickens, occasional pigs, and a host of other critters. Together, they have six children, one granddaughter, and a 120-lbs Great Pyrenees puppy. When she is not working, she supports the work of the local volunteer fire department where her husband and children are firefighters. She also loves exploring the Colorado outdoors, reading, and sewing. 

Karla Maraccini
Division Director of Food & Energy Assistance, Colorado Department of Human Services

Karla Maraccini currently serves as the Division Director of Food and Energy Assistance for the Colorado Department of Human Services in their Office of Economic Security. She oversees program areas and policy that connect people to resources aimed at improving outcomes for individuals and families across Colorado. Karla has held numerous roles in city, state, county, and federal agencies.

As a lifelong public servant, Karla has a true passion for supporting people and families by connecting them with assistance, resources, employment with livable wages, and meaningful connections at every stage of their lives — and she has an even more passionate interest in food and nutrition. Access to healthy food isn’t only about health and survival; food brings people together. She believes many traditions and customs revolve around the dishes we share and the recipes we pass on from generation to generation. 

Karla is an active community volunteer and has received recognition such as 2016 FNCS Abraham Lincoln Honor Award-Presidential Volunteer and the Governor’s 2012 Public Service Employee of the Year award. Karla completed Leadership Denver in 2014 through the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation and was part of the inaugural Civic DNA Fellowship in 2018. She served as the Chair of the Board for Harm Reduction Action Center from 2016 - 2020 and previously served on the boards for the Food Rescue Alliance, Warren Village, Denver Community Corrections, Crime Prevention & Control Commission, Advocates for Recovery, Governor’s Meth Task Force, Colorado Combined Campaign, and SBIRT Steering Committee.  

Karla has called Colorado home for 31 years and has rescued several dogs who are her pride and joy.

LaQuetta Walker
Community Advocate & Consultant

Co-chair, Blueprint Governing Council

LaQuetta Walker is a strong community advocate and leader in social justice and social change.
She holds a Master of Social Work degree from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Her emphasis of study was Program Development, Policies, Research and Evaluation, and Community Organizing.

Her passion for ensuring the African American community receives adequate education and support in all areas of the social determinants of heath led her to become a member of Children’s Hospital Colorado’s African American Family Advisory Council, Board of Directors for National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Colorado, Hunger Free Colorado’s Community Council and Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger’s Governing Council. Her goal is to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion in schools, healthcare systems, housing, and the workforce.

LaQuetta and her son have faced food insecurities throughout their lives, which is why she’s an advocate for Healthy School Meals for All. She believes that we cannot improve food insecurities without focusing on the social determinants of health to address the needs of all children, families, and older adults.

She is the proud mother of one amazing son who recently celebrated his 19th birthday!

Maggie Brown
Chief Impact Officer,
Bondadosa

Maggie Brown has worked in various forms of logistics and community wellness, always supporting local businesses and access to healthy food, since 2012. Her personal commitment to creating meaningful change in health equity stems from lived experience of being raised on the poverty line in rural Michigan, aided by WIC, SNAP, and other programs.

Maggie holds a Bachelor of Science in Human Nutrition - Dietetics, paired with practical skills in business and nonprofit management developed over the years. Throughout her journey, she has supported gardening, gleaning, and food recovery efforts and organizations. She’s also taught diverse types of cooking, nutrition, fitness, and mindfulness classes for adults and elders, empowering community members to reclaim their autonomy of health and wellness.

Her position as Chief Impact Officer of Bondadosa, a Denver-based social business, weaves together her expertise and spirit to live her purpose of cultivating a more balanced and fulfilling relationship between people, our ancestral roots, source of food, and Mother Earth.

When not doing this passion-work, you can find Maggie enjoying a book in the sunshine or not taking herself too seriously in jiu jitsu, tai chi, weight training, or backcountry adventures.

Marc Jacobson
CEO, Hunger Free Colorado

Marc Jacobson currently serves as CEO for Hunger Free Colorado. He brings extensive experience in anti-hunger work, public policy, and community engagement. Hunger Free Colorado works to bring a unified, statewide voice to the issue and solutions surrounding hunger with the goal of ensuring all Coloradans have access to affordable, nutritious food.

