ACTIVATE! Programs

Rafael Castro-Chavez

Just Transition Organizer

Rafa is one of two of the Just Transition organizers at Urban Tilth. He is a North Richmond resident and was 12 years old when the explosion at Richmond Chevron refinery happened. This experience made Rafa interested in the Climate Justice field and understanding that racism, the housing crisis and extractive developments are all a climate issue. The organizing he does in Just Transition focuses on educating and fighting for a better future for his community where we fight the bad and build the new. In his free time you can find him out on the water kayak fishing, playing guitar or spending time with his family!

Kiara Pereira

Just Transition Organizer

Kiara was born in San Francisco, CA and has lived in various cities around the Bay Area. She has resided in North Richmond for over a decade and received a B.A in Theatre, Film, and Digital Production from UC Riverside. Kiara joined Urban Tilth in September 2022 in a newly established position as a Just Transition Organizer. She is passionate about how humans can heal our relationship with the natural world. Outside of work her special interests are learning about proper mental health care, sewing, and writing.

Administration

Michael Bauer

Operations and Facilities Manager

Contact: Michael@urabntilth.org

Eric Gonzalez

Security Team

Ashley Johnson

Human Resources Manager

Ashley Johnson is a Richmond Ca native who began her Human resources career 6 years ago after noticing the unfair acts in the workplace, before joining Urban Tilth Ashley worked in many non-profits helping the young, old, physically, and mentally disabled get the care they needed. She joined Urban Tilth in August 2022. She is a proud Richmond girl dedicated to Richmond’s growth and development!

Jaqueline Leal Reyes

Volunteer Coordinator

Jaqueline Leal (she/her) is 21 years old and was born in Oakland CA. She identifies as a Chicana woman, both her parents are from the motherland, Jalisco Mexico. Jacquline’s family migrated here in 1999. She is a 1st generation Mexican-American, a graduate from Richmond High and the youngest in the family. Jackie is one of the Free Farm Stand coordinators and also helps with Farm to Table CSA pack and deliveries. She helps distribute free healthy food to local residents who don’t have access to it and she loves what she does because of the impact and the mission.

Contact: volunteer@urbantilth.org

Christian Parra

Communications Associate

Christian Parra is our new Communication Associate. He says that working at Urban Tilth has been one of the most rewarding experiences he’s ever gotten to be a part of. He is grateful to be part of a place that truly cares for the health and wellbeing of the community it is in. As a resident of Richmond, Christian believes the work that Urban Tilth is doing is essential for the future of this city.

Contact: communications@urbantilth.org

D’Angelo Patrick

Security Team

Elizabeth Perez

Receptionist

Isaac Resendiz

Fund Development Associate

Isaac Resendiz (they/he) is a Latine person born and raised in the Bay Area. They started working at Urban Tilth at the beginning of 2023, with a background in development, writing, event coordination, and education programming. As someone who grew up in Richmond and San Pablo, Isaac was originally drawn to Urban Tilth due to their commitment to strengthening the connection between the people and the land. Isaac has a strong sense of optimism and hopes to use their values of self-determination, community strength, and cultural knowledge to help transform our work and contribute to creating a thriving community that we all deserve.

Outside of work, Isaac loves to spend time growing their knowledge both as a La Raza student and in their own personal study of their historical roots, playing guitar with their band Jume, spending quality time with their loved ones, and connecting with nature.

Doria Robinson

Executive Director and Board Member

Doria is a 3rd generation resident of Richmond, California and the Executive Director of Urban Tilth since 2007, a community based organization rooted in Richmond dedicated to cultivating a more sustainable, healthy, and just food system. Urban Tilth hires and trains residents to cultivate agriculture in west Contra Costa County to help our community build a more sustainable, healthy, and just food system.

