OUR BOARD
Teresa Raffo
Board President
I’ve been on the Noyo Food Forest Board of Directors since 2018, and in 2022 became President. I love community gardens because everyone needs to eat. I love growing good food at NFF for the high school cafeteria program, and showing students how to do it. Nourishing our kids and our community through this kind of service feeds me deeply. Outside of the gardens, exploring the natural world, listening to live music, and sharing a meal with good friends brings me home.
Tracy Wolfson
Board Member, Treasurer
I have been deeply rooted in our community for the past 20 years selling organic soil and amendments to coastal gardeners and farmers. A big part of Noyo Food Forest’s mission is growing organic vegetables for the Fort Bragg Unified School District, and teaching children where their food comes from is a core value of mine. I am passionate about helping this organization continue to thrive on the coast.
Ericka Lutz
Board Vice President
I am a slapdash gardener, writer, and retired professor with a passion for food, sustainable farming, and words (not necessarily in that order). Working with Noyo Food Forest blends my communications background with my interests in all the best ways. Providing nutritious, organic food to kids, building community food sovereignty, and teaching people how to grow what they’ll eat, what could be any better?
Jill Eldridge
Board Member
I come from a long line of gardeners and farmers, naturalists and outdoors enthusiasts. The healing and grounding that happens when one is in touch with — and close to — nature never ceases to amaze me. My husband and I moved to Mendocino in 2002. It was important for us to live and raise our children here, amongst our amazing, close knit community, surrounded by forest and headlands, beaches and rivers and night skies that astound. It is a true honor to serve on the Board of Noyo Food Forest and to share my love for community and the importance for all to have a connection with the natural world.
Danielle Masters
Board Member
Since 2020, Mendocino has been my home, where I draw inspiration from the diverse natural beauty. As a people operations professional, I am deeply committed to facilitating growth and development in others. Amidst the hustle and bustle of our fast-paced world, I feel fortunate to play a role in driving meaningful change through NFF’s empowering programs. By equipping the community with the skills to cultivate their own food and therefore, prioritize sustainable eating, we are moving towards a better future.
S.A. Ephraim
Board Member
I moved here with my wife Ruth in November 1997. I was involved with the Mendocino Community Garden for 19 years, growing and sharing in food production. I taught gardening in Fort Bragg elementary schools and then moved on to working at Caspar Creek Learning Community. Ruth and I bought and ran Frankie’s Pizza and Ice Cream Parlor and we’ve been deeply involved in organizing and growing community ever since. I still maintain a love of growing food and a passion about food and food security.
Anne Harvey
Board Member
One of my greatest joys is planting flower bulbs with friends and family in Fall in order to watch the miracle of nature unfold in the Spring. I think there is a metaphor in there. While embracing and enjoying every aspect of educational and community gardening mission of the Noyo Food Forest, I think what I uniquely bring to the Board is a bridge to the Spanish-speaking community of Fort Bragg, which I have built on since serving as Latino Family Advocate at Safe Passage Family Resource Center (2016-2019).
Jessica Scribner
Board Advisor
Feeding our community and teaching children how to grow nutritious food in a sustainable way is vital to maintaining a healthy environment and future. As an HR professional, and as a mom who has strived to model these values at home, I’m grateful to have the chance to be involved with the work being done at Noyo Food Forest and in the Learning Garden.
OUR STAFF
Beth Horkman
Director of Operations
I believe NFF’s mission is essential to all local communities and I am so grateful it is in ours! I have a background in communications and event planning, and love using my interpersonal communication skills and passion to grow food sustainably, accessibly, and locally. I’ve called Mendocino Coast home for twelve years now, and enjoy exploring its beauty with my dog, Sawyer Green.
Nik Robalino
Garden Manager
Nik is a first-generation farmer influenced by his many years behind the curtain as a former stagehand and lighting designer. He has lived in many places throughout the country, and is so happy to have landed back in Northern California, where he is originally from. Inspired by the invisible life teeming beneath our feet, Nik has an affinity for optimizing soil health, which, in turn, will lead to better food, nutrition, and ecosystem health in the long run. Excited to join the Noyo Food Forest team, Nik is ready to find his place back on the coast and help feed community while putting literal and proverbial roots in the ground.
Katie Alibrio
Garden Educator
Katie fell in love with gardening when interning at UC Santa Cruz’s gorgeous Chadwick Garden.
From there, she pivoted her plans for life and career towards sustainable farming and education, and has since continued that work in one form or another. She is excited to be teaching the young people of Fort Bragg the joys of working in the garden, and growing beautiful, healthy food!
OUR FOUNDERS
