Avry Miller

Rogue Valley Chapter Coordinator

avry [at] roguefarmcorps.org

Avry’s interest in the food system was sparked while volunteering at a Brooklyn Farmers Market. While simultaneously managing a restaurant in New York City, their curiosity about the food system grew into a desire to work on a farm. In 2012 Avry pursued a farming internship on an 8-acre farm in Arizona. It changed their life, connected them with food seasonality, shifted their connection to physical work and created a deeper passion for growing food with holistic, organic techniques. For years, they continued volunteering on farms and gardens as they migrated to Oregon. In Portland they studied herbalism and Permaculture. They were drawn to the UC - Center for Agroecology to dig back into farming full-time. For three seasons, Avry deepened their farm knowledge and skill set, discovered their teaching voice, and connected with a deeper agriculture community at the center. Avry then became the land manager of a small Perennial Permaculture Nursery and orchard in California. They deepened their knowledge and skills in seed saving, propagation, fruit tree care and permaculture-inspired systems.

Avry returned to Oregon last fall. Avry wants to support and extend the accessibility and equitability for those who are entering sustainable agriculture. In their free time, Avry pursues their passions for growing tea, food preservation, and hiking.

Geoffrey Van

Future farms Program Director

geoffrey [at] roguefarmcorps.org

Geoffrey was born and raised in Hong Kong, far from farming and surrounded by concrete. As a toddler, soil was actually so foreign to Geoffrey that touching it would make him cry. Fast forward to the conclusion of 8 years of high-school and college on the East Coast (still bound by cement): Geoffrey decided to take a chance and finally touch that ever-avoided soil. Everything clicked. First in New Mexico at Taos Goji Farm and then at Deck Family Farm in the Willamette Valley, Geoffrey began working on farms in earnest, all while building a team and a plan to start a collaborative farm. An interlude at Fleishers Craft Butchery in Brooklyn, New York was doubly educational: learning the art of whole animal butchery and confirming that concrete was out and soil was in. In 2017, Geoffrey and four friends started Spoon Full Farm in Thorp, Washington.

Geoffrey’s original curiosity for farming came from a simple love for food and cooking--the realization that good food is made from good ingredients, which in turn come from good farms. Before long, he was discovering the intricacies of our delicate food systems and the threads that farms hold throughout society and the planet’s natural resources. Where once was curiosity, Geoffrey found deep passion for agriculture and the true, urgent potential it has to transform every aspect of Earthly existence.

Jennifer Hamilton

co-executive director: development & communications

jennifer [at] roguefarmcorps.org

Raised in rural Utah, Jennifer spent her childhood raising orphaned lambs, picking apricots from her great-grandmother's heritage orchard, and running wild in the mountains. She brings 15 years of nonprofit, entrepreneurial, and business experience, with an impressive portfolio of local and national projects. She is a change leader with a Sustainability Management BA from Prescott College, Permaculture Design Certified, and HR Specialist Certified.

She specializes in business strategy, organizational development, and nonprofit management. Her favorite moments include designing and implementing Salt Lake City’s - Green City Growers community garden program, leading Stokes Nature Center as Executive Director, successfully securing a HUB international coworking franchise, raising funds for food justice CSA- Green Urban Lunch Box, and being an integral member of several successful businesses, including a Waldorf-inspired preschool and Maple Grove Hot Springs + Retreat Center in Southern Idaho.She is dedicated to helping organizations reach their goals while cultivating a diverse, inclusive, and fun workplace.

Her passions include exploring the outdoors, floating in rivers, and raising heirloom produce, flowers, and chickens.

Kait Crowley

Farmer Training Programs Manager

Kait [at] roguefarmcorps.org

(541) 588-3552

Kait has more than a decade of hands-on experience in sustainable agriculture, and has worked on a diversity of organic farms in different sectors and bioregions across the US. They bring a deep commitment to labor justice and worker rights informed by their own time spent as a farm intern, field crew member, and manager. After completing an advanced apprenticeship with Rogue Farm Corps in 2018, Kait co-founded PK Pastures, an Animal-Welfare-Approved pastured livestock operation with an emphasis on Community Supported Agriculture and a dedication to responsible land stewardship, food equity and uncompromising deliciousness. They farm just outside of Eugene and Corvallis on the traditional lands of the Kalapuya peoples.

