VIVA FARMS - Key Persons
Adele's earliest food memory is the smell and sound of plump blueberries falling into buckets and (more often than not) into her mouth at her grandparents' farm in Kent, WA. Decades later, those early experiences continue to inform her belief in creating opportunities for youth to feel positively connected to the food they eat. At Viva Farms since 2024, Adele coordinates efforts to integrate local produce in school meals and increase school-based agricultural education. Her path to food systems work wound through a BA in Linguistics and Spanish from Pomona and Claremont McKenna Colleges, an MA in Human Rights from the University of Vienna, and years abroad in Peru and Austria. In her non-Viva time, Adele finds any excuse she can to speak in another language, get lost in the woods, eat food with friends, or follow her cats around in the yard.
Job Titles:
- Director of Outreach & Partnerships at Foodshed Capital Agricultural Finance Consultant at NY FarmNet
Job Titles:
- Attorney Co - Founder & CEO of Tulip Valley Farms
A Skagit Valley native and Mount Vernon High School grad, Andrew has a Juris Doctorate from the Seattle University School of Law, an MBA from Pacific Lutheran University, a Masters in Strategic Studies from the Naval Postgraduate School, a Masters in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University and is a graduate of the Air Command and Staff College and the National Defense University Joint Staff College.
After a career in the Air Force as an intelligence officer, followed by high-profile management stints at Expedia, Weyerhaeuser, and Amazon, Andrew knew it was time to return to his roots and get back to the Valley and raise his family. Andrew's background and experience in law, business and strategy made him a natural fit for the reconfigured Economic Development Association of Skagit County as the Director of Business Retention and Expansion. There he championed the Economic Industry Cluster program in partnership with local chambers of commerce, governments, schools, businesses, and non-profits to shape strategies and spark synergies across 14 industry clusters.
Job Titles:
- Director of Farm Viability
Anna (she/her) is unapologetically optimistic and tirelessly committed to affecting bold systemic change for farmers and agriculture. She has been with Viva Farms since 2017 and has over 10 years of experience supporting beginning and immigrant farmers to build viable businesses. Anna leads the organization's land access, capital access and business management programs. She works closely with capital providers across the impact finance space to design innovative, accessible capital programs, collaborates with land access partners to solve land tenure barriers for next generation farmers, and leads the business management and financial literacy components of Viva's Education Program. Prior to Viva Farms, she worked with refugee farmers at the International Rescue Committee's Phoenix office. She holds a B.A. in History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is fluent in Spanish and French.
Outside of the office and off the farm, Anna can be found up in the mountains, on the salsa dance floor, or around a big dinner table with friends.
Job Titles:
- Farm and Education Assistant, Viva Farms King County
Bonnie (she/they) is passionate about food systems and cultural and environmental sustainability, which began while gardening with her mom growing up and led her to study agroecology and sustainable food systems, as well as environmental justice, at UC Santa Cruz. She has spent her professional life working at local farmers markets, plant nurseries, and in organic certification at California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF). She initially got involved at Viva Farms as a student in the Practicum for Sustainable Agriculture in 2022, and was hired as staff midway through the season. She uses her experience in the program to help ground her work as Farm and Education Assistant - now helping teach the Practicum and expand opportunities, resources, and community for our students and farmers. Outside of farming, Bonnie enjoys cooking, reading, dancing, spending time with friends, and playing the occasional soccer game.
Job Titles:
- Executive Support and Program Management, WW Sustainability at Amazon
Raised in the Greater Seattle-area, Carolyn has lived in Washington most of her life. She earned her Bachelors of Arts in English from Gonzaga University and a Masters in Food Business from The Culinary Institute of America. For over 10 years, she's held positions within program management, communications and executive support at local startups, Amazon and PCC Community Markets. In 2022, she completed Viva's Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture, which ignited a lifelong mission to support small-scale agriculture. Since then, she's volunteered at farms such as Oxbow Farms and Ecolibrium Farms and recently completed the Canopy Leadership Program through The Market Gardener Institute.