Prior to coming to Colorado, Marc worked for Baylor University’s Texas Hunger Initiative as their Dallas Regional Director and Statewide Organizing Director. Within these roles, he led capacity-building efforts to increase access to food stamps, federally known as SNAP; oversaw the creation of model initiatives to boost participation and program delivery quality in federal child nutrition programs; spearheaded campaigns to educate and advocate on hunger policy; and guided the development of local anti-hunger coalitions in rural and urban communities across Texas. Previously, Jacobson worked on a variety of justice and equity issues that intersect with hunger.

Jacobson holds a bachelor’s in History from Yale University and a Master's of Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Maria Judith Alvarez
Director, Safe & Abundant Nutrition Alliance

Maria Judith Alvarez was born in Mexico and moved to Colorado in 2008. One of her passions is helping and serving my community, and she recognizes the importance and power of food to care for and maintain health.

Maria is a general practitioner who graduated from the Michoacan University of San Nicolás de Hidalgo. She’s been working in the community as a health promoter since 2015. In 2020 she joined the Safe & Abundant Nutrition Alliance (SANA) in the Roaring Fork Valley, first as an organizer for community participation and now as the project’s director.

She is excited to join Blueprint’s Governing Council. Maria also has a 14-year-old son.

Mark Kling
Retired / Former Executive Director, Family Resource Center Association

Co-chair, Blueprint Governing Council

Mark Kling recently retired after serving as the Executive Director for the Family Resource Center Association since 2008. He is a seasoned leader with strong management, collaboration, legislative, and strategic skills.

Mark previously practiced law as Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary for Space Imaging, Inc.; and other corporate legal positions. He studied at the University of London and the University of Northern Colorado, as well as obtained his J.D. degree from the University of Denver College of Law, where he also taught as an adjunct professor.

Mark continues to support nonprofit agencies serving at-risk youth and families. He is a graduate of Leadership Denver and the Colorado Institute of Leadership Training. In addition to serving on the Blueprint’s Governing Council, Mark is also a fellow of the Colorado Children and Families Fellowship of Ascend at the Aspen Institute.

Meighen Lovelace
Food & Farm Policy Advocate

Meighen Lovelace lives with their two daughters on Colorado’s Western Slope. They founded the Mountain Harvest Coalition, building a community farm and four-season greenhouse for the Vail Valley Salvation Army and providing year-round fresh produce for the food bank. They have since passed that work along to community leaders to pursue a deep dive into food and farm policy work. Meighen is committed to growing accessible and thriving community systems through equitable policy, advocacy, and action.

Meighen serves on the Board of Directors for the Alliance to End Hunger, the Advisory Board for the Colorado Food Policy Network, and the Governing Council for the Colorado Blueprint to End Hunger. They have served as the Western Slope Producer Representative and Vice Chair of the Governor-appointed Colorado Food Systems Advisory Council. Meighan also has worked on the Farm Bill with the National Farmers Union in Washington, D.C., and is currently President of the Colorado Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health.

Nate Springer
President & CEO, Care and Share Food Bank of Southern Colorado

Nate Springer is the President & CEO for Care and Share Food Bank of Southern Colorado and serves on the Blueprint’s Governing Council as a representative for Feeding Colorado. He brings more than 23 years of executive leadership as a US military commander, most recently as the Garrison Commander of Fort Carson in Colorado Springs.

During his appointment as Garrison Commander, he specialized in strategic and operational planning and led a team of more than 1,500 civilian employees. Prior to his position at Fort Carson, Springer was a professor at the School of Advanced Military Studies at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

Springer received a Bachelor of Science in Business Marketing from Oklahoma State University. He also received his Master of Arts in Security Studies from the Naval Postgraduate School; Master of Military Arts and Science from Military History at Fort Leavenworth; and Master of Arts in Strategic Studies from War College at Fort Leavenworth.

Paola Babb
Community Food Connector, Denver Department of Public Health and Environment

Soy Latina. Soy Mexicana. Soy una inmigrante en este país. Mi meta es ser una líder auténtica que tiene confianza en sí misma, y que lidera con integridad, honestidad, y humildad—una líder que inspira a otros y al mismo tiempo empuja los límites.

Paola Babb is a native Spanish speaker originally from Jalisco, Mexico, but has lived in Colorado most of her life. Her mother and father always provided, but as undocumented immigrants, they did not always have access to healthy foods and resources.

She pursued a degree in nutrition and dietetics and at the beginning of her career and served as a WIC nutrition educator. Her experience educating diverse communities needing to provide food for their families was powerful, and instead of becoming a dietitian, she fell deep into food access work. She later managed a food pantry in Westminster and served as an advocate for food justice at Hunger Free Colorado. Currently, she is a public health specialist at Denver Department of Public Health and Environment (DDPHE), where she supports communities in the West Colfax neighborhoods of Denver to drive the change needed to design a local food system that works for them. Paola has a lot of passion and experience in convening the voices of those most impacted and with lived experience to move this work forward. 