Doria has served as Executive Director since 2007. Raised in a strong church community where her grandfather was the minister, Doria spent weekends and summers on the church’s 350 acre ranch in Fairfield California. It was on the Apostolic Temple of Truth Ranch where she was taught her first strong lessons on the power of cooperative economics by her grandfather Elder Vernon V. Robinson. Doria has also worked on organic farms in Western Massachusetts where she attended Hampshire College, at Veritable Vegetable, a women owned organic produce distribution company, Real Food Company and Mixed Nuts Food Co-op.

Doria is a Certified Permaculture Designer, Bay Friendly Gardener, Nutrition Educator and Yoga Instructor. She is the co-founder of the Richmond Food Policy Council, former co-chair of the US Food Sovereignty Alliance Western Region and member of the Climate Justice Alliance, Food Sovereignty Working Group.

Contact: Doria@urbantilth.org

Kaivalya Robinson

Communications Associate

Kaivalya (Kai) Robinson grew up in Richmond, CA and Reed Island British Columbia. He is currently communications student at Camosum College. He loves hiking, being fit and active and has an interest in agriculture, social justice and spending way too much time reading fantasy novels.

Andrew Wizig

Assistant Bookkeeper

Andrew grew up in Richmond and have lived there for most of his life. Andrew lived a very active lifestyle growing up, playing hockey and other sports. He joined the Urban Tilth’s  Summer Youth Apprentice Program when he was in my senior year of high school and instantly loved the organization. Andrew has always been a person who loves to see communities grow and thrive, and working with Urban Tilth has given him a direct link to be able to help that cause in Richmond.

Contact: accounting@urbantilth.org

Community Advisory

Latifah Abdullah

North Richmond Farm Community Engagement Manager and Community Advisory Committee Convener

Latifah Abdullah, originally from Champaign, Illinois, now resides as a homeowner in unincorporated North Richmond. Within Urban Tilth, she plays a vital role in facilitating the North Richmond Farm Community Advisory Committee and serves as the editor of Restoring Tilth – The North Richmond Farm magazine.
Latifah actively engages with the community, participating in events like the fruit tree giveaway and the free farmer’s market with the Black Neighborhood and supporting Verde Elementary’s Black Student Union.
As a North Richmond resident, she actively participates in community initiatives and maintains open communication with community-based organizations, regulatory bodies, and elected officials regarding land use, hazardous materials, and sustainability.
Latifah is a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) member. The #NoShade campaign drew her to the North Richmond Farm.

Chinue Fields

Community Advisory Committee Staff Representative

Farming and gardening has been my family’s way of life on both my mother and father’s side. So I shouldn’t be surprised that after many years of college and specialized training in everything but agriculture, I ended up setting roots down at a farm. Urban Tilth has brought me back to me. And the North Richmond community has welcomed me with open arms. I am continuously fascinated with and inspired by the history of this city and its people. There is a sense of solidarity here that is bursting at the seams with love, aid, and optimism. I feel honored to work in North Richmond and to do my part to help ensure that we see the people of this community thriving again.

Dulce Galicia

Community Advisory Committee Member

I am passionate about working with community members, students, teachers and residents to uplift policies and systems that serve them and their families in the Bay Area. I get energized when I drive co-created community visioning processes with BIPOC communities in order to shift power towards real community impacts.

I am multifaceted! I have led and supported campaigns ranging from education, healthcare, housing and land use. As part of the work that I have done, I have led community asset mapping exercises, data collection synthesis with community members, community participatory planning processes and community visioning efforts.

Although I have steep experience in the policy realm and community organizing, everyone who meets me knows that I have a love for travel both nationally and internationally. I am also a resident of North Richmond and serve on the North Richmond Municipal Advisory Council to advocate for better community planning.

Sarah Hundt

Community Advisory Committee Member

I am a Maryland transplant and have lived joyfully in the San Francisco Bay Area for the last 11 years. I love spending time outside in nature, whether it be gardening, hiking, walking with my dog, or just visiting the ocean. I have spent nearly all my professional career working in social justice and love supporting community-based organizations like Urban Tilth! I am excited to join this committee and support all the wonderful things Urban Tilth does for the community and especially young people, who are the future!