Danielle (she/her) has over twenty-two years of experience in the natural foods industry and grocery retail. She spent thirteen years working with New Seasons Market in Portland, Oregon where was named the Store Manager of the Year for her progressive leadership and financial performance. As Regional Operations Director at New Seasons, she led a region of 1100 staff with $80M in annual sales. In her role as Development Manager since 2019, Danielle leads Viva Farms' fundraising efforts - from USDA grants to private foundation and individual donor relationships to events. Danielle secures and administers over $1.5M in federal and private funding each year to help us realize our mission. She is a graduate of the Western Culinary Institute. She is a lover of food and a passionate world traveler, having spent time as a chef in Chile, working on organic farms in Europe, and visiting over 30 countries.
Job Titles:
- View Staff Member
- Senior Relationship Manager at Iroquois Valley Farmland REIT
Drew Blankenbaker is the Senior Relationship Manager at Iroquois Valley, an organic farmland finance company that works with impact-driven investors to provide capital to organic and regenerative farmers across America through long-term leases, flexible mortgages, and post-investment support. With two decades in agriculture and rural development, he has run a diversified farm and led efforts to restore farmland access and strengthen regional food systems. He is most passionate about inspiring and developing the audacious farmers and food system leaders of tomorrow. Drew received his Master's in Public Administration from the University of Idaho and a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana. When not touring the partner farms of Iroquois Valley, Drew can be found skiing, running backcountry trails, or paddling the rivers and lakes of western Montana with his family.
Elma (she/her) joined Viva Farms as Communications Manager during the summer of 2023. Prior to joining the team, Elma balanced a varied career in food - from many commercial salmon seasons in Bristol Bay to, most recently, selling Washington-grown wheat flour at Cairnspring Mills. Elma is also passionate about community organizing; she founded the organization Strength of the Tides, which supports, celebrates, and empowers women, nonbinary and trans people on the water. Elma joined Viva Farms in 2023 and strategically supports the organization's communications to increase engagement of future farmers, supporters and partners. Living in Washington since 2015, Elma grew up on the water in southern New England and is lucky enough to have spent time in Vermont, Alaska, Martinique and Cameroon. She holds a B.A. in French from Middlebury College with additional focuses in Elementary Education and African-American Studies. Locally, she has served as a member of the Whatcom Food Network and Whatcom Marine Resources Committee and DJ'd on KZAX 94.9 LPFM. Elma feels most herself driving a boat, alone on a trail or lingering at a full dinner table long after dessert.
Job Titles:
- Co - Owner & Operator of Dear Table Farm
Griffin grew up in the country side of Connecticut. Some of his earliest memories are pulling fresh vegetables from the garden, and running them to the kitchen to be cooked up and enjoyed right then and there. After graduating college, Griffin spent years searching for a career. He tried working for large corporations, teaching English in Korea, and growing a tech start-up. Finally he followed his passions and found his way back to the garden. He joined the practicum at Viva Skagit in 2021 and started his own farm, Dear Table Farm, with his fiancé less than a year later. When not farming, he can be found cooking, playing music, or throwing the frisbee for his dog.
Job Titles:
- Project Manager at Dalberg
- Strategy Consultant
Jeff Levine is a strategy consultant focused on global development. He works on a range of issues including strategic planning, agriculture, and climate finance. Recent examples of his work include developing a climate adaptation and resilience strategy with the ClimateWorks Foundation and advising the Nature Conservancy on scaling financing for regenerative food systems. Prior to Dalberg, Jeff served as an investment officer at an impact investing fund in East Africa. He holds a BA In International Relations and Environmental Studies from the University of Southern California. Jeff grew up in Mount Vernon and is excited to return home to support Viva in its mission to scale sustainable, strong, and just food systems - in the valley and beyond. He currently lives in Seattle with his wife.
