Bob Ross, President, is a landscape architect and consults through Santa Fe Greenhouses. He was raised in Iowa and got his degree from Iowa State University in Landscape Architecture, and attended Harvard University as a Loeb Fellow at the graduate school of design. For many years, Bob served as the Chief Landscape Architect for the US Forest Service, which included several assignments in Europe and Northern Africa. He first came to Santa Fe 23 years ago after a day trip down from a Taos Ski Valley vacation. He immediately knew that Santa Fe would eventually become his home. His connection to the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market started in 2006 when he was asked by KSFR Radio to do a show on gardening. But Bob said his passion was really food, so the program Gardens, Food and Santa Fe was born, which is broadcast live from the Market every Saturday morning at 11 am. Through his volunteer broadcasts, Bob has developed a love of all things related to the Market: the food, the people and the vendors.
Erica Peters, Vice President, was born and raised in Santa Fe, and has been farming nearby and selling organic vegetables at the Market with her brother, Soren, since she was 16 years old. She has served as the director of the New Mexico Organic Commodity Commission. As a Western Culinary Institute (Le Cordon Bleu) graduate, Erica is also a chef offering fine organic cuisine through her business, Contoured Cooking. She is excited to be a member of the Institute to continue her work to promote organic farming and eating in northern New Mexico.
Erin English, Secretary, is currently working as a project engineer with Natural Systems International in Santa Fe, a cutting-edge firm that integrates sustainable practices into the collection, treatment and reuse of storm and wastewater. She is a Professional Engineer with licenses in several states, as well as a LEED-Accredited Professional. Erin is also an avid gardener.
Jill Markstein, Treasurer, comes to the Institute with a wealth of experience in natural foods. In 1982, Jill was one of the founders of the MarketPlace Natural Grocery. As CEO and owner, Jill, along with co-owner Judith Sedlow and staff, was able to build a sustainable and thriving business committed to buying from local farmers and producers and educating the community about the value of buying locally. As a result (with the big box stores on their heels), a flourishing community resource for natural and organic foods, healthy living, conservation and sustainability was created. In 2005, the MarketPlace became La Montanita Co-op, which continues the full cycle of community involvement Jill worked so hard to achieve. Jill has served on the boards of directors of the Santa Fe Children’s Museum and Kitchen Angels, and the Food Service Advisory Committee of the Santa Fe Public Schools. She continues to deliver food for Kitchen Angels as she has since 1995 and is a member of their Advisory Committee.

Kristen Davenport, Board Member, is known by many of you from her byline at theSanta Fe New Mexican, where she worked as a reporter for five years. Today she has her hands full as a mother of two young children, a freelance journalist and a farmer. She now writes for newspapers and magazines locally and nationally, with a focus on agriculture and environmental issues. She also covers the New Mexico legislature for several newspapers, and, most recently, worked as an editor and analyst for New Mexico Legislative Reports. Her husband, Avrum Katz, teaches high school in Peñasco. Together, Kristen and Avrum, with a little help from their two young children, work a 32-acre farm, growing garlic, potatoes and other crops that can withstand the 8,100 foot elevation climate in rural Taos County. They’ve been selling as Boxcar Farm at the Market since 1995. They would like to be able to farm full time in the future, but for now have off-farm jobs to keep house and home together. Kristen is excited to serve on the Institute board. “Now that my youngest can start kindergarten, I’m ready to become more active in supporting the agricultural producers of northern New Mexico. I feel my background in media and the government will serve us well.”

 

Jose Gonzales, Board Member, was born in Mexico but came to New Mexico when he was nine years old. Now at the ripe old age of 29, he’s been selling a wide variety of produce, as well as ristras and other ornamental dried arrangements in the winter, for over five years at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market. He farms full time on seven acres in Alcalde and hopes to add an additional three acres to his farm soon. He is also an expert fruit tree pruner, which he does in the winter months when his fields are resting. He and his wife, Maria, are the proud parents of 18-month-old Mia. Jose is going to help the Institute expand its communications to both our Spanish-speaking customers and vendors. Like all our other farmer members of the Institute board, Jose will also be one of our liaisons to the Market’s membership, helping us make our vendor programs as useful and relevant as possible.

Kathleen Kerr , Board Member, is originally from Chicago, IL and has lived in Santa Fe since 2000. She is a registered financial advisor for Summit Investment Group, formerly known as Jane Terry Financial Associates, Inc. With more than 12 years of experience in the financial services industry, Kathleen advises clients on a broad range of retirement and estate planning strategies, as well as asset managed portfolios. Prior to joining Summit Investment Group, Kathleen began her career working in client service management and compliance for two major financial services corporations, and then later went on to work in legal and compliance for a hedge fund. She is interested in supporting farmers of northern New Mexico through financial and estate planning, since local, small business owners and entrepreneurs represent the backbone of the Northern New Mexico community.

Lisa Olson, Board Member, came to New Mexico in 2000 from northern California. She has a background in both business and ornamental horticulture. She sold starter plants and has a keen interest in container gardening and food growing. In addition to horticulture, she’s worked in the hospitality industry, then in retail and real estate and would like to move into human resources in the near future. She wants to be involved in a nonprofit that helps the community and supports farmers in their efforts. She was formerly on the Wildlife Center board of directors, seeing them through the opening of their new center.

 

Matt Romero, Board Member Emeritus, runs Romero Farms, in Embudo, NM. A native of Española, Matt and his family farm a very productive few acres near Dixon and Alcalde. Matt also has a gourmet restaurant background as a line chef with Coyote Cafe © in Santa Fe and in the development of four restaurants in Denver, Colorado. Matt served as the Institute’s president for three years during its capital campaign.

 

Renee Villarreal, Board Member, was born and raised in Santa Fe and is currently a Community Planner for the Santa Fe County Planning Division. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Hotel, Restaurant and Tourism Management from New Mexico State University, which allowed her to indulge in her love of food and gave her a wide variety of experiences in the hotel and tourism industry. Later she realized that she wanted to support the communities and landscapes from which our food is grown, so she earned a Master’s degree in Community and Regional Planning from the University of New Mexico. Her experience in community planning includes working with traditional land-based agricultural communities, community facilitation, and policy work. She currently sits on the Santa Fe Food Policy Council as a representative for Santa Fe County, providing expertise in land use policy, community outreach, and organizational skills. She is a former board member of Warehouse 21.

 

Chef Matthew Yohalem, Board Member, entered the culinary world at the age of fourteen, delivering Italian food on a skateboard in Manhattan. He later attended the University of Johnson and Wales to study Culinary Arts and quickly rose to the top of his class. He mastered the fundamentals of Classical French Cooking through various apprenticeships and French cuisine restaurant positions in Richmond, New Orleans, Paris, and Southern France. He first came to Santa Fe to work as Chef Saucier for Mark Miller of Coyote Café and in 1994 founded the award-winning Bistro 315. The following year he opened Il Piatto, Cucina Italiana, which once again was nominated for several restaurant awards and continues to thrive under his leadership today. Currently, he lives in Santa Fe with his Creole Chef wife, Honey, and their dogs on a small farm raising chickens, ducks, and vegetables. Chef Matt’s philosophy is: the fresher, the more local, the more delicious the food will taste! Thus, Chef Matt buys an unprecedented amount of local produce from the Santa Fe Farmers Market, and is an avid supporter of Santa Fe’s Farm to Restaurant project.