Annaliese is particularly passionate about soil health and what animals can do for the land when raised well. As a partner of Bluebird Sky Farmstead, she helps raise free range laying chickens, pigs, and a garden. Additionally, Annaliese works at the a goat dairy in Boulder. She dreams to run a self-sufficient farm within the next couple of years. “It's a big dream, but I think we can do it.” She hopes that through her work, she can heal the land and help people see the true value of their food.

Taylor and Ryan live on and own Long Table Farmstead in Lyons. They raise pastured chickens, rotationally graze sheep, and breed pigs! They’re committed to feeding their soil with regenerative livestock practices and the additional application of farm-made compost! Taylor is very passionate about reducing food waste and improving their soils while providing the community with nutrient-dense food . She loves being a member of FYFC because it provides her with a community to lean on and lift up. “Being in FYFC reminds me that there are bigger problems than just what's going on on the farm. A good example of this are the chapter’s discussions on racial equity.”

Since moving to Colorado, Danny has worked on and off farms as the livestock manager. Starting at the end of 2018, he finally stepped out to start his own! Bluebird Sky Farmstead is in north boulder and has a heavy focus on regenerative animal practices. Danny is passionate about composting, caring for livestock, and even has a culinary degree. His favorite part of being a member of FYFC is having a community to turn to. Even when times are hard, having a community is incredibly valuable. “I especially like when we get together with no agenda, just to spend time together and talk about life and work. It’s hard now, but when things settle down I want to host potlucks on the farm. It would be special to have everyone here.”

Lauren is the current FYFC Chapter Coordinator. Having grown up on a farm herself, Lauren recognizes the strong influence that markets, culture, and policy have on creating change in the food system. She is currently pursuing a professional environmental masters degree from CU, Boulder and is specializing in Sustainable Food Systems. Her goal after graduating is to lift up regeneration within the food system. Lauren joined FYFC as soon as she moved to Colorado. "I saw that NYFC promotes equity and sustainability. I was drawn to the organization because of how strongly it aligns with my own personal values."

Andy is FYFC’s current president and serves as the Colorado Organizer for the National Young Farmers Coalition. Andy has been in the livestock industry for a majority of his farming career and just signed his first lease! Andy will be raising grass fed beef on his new farm, Grama Grass. Andy is really excited to be starting a farm of his own and says he owes the chapter for the connections that he has built to get him to where he is today. 

If you ask Andy why he is so proud to be in FYFC, he’ll say, “I want us to all work for a place that we want to live in… I believe that we can all work together to build the community we want to see.”

When Sam first moved to Colorado, his sights were set on skiing. Yet, years later, he finds his largest passion is being a steward of the land. “We need to restore, not destroy.”

Sam hopes to have his own farm some day and feels that land acquisition will likely be a big barrier. He hopes that the local shift to support regenerative and small farmers could help him reach his aspirations. Sam currently works on Wild Wellspring farm and as a landscaper for Naropa.

When Helen was between farming jobs and looking for a new opportunity, she joined FYFC. Helen has been  involved with FYFC by serving on the education committee, helping plan the annual Hoe Down Fundraiser, and leading as the Education Chair. Helen credits being involved in FYFC for her new lease and farm family at the Treehouse Farm Collective. “I’m not sure I would have learned about the opportunity otherwise!” Helen values FYFC for its ability to bring beginning farmers together to solve problems and learn from one another. She's thrilled and grateful to once again be working on her own cut-flower farm!

Lauren's education and career have not been in agriculture. 10 years ago, during some soul searching, she signed up for a Permaculture Design course. She knew she had found something she desperately needed in her life, so she committed to herself that she would at least have her own food forest or hobby farm someday. Lauren finally got to act on that dream in 2019. Her passion for being in nature, reading its signs, nurturing the soil, and discovering all the magic that happens on the land has only grown. She has always wanted to have her own business or to co-opt one. She knows that she has a calling to be in agriculture, not just for herself, but for the planet, the climate, and our collective well-being. Lauren comes to this group seeking advice and inspiration and, likewise, looks forward to contributing to this group however she can.

While Kylie recently became a mother, she has spent the past 10 years developing a wide variety of experiences focusing on greenhouse development, growing support, farm management, soil science, food justice, garden installation, seed sales, and non-profit operations management. She values knowing a little bit about a wide variety of topics. “Ultimately, I am passionate about farming and food production. I miss the hands on work, but having an administrative role with Ceres right now has been important for me now that I am a new mom.”

Though Sunny grew up in the city, she felt most at home visiting her grandparents on their farm in Idaho. In college, she found a deep passion for human and planetary health, studying environmental design, policy & food systems. Since then, she has held a wide array of positions: grant writing for a land trust, at a woodshop, as a soil health educator, in marketing & business development, and sales & project management. She believes that the human connection to food will be healed by systemic change and personal awareness. Together, her values and experiences brought her to FYFC. She is passionate to support our current and aspiring farmers and is helping the chapter with donor outreach, educational events, and farm tours.