Job Titles:
- Outreach Manager at Puget Sound Energy
Job Titles:
- Farm Business Development Coordinator
Juliana joined us at Viva Farms in the summer of 2024 as a part of Viva's Sales Team after moving to Oak Harbor in late 2023 from south central Texas. She enjoyed assisting farmers in her previous sales role and made the transition into Viva's Viability Team in 2025 to further help farmers in other topics like education, land access and capital access. Prior to Viva, she has spent four years supporting essential elements of the food system, primarily restaurants and farmers markets with everything from data analysis, project management and marketing. In those roles she worked closely with farmers and is now excited to get to know the passions and produce of the farmers at Viva Farms while helping them create a successful farm business. A Latina with family roots in Coahuila, MX, she also previously worked with Latin American unaccompanied minors, assisting them with family and sponsor reunion on the Southern border. Juliana has a degree in Latin American Studies and Business Administration from the University of Texas, where her studies also took her to Brazil and Mexico. Away from the office, find Juliana exploring her new home in the Pacific Northwest by swimming in nearby lakes during the summer and snowboarding down the mountains during the winter.
Katherine's (she/her) background is in multilingual education, sustainable agriculture, and non-profit program management. She has taught English & Spanish in public schools and as a private tutor in both the U.S. & Spain, and has been involved in sustainable agriculture in different ways over many years as everything from a home gardener to a mixed vegetable row crop farmer. Katherine joined the team at Viva in 2018. In her role as Sales & Education Manager at Viva Farms, Katherine co-teaches the Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture. She also manages the growth and development of our direct sales and wholesale operations in support of the overall mission of the organization, working closely with the beginning farmers in our programs Katherine has been serving as a Board Member at the Puget Sound Food Hub since 2020. She graduated from the University of Southern California with a degree in Gender Studies and minors in Spanish and French. When she is not at Viva, Katherine can be found with her nose in a book.
Kenny Lee is an alumni of the Viva Farms King County Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture where he fell in love with farming and the agriculture industry. Kenny is the co-founder and CEO of Aigen, an agtech startup with the mission to Regenerate Earth with robotics and AI by breaking chemical dependency in agriculture. He has a wonderful family with two kids and is married to his childhood sweetheart. With an MBA from MIT in sustainability and data analytics, he is pioneering AI-driven tools that empower farmers to enhance productivity and sustainability.
Job Titles:
- Development & Communications Assistant
Liz's development and communications experience comes from her native Colombia, where she worked as a Communication Strategist Analyst in service to vulnerable communities in Medellin. She is thrilled to be able to use her native language in the fulfillment of Viva's bilingual programs since joining the team in 2023. From crafting visual marketing materials and engaging social media graphics, Liz's graphic design has elevated Viva Farms' brand presence and effectively communicated its mission. Eager to deepen her understanding of sustainable agriculture and immerse herself in the farming community, Liz made the bold decision to join the Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture (PSA) program in 2024. Through her participation in the PSA, Liz is gaining experience in organic farming techniques, crop management, and farm operations, enriching her perspective as a designer and enabling her to create even more impactful visual content tailored to the unique needs of Viva Farms and its community. In her free time, she loves to read, travel, enjoy time with her family and friends, enjoy good music, and savor delicious cuisine. She lived in Brooklyn, New York and Sacramento, California before moving to Washington last year, and now calls Lake Samish her home.
Job Titles:
- Farm Assistant, Viva Farms Skagit County
- Member of Our Team
Lorenzo has been a valuable member of our team since 2021. Originally from Jalisco, Mexico, Lorenzo initially started as a driver before lending his skills to support our small infrastructure projects on the farm. Six months later, Lorenzo transitioned to a full-time role as our Farm Assistant, where he brings great enthusiasm and experience to maintaining infrastructure around the farm - everything from greenhouses to the offices. Lorenzo previously drove for Bellingham Cold Storage for several years and brings not only experience but a great attitude of kindness to the farm. Outside of work, Lorenzo enjoys spending time at home, where he cultivates grapes, raspberries, and a towering banana plant at the entrance. His passion for farming extends beyond the workplace and is rooted in his family's ranching experience in Jalisco.
