NOFA/Mass Staff

About 20 people standing and sitting in a field for a photo

2022 NOFA/Mass Staff Meeting (Worcester MA)

Administrative Department

Lili Elena (she/her, they/them)
Lili Elena (she/her, they/them)Administrative Services Manager
Email Lili

Phone (413) 561-0073

Lili Elena is a plant person from coastal Massachusetts. She has worked with language learners in major cities and with food systems and land stewardship in rural Maine. Living on Wabanaki land, they’ve recently provided administrative services to a variety of arts and culture organizations and collaborated with community organizers. Lili looks to the ocean’s ever-shifting intertidal zone to process change and adapt to possibility through a community-focused lens. Lili manages NOFA/Mass’s internal data systems and is a primary contact for members and event attendees.

Kallie Robertson (she/her)
Kallie Robertson (she/her)Administrative Director
Email Kallie

Preferred contact : email

Kallie comes to NOFA/Mass after running Sawkill Farm, a pasture based livestock farm in the Hudson Valley of NY producing meats and fiber for over a decade. In her role as Administrative Director, Kallie brings experience in managing the myriad administrative needs of a small, mission driven business. In addition, she’s been actively involved in local land use issues and farm and garden based education programs. When not working, Kallie loves spending time with her husband and two young children, gardening, cycling and enabling her kids’ budding obsession with fiber arts.

Jocelyn Langer (she/her)
Jocelyn Langer (she/her)Consultant
Email Jocelyn

Phone (413) 561-0852

Jocelyn’s experience ranges from farming, gardening, and homesteading to public health and education, as well as a long history of collaboration with NOFA. Jocelyn’s non-profit background includes grant writing and fundraising, bookkeeping, and a passion for meeting facilitation. Jocelyn worked most recently with the Pioneer Valley Workers Center, and is a founder and board member of Just Words Language Justice Coop. She is also chair of the Listening Wellness Center board of directors, and serves on the advisory board of the Good Life Center. She lives in present day Northampton, MA.

Communications Department

Lisa Gilardi (she/her)
Lisa Gilardi (she/her)Interim Comms Director, Graphic Designer
Email Lisa

preferred contact : email

In her role as Graphic Designer, Lisa shares the many facets of the organization with the NOFA/Mass audience and the general public through social media and design projects. After earning a BFA in advertising from the School of Visual Arts, she handled marketing for several small farms in addition to working in the fields. Lisa enjoys blending her background in communications with her passion for organic agriculture and sustainability. Originally from Massachusetts, Lisa has now relocated to Port Jervis, NY to co-manage Big Yellow Sun Farm.

Liz Hamm (she/her)
Liz Hamm (she/her)Web Designer & Content Creator
Email Liz

preferred contact : email

In her role as Web Designer, Liz helps design and manage the different components of NOFA/Mass’s online presence. She has spent the last three years training and working as a UX Designer, helping to make informed design decisions through research and analysis. Prior to this she spent the last 20 years working in the food services industry, with experience ranging from growing food, to delivering, preparing and serving it. She has a B.A. from McGill University in Philosophy and Ecological Field Reasearch in partnership with the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Outside of work she is painting or spending time by the ocean. She now lives on Wabanaki land (Portland, ME), but has spent most of her life in Central and Western MA (Agawam, Nipmuc, Nonotuck, and Pocumtuc land).

Annie Sholar (she/her)
Annie Sholar (she/her)Newsletter Editor
Email Annie

preferred contact : email

Annie has spent her career working in and studying alternative food systems. She was a worker-owner at Equal Exchange, a cooperatively owned fair trade coffee roaster, and has also worked and volunteered at organic farms around the country, ranging from very small (less than one acre) to large-scale regional farms. Annie has also published articles at Food & Power, an antimonopoly publication. She is currently based in Burlington, Vermont.

