WHO WE ARE

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

President - Meg Kabotie-Adakai

Meg grew up in Flagstaff and graduated from Northern Arizona University with dual majors in Biology (B.S.) and Psychology (B.A.) with a minor in chemistry. Meg is currently the Market Manager for the Flagstaff Community Market. While at NAU, she worked in a stream ecology lab as well as for cellular and molecular biology lab doing research funded by The Partnership for Native American Cancer Prevention. Since graduating, she has held many interesting jobs including positions at Hopi Tutskwa Permaculture Institute, the Flagstaff Medical Center, the Museum of Northern Arizona, and Kinlani Bordertown Dormitory. She has many passions including sustainability, community investment, environmental stewardship, art, education, and gardening.

Vice President - Ryan Gordon

Ryan moved to Flagstaff in 2012. He went to NAU for their ENV program where he learned that the level of gridlock in Bureaucracy requires a bottom-up approach when it comes to developing food systems. He joined Foodlink in 2022 because he believes it’s important to build a strong food system by educating the community through workshops that also complete a task simultaneously. He is well integrated into the community by working at Flagstaff Junior Academy as the garden educator and as a Farm Assistant at Forestdale Farm.

Treasurer - Rachel Stilley

Rachel was born and raised in Flagstaff, on her family ranch in the watershed of the peaks, Nuva'tukya'ovi. She spent several years living in Tucson, where she gained experience with school and community gardens and earned her BA in Geography with a minor in Gender and Women’s studies. In 2021, she moved back to town and began working on her graduate degree at Prescott College, pursuing a dual MBA and MS in Food Systems, working with local environmental education nonprofit Terra BIRDS. She also moonlights at local herb store Winter Sun, and is working towards her dream of turning the family ranch into an educational farm and community center.

Board Member - Melissa Eckstrom

Melissa Eckstrom was born and raised in Philadelphia, and holds a B.A in Sustainable Agriculture from Sterling College in Craftsbury Common, Vermont. She served in AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps, as well as the United States Peace Corps (Jamaica, 2015-2017). Melissa currently works as the Education and Outreach Coordinator at Willow Bend Environmental Education Center. For fun, she enjoys riding her bicycle, making art, and attempting to garden in all four seasons.

Board Member - Carol Fritzinger (Fritz)

Born and raised in the fertile farmland of rural Pennsylvania I grew up surrounded by small Pennsylvania Dutch family farms and was inspired by organic growing practices of the nearby Rodale Institute. My youth was filled with the pleasures of gardening and a love of playing in the dirt. Though that youthful passion was put on hold while spending an enormous chunk of my adult life working as a river guide in the Grand Canyon, after my daughter, Willa, was born in 1995 and full-time guiding was no longer an option I began to start dabbling with gardening once again. Following the road of return to my youthful passion has brought me back full circle to a life invested in community gardening.

These days if you need to track me down there is a good chance you can find me at the Museum of Northern Arizona (MNA), Colton Community Garden (CCG) where I serve as the volunteer garden manager. The CCG is an educational heritage garden that is dedicated to sharing the stories and knowledge of the cultivation of traditional crops grown on the Colorado Plateau. The garden serves as a “living exhibition” for visitors to MNA and the local community and is always open to the public, visitors are welcome to tour the grounds at any time.

Board Member - Burrell Jones

Burrell is from the Grandfalls area in the Leupp community located on the Navajo Nation. Burrell supports local agricultural activities in his communities. The local food system has always been important because of tradition and family who valued growing corn, squash, melons, sheep, and cattle. While being raised at home, he went to college at Northern Arizona University. Burrell works at Tolani Lake Enterprises (TLE), a non-profit organization located in the Tolani Lake community. TLE serves local native communities through agriculture, advocating for water rights, and developing local economies while supporting youth and promoting cultural knowledge.

Board Member - Sydney Rittershaus

Sydney is an undergraduate student at Northern Arizona University studying geography and sociology. She is from Prescott Valley, Arizona and was introduced to the importance of local food systems through her work at the Prescott Farmers Market during the 2020 pandemic. Since living in Flagstaff, she has been involved with the NAU SSLUG (Students for Sustainable Living and Urban Gardening) Garden, Coconino Master Gardeners, Flagstaff Community Market, Flagstaff CSA, Terra BIRDS, and she is currently a volunteer for Townsite Urban Farm. As a board member of Flagstaff Foodlink, she aims to utilize and grow vital Flagstaff community networks for creating an equitable food system rooted in food sovereignty and environmental justice.

Board Member- Alexis Nelson

Alexis has been in Flagstaff since 2019. She went to NAU and gained her degree in Public Humanities (B.A) with a minor in Public Administration as well as a certificate in Nonprofit and Social Enterprises. In her time in Flagstaff she has worked with many nonprofit and other organizations including: TerraBIRDS, Martin Springer Institute, Hozhoni Foundation, Tynkertopia, Coconino Master Gardener Association and Flagstaff Family Food Center. Her passions for the food system led her to working at Forestdale Farm in town where she is the manger of the day-to-day operations there. 

Staff

Sara Sprague, Food Systems Coordinator

Sara’s journey with us began as a committed board member, but her passion for food justice and community engagement has led her to this new opportunity to drive positive change in our organization. Sara has been engaged in the local food system through gardening, farming, and coalition-building. Her interests pertain to the nexus of food and social justice, along with cultivating resilience through sharing food, supporting growers, and connecting people to one another and the land.

With her background in applied sociology, environmental research, and extensive experience in agriculture and nonprofit work, Sara is uniquely equipped to make a significant impact in our local food system.

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