Job Titles:
- CSA Assistant & Delivery Driver
Malachi (they/them) has joined Viva Farms seasonally during the past two years to support our delivery and logistics during the summer sales season. Originally from Mount Vernon, WA, Malachi is passionate about the health and vitality of the community here in Skagit, from the workers in the fields and the beginning farmers at Viva, to the buyers they deliver to each week along I-5. In 2024, Malachi also enrolled in the Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture to further contribute to that community. They shared, "It's about more than just learning new farming methods; it's about reclaiming our connection to the land and each other." During the winter, they work in technology, supporting the AI space with machine learning. They also enjoy the long evenings doing crafts like knitting and embroidery. To learn more about Malachi, please read our May 2024 newsletter here.
Martin is a lifelong farmer, having started out at a young age dairy farming. He studied Dairy Science at Washington State University then went to work as a herdsman and eventually owned his own dairy. In the 1990's, Martin moved off farm and went to work full time at Conway Feed, a local animal feed manufacturer. At that time, he began crop farming after work at night and on weekends raising freezer peas, cucumbers, broccoli, strawberries and grain. He has been crop farming in one way or another ever since, joining the team at Viva in 2016. Martin is married with two sons and five grandchildren. While "practicing retirement" in 2024, Martin continues to support farm maintenance and growers at our Skagit County location.
Job Titles:
- Arado Farm Owner - Operator
Mauricio has been farming his whole life, beginning in his home of Nayarit, Mexico. Since coming to the U.S., he has worked as a farm-worker, crew boss, and farm manager in California and in the Skagit Valley. He is considered a pruning expert around the valley. Mauricio was also Farm Manager at Viva Farms for several years before deciding to go full-time on his farm, Arado Farms with his wife, Senaida, which is located in the Viva Farms incubator. They specialize in raspberries and strawberries.
Job Titles:
- Farm and Education Manager, Viva Farms King County
Micah has spent the past 15 years bridging and strengthening diverse communities through programs that foster a love for growing and sharing good food. Serving first in the United States Peace Corps and later in the nonprofit world nationally and internationally, Micah has supported farmers in Zambia, Papua New Guinea and rural Japan, in addition to designing and facilitating organic farm training programs in King County as Education Manager at Seattle Tilth Farm Works and adjunct faculty at Highline Community College. Micah joined the team at Viva Farms in 2019 and continues to encourage and empower new generations of farmers who aspire to enrich the soil and their local farming community. Micah holds an B.A. in Forestry with a minor in Agriculture from the University of Kentucky and an M.A. in Environment & Community from Antioch University Seattle. When not farming, he enjoys time with his family, football (the beautiful game), fermentation, and frailing on his ol' banjo.
Michael Frazier has over 25 years' experience leading business development efforts in nonprofit, for profit and public arenas. Throughout his career, he has developed many passionate and successful teams, while directly serving veterans and Latino farmers and farmworkers. He is a Marine Corps Veteran and holds a BA in Nutrition and Health Sciences from Bastyr University. Michael has over 10 years of retail/customer service experience; as Director of Sales Operations at Super Supplements, he managed over 340 employees across three states. While serving as Director, the Helping Hands Food Bank provided over 1.2M pounds of food to over 14,000 community members annually. Michael joined Viva Farms as Executive Director in 2015 and has grown the organization from just 3 staff members to the group of 12+ we are today. Under his leadership, Viva Farms developed and launched the Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture, secured long-term land tenure on over 100 acres and hosts over 30 incubating farms annually. When not at Viva Farms, Michael can be found enjoying the outdoors with his kids, playing a fierce game of tennis and supporting food access efforts across the region.