Paola is also a ballet folklorico dancer and in her spare time enjoys watching anime, listening to BTS, and doing embroidery.

Stephanie Salazar-Rodriguez, MPH, MNM
CEO/Lead Trainer, Blazing Cloud Consulting

Stephanie Salazar-Rodriguez is a second-generation native of Denver from a mixed Latino and Native American familial background and is bilingual. She possesses over 25 years of experience working in high-need and under-resourced communities to effectively address social and economic barriers to health, education, and health equity. Stephanie holds a Master’s in Public Health (Leadership Concentration) from CU Anschutz and a Master’s in Nonprofit Management from Regis University. She’s also a certified paralegal.

As the CEO/Lead Trainer for Blazing Cloud Consulting, Stephanie recently propelled her consulting business to the next level on a full-time basis. Her consulting work includes improving health and public health outcomes by addressing implicit bias; justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI), community engagement; executive leadership coaching and harm reduction; and behavioral health throughout Colorado. Most recently, Stephanie has been addressing the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color through her work in testing, vaccination, education, and treatment. She is committed to saving lives through her overdose education and prevention work, including the distribution of Naloxone and fentanyl testing strips, to address the disproportionate overdose deaths in BIPOC communities. Blazing Cloud Consulting is currently working with the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment, Boulder County Public Health, Latina SafeHouse, CREA Results, Colorado Health Institute, AgeWise Colorado, National Network of Public Health Institutes, and Connect for Health Colorado to address health disparities in both the Latino and Native American communities.

Stephanie is active in the local community to promote authentic community engagement, patient participatory research, and equity in public health. Her commitment is demonstrated through work on various community advisory panels and committees. She has also served as a conference and summit presenter and an academic guest lecturer.

Takiyah Wilson
Vice President of Health Strategies, American Heart Association

Takiyah Wilson is dedicated to advancing health equity and is a driven healthcare professional with the skills and mindset to deliver and manage healthcare services through leadership in administration, research, and the development of innovative public health solutions.

Takiyah holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Health Studies and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Texas Women’s University. In addition, she holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Community Health and Preventative Medicine from the University of Central Oklahoma.

Currently, as the Vice President of Health Strategies for the American Heart Association, Dr. Wilson is responsible for the development, implementation, and evaluation of community impact strategies across the market to achieve market health and revenue strategic goals, while simultaneously focusing on eliminating health disparities through an equity-first lens.

Teva Sienicki
Co-CEO, Metro Caring

Teva Sienicki: In two decades of work in the third sector, I've seen the bottom fall out from under the working class, as wages have not kept up with the cost of living. I've seen racial inequity remain entrenched in our systems and communities. I've seen poverty, stress, and trauma needlessly scar tens of thousands of kids that I know personally, many of whom now have kids of their own.

Business as usual is not working. The third sector has been growing, scaling, measuring, and evaluating for decades, and it's not working. It is not enough, because we are mostly just managing the symptoms. It's time for us to demand an end to business as usual, and work together to build a movement for a fair and inclusive society.

The people facing challenges like hunger and homelessness are the best experts in their own lives. We need to invest in them. We need to listen and share leadership. We generate greater impact through developing community leadership, leveraging passionate volunteers and working in partnership with like-minded groups.

I cut my teeth as a young activist in the Marriage Equality Movement (when organizations and mentors trained and invested in me), and organizing tenants' rights groups in public housing properties. Now, I'm committed to leveraging the strengths of communities to ensure that each person's human rights for food, housing, and healthcare are met.

I believe that, in the richest economy the world has ever known, working parents should be able to put food on the table for their kids and keep a roof over their heads. Vets who've fought for us and seniors who've worked their whole lives should be able to pay rent, buy medications, groceries, and bus fare. Children, no matter their race or zip code, should be safe and learn in top-notch childcare and schools so that they can reach their potential.

We can do better. We will build and win in the way we always have: by investing in and training those with lived experience, and supporting them as allies.

My skills are limited but include leadership development, values-based organizational culture, strategic planning, coalition building, fundraising, asset-based community development, community organizing, movement building, and occasionally delivering a good speech. My love, energy, passion, and outrage are limitless.