Jake Keller

Community Advisory Committee Member

Jake Keller is a multidisciplinary professional and citizen-scientist focused on the intersections of bioremediation, ecology, and microbiology. Jake lives in Richmond’s Marina Bay community with his partner and their dog. Jake has worked exclusively with sustainability-minded start-ups and community-based organizations for the bulk of his adult life. With his rich background in food and agriculture industry, along with niche interests in sustainable mushroom cultivation and soil-building, Jake is motivated and inspired by the resilient, community-led vision of Urban Tilth and looks forward to contributing to Urban Tilth’s vision on behalf of the citizens of Richmond.

Kiara Pereira

Community Advisory Committee Staff Representative

Kiara was born in San Francisco, CA and has lived in various cities around the Bay Area. She has resided in North Richmond for over a decade and received a B.A in Theatre, Film, and Digital Production from UC Riverside. Kiara joined Urban Tilth in September 2022 in a newly established position as a Just Transition Organizer. She is passionate about how humans can heal our relationship with the natural world. Outside of work her special interests are learning about proper mental health care, sewing, and writing.

EDUCATION PROGRAMS

Adam Boisvert

Deputy Director, Director of Education Programs and Board Member

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.

Contact: adam@urbantilth.org

Alejandro Castro

Garden Coordinator

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.

Luis “Angel” Gonzalez

Verde Garden Maintenance Manager

My experience with Urban Tilth started after high school with the 2018 Summer Youth Apprenticeship Program. SYAP introduced me to a type of work that could join all of my interests, including community service, plant science, and agriculture; this experience guided me to study Botany at Humboldt state. After graduating, I came back to Urban Tilth, where I now serve the Verde K-8 school community as the Verde Partnership Garden maintenance manager. This job is an opportunity to address the issues that matter to me, like environmental justice in my community and ecological consciousness through youth education and engagement. I have found this work transformative because of the relationship I’ve developed to the land and our community. In addition to maintaining the garden to support the VPG education program, I am interested in exploring the ways our stewardship of urban green spaces changes the greater ecology of California native plants, and how these spaces serve as an interface for urban communities to shape our greater ecosystem. I am a botanist, a steward, and proud to be from Richmond.

Diana Leal

Food Justice Fellow

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!

Luis (Lú) Ledesma-Lizarde

Education Program Manager

Lu was born in Yahualica, Jalisco and raised in Richmond, CA. Lu is Queer and Non-Binary. They attended WCCUSD schools. They pursued an A.A. in Social & Behavioral Sciences at Contra Costa College and a B.A. in International Studies: Global Environment at CSU East Bay.  Their passion for environmental justice led them to work in the solar, education and government relations industries. Lu  joined Urban Tilth’s Education Team, because they are committed to empowering youth to work with the land and develop program curriculum around social justice.

Bienvenida Meza

Verde Garden Co-Manager

Bienvenida Meza has been working for close to 20 years at the Verde Elementary School garden, planting, harvesting, as well as teaching the youth firsthand on the fundamentals of urban gardening. Ms. Meza is known for her love for nature and her storytelling, both through conversation and through her endless of albums of photographs and videos. Aside from teaching, Bienvenida Meza is very active in the North Richmond community, giving away food, seeds, and plants whenever she can. She is a North Richmond Historian.

 

 

Rickey Miller

Expanded Learning and Summer Youth Apprentice Program Manager

Rickey Miller is our awesome manager for Expanded learning and the Summer Youth Apprentice Program. When he’s not planning out a lesson exploring the rich cultures and history of Richmond, you can find him around the farm munchin on a pepper and cultivating some beds! He’s an avid environmental enthusiast and supporter of greening our communities! His experience with production farming, farm management, event planning, and outdoor education makes him a great contact if you’re looking to figure out where to begin your personal journey into the sphere of everything community oriented agriculture has to offer.