Job Titles:
- Owner - Operator of Songbird Haven Farm
Noa moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2009 to pursue a Masters in Public Health. She has worked on a wide range of public health and public policy issues in her roles at nonprofits, local government, and state agencies. Eager to work more directly at the intersection of environmental and human health, Noa took the Viva Farms Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture and started Songbird Haven Farm in 2019. Since starting to farm, Noa has drawn on her background in education and public health to run her own business and advocate for policies that support sustainable farmers. She built partnerships throughout the state as the campaign manager for the Washington Sustainable Farms and Fields legislation which passed in 2020.
Job Titles:
- Director of Programs & Operations
Rob has over 15 years of experience working at the intersection of sustainable agriculture, farm business management and social advocacy. Prior to joining Viva Farms in 2014, he worked as a manager of Happy Boy Farms, a 400-acre, certified organic farm in California's central coast. As Director of Programs and Operations, Rob oversees the design and implementation of Viva Farms' programs, including bilingual curriculum development and training programs, while co-teaching the Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture in Skagit each year. He works directly with both farmers and staff to ensure incubating farm businesses' success and the fulfillment of Viva Farms' mission. He is one of the few Spanish-speaking Certified Lead Trainers with the Produce Safety Alliance in the region and has instructed courses locally and internationally. Rob holds a BA in Politics and Latin American studies from UC Santa Cruz, and additionally serves as Adjunct Faculty, Environmental Sustainable Agriculture Department at Skagit Valley College and on the Board of Trustees at the Skagit Valley Food Co-Op. Off farm, Rob enjoys time with his family biking, music-making, sailing, skiing, and exploring the North Cascades.
Job Titles:
- Farm Manager, Viva Farms Skagit County
With a decade of hands-on experience on organic farms in the Pacific Northwest, Robin brings a wealth of knowledge and a passion for sustainable agriculture to Viva Farms. Before joining the team at Viva Farms in 2024, Robin managed her own farm for four years. She possesses a deep understanding of the innumerable details involved in maintaining thriving agricultural operations. As Farm Manager, Robin supports incubating farmers with day-to-day operations and keeps the farm infrastructure up and running. Her dedication to education extends beyond the fields; she is generous with her expertise on topics ranging from seed propagation to the art of blending herbal teas. Beyond her farm experience, Robin studied Food System Resilience at Western Washington University, combining practical knowledge with academic insights. When not immersed in the rhythms of farm life, Robin finds solace in the majestic beauty of the North Cascades.
Job Titles:
- View Staff Member
- Principal & Consultant at Stone Soup Advisors LLC
Steve Crider has spent his professional working life in the organic food and agriculture movement. Steve is deeply committed to collaborating with others to create a more sustainable and just food system. For years, Steve was the Farm to School lead at Viva Farms. Prior to his time at Viva, his work includes time with Amy's Kitchen, Cascadian Farm and CF Fresh (Viva Tierra). He served on the Board of Directors of Oregon Tilth for four years, stepping down in June 2018. Steve set off for Japan in 1983 to meet Masanobu Fukuoka, author of One Straw Revolution and eventually spent nine years there where he helped found the organic food import company, Taneyama ga Hara, Ltd. On the local front here in Skagit County, Steve has volunteered with the Burlington-Edison School system, and served on the Boards of Directors for Neighbors in Need Foodbank, META Performing Arts and Burlington Little School. Steve was the 2012 recipient of the annual "The Flash of Silver" Award for local food security endeavors.
Hailing from Lima, Peru, Valeria earned her bachelor's degree in Global Marketing and Commercial Administration from Universidad Ricardo Palma. While pursuing her education, Valeria spent her summers in Montana through a work and travel exchange program. There, she fell in love with the landscape and her now husband. As Sales & CSA Coordinator since 20 22, Valeria supports the wholesale program and manages the CSA program. Working alongside farmers is her favorite part of her work. Of all the crops grown on the farm, garlic is her favorite. Off farm, it is passion fruit which reminds her of home. In her off time, Valeria enjoys biking, traveling, trying new foods, and finding new drama shows to binge.