Diana Leal was born in Tepatitlan De Morelos, Jalisco, Mexico and has lived in Richmond since the age of 6. She joined Urban Tilth in March 2017 as a staff apprentice at Adams Crest Farm, slowly building up her skills and supporting all types of Urban Tilth projects like the Farm to Table CSA, the North Richmond Farm expansion, & the Education programs. Diana currently co-teaches the urban agriculture classes at Richmond High School and helps care for the school garden, while also working on the CSA added value products like herbal salves, floral bouquets, jam, and more. 

Diana has completed the permaculture course at Soul Flower Farm and is currently enrolled at Ancestral Apothecary School, taking a 9 month herbal training course called Cecemmana. She has packed and distributed medicine for the Community Care Herbal Response Project  as well. Diana started the Healing Movement after-school club at Richmond High in 2019, which taught healing using herbs and exposed young students tpo healthier alternatives for medicine, whether that be with exercises, food, aromatherapy, horticulture therapy, etc. She is passionate about decolonizing our medicine, learning how to be in community with plants, building a more sustainable world, creating spaces for people to heal/reflect on the trauma of our people who have faced centuries of colonization. And loves to roller skate!

Alejandro Castro, or Ale as he likes to be called, is fairly new to Urban Tilth, working as a Greenway Garden Coordinator since March 2021.  He first heard about UT from his friends who are already employed there. He was born in Vallejo, California and raised in Richmond, California. Alejandro’s work includes overseeing and maintaining the vegetable garden on the Greenway. One aspect of Alejandro’s work which he enjoys the most is the community engagement. Having the opportunity to speak with new people each from the community is very rewarding and exciting!  Hobbies include daydreaming, listening to music, embroidery, gardening, and… trying different mozzarella sticks.

Adam manages our programs and sites where we grow and distribute food, teach, and provide youth development and outdoor education and has worked with us for over 10 years. After seeing the Richmond Greenway and meeting Doria Robinson, Adam fell in love with the mission of growing healthy change within the community. He started working part-time for Urban Tilth at one of our first gardens called Berryland along the Richmond Greenway. Over the past 10 years Adam has made his home in Richmond and now trains Urban Tilth staff, and teaches a course at Richmond High School on Urban Agriculture. Adam has a degree in Environmental Biology from UC Berkeley, a permaculture certification from Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, and a grey water level 1 certification from Grey water Action. His prior experience includes Environmental Scientist / Staff Biologist / Assistant Project Manager working with CEQA / Technical Reports / Permitting.