The pandemic motivated Liza to explore a way of life that has long been on her mind: growing her own food and participating in a  local food community. She put her COVID-19 stimulus check toward a flock of chicks, an electric fence and materials to build a chicken tractor. Hosted on a small, local vegetable farm, she is raising her pullets on a diverse, delicious diet and teaching them to turn farm surplus into rich compost. Thirty years ago, when a highschool career test recommended Liza become a farmer, her subrban NJ family laughed it off. Now she gazes adoringly at her chickens and smiles! Anxious to taste eggs when they come of age next month, Liza calls the enterprise very simply "The Chicken Project". 

Ethan views farming and connecting with as land essential components of meaningful living. He is honored to work with the inspiring and noble folks at the Flatirons Young Farmers Coalition. A member of FYFC’s Policy Committee, Ethan is excited to learn as much as possible about farming, land management and local and national policy in order to better serve his community. He has hopes and dreams of one day managing a farm with an aim to help folks eat healthily, locally, sustainably and deliciously! 

Ethan can often be found outside walking barefoot or in a tree, learning, cooking, gardening, volunteering at local farms, playing music with friends, practicing yoga, and appreciating as much as he can. 

Lauren works at Growing Gardens as Site Director and has been there for roughly 10 years. She has a lot of appreciation for the intersection between agriculture and community building and feels blessed to work somewhere that stewards both land and people in such an accessible place. 

Malik originally moved to Boulder, CO as an AmeriCorps VISTA with Community Food Share, he is starting his first full season in 2021 with the support of the GoFarm Incubator Program. Malik is eager to build community and address the inequities in and unsustainability of today's food system. As a part of the GoFarm Incubator Program, Malik has the opportunity to grow and sell produce in the Boulder and Jefferson County areas while participating in classes, workshops, and conferences. He joined the Flatirons Young Farmers Coalition to meet other farmers in the area that are also dedicated to addressing issues of food insecurities, food inequities, and food sovereignty while growing high-quality produce.

Krisan was one of the founding members of FYFC. Since then, she has started her own farm, Wild Wellspring, and now has her own CSA and a new farm-partner! Together, they dream of their farm being a winter operation and know they will need a lot of infrastructure such as greenhouses to get there.

Krisan started FYFC to help close the gap between working on another person's farm and starting a farm yourself. “Having support from the farming community has been so valuable.” Krisan is especially excited for FYFC’s opportunity to help the community understand just what our members need.

Amy is a supporting member of FYFC. Amy is currently running a permaculture landscaping company and has been working for Harlequins too! With regard to FYFC, she is interested in learning about the indigenous practices on this land and is an active member of the Community Committee’s Racial Equity Discussion Group. Amy joined FYFC because of the vision we hold. “Ecological food production is my passion. How can we accomplish this in suburbia?” Amy likes attending FYFC events for the opportunity to meet other farmers and learn from them.

Brett grew up on cattle farm in Pennsylvania. As a kid, he hated being “forced to farm”. He laughs now at the thought, and appreciates that life brought him back to his agricultural roots. Brett was  the Harvest Manager at Aspen Moon Farm for years, but has now foudn his own lease and started Switch Gears Farm. Brett hopes to see a tool library or tool-trade program come to the Flatirons area. “Money is limiting, and equipment is expensive. Being able to share it with my neighbors would be a win-win.”

Kris has been an FYFC member and leader from its founding meeting. He is a landscaper, does civil engineering, and incorporates permaculture into much of his work. Kris is very interested in focusing on grains and drought tolerant landscapes. He is also interested in “multifunctional projects” such as raising pigs for both a source of food and also for land regeneration.

Kris values being a part of FYFC as a way to extend his knowledge, time, and network to perpetuate our work. He is driven by the value FYFC provides to the new farming generation; “the amount of land that is going to change hands in the next 20 years is astounding.”

While many of our members are farming rurally, Alisha’s business focuses on urban garden development. Girls in the Garden focuses on employing teens to build and maintain gardens, and they take a special approach of working mostly with elderly citizens. She aims to promote sustainability and resilience by growing at home. Additionally, she buys old property and does full remodels that include food forests, beehives, herb gardens, and even homes for rabbits and chickens. Alisha appreciates being in FYFC because it helps her build community and learn from farmers that are producing food differently than her.

Shan has experience farming across the western US, and locally at MASA Seed Co and Growing Gardens. She is currently a part time farmer at Wild Wellspring while working to start her own business in the bike industry. She is passionate about designing and making things. Her ultimate goal is to work for herself. “I want to farm and make things at the same time. Farming will always be a part of it.” Shan likes being a part of FYFC because she feels that the information and resource dissemination is really important; “farming, especially farming here, is hard. The resources from FYFC make entry much easier.”

Jules first moved to Boulder after culinary school in pursuit of a community with progressive food nutrition policy and a cultural connection to food and the environment. Joining FYFC pulled her community in even closer; “I am a food person and I found my food people.” Jules enjoys being a part of FYFC because of the opportunity to make tangible and local change in a community of peers that she has grown to be very close to. Jules currently teaches at the Boulder Waldorf Kindergarten and one day she aims to have her own small farm with an educational school program on site.