Development Department

 Christine Manuck (she/her)
Christine Manuck (she/her)Development Director
Email Christine

preferred contact : email

Christine has a background in sustainability, agriculture, and environmental science, and has been performing project management, grant writing, and program development at NOFA/Mass since joining the organization in 2021. As Development Director, Christine works to support and expand NOFA/Mass’s programming and strengthen the services the organization provides to communities and constituencies across Massachusetts and the northeast. In previous roles before joining NOFA/Mass, Christine developed land treatment plans for farmers, improved sustainable water use on vineyards, studied wetland ecological condition, and integrated urban planning with sustainable land use to reduce urban heat islands.

Sara Riegler (she/her)
Sara Riegler (she/her)Project Manager
Email Sara

preferred contact : email

Sara is a part-time project manager with NOFA/Mass, focused on Climate Smart and beginning farmer programs. She is dedicated to building possibilities for collective thriving through connection with the earth and each other. She spent seven years farming in eastern Massachusetts, has been a student of incarcerated and unsheltered gardeners, and holds an MS in agriculture and community development from UC Davis. Sara is currently based on Abenaki land and splits her working time between NOFA/Mass, The University of Vermont’s Extension Migrant Health and Education Program, and her own small herbal and printmaking business.

Annie Sholar (she/her)
Annie Sholar (she/her)Project Manager
Email Annie

preferred contact : email

Annie has spent her career working in and studying alternative food systems. She was a worker-owner at Equal Exchange, a cooperatively owned fair trade coffee roaster, and has also worked and volunteered at organic farms around the country, ranging from very small (less than one acre) to large-scale regional farms. Annie has also published articles at Food & Power, an antimonopoly publication. She is currently based in Burlington, Vermont.

Education Department

Ruben Parrilla (he/him)
Ruben Parrilla (he/him)Education & Technical Assistance Director
Email Ruben

preferred contact : email

Rubén Parrilla is the Soil Technical Coordinator for NOFA/Mass and trained in microscopic soil microbial identification through the Soil Food Web School. He is a Certified Lab Tech and studied Environmental Design at the University of Puerto Rico. Rubén has 15 years’ experience working at different capacities in the environmental laboratory industry. He has been performing soil carbon proxy testing, soil health assessments, soil chemical analysis, and soil microbiological evaluations for NOFA/Mass for over the past year and has extensive experience farming and working with farmers, including beginning and socially disadvantaged farmers. Rubén performs soil health related outreach and education events for NOFA/Mass by leading monthly farmer learning calls, providing hands-on workshops and instruction at soil health education events, and networking with farmers and individuals in the agricultural industry. He is a fluent and native Spanish speaker and fully English/Spanish bilingual.

Melissa Milliken (she/her)
Melissa Milliken (she/her)Technical Assistance Provider
Email Melissa

preferred contact : email

Melissa Milliken is a Technical Assistance Provider on the Soil Health team. For 12+ years Melissa served communities as a pharmacist. After moving to California and being exposed to Traditional Chinese Medicine, Herbalism, Acupuncture, and Ayurveda she began exploring other ways of approaching health. This exploration and curiosity eventually brought her to Dr. Elaine Ingham’s Soil Food Web school and training as a Soil Lab Technician which includes the identification of soil microbiology. Melissa is excited to now be serving the well being of her community through a Soil Health lens while continue her studies with Soil Food Web as well as learning a Korean Natural Farming approach.

Hannah McDonald (she/her/they)
Hannah McDonald (she/her/they)Events Manager
Email Hannah

Greenfield, MA

Hannah made her way into food systems by a series of life events, ultimately finding true that starting with nourishing and regenerating food and farming systems can have amazing impact on the well-being of our Earth and all its People, human and non-human. As the Events Manager, she’s excited to bring the intersectionality of food systems, from technical to spiritual, to the forefront of our practices. She enjoys foraging, dancing & singing, making kitchen creations, and hosting gatherings for family and friends.

