Denise has been with the NMFMA since 2005. A Chicago native, she spent every vacation of her youth at her grandfather's farm in Harvard, Illinois, falling in love with nature, fresh farm food, and quiet country roads. After many years in promotional and brand marketing for companies of all sizes and non-profits, Denise took a brief detour into education, teaching part-time at several Santa Fe middle and high schools. She then hightailed it back to marketing something close to her heart - fresh, locally grown food. Cooking for three hungry teenagers at home sharpens her culinary skills and provides real-world inspiration for her long-running Albuquerque Journal column. She enjoys every aspect of supporting New Mexico's sustainability-minded farmers, ranchers, and food producers and is grateful for the knowledge and spirit these individuals regularly share with her.

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Charise is a native New Mexican residing in Santa Fe, NM, and advocates for healthy eating and locally grown food. She worked for NMFMA for three years as an auditor before her current position, overseeing financial operations and managing human resources for NMFMA. In her free time, she enjoys hiking and camping and instructs a cardio kickboxing class. She has a passion for the outdoors and nature. She graduated from Texas Tech University with a bachelor's in accounting and looks forward to joining the NMFMA community.

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Deann was born in New Mexico, left for college and has returned back to the state in 2025. She has worked as an administrator in higher education working on grants and nonprofit administration. She believes everyone should have access to fresh food and should be able to affordably raise their families in New Mexico. She missed the glorious sunsets in New Mexico and is glad to be home!

Catherine is a Santa Fe native with deep roots in the community, serving on several boards in the area. Over the past twenty years she has explored many roles in the non-profit circuit focusing on land health, conservation and local food systems. She manages the NMFMA membership database and helps to coordinate the annual conference. She lives in the historic traditional Village of Agua Fría in Santa Fe County, where she experiences the cultures and traditions she grew up with.

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Bryan Crawford-Garrett is currently the Monitoring, Evaluation, Research & Learning (MERL) Lead at the New Mexico Farmers’ Marketing Association (NMFMA), and he has been with the NMFMA since 2022. Bryan has 20 years of experience in strategy, program management, planning, and MERL, with expertise in local food and agricultural systems. His career has focused particularly on supporting more equitable and just food systems for families and communities that have too often been systematically excluded or exploited. Evaluation and research areas of interest include: institutional local food procurement; food access and nutrition incentive programs; small-scale producer access to markets; and value chain collaboration.

Scott was raised in eastern New Mexico, and he holds two degrees in graphic design and advertising. With almost 30 years of professional experience ranging from web development and I.T. support services, Scott loves helping people grasp and utilize new technologies that can help improve their lives or organizations. Prior to joining the NMFMA in 2023, Scott's professional focus was in higher education marketing, PR, and enrollment strategies, and he remains a strong believer in the power of community colleges today.

When Scott is not clicking away behind a keyboard for the NMFMA, you can find him practicing many hobbies, including reading, trail running, gardening, and cooking.

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Sarah has a diverse educational and professional background and has been with the NMFMA since 2016. She is passionate about nutrition access, agriculture and food access advocacy, and behavioral health advocacy. Sarah’s professional goal is to ensure eligible participants receive dignity and respect while using the programs because poverty is a systematic problem, not a moral failure. Sarah is originally from Virginia, loves to travel, and has called New Mexico home since 2014. She lives in Rio Rancho with her daughter, dog, cat, and several pet goldfish.

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Kirsten loves New Mexico, good food, and engaging with people from all walks of life. Originally from New England, she and her family have called New Mexico home for 25 years. Her past endeavors have included teaching adults, home-schooling her three kids, and supporting patients and staff at a local health clinic. When not coordinating everything FreshRx, you'll find her in her garden or with a book in her favorite blue chair.

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Corey has been living and eating in Santa Fe County since age 8. She has spent most of that time working with the NM food system in various capacities, from serving dishes highlighting seasonal, local ingredients to tourists to growing some of those ingredients herself working with a local farm. She resides in Madrid, NM, and heads the free food distribution program there. As someone who has relied on Nutrition Incentive benefits in the past, she is thrilled to work to support those programs today.