Austin has farmed for about 8 seasons now, both in Boulder County and also in New Zealand! He used to run his own farm, Austins Organics, in Boulder. “I had to work a restaurant job in the evenings to make things work, so it just wasn't sustainable.” Austin now works as a carpenter and does home improvements. He is interested in getting back into farming, but barriers such as zoning regulations, land prices, local politics, on-farm housing, and the fees and regulations of direct-to-consumer sales make entry difficult. He joined FYFC to meet other farmers and be in a network of like minded people.

Elise sees vibrant local food systems as essential to achieving sustainability and equity in our country. Currently working in the international environmental nonprofit sector, Elise dreams of shifting her work toward community building in support of local agriculture. She is passionate about plant-based cooking and baking, food preservation, gardening, and plans to build a homestead and small vegetable farm with her partner in the future. Elise feels that joining FYFC is an incredible opportunity to learn from farmers in our area while supporting the important work they do.

Daniel is a local food system visionary. He dreams of a resilient food economy centered around an ag center. Daniel is passionate about connecting with our land, lifting up communities, and making local farm-to-table food equitable and accessible. He is currently the regenerative systems design & networking specialist at MASA Seed Foundation. Among other things, Daniel envisions a farm incubator, a tool library, mentorship programs, farm-to-table logistics management, and crop trial programs as important parts of our region’s future food system.

Nick has been extremely influential in the prevalence of permaculture around Boulder County. He received the 2019 Colorado Permaculture Project of the Year award through the Colorado Permaculture Guild. Nick began Elk Run in 2015 and is currently focusing on experimental, regenerative, and dryland silvopasture research, rotational grazing, dryland grain trials (amaranth, sorghum, corn, dry beans),and a dryland perennial research program with EarthWorks. Their non-profit, Dryland Agroecology Research, is implementing more demonstration plots to trial agroecological production methods.

Nick values being a part of FYFC for networking, community development, and communal support.

Catherine currently helps run Browns Farm in Niwot. Catherine appreciates the community that FYFC provides. “A few years ago my crop got destroyed by hail. When Krisan, John, and Anne reached out with words of encouragement, it was their support and advice that kept me going. This year, I was able to provide that support to another FYFC member. Being there for eachother is important.”

Catherine is passionate about the value of the next farming generation, so she is bypassing the intern model and instead helps employ her staff year round.

As 1 of 5 farm managers of MetaCarbon farm, Shea wears many hats. MetaCarbon went full time at the start of 2020 and recently got approval for ROC certification! Shea helps their farm partner with Boulder Food Rescue, and he and his other farm partners are eager to employ a diverse work force including apprentices and disabled adults. They aim to host school tours and educational events as well as farm dinners and a CSA. MetaCarbon has big aspirations and hopes that FYFC’s work towards cultivating partnerships, mentorships, and toolbanks can be of assistance to their work.

Marissa is a vibrant member of the FYFC community. She studies permaculture, teaches at Naropa, and is actively involved in the beauty and ecology of Elk Run farm. She is passionate about building community and helping connect people with the earth and the value of their food. She focuses on environmental justice, herbal medicine, and cultivating relationships with the younger generation. At Elk Run, they’ve established a non-profit wing that can continually bring these things to Boulder County.

Andre has been farming where he is now at Jacob Springs farm for the past 10 years. He recently was able to get onto his very first city owned lease, which has been essential to the success of his business. He is implementing organic and regenerative practices. Andre hopes to grow the diversity of his farm and find a business partner. Right now, they raise pigs, cattle, dairy, sheep, and vegetables. They are also renting out a space on their property to a farmer that is growing mushrooms. Andre is excited by this opportunity to give someone else the experience of running their own business. Ultimately, Andre is eager to be a part of the chapter for the opportunity to find community amongst farmers. He hopes to see the chapter have a physical space to gather together in the future.

Sonya has worked in food production in a number of forms since high school, and she is currently focused on continuing to bring together agriculture, environmental educationin and Spanish in future jobs and volunteer work. She currently is the assistant manager for the farm stand at Aspen Moon Farm, and enjoys learning how to communicate and listen to the needs of the farm, and the farmworkers. Her past position have included working in environmental education and agriculture. She worked as a Naturalist in the mountains, providing outdoor educational programs for adults and kids. After college, she was a Peace Corps Specialist for three years where she worked with the community to provide farmer field school trainings and group development workshops in Spanish.

Hannah is a new transplant from upstate NY. Eager to set down roots, Hannah has prioritized getting out on the land and her hands in the soil as the best way to make connections with the environment and with other people. As part of Uproot Colorado's Mobile Farm Workforce, she is starting to pick up on the unique challenges of farming in the Front Range. A desire to collaborate with others on tackling the issues of our time through agriculture brought her to FYFC.