David Durstewitz (he/him)
David Durstewitz (he/him)Conference Workshop Coordinator and Bulk Order Coordinator
Email David

preferred contact : email

David recently moved back to the northeast after 11 years in Chicago, where he was an outdoor farm manager and participated on the central organizing committee of the Urban Canopy, serving in HR and business administration roles. After years of farm, arts and worker organizing, he spearheaded the 2020 MidWest Urban Farmer Summit. As NOFA/Mass’s Conference Workshop Coordinator and Bulk Order Coordinator, he is excited to bring his focus on research, cooperative organization, maximizing production towards the seventh generation and a reparations-based approach to NOFA’s role in knowledge-sharing and economic viability for the region’s growers.

Laura Davis (she/her)
Laura Davis (she/her)Soil Health Technical Advisor, Certification Coordinator & TOPP Mentor Coordinator
Email Laura

preferred contact : email

Now the President of the Board for NOFA/Mass, as well as the Co-President for the NOFA Interstate Council, Laura has served on the NOFA/Mass Board of Directors since 2011. In 2014, Laura joined the staff assisting farmers with their organic certification questions, and then joined the Soil Technical Assistance team in 2017 doing soil test analysis. Laura has two teenage daughters, runs Long Life Farm in Hopkinton, MA, along with her husband Donald Sutherland, and grows certified organic vegetables.  Learning from NOFA workshops has enabled her to grow nutrient dense food in a no-till regenerative system.

Minata Toure
Minata ToureTechnical Assistance Provider
Email Minata

preferred contact : email

Minata Toure joined NOFA/MASS in December as a Climate-Smart Technical Assistance provider. Minata brings experience in food justice work and sustainable farming to the team, as well as a passion for building food systems where everyone has access to fresh, healthy, affordable food.  Minata provides on-site technical support to farmer entrepreneurs. Minata as always been passionate about agriculture and she has assisted her parents at their farm in Africa at her early age. She speaks multiple languages, English, French and 3 African dialects : Moore, Bambara and Mandingo.
Randy Violette (he/him)
Randy Violette (he/him)Technical Assistance Provider
Email Randy

preferred contact : email

Randy joins NOFA/Mass after spending several years working on small, regenerative farms from Oregon to Massachusetts. He came to farming from a love of cooking and a sense of duty to care for the land, and quickly fell in love with the farming community, soil health, and the intersection of agriculture and all elements of social justice. As a Climate-Smart Technical Assistance Provider, Randy looks forward to working with farmers to mitigate and adapt to climate change while also supporting their farm businesses and local food systems. In addition to working on a local farm, Randy is currently a graduate student in the UMass School of Public Policy and will be supporting the NOFA/Mass policy team in a Policy Coordinator role as well.

Equity Department

Ulum Pixan Ahtohil Suk’il (Bird Spirit) (she/her)
Ulum Pixan Ahtohil Suk’il (Bird Spirit) (she/her)Equity and Inclusion Director
Email Ulum Pixan

preferred contact : email

Ulum Pixan (Original Name), aka Dania Flores (colonized name), is an Indigenous mixed-race woman (Maya, Xinca, Garifuna, Russian Jew and ladino), mother and grandmother. She was born in Guatemala, Mesoamerica, and moved to the United States in 1999. She has always been involved with community organizing around aboriginal, women’s, language, and environmental issues. Ulum is a critical thinker, farmer and activist. As NOFA/Mass’s Equity and Inclusion Director,  and former Education Director, she leads the equity efforts of the organization, promoting our anti- racist principles and commitment to dismantling oppressive systems that keep our communities hungry and poor.

Languages : English/Español

Food Access Department

Anna Gilbert-Muhammad (she/her)
Anna Gilbert-Muhammad (she/her)Food Access Director
Email Anna

Phone (413) 214-1237

Anna Gilbert-Muhammad currently serves as the Equity Director and Food Access/Webinar Coordinator for NOFA/Mass.  Anna graduated from NOFA/Mass’s Beginner Farmer Program in 2015 and began working with the organization in 2016.  The programs that Anna works with in Springfield is the Youth Leader Organic Gardening/Cooking Program at Home City Housing, The Open Pantry Community Garden Project and smaller projects in the Boston and Springfield Area.  Anna and her husband Keith Muhammad live in Springfield, MA and they are market gardeners in the Mason Area of Springfield