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Sonora Rodríguez (she/her/ella) is a proud Nuevomexicana, who was born and raised in Albuquerque. She deeply loves and is committed to New Mexico and the communities that make this place so special. Her experience has grounded her to work alongside communities to address critical issues like food apartheid and just community development. Some of her formal training includes two bachelor‘s degrees from the University of New Mexico in Chicana/o studies and international studies. She also completed her master‘s degree in city and regional planning from Cornell University in 2019.  Sonora currently works as a Planner for the City of Albuquerque, addressing root and contemporary causes of unequal development and visioning alongside historic communities on how to grow, preserve and develop. Sonora also worked as an active community organizer with the SouthWest Organizing Project (SWOP). Some of her work with SWOP centered on campaigns for food justice, educational access, and youth employment. She likes doing home improvement projects and tending to her garden in her spare time. She is excited to work with NMFMA to increase awareness and participation in the Double Up Food Bucks program.

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Emma is a native New Mexican, born and raised in the South Valley of Albuquerque. Since 2014, she has been involved in New Mexico’s diverse food system, starting out as a farmworker and branching out into different roles including managing a local grocery delivery service, working as a kitchen crew member and coordinating meal kits for local food hubs, and continuing work as a farmworker in between. Most recently, Emma worked with Indigenous and Latino producers and families to provide education in developing backyard gardens, implementing regenerative agricultural practices, and achieving agri-business viability through business and financial management strategies and branding and marketing skills. Emma is currently the Approved Supplier Program Systems Manager at NMFMA, helping to manage program activities and contributing to the long-term direction of the program through coordination, administrative support and system development.

Alena Paisano is an experienced practitioner of farm to community programs dedicated to the development of just and local food systems serving our youth, families and communities. Alena is deeply invested in her work and also prioritizes family and community responsibilities. Alena partners with farmers, food producers, nutrition professionals and community advocates to increase access to local foods in public meal programs serving our littlest eaters through elders. Her past work has been focused on supporting diverse partners to reach their goals for improving community well-being and access to healthy local food by engaging in development of food policy with schools and farmers to achieve their vision for farm to school in action. She is passionate about working with partners in Native American communities to uplift the many unique assets highlighted in their efforts for others to learn from; promoting indigenous knowledge and supporting community leadership as foundations to movement building throughout Indian Country. As a multicultural indigenous woman with roots in the Pueblo, Apache and Dine cultures, Alena is deeply committed to working in the SW region. Based out of Santa Fe, NM she is active in local/state food policy efforts as a community advocate and a mother, seeking to contribute to a healthier, more equitable future for our next generation.

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Bio coming soon...

Mark’s interest in creative pursuits started at an early age when his mom proudly taped one of his finger paintings onto the family fridge, and he’s been chasing that buzz ever since.

He kickstarted his creative career in the Albuquerque design community but left in the early 2000s to pursue advertising & marketing career opportunities at larger agencies nationwide. 

While the national exposure was often exciting and rewarding, Mark was always a New Mexico boy at heart and dearly missed having the High Desert as a backyard. Recently his love for the Southwest brought him back home to the Burque, where he once again savors being close to the great outdoors, his family, old friends, and the finest food on the planet.
 

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Danielle lives life at the intersections of local food, art, culture, and community connection. Raised in the Midwest, Danielle grew up in the country on a hobby farm, taking care of horses and apple trees. Her love of art and design led her to a bachelor’s degree in majoring general design and minoring in photography. Always a traveler at heart, she moved to Ester, Alaska after college to participate in a farmer training program and expand her knowledge of growing food. A resident of New Mexico for almost a decade now, she started her New Mexico journey managing the Downtown Growers’ Market in Albuquerque. That opportunity led to more involvement with the downtown Albuquerque community through work with Downtown ABQ MainStreet and Arts & Cultural District. A former director of the non-profit, Danielle stepped back last year to pursue her passion in digital marketing. In 2025 she started her own digital marketing business, Mutual Moth Marketing LC, aimed at uplifting human stories, human connections, and human to human marketing. She is excited to bring her community experience and love of all things local to the New Mexico Farmers’ Marketing Association and currently crafts their monthly newsletters.

Bio coming soon...

Bio coming soon...