Kait also has a passion for organizing and food systems advocacy. They have worked with Friends of Family Farmers and served on the boards of Willamette Farm and Food Coalition and their local chapter of the National Young Farmers Coalition. They are honored to support the next generation of beginning farmers and empower them to co-create a better food future.

Madeline Tucker

Collaborative farming specialist

madeline [at] roguefarmcorps.org

Madeline’s first experience growing food was raising a pepper plant her dad purchased as part of a backyard gardening project. From the beginning she was hooked, and has been engaged in community gardening and urban farming ever since. She has a particular interest in community engagement through education, both in the classroom and out. As a mixed race woman of color in agriculture, Madeline prioritizes making space for traditionally marginalized groups in farming. She cares deeply about building community resilience in opposition to individualism and believes working together is the only viable path forward to revolutionizing our food system.

A first-year farmer herself, Madeline recently launched Sampaguita Farms, a collection of four satellite market gardens growing out of urban Portland backyards. A reformed flower-bouquet-hater, she now grows cut flowers and veggies to sell at the farmers market. When she’s not farming, you can find Madeline baking, pursuing a DIY project, or napping with her dog, Bramble.

matt gordon

Co-Executive Director: Programs & operations

matt [at] roguefarmcorps.org

(541) 588-3552

Originally from Eugene, Oregon, Matt grew up helping his parents in the vegetable garden and has always had an affinity for soil.  He holds an Environmental Studies degree and found a passion for sustainable agriculture in college. He has lived in Portland since 2002. He has worked as a garden and environmental educator for many local organizations including Growing Gardens and Tryon Life Community Farm. 

In 2008 Matt shifted focus and devoted his time to organic mixed vegetable production, working with Meriwether’s Restaurant on their Skyline Farm and then on his own farm business: Cully Neighborhood Farm in NE Portland which focused on CSA production. Matt joined Rogue Farm Corps as the Portland Chapter Coordinator in 2014. He helped establish relationships with host and teaching farms in the Portland over the next few years. In 2019 he transitioned into the Education Director role, managing RFC’s Beginning Farmer Training programs around the state. In 2023 he moved into the Co-Executive Director role. He is motivated to help create positive, inclusive learning environments for anyone desiring to grow their knowledge and experience with agriculture. Matt lives in NE Portland with his wife and two children.

Nitza Bernard

Portland Chapter Coordinator

Nitza [at] roguefarmcorps.org

Growing up in suburban Los Angeles, Nitza spent most of her childhood playing in her family’s garden, digging up old marrow bones that hadn’t quite decomposed and eating kumquats until her stomach hurt. Years later, after many organic farm gigs, a permaculture certificate, an advanced apprenticeship from the Center for Agroecology at the University of California Santa Cruz, a master’s degree in Sustainability Education and Sustainable Food Systems from Portland State University, Nitza is STILL playing in gardens. She is also an adjunct instructor in environmental studies and civic engagement. Cumulatively, Nitza has over a decade of sustainable food systems work experience, including farm production and K-12 and adult education.

Bobbie Peyton

Bobbie was born in the Philippines and moved to southern Oregon as a baby. She currently works at the Northwest Center for Alternatives to Pesticides, the region's leading voice for ecologically-sound solutions to reducing pesticide use. Bobbie has spent over 12 years serving in leadership roles with environmental and social justice nonprofits, and in philanthropy with a foundation. She has worked on environmental campaigns and sustainable agricultural projects with new immigrant Hmong and Spanish-speaking farmers and farm workers in Delano and Fresno, California. She also spearheaded a California farmers market program that incentivized SNAP/food stamp consumers to spend their food benefits in over 130 certified farmers’ markets. Bobbie is committed to promoting a stronger local food system in Oregon, and helping to create innovative programs that strengthen the farming economy. She earned her M.A. from Tufts University in the Urban and Environment Policy and Planning department, with a focus on environmental justice. When Bobbie isn’t playing with her two little (but ferocious) dogs, she participates in the number one sport in America: birding.