Nathalie Rivera

Education Program Manager

Nathalie Rivera recently joined Urban Tilth as a Greenway Garden Coordinator in 2021. They are very passionate about native plants, especially the wildlife that each one supports and the ethnobotanical uses of them. They studied Critical Race, Gender and Sexuality Studies with a Pathway Emphasis in Ethnic Studies at Humboldt State University. Nathalie is also interested in food sovereignty and community empowerment. They hope to share their knowledge and learn more from the rest of the UT team and community in Richmond.

TJ Sykes

Ujima Program Manager

Tj Sykes is a Richmond Native, Artist and Author. He enjoys hiking, skating, riding bikes and meditating. His journey to gardening started when he started his first gardening job in Richmond through youth works in 2014. His work as the Ujima Program Manager primarily focuses on coordinating the Summer SYAP program and supporting Crescent Park community members learn more about gardening and organic sustainable living. Tj is excited to meet new community members and connect them with the available resources.

FARM and GARDEN PROGRAMS

Latifah Abdullah

North Richmond Farm Community Engagement Manager and Community Advisory Committee Convener

Latifah Abdullah, originally from Champaign, Illinois, now resides as a homeowner in unincorporated North Richmond. Within Urban Tilth, she plays a vital role in facilitating the North Richmond Farm Community Advisory Committee and serves as the editor of Restoring Tilth – The North Richmond Farm magazine.

Latifah actively engages with the community, participating in events like the fruit tree giveaway, the free farmer’s market with the Black Neighborhood, and supporting Verde Elementary’s Black Student Union. As a North Richmond resident, she actively participates in community initiatives and maintains open communication with community-based organizations, regulatory bodies, and elected officials regarding land use, hazardous materials, and sustainability.

Her aim is to unlock the full potential of the community – its people, land, and shoreline. Latifah prioritizes amplifying the voice of the community to enhance the quality of life for residents. She also spoke at the Green and Greener conference, emphasizing residents as stakeholders and advocating for comprehensive visioning, including funding to realize the vision.

With a corporate background in legal, compliance, and corporate governance, Latifah has worked across various industries, including benefits consulting, law, mortgage, and real estate. She previously utilized her business expertise to support women, small business owners, corporate executives, and nonprofits.

The #NoShade campaign drew Latifah to the North Richmond Farm. Additionally, she champions mental well-being and has created the course “Journey to Your Authentic Self.” She is also a co-author of Breaking the Silence: Unleashing the Power of Your Voice.

Latifah, of Choctaw and African descent, finds solace in spending time with her family and enjoys returning to Champaign to unwind and recharge.

Roderick Alexander

Greenway Garden Coordinator

Roderick, or Rod as we know him, is a Greenway Garden coordinator and has worked for Urban Tilth for over 5 years. He enjoys all work he does, from maintaining the Edible Forest, to putting on community events for the neighbors of the Greenway. He loves the fact that the healthy food he helps grow and care for goes right back to the local community. Rod loves seeing all the smiles and joy that comes through the Greenway Gardens.

Arleide Da Silva Santos

Greenway Community Organizer

Arleide is a passionate educator originally from Brazil who has been living in the Bay Area since 2017. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Education and a Postgraduate specialization in Educational Psychology and Education Management.
Arleide has spent over twelve years working with underprivileged communities, and she finds great fulfillment in connecting with people and discovering the best version of themselves.She is committed to uplifting her community and feels that using her skills as an educator is a vital part of her life’s mission.
In her free time, Arleide enjoys running, dancing, and spending quality time with her husband and beloved dog and friends.

Maria Hernandez

North Richmond Farm Collective Member

Maria Hernandez was born on a ranch in a small town in Oaxaca, Mexico. She came to the United States with her family in the year 2000. Maria has known about farming, ranches, growing food, and harvesting just to name a few things since she was a little girl. She has learned these things by working alongside her parents and grandparents, all of whom tended to the land. She remembers growing and harvesting corn, squash, and beans throughout the majority of her childhood. She started working at Urban Tilth in 2013 with the help of Tania Pulido, who she is so thankful for because this job is what she loves to do most. Knowing a single seed can grow and feed many others makes the job so rewarding.

