With a background in vegetable production and dairying, CJ has more recently taken up a role to support food producers and other land managers through relationship building. They are inspired and fueled by the reality that trusting relationships and the intentional building of good listening skills are the foundation of healthy soil, landscapes, and communities.
Linda lives in Southeast Kansas where she and her husband Keith Long raise cattle, and sheep on native tallgrass prairie using Holistic Planned Grazing. With the planned grazing they can consistently improve the tallgrass prairie, soil health, animal productivity and wildlife habitat. Linda has years of experience direct marketing her products both wholesale and retail and can help you build a business/marketing plan. Also, with over 25 years in the hospitality sector, Linda is uniquely positioned to help you address leadership, personnel, team dynamics, and management systems issues. Keith has been a practitioner of Holistic Management since the mid-90s, and Linda has been involved in Holistic Management since 2008. As a Certified Educator, Linda has facilitated workshops and coached clients in improving their quality of life, their finances, and their land. Graze The Prairie is an official HMI Learning Site Linda works to help others learn to manage their resources in a way that keeps the business profitable, as well as land, family, and community thriving.
Regenerative Research
Tom Scott retired in 2015 as Vice President and CEO for Oliver’s Markets, which owns and operates four supermarkets in Sonoma County, California. Oliver’s focuses on food produced in Sonoma County and features high quality perishables and a wide assortment of natural and conventional groceries. The National Specialty Food Association recognized Oliver’s with their Outstanding Retailer Award in 2005 and 2013. Tom received his BA in Political Science from California State University San Bernardino in 1984 and his MBA from Sonoma State University in 2005. He was named the Distinguished Alumni for 2011 by the Sonoma State School of Business and Economics.
Tom began in the grocery business in 1974 as a box boy for Alpha Beta Stores in Riverside, California, working there through high school and college. After graduation he worked for a regional CPA firm for two years. In 1986, he became the CFO for Redwood Empire Markets, an independent grocer that operated two stores in Sonoma County. He came to Oliver’s Market in 1988 as General Manager.
After retiring, Tom opened a consulting practice in the San Francisco Bay Area, assisting independent supermarket operators in California and Wyoming. Tom took the job of SVP/General Manager for one of his clients, Jackson Whole Grocer who he worked for from 2018 to 2020, when Jackson Whole Grocer sold to Whole Foods at the end of 2020.
Rocky Mountain Food Collaborative: Developing a Marketplace Owned by Producers to Incentivize Economic, Social & Environmental Change
Katie Miller, a wife, mother, and proud entrepreneurial farmer and rancher, owns and operates Heritage Belle Farms and the SOCO Virtual Farmers Market. An alumna of Colorado College, where she majored in a self-designed sustainable agriculture study, Katie’s career has always been driven by her desire to be an eco-conscious cowgirl and her love for real food: growing, raising, cooking, and eating it. She teaches others to do the same, as she believes this is the most important thing anyone can do to make a positive impact on the world. Perpetually juggling farm life and home life, Katie also finds time to maintain her Holistic Management Educator Accreditation with Holistic Management International (HMI) by consulting for and working with like-minded farmers and ranchers. She also finds time to work as an Independent on-farm inspector for American Grassfed Association, volunteer as a board supervisor for the El Paso County Conservation District (EPCCD), volunteer as a Colorado Agricultural Council member for the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), and participate in several area livestock breed associations. In the rare event of spare time, Katie enjoys horseback riding, photography, cooking, reading, and working on fiber arts projects, particularly ones for which she can use the wool from her sheep: Navajo weaving, felting, knitting, and sewing.
Rocky Mountain Food Collaborative: Developing a Marketplace Owned by Producers to Incentivize Economic, Social & Environmental Change
Lance Wheeler, his wife Lisa, and their family operate Rafter W Ranch in Simla, Colorado. Rafter W Ranch produces grass-fed, grass-finished beef and lamb, and pastured poultry in a holistically managed grazing program. The full product line is marketed directly to consumers in Colorado and surrounding states. Lance and his family are passionate about building relationships that will ensure the future of locally raised food and vibrant communities.
Rocky Mountain Food Collaborative: Developing a Marketplace Owned by Producers to Incentivize Economic, Social & Environmental Change
Margaret holds a master’s in “Strategic Leadership towards Sustainability” from BTH in Sweden and a graduate certificate from University of Denver in Renewable Energy & Sustainability. She worked in Germany for the UNEP and for Friedrich-Alexander Erlangen-Nürnberg Universität. She held the position of Intermountain Regional Sustainability Coordinator for the National Park Service and worked with the National Park Service’s Washington D.C. Office of Sustainable Operations and Climate Change before choosing to stay at home after the birth of her son and operate an organic peach orchard on the western slope of Colorado. Upon moving back to Denver, she started Stella Sustainability. She has the pleasure of working as project manager for the Rocky Mt. Food Collaborative. She dreams of the day she can get back to working on the land and riding her horse on long trail rides.
Rocky Mountain Food Collaborative: Developing a Marketplace Owned by Producers to Incentivize Economic, Social & Environmental Change