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

Marcos “Chito” Floriano began his journey in social justice at the RYSE Youth Center in Richmond, CA. At RYSE, Chito also gained skills in photo and video production where he was able to teach classes and help other young people tell their stories using a camera. These skills have allowed Chito to land big opportunities with local musicians where he was able to tour the country, travel to Australia, and even help with getting a grant for Urban Tilth to begin what is now known as the North Richmond Farm. Chito has worked the corn fields in Pajacuarán, Michoacán where his father is from. This was Chito’s first experience working the land and caring for crops. At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chito began to realize the importance of being able to help the community directly through providing food. Chito’s passion for living a healthy lifestyle, influencing others, and ending generational disease in his community, is his burning desire that wakes him up everyday. Chito spends a lot of time at the North Richmond Farm working alongside the crew to make sure crops are taken care of, is also an apprentice through the program with the Center for Land Based Learning, loves to make music, and stay active. Chito hopes to continue growing with Urban Tilth for the years to come while positively impacting the community through their amazing work. 

Contact: Chito@urbantilth.org

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

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.

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.