Luis Jacobo

North Richmond Farm Coordinator

Luis Jacobo has been with Urban Tilth since 2017, where he started first as a recurring volunteer with his girlfriend Tania for a few weeks and then was asked if he would like to join the Urban Tilth team. This was during a difficult time in his life when his brother had just passed away. He also wanted a change from his demolition job at the time. He stayed at home with depression for 2 months, but coming to the farm helped him see the beauty of growing compared to destroying  buildings. Luis was incremental in the early years of the Farm to Table CSA. He has also helped lead SAP programs, also tours, ran the farm for a bit with partner Tania, holding it down in people’s absence. Used to be a litterer and now has trash from 2 weeks ago because he held on to it to throw it in a trash can. This is just one of the many ways Luis has changed since being at Urban Tilth. He used to think seeds just needed water to grow but has learned it takes much more than that, like having patience and consistency.

Bruno Lara

Orchard for ALL! Project Manager

Bruno joined Urban Tilth in early 2016 and had the opportunity to experience all the growth within every program and site. Having been raised in Richmond and observing all the positive contributions made to the community, it motivated him to continue working with his community and give back. Witnessing the transformation of areas he was cautioned to avoid as a kid, now turned into parks and growing spaces for fruits and vegetables, served as inspiration for Bruno to strive for a better environment for future generations and the existing community. He now holds the position of Orchard for All manager, with the aim of providing people in the community the chance to access and cultivate different varieties of fruits and vegetables, while also contributing to the ongoing improvement of Richmond. Additionally, Bruno has been a source of inspiration for youth and others, encouraging them to take initiative in enhancing their community, much like Urban Tilth did for him.

Josue Mejia

CSA Coordinator/Greenway Community Engagement Assistant

Josue works as a Coordinator at CSA, where he packs and delivers 400 bags of goods weekly. He is also an invaluable assistant to the Greenway Community organizer, where he skillfully handles the Newsletter and manages Greenway Social Media and flyers. Josue is passionate about being a contributing member of his community. He is inspired by the sense of community that uplifts and supports each other.

Josue is a creative individual, and he thrives in his job’s freedom of expression and creativity. In his free time, he enjoys playing games with friends, walking his dog, hiking, exploring charming towns, spoiling his girlfriend, camping, shopping, and watching TV. Although Josue was born in San Francisco, he moved to Richmond when he was six. As he spent his entire school life in San Francisco, Urban Tilth has been his introduction to the community in his neighborhood.

Dominique Miller

Greenwway Gardens Coordinator

Laura Navarro

North Richmond Farm Collective Member

Laura Navarro, born in San Pablo California, but was raised in  Michoacan Mexico as a child , and then moved back to the San pablo/Richmond area at age 9. Laura has worked at Urban Tilth for about 9 years now, She first started as an apprentice and now she is a garden educator at Richmond High school and Verde Elementary. Laura studied sociology and Latin American and Latino studies at UC Santa Cruz,  and also took a year long apprenticeship at the CASFS. She also completed a permaculture design certification at the Soul Flower Farm.  Laura is passionate about making change in her community and fighting for people and Earth’s rights, as well as providing people with healthy and chemical free food. In addition, while in Santa Cruz, she volunteered at the Western Workers Association, and has also worked with ACCE Action and fought for fair renter’s rights. 

