Meet Us

Who we are

Our team is small yet mighty. We value the individual skills and contributions that each of us brings to the table in pursuit of strengthening the whole ecosystem. A commitment to whole-systems thinking guides our work forward with integrity.

Diane Christofore

EXECUTIVE Director

Diane is the Executive Director at the RAA. She is responsible for aligning the priorities of the organization and ensuring the ecosystem’s social, economic and ecological criteria remain intact as it grows in scope and scale.

Bec Ersek

Grant Administrator

Bec oversees the implementation of the Climate-Smart Commodities federal grant. A community-organizer and activist, they also work at Feed the People Farm, a worker-owned cooperative in Northfield, MN.

Photo of Louis Kemp

Louis Kemp

Farm Enterprise & Engagement Director

Louis enjoys working with farmers on creating, maintaining, and improving their production systems so they can grow the best and most nourishing foods possible.

Marian S Candil Escobar

Director of Development

Marian manages federal grants and develops strategies for the growth, scalability, and replication of RAA programs across different regions.

Stephanie Coffman

Business Administrator

Stephanie manages general administrative duties for the RAA, including bookkeeping and handling board, staff, and event logistics. Stephanie is also a Tree-Range Farms Producer on her farm, Wild Apple Meats.

Delicia Garcia Hernandez

Stacyville Poultry Processing Manager

Delicia oversees and manages the poultry processing facility located in Stacyville, Iowa. 

Board of Directors

Nick Hernandez

President of BOD
CEO, Makoce Agriculture Development

Florence Reed

Vice President
Sustainable Harvest International Founder and Director of Strategic Growth

Ann Wolf

Treasurer
Co-Program Director, MidwestHealthyAg.ORG

Luis Marcos

Advisor
Development Director, Comunidad Maya Pixan Ixim

Bridget Guiza

Advisor
Co-Founder, Ogema Organics

Dawn Sherman

Advisor
CEO at Native American Natural Foods LLC

Reginaldo Haslett-Marroquin

Emeritus Board Member
Founder of RAA

Diane Beck

Executive Director

Diane is the Executive Director at the RAA. She is responsible for aligning the priorities of the organization and ensuring the ecosystem’s social, economic and ecological criteria remain intact as it grows in scope and scale. Diane received her B.A in Food Systems Studies at the Evergreen State College (Olympia, Wa) and pursued a career that centers on her passion for stewardship, socially responsible strategies and regenerative outcomes. She augmented her education by earning an International Permaculture Design Certificate from the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies (Dutchess County, NY). Diane applied her interdisciplinary background to positions with a Minnesota farm-table mainstay and helped organize regional food systems at scale. She enjoys forging new partnerships and identifying opportunities for symbiotic collaborations through outreach and innovative events. Diane lives in Minneapolis with her husband Theo. On the weekends you can find them discovering new state parks and listening to live music.

Bec Ersek

GRANT Administrator

As Grant Administrator, Bec oversees the implementation of the Climate-Smart Commodities federal grant that RAA has received in partnership with Regeneration International and several other project partners. Bec is responsible for overall program management of the 5 year project including coordinating with project partners and producers on activities, progress, being compliant with meeting milestones and reporting requirements, documenting and preparing progress and financial reports for grant reporting and auditing support. 

A community-organizer and activist, they also work at Feed the People Farm, a worker-owned cooperative in Northfield, MN.  In addition to raising Tree-Range Farms chicken together, the worker-owners of Feed the People also lead the Curbside Compost Cooperative that collects organic waste from Northfield and surrounding towns. Bec moved to the Midwest from the East Coast with their dog Beefy in 2021 and they are finding themselves right at home in the budding community of Northfield.  You can expect to find them at a concert venue, tending to their backyard gardens and chickens or connecting with community members at favorite local coffee shop, Little Joy.

Photo of Louis Kemp

Louis Kemp

Farm Enterprise & Engagement Director

Born and raised in SW Wisconsin, Louis received his B.S. in Horticultural Production Systems from UW Madison and relocated to Oregon with his wife to pursue work in organic farming. After working on and managing several CSA and wholesale vegetable farms, Louis found his way into a pioneering group of farmers and social entrepreneurs putting down the foundations for what would become the multi-stakeholder co-op, Our Table Cooperative in Sherwood, OR.
Five years later his son was born and they moved back to the Midwest to be closer to family where he began work with CROPP Cooperative (Organic Valley). While there Louis managed their produce food safety program, making sure the 100+, mostly Amish, produce farmers had the knowledge and resources to complete food safety audits to the highest standard. Louis enjoys working with farmers on creating, maintaining, and improving their production systems so they can grow the best and most nourishing foods possible. Louis currently resides in Viola, WI with his wife, Tyne, and son, Schaffer. They love working and playing in their garden and going canoeing down the Kickapoo river.

Marian S Candil Escobar

Director of Development

Marian is on a mission to create a better world by fostering honor, transparency, and trust within the teams and communities she serves. Her commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice (DEIJ) forms the foundation of her work. She champions knowledge diversity, intersectionality, and multidisciplinarity in every endeavor. Marian is dedicated to uplifting disadvantaged and vulnerable communities through holistic approaches, including poverty alleviation initiatives and improving access to education, health, and basic services. With a background in development practice, community engagement, nonprofit management, communications, systems mapping, stakeholder engagement, and impactful problem-solving, Marian excels in navigating ambiguity. Her experience includes program evaluation using both qualitative and quantitative data to inform effective interventions. She advocates for research with a mixed approach to design projects, growth impact and drive results. Marian’s work is grounded in human dignity, integrity, collaboration, community, and sustainability. As the Director of Development for the Regenerative Agriculture Alliance (RAA), she manages federal grants and develops strategies for the growth, scalability, and replication of RAA programs across different regions. She firmly believes in supporting and healing our communities to break cycles of violence and poverty, fostering strength, independence, and circularity for a sustainable future.

Stephanie Coffman

Business Administrator

Stephanie is the Business Administrator for the RAA and owns and operates Wild Apple Meats with her husband Chris and father Steven Huebel. Last year they were excited to diversify their grass-fed beef operation to also include raising meat birds for Tree-Range Farms. Stephanie and Chris are proud parents to three sons, two daughter-in-laws, and a grandson. They also love to travel, take long bike rides, and every fall make gallons and gallons of hard apple cider from all of the wild apple trees on their farm.

Delicia Garcia Hernandez

Stacyville Poultry Processing Manager

Delicia is the manager for the Stacyville Poultry Processing plant. She oversees quality assurance and production for the plant. She obtained a B.A in Food Science at Chapingo Autonomous University in Mexico. Afterward, she gained two years experience at a swine facility before moving to MN to join the RAA leadership team. Throughout her education and conducting different research projects on the quality of food, Delicia developed a strong interest in lab work and food production. She is deeply committed to ensuring the quality of food products. Delicia loves spending time doing things outdoors like, hiking, visiting museums, going to the cinema, visiting farms, and seeing new places.

Subscribe