Gilbert Louis is an enrolled tribal member with the Pueblo of Acoma who is proud to carry on the tradition of ranching as a 3rd generation rancher.
Gilbert graduated from Grants High School in May 2002. Gilbert became a firefighter in 2002 at the Pueblo of Acoma, then went on to Albuquerque Fire Rescue in 2005. His current position is Inspector with the Fire Marshal’s Office.
In 2014, Gilbert Louis assumed a leading role on his family’s picturesque 17,000-acre ranch in Acoma. In that time, Gilbert Louis has gained recognition for his stewardship of Acoma Number 8 Ranch. In 2016 Mr. Louis became a member of the Council for Native American Farmer and Rancher. In 2018, Mr. Louis received an Outstanding Ranchers of the Year award. In 2020. Mr. Louis and his family harvest, process, package and sell their own beef. Gilbert Louis has spoken at numerous conferences on agriculture and is a source of knowledge and information within his own community. One of Mr. Louis’s goals is to obtain more milestones in his Ranching Operation.

Workshop Presenter

Leadership & Entrepreneurship Skills for Value-Driven Businesses: Learning from an Indigenous Approach

Olivia Tincani is a food and agriculture business educator and consultant with over 20 years of experience in the field. Her work focuses on farmer/rancher training, entrepreneurial empowerment, business, financial and strategic planning, curriculum design and development, technical assistance, livestock businesses and whole animal supply chains. Her deep experience in her own entrepreneurial food and farming endeavors infuses her work with ambition, empathy and creative spirit. She is currently executing farmer training programs for The Conservation Fund’s Working Farms Fund, the Intertribal Agriculture Council, Chicago Botanic Garden’s Windy City Harvest Farm Business Incubator, Fibershed, Southwest Grassfed Livestock Alliance, and the Grazing School of the West. She served as a Business & Communications Strategist for 8 years for Rancho Llano Seco in Chico, CA. She has deep history in food business operations as the co-founder of landmark joint restaurant/farm enterprises Farm 255 and Farm Burger in the rural southeast, and food service design and management company Just Fare in the San Francisco Bay Area. Olivia is a fierce nomad, splitting time between client projects across the country and family home bases in Sonoma County (CA) and the Maremma region of Italy, keeping her hands in the dirt and her skin in the game.

Workshop Presenter

Leadership & Entrepreneurship Skills for Value-Driven Businesses: Learning from an Indigenous Approach

For over 20 years, Jules has been committed to social justice and environmental causes, in particular the empowerment and leadership of women. She brings a deep understanding of the connection and intersection of agriculture to climate change, public health and women’s equity. She is excited to apply decades of nonprofit leadership and fund development experience to help advance WFAN’s important work.

Juliann holds a BA in Political Science from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and a MBA with a specialization in Environmental Management from Ashford University in Clinton, IA. Jules is bilingual in English and Spanish. She strongly believes that we are at a critical tipping point globally and locally, and that a collective, inclusive, feminist approach to rebuilding our society post-COVID lockdowns is the only sustainable way forward.

Prior to joining WFAN, Jules served as the Associate Director and Interim Executive Director for Enlace Comunitario, an Albuquerque community-based organization with a mission to reduce domestic violence in the Latinx immigrant community. She also served as the Assistant Director for the Greater West Town Community Development Project (GWTP) in Chicago, IL where she led the successful development of the on-site community garden – which provided service learning opportunities to local high school students – and organized GWTP’s first urban agriculture conference.

Workshop Presenter

Women Ranchers are Reconnecting and Regenerating

Kathryn is a cattle rancher and agricultural consultant and grant writer. She owns Roan Creek Ranch and raises British Park White cattle in Colorado on owned and private leased lands. She also assists other agricultural businesses across the west with consulting services and grant writing. She is a current recipient of an Local Food Purchase Assistance grant which works to get local beef into regional food banks and pantries. She served on the Colorado Governor’s transition team and played a role in the selection of the Commissioner of Agriculture, the Director of the Energy Office and the Director of Natural Resources. She is currently a member of the Colorado Agricultural Commission, appointed by the Governor, which advises the State Agriculture Commissioner. Kathryn is actively involved in agricultural policy development. She was a past appointee to the Garfield County Energy Advisory Board and recently joined the board of the American Grassfed Association.
Kathryn started a grass-fed beef business and direct marketed up to 200 head per year through Farmers Markets, Restaurants, and ultimately her own retail store. She managed a 2000-acre ranch, including both private and public lands. In order to direct market beef, she developed a private label, a marketing program, and was solely responsible for starting and operating a local food store in Fruita, Colorado.
Kathryn holds a BA in Biology, an MA in Animal Behavior and a DVM.

Roundtable Facilitator

Marie von Ancken is a Programs Manager for HMI, advanced ceramic apprentice, and anti-oppression activist. She is passionate about environmental justice and regenerative farming as a solution to transforming our food system and addressing climate change. She grew up in Corrales, New Mexico, where her family raised chickens and has spent significant time living in Finland, France, and Nicaragua. Marie was a Rotary International Exchange student to Naantali, Finland her junior year of high school and continues to work with Rotary’s Youth Exchange Program facilitating talks on culture shock and intercultural communication. She is fluent in Spanish and Finnish, conversational in French, and works as a Spanish interpreter with immigrant rights organizations and indigenous artist communities from Central and South America. As Program Manager at Holistic Management International, Marie has spent the last eight years developing learning opportunities, both nationally and internationally, that aim to educate farmers, ranchers and food advocates in agricultural practices that increase organic matter in the soil, grow nutrient-dense foods, and sequester carbon while empowering them to strengthen their businesses and improve their quality of life. Marie has a bachelor’s degree in International Business Management and Sustainability Studies from the University of New Mexico/College of Charleston/IPAG School of Business – Nice, France.

Roundtable Facilitator