Daniela Tabora

Rudy Lozito Fellowship Program Manager

My name is Daniela, I joined Urban Tilth this year, as the Rudy Lozito Fellowship manager where we teach 6 adults of mixed ages and experience Land based skills. My journey reconnecting back with the land began through herbalism, and wanting to preserve the inter-generational wisdom that surrounded plant medicine and my lineage. My passion lies in bridging the access to resources to my community, be it knowledge, space or opportunity, I strongly believe that our Black and Brown communities should be at the forefront of access to these things. I love how Urban Tilth centers so much of their work around community engagement and truly feel like I’ve gotten a step closer to my purposeful work with working at UT. Aside from being a lover of the land, I also find my creative expression through painting, writing and dancing. Overall I love creating room for joy and child-like excitement in everything I do.

HEAL PROGRAMS

Nigel Blackwood-Chirchir

CSA Coordinator / Driver

Kenneth De La Cruz

CSA Logistics Manager

Kenneth de la Cruz was born in San Francisco and raised in San Pablo, California his whole life. He first started in Urban Tilth as an apprentice in the Summer Apprentice Program and now is working for the Farm to Table CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). Currently, his job consists of packing and delivering boxes of vegetables and fruits to the community. Kenny also loves collecting house plants.

Theresa Dixon

CSA Procurement Manager

Theresa Dixon joined Urban Tilth in 2020. Starting in the pandemic, Theresa delivered the many new boxes added to our CSA, and now works with our partner farms curating what is in the box each week. She comes from a background in project management; mostly in the event world and community engagement. She studied permaculture in Costa Rica, and is excited about how these systems play into creating a sustainable CSA here at Urban Tilth. Her family taught her from a young age about herbalism and compost, keeping the magic of nature close to her heart. Outside of work, you can find her dancing, doing yoga, or playing with horses. 

Aryana Farsai

CSA Co-Manager / Procurement Specialist

Aryana’s position as the CSA Procurement Manager supports the whole CSA team. She will be working to grow the program’s membership. She will also promote the organic produce and vegetables grown on Urban Tilth’s program farm sites by making selective purchases from partner farmers who grow quality organic produce and vegetables, and who align with Urban Tilth’s mission as a nonprofit.

Aryana feels that her unique cultural heritage as a 5th generation native Californian, along with her own experiences, has given her a compassionate understanding of how disparate access to resources historically has been based on economic or cultural privilege, and she highly appreciates how Urban Tilth is working to broaden that access.

Aryana’s core value is that everyone deserves access to basic needs for living healthy lives: such as low/no cost healthy food, clean water, and safe living spaces. She believes that all people regardless of ethnicity, or their economic status deserve these things as a human right. Aryana is grateful to be ‘doing the work’, and actively supporting Urban Tilth’s mission to provide access to healthy organic foods for people throughout Western Contra Costa County and specifically Richmond’s culturally diverse communities.

 

Chinue Fields

Director of HEAL Programs

I was born and raised in Salinas, CA and I fell in love with Richmond after moving to the Bay Area in 2008 because it reminds me so much of home. I started working with UT in March 2021 as the Operation & Facilities Manager after following along for years via social media. I thrive on sharing the experience of delicious and nourishing food with other folks. Having access to locally and intentionally grown, sustainably sourced foods has drastically changed my life for the better. We all deserve that! Food is medicine.

Yuri Hernandez

Free Farm Stand Coordinator

Yuri born in Fresno CA and was raised in Guanajuato Mx. to Mexican parents. She learned to work with plants from her grandparents and parents since the age of 5. She came back to the U.S. with her family in 2000 and worked in a party rental company, starting as a wear house lead, then became a department manager. She loves working with peers and likes to help as much as she can. She loves to learn to cook new recipes and love to spend time with her family.

Marco Huerta

CSA Coordinator

Tania Jacobo

Free Farm Stand Manger

Tania started when she was 18 at Adams Crest Farm in 2016, when the Farm to Table CSA consisted of 50 recipients. Her father was involved with the first construction projects at the North Richmond Farm and it was through him how she heard about Urban Tilth. She helps with everything here, from leading SAP projects to helping put on community events like the annual Martin Luther King Day of Action. Tania’s love and appreciation for nature came from her early childhood years living next to the Oaxacan beach and rainforest. Coming to Richmond, she noticed the relationship to the environment was much different. She has a lot of respect for nature, and gets upset when people litter because she sees it as if you were disrespecting your own mother. She notices that in recent years, there are much more youth taking an interest in defending and protecting the future of the planet and hopes to help in any way she can to set the next generations up for success.