Amanda Iglesias (she/her)
Amanda Iglesias (she/her)Food Access Coordinator
Email Amanda

preferred contact : email

Amanda Iglesias currently serves as a Food Access Coordinator for NOFA/Mass. In this role, Amanda works alongside communities, organizers and non-profit partners to develop urban gardens and increase access to fresh, organic produce for vibrant communities across MA. These gardens are supported by programs that teach about urban farming and sustainable agriculture. Outside of NOFA/Mass, Amanda works with Mycoterra Farm in support of their mission to grow high quality organic mushrooms, build healthy soil, and advocate for a sustainable local food system. Prior to joining NOFA/Mass, Amanda spent over a decade at HubSpot developing global customer and employee development programs that spread new ideas, inspired action, and influenced individual growth and organizational change. She holds a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration and Master of Science in Management from Babson College.

 Beth Ward (she/her)
Beth Ward (she/her)Food Access Coordinator
Email Beth

Phone: 413-204-6130

Having spent over 15 +years working in the education field with youth and in my community, gardening snuck up on me and has been a wonderful addition ever since! I was first introduced to NOFA in 2018 through a partnership organization. Learning about the food we consume from the initial stages of soil prep to planting to passing this valuable information on to those in the community I live and serve in, has been refreshing and empowering. I am always in ‘learning’ mode with NOFA and hope to inspire others to keep learning and growing also!!

Valencia Andrews
Valencia AndrewsFood Access Instructor
Email Valencia

Phone (413) 214-1237

Valencia’s role as Food Access Instructor is an ongoing effort to connect with communities with limited access to resources needed to thrive and shift the paradigm in food access. Her role is an extension of the community outreach and support she also does as a Birth and Postpartum Specialist, reproductive justice activist and newly, medicinal plants farmer. Her earlier introduction to the many facets of community exchange and language and racial justice was through her undergraduate and graduate studies, earning a Bachelors in International Relations and Master of Science in Multilingual/Multicultural Education. She works closely with NOFA’s Agricultural Youth Scientists, teaching them about urban farming, sustainable agriculture and community engagement.

 Dora Miller (she/her)
Dora Miller (she/her)Food Access Instructor
Email Dora

preferred contact : email

Dora is a community organizer who works with many different people and organizations in Boston and the surrounding cities–from politicians to medical doctors, community activists, disaster awareness panels and more. She has 17 years experience working in the medical field as an LPN, medical assistant, and in instrumentation and sterilization. For the past 10 years Dora has been working with urban farmers and friends to learn and teach young children and their families the basics and the importance of growing their own vegetables and canning them for storage.

Policy Department

Renne Scott (she/her)
Renne Scott (she/her)Massachusetts Pollinator Network Coordinator
Email Renee

preferred contact : email

Renée Scott is the coordinator for the NOFA/Mass Pollinator Network where she organizes people across the state working on pollinator health and habitat creation. She also advocates at the state level for pesticide regulation. She is co-founder of Green & Open Somerville (G&OS). Through her work with G&OS she has advocated to stop the installation of artificial turf on playing fields; led depavings, invasive weed pulls, and the planting of native pollinator gardens; and worked on strengthening and creating stronger environmental standards, including the first-of-its-kind Native Planting Ordinance. She earned her Master of Public Policy degree from Tufts in 2022.

Randy Violette (he/him)
Randy Violette (he/him)Policy Coordinator
Email Randy

preferred contact : email

Randy joins NOFA/Mass after spending several years working on small, regenerative farms from Oregon to Massachusetts. He came to farming from a love of cooking and a sense of duty to care for the land, and quickly fell in love with the farming community, soil health, and the intersection of agriculture and all elements of social justice. As a Climate-Smart Technical Assistance Provider, Randy looks forward to working with farmers to mitigate and adapt to climate change while also supporting their farm businesses and local food systems. In addition to working on a local farm, Randy is currently a graduate student in the UMass School of Public Policy and will be supporting the NOFA/Mass policy team in a Policy Coordinator role as well.