Carly Boyer

Carly Boyer (they/she) is a 4th generation Oregonian and comes from a farming family, based in the mid Willamette Valley. They’re passionate about rural economic development; specifically the intersection of agriculture, conservation and equitable access to land, water and food. She graduated with a B.S. in Planning, Public Policy and Management (PPPM) with a Minor in Nonprofit Administration from the University of Oregon. Carly is a Program Coordinator for Bohemia Food Hub, a Land Advocacy Fellow with National Young Farmers Coalition and serves as the Board Treasurer for Rewild Portland. Carly spends much of their free time gardening, crafting and collecting vinyl records. They live in Eugene, Oregon.

Claire Cekander

board secretary

Claire grew up in Illinois and comes from a family who has been farming for generations. Her introduction to sustainable agriculture techniques came through her undergraduate degree in Environmental Science at Cornell University where she also worked for New York's Extension in the Small Farms Program. After graduating and a short stint on a permaculture farm, she moved to Maine for its robust young farming community. Claire worked at North Spore, a small business producing culinary mushrooms and mushroom spawn, and Greenhorns, a grassroots organization working to make farming a viable career path for young people. She currently works in development for the Boston Foundation. Claire lives in Portland and cares deeply about backpacking, foraging, rural livelihoods, and food preservation.

dominica navarro

Board Treasurer

Dominica currently works as Deputy Director with the Organic Farming Research Foundation and also serves on the Advisory Board for Re:Wild Your Campus. Having worked with organizations championing public health, diversity in higher education, pesticide reduction, and organic and climate-smart farming practices, Dominica has devoted much of her professional career to nonprofit management, finance, administration and strategic development. She graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with majors in both Environmental and Community Studies and has worked on various sustainable agriculture projects in the US and abroad. Dominica lives in Central Oregon and loves working outside on her homestead, hanging out with her family, cooking, sailing, hiking and traveling.

Misty Earisman

Misty's interest in sustainable agriculture and food justice began during an internship in the Lehigh Valley of Pennsylvania. That summer, she worked on two small-scale farms and organized a weekly donation-based vegetable stand in the West Ward of Easton, PA. The experience brought together two passions that would inspire her path over the coming years: ecosystem science and social justice. She went on to complete a year-long journalistic endeavor profiling key leaders of the local food movement in the area including farmers, professors, business leaders, and more. She spent the following summers WWOOFing on small farms in Hawaii and Norway learning more about organic practices, animal husbandry, and new cultures. After graduating from Lafayette College with a dual major in Biology and English, Misty settled in Portland. Misty completed the RFC Beginning Farmer Internship at Mahonia Gardens in 2020, and then moved back to Portland to develop skills in carpentry and sustainable building project management. She is passionate about advancing environmental justice at the community level, and her belief that regenerative agriculture is one of the biggest solutions in the climate crisis is what propels her to continue this work every day. In her free time, Misty spends her time riding bikes, doing yoga, and reading. 

Riley Nelson

Riley moved to Southern Oregon from her hometown of Salt Lake City, Utah in 2019 and has spent the following years exploring Oregon’s wilderness. Riley is a CPA candidate and currently works as an accountant auditing governmental and not-for-profit organizations. Riley lives on a farm outside of Gold Hill with her family, dog, and a few cows. She enjoys gardening, learning about regenerative agriculture, and aspires to foster a place where biodiversity can thrive.

Teagan Moran

Board Chair

Teagan Moran is an alum of Rogue Farm Corps’ Advanced Training Program (2017). She will proudly declare that she is Rogue Farm Corps’ “Number One Fan!” She works in education and outreach for OSU Extension Small Farms Program, and is committed to building an equitable, socially just, vibrant, and thriving local food system. Supporting beginner farmers and ranchers is at the heart of her work, and she personally understands the joys and challenges as she and her husband (also an RFC alum) navigate farming in Oregon. Teagan went to graduate school to focus on community-based education with an emphasis on working with adult learners. Community based education has a rich tradition of activism and is centered on the belief that all communities have the intrinsic educational assets and resources they need to meet THEIR needs (as defined by their own community). Teagan believes that the most important and powerful way she can create positive change in the world is by cultivating trusting relationships. You can also find Teagan collecting eggs and playing in the soil with her four-year-old daughter, caring for the land where they live, and finding new ways to cook, celebrate, and honor, the beautifully diverse veggies that grow each season.