Jonathan Leal

CSA Member Engagement Manager

Jonathan Leal was born in Oakland California and moved around the bay throughout his childhood and finally settled in Richmond during his teenage years. They’ve been working with Urban Tilth for about four years now and says it’s probably their favorite job. Johnny’s responsibilities at Urban Tilth include helping run the CSA Free Farm Stand and Chicken Coop care. Johnny did the Summer Apprentice Program in 2017 and then was hired as staff in 2018. Since then, they’ve worked at different sites and gained a lot of knowledge from the land and the people around him. Johnny loves supporting and sharing info about local businesses, events, and wellness gatherings. By supporting local businesses, whether that be buying items or sharing info, it helps build connections and in a way builds support systems. Throughout their 4 years working in UT, building support systems and connections has been one of the best things Jonny loves about Urban Tilth.

Marco Lemus

Food is Medicine Project Manager

Marco Lemus is a first-generation, Central-American and has lived in South Richmond all his life. After graduating from UC Santa Cruz with a major in Critical Race and Ethnic Studies, Marco joined the Urban Tilth Farm to Table CSA team in 2019, where he learned how to grow, clean, and distribute healthy locally grown food to local residents. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Marco helped expand the capacity of the paid CSA  from 80 to 250 residents, and also helped establish the New Farmers to Families FREE Box Program which gives 190 Richmond families 

Ebonay Mason

CSA Coordinator

Ebonay was born in San Diego, California and raised in Richmond, California. She has worked at Urban Tilth for two years and enjoys it so much. As a CSA Coordinator she helps harvest, pack and deliver the produce, free box program, and free farm stand. Before she applied to Urban Tilth she worked as an apprentice at Pie Ranch in Pescadero, California  for their CSA program. After this program, she attempted to look for a similar space closer to home and found Urban Tilth. She was recently able to tough it out and graduate from John F. Kennedy even while the Covid-19 Pandemic devastated all the schools and student life. During her time at urban tilth she has assisted in mending the greenway, and helped reactivate the Free Farm Stand Program.

Josue Mejia

CSA Coordinator/Greenway Community Engagement Assistant

Josue works as a Coordinator at CSA, where he packs and delivers 400 bags of goods weekly. He is also an invaluable assistant to the Greenway Community organizer, where he skillfully handles the Newsletter and manages Greenway Social Media and flyers. Josue is passionate about being a contributing member of his community. He is inspired by the sense of community that uplifts and supports each other.

Josue is a creative individual, and he thrives in his job’s freedom of expression and creativity. In his free time, he enjoys playing games with friends, walking his dog, hiking, exploring charming towns, spoiling his girlfriend, camping, shopping, and watching TV. Although Josue was born in San Francisco, he moved to Richmond when he was six. As he spent his entire school life in San Francisco, Urban Tilth has been his introduction to the community in his neighborhood.

Catherine Sandoval

CSA Coordinator

WATERSHED and WATER CONSERVATION PROGRAMS

Solwazi Allah

Crew Manager

Solwazi was born and raised in Oakland, California. He is a Berkeley Community Fund Scholar and has an Environmental Studies degree from UC Santa Cruz…a Proud Banana Slug! Solwazi joined Urban Tilth as an apprentice through the Watersheds Basins of Relations Program in the Fall of 2019 and then later joined the Watersheds crew after completing the program, and became a Crew Manager in September 2020. As a crew manager, he plans out the workday, strategizes with contacts for numerous work contracts, schedules out equipment/tools, and completes managerial reports. He’s also an avid fisherman and environmental steward, passionate sports fan, food lover, and a loving brother and son.

