Staff

Donor Stewardship Coordinator

email: amity[at]ofrf.org

Amity Vargas (she/her/hers) is a Colorado native but grew up on the West Coast, soaking up the beautiful beach sun. She has over fifteen years of experience working within the nonprofit realm, focusing on environmental and social impact missions. Her work has included development, programming, and operations. Amity has led programs that provided watershed protection of the South Platte River in the South Park National Heritage Area, and she started the first Farm to School program in Park County. She has taught environmental education to adults and students from Pre-K through the twelfth grades, writing both standards-based and experienced-based curricula emphasizing mindfulness and a growth mindset. In the Front Range, Amity has worked with a wide variety of schools and organizations, teaching the importance of environmental literacy through a program she started called TREES – Teaching Responsible Environmental Education Skills. Through this program, she was able to start a recycling program within an elementary school in the Colorado Springs area, the first of its kind within that school district. Amity is working towards becoming an Herbalist and completing her portfolio to become a certified Environmental Educator.

Research & Education Senior Scientist

email: heather[at]ofrf.org

Heather Estrada has been a part of the organic farming community for the past 20 years, as a scientist, professor, grower, and advocate. She has worked with transitioning and certified organic farmers in the field, conducted organic crop and weed research, and has spent much of her career educating students in regenerative organic farming principles and practices. 

Heather started her organic agriculture career in Edmonton, Canada, studying and researching organic wheat breeding and agronomy. She graduated from the University of Alberta (BS, Crop Science; PhD, Plant Science) and then moved to Kalispell, Montana to work as a cropping systems research agronomist with Montana State University. Heather switched her career focus to education in 2012, taking on the role of college professor and Agriculture program director at Flathead Valley Community College in Kalispell. While there, she created degree programs and curriculum, started a working educational vegetable farm on the college campus, and taught classes such as plant science, soil nutrient management, integrated pest management, practical farm production, and building community food systems.

Heather is looking forward to bringing her experience and passion for research and education to OFRF, and hopes to make a meaningful contribution to the lives of farmers through her work.

Research & Education Engagement Coordinator

email: jose[at]ofrf.org

Jose Perez has over seven years of experience in education and research positions supporting small scale and organic farmers in Florida. He has held positions such as Small Farms Extension Coordinator with UF/IFAS Extension and Outreach and Education Coordinator with Florida Organic Growers. Jose has a B.A. in Human Ecology with concentration in sustainable agriculture from College of the Atlantic in Maine and a Masters in Sustainable Development Practice from the University of Florida.

Jose is working on his Agricultural Extension PhD, and firmly believes that farmers are experimenters by nature, and they are in the best position to conduct relevant research that impacts their farms every day. He is a native Spanish speaker from Guatemala and is passionate about supporting organic agriculture, promoting farmer-led research, and engaging farmers and researchers in learning and sharing among their peers.

Research and Education Program Manager

mary[at]ofrf.org

Mary Hathaway is the Research and Education Program Manager at OFRF. Over the past decade she has worked as an activist and farmer in the sustainable and equitable food movement in the Southeast. Her most recent experience includes managing direct marketing farms, administering USDA grant projects, and organizing regional food summits.

Mary specializes in supporting local food systems and is passionate about creating opportunities for organic farmers to be leaders in climate change solutions. Mary has a Master’s Degree in Agroecology that helps her frame the necessary work before us with a collaborative, systems thinking approach. She is a powerful force in the workplace and uses her positive attitude to encourage others to work hard and be engaged participants in their community.

In her free time, Mary likes to play in the ocean, talk at great length about composting, and build Legos creatures with her son.

Senior Policy & Programs Manager

gordon[at]ofrf.org

Gordon N. Merrick (he/him) joins the OFRF team with first hand experience working on organic farms, distributing food into the marketplace, cooking food in the service industry, and, most recently, helping draft agriculture, natural resource, and municipal laws for the Vermont General Assembly.  Alongside this hands-on food and legal system experience, prior to attending Vermont Law School, Gordon was a community organizer working on climate justice related issues in New Hampshire. Throughout all of these experiences, Gordon was able to learn what it takes to lead successful teams and that resilient change stems from, and is led by, people-powered movements.

When Gordon isn’t in the (home) office, he’s generally outside enjoying whatever the current New England season has to offer! With the changing nature of winter in northern New England, that generally means a lot more biking and snowshoeing than skiing, much to Gordon’s chagrin. To chase that skiing, Gordon often heads out west or, increasingly, north to the Quebecois mountain range of the Chic Chocs for some backcountry terrain that stays cold.

Communications Director

ashley[at]ofrf.org

Partnerships & Development Director

email: leah[at]ofrf.org

Leah Lawson has been an active and passionate advocate for an equitable food system that uplifts communities and reinvigorates the land for the past decade. She fell in love with agriculture while working on a process evaluation in a small farming community in Maharashtra, India, as part of her Masters’ degree in International Development. The combination of regenerative practices and community-led action left a deep impression on her work. Since then, she has built skills in grant writing, fundraising, board structure, strategic planning, project management, and facilitation, which she uses to further the creation of a strong and inclusive food system.

Leah lives in Chicago, where she has worked for organizations that serve rural and urban farmers, including Angelic Organics Learning Center, one of her favorite places in northern Illinois. She enjoys board service and helping new and young organizations get their footing. She has served on the board of Advocates for Urban Agriculture and North Branch Projects, both community-based orgs. Currently, she sits on the board of Windy City ToolBank, an affiliate of ToolBank USA, where she is helping to establish programming that allows organizations in the region to participate in radical sharing; ensuring everyone has access to tools they need to create, improve, and care for their community.

Research & Education Program Director

thelma[at]ofrf.org

Deputy Director

email: dominica[at]ofrf.org

Dominica Navarro has worked with organizations championing public health, diversity in higher education, pesticide reduction, and organic and climate-smart farming practices. She has devoted much of her professional career to nonprofit management, finance, administration and strategic development. She graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with majors in both Environmental and Community Studies and has worked on various sustainable agriculture projects in the US and abroad. Dominica is a current board member of Rogue Farm Corps and also serves on the Advisory Boards for Re:Wild Your Campus and Oregon Climate and Agriculture Network. Dominica lives in Central Oregon on the sovereign nation of the Warm Springs, Wasco and Northern Paiute tribes and loves stewarding land, hanging out with her family, cooking, sailing, hiking and traveling.