Lucas Barrera

Watershed Community Engagement Coordinater

Lucas Javier Barrera, the Community Outreach Coordinator for the Watersheds Crew, has spent over a decade enhancing gardens and natural spaces in the Bay Area and L.A. With a background in History, Lucas is grateful for Urban Tilth’s opportunity to serve and steward his Richmond community. Beyond work, he delights in engaging with community members through activities like pool or pickleball, and exploring the Bay Area’s natural treasures. Lucas counts working with local youth in U.T.’s Apprenticeship Program as a career highlight.

Nathan Bickart

Director of Watershed and Water Conservation Programs

Nathan designs curriculum for and leads Urban Tilth’s Watershed Restoration Training Program. Nathan is an ecologist and educator who has worked in the North Richmond community since his graduation from UC Berkeley in 2013. At UCB, Nathan studied Conservation and Resource Studies, with a focus on Ecological Restoration and Education, and upon his graduation he received a Stronach Prize to plan and build a creek-side community garden in North Richmond (still under harvest as Urban Tilth’s 1st St. Garden). Prior to working at Urban Tilth, Nathan served as Lead Restoration Coordinator for the Strawberry Creek Restoration Program in Berkeley. Nathan has worked as an educator for over half of his life, in a diverse array of settings. Nathan’s pedagogy revolves around empowering young people to see their own potential- to build upon the knowledge they have already and start to make connections between the familiar and the unfamiliar in such a way that deepens their understanding of the world around them. He aims to work for justice in all aspects of his teaching and life, guided by the belief that all life is valuable and deserves to be cared for, conserved, and given a space in which it can reach its highest potential. 

Jessica “Jessie” Blanquel

Watershed Restoration Field Crew

Marlow Bryd Ray

Watershed Technician

Marlow started on the Watershed’s Team as a Basin’s of Relations Apprentice in 2017. Since then he has become a leader and anchor of our watershed technician team.

Angelina “Angie” Burkley

Watershed Restoration Field Crew

Paola Casillas

Community Engagement / CSA Coordinator

Paola has been a part of the Urban Tilth team for over a year now. She was born in Guanajuato, Mexico and was raised in Richmond, California. She loves animals and being able to work with the community. “Catch me at the North Richmond Farm taking care of the chickens, harvesting, or washing boxes!”

Leobardo “Leo” Ceja

Watershed Restoration Field Crew

Cyrus Gangei

Water Conservation Program Manager

Cyrus Gangei joined Urban Tilth in the Summer of 2023 to expand the Basins of Relation program with the inclusion of a water conservation curriculum. Cyrus works alongside the Watershed crew to offer laundry-to-landscape, drip irrigation, and rainwater catchment systems to low-income homeowners free of charge. Before joining Urban Tilth, Cyrus studied Environmental Design at Arizona State University where he received the Fall 2021 Program award for his work to provide water conservation opportunities to the underprivileged community of Central City South Phoenix. Cyrus grew up in Berkeley with a love for everything nature, food, and sports. He currently coaches and plays for an adult softball league to provide him with that sense of competition and team comradery. Cyrus has been inspired by Urban Tilth’s mission to empower the community through land stewardship. He hopes to educate and inspire others by creating a pathway to economic empowerment by helping families most in need become more resilient to the effects of climate change.

Jonah Landor-Yamagata

Nursery Manager

Jonah Landor-Yamagata grew up in Berkeley and Oakland. He has worked at Urban Tilth with the Basins of Relations Watersheds Program since 2018. Currently, he manages UT’s Native Plant Nursery to help make sure there are plenty of plants available for the sites that we steward and restore. Jonah has worked as an AmeriCorps volunteer at César Chávez Elementary School in Richmond, in school gardens in Berkeley and as environmental educator bringing  hands-on stewardship programs to many schools in the East Bay. Before joining Urban Tilth, Jonah lived in Germany for five years, where he completed a master’s degree in Urban Ecosystem Sciences at the Technische Universität Berlin.