Our Team

Executive Director

Esther Smith

Esther Smith is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, a lifelong climber, and mountain sports athlete. Her introduction to organic farming began in her late teens when she and her siblings taught themselves to garden, tend an orchard and raise animals in New Mexico. Climbing and adventuring has taken her to places worldwide. Always mindful of her connection to the land and the communities that she visits, Esther searches out local food and producers to nourish her body and soul. As a Board member, she hopes to share the Farm To Crag Map to give fellow travelers a tool to find local food and network with farmers with ease. Esther has spent her PT career focused on helping climbers support their missions through quality rehab techniques, self-care guidance, and nutrition education. Along this path, it has become clear to her that we must heal the land in order to heal ourselves. Esther believes that the joy and community that food brings us is such a beautiful way to respond to climate change and grow conscious advocates for environmental change who can create positive action anywhere there is dirt.

@esthersmithdpt

Board Members

Founder, President & Director
@katerutherford
Kate is a professional climber, artist, advocate for wilderness and eater of leafy organic greens. Her passion for climbing has taken her all over the world including first ascents on Fitz Roy in Patagonia, Kenya and Venezuela, a free ascent of El Capitan’s Free Rider and the opportunity to work with some amazing organizations, including Patagonia, La Sportiva, Black Diamond, Clif Bar, the Access Fund, and the American Alpine Club. The combination of climbing, a biology degree from the Colorado College, rural homesteading in Alaska, subsistence hunting and fishing, carrots from Mom's garden, and watching organic regenerative agriculture’s ability to combat climate change, led Kate to start Farm to Crag. It is the perfect blend of climbing, stories, farms, maps, organic greens, environmental activism, and dinner parties!

Director, Ag Policy
@jobudzinski
Juli is a climber, urban gardener, Sustainable Agriculture Policy Consultant, and former deputy policy director at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. Hailing from the midwest, her passion for sustainable agriculture first blossomed after discovering her first Community Supported Agriculture farm started by a few friends. From there, she followed her passion to change the way we eat and farm in this country to our nation's capital, where she's been fighting the good fight for the past decade, lobbying policymakers to lend more support to sustainable, regenerative farmers. Her passion for using the power of policy to transform our food system, combined with her love of the outdoors, led her to Farm to Crag. She believes that food can be such a powerful bridge to forge connections between the outdoors and agriculture communities, and is excited to help Farm to Crag engage more climbers and eaters in advocating for a healthier food system.

Director, Regenerative Farming
@rawrootsfarm
Lauren is a regenerative farmer, environmental educator, mother, hiker, wildflower explorer, and lover of the earth. She studied Environmental Education with a focus in Sustainable Agriculture while earning her Masters Degree at Antioch University New England — where she met her now husband, Andrew. She worked as an environmental educator for over ten years in various places in New Jersey, Virginia, New Hampshire and then finally in Yosemite, California. It is on the outskirts of Yosemite, in the Sierra Nevada foothills, that her and her husband decided to settle down in 2012 and start a regenerative, no-till farm (Raw Roots Farm) to provide healthy and nutritious food for the community, while also caring for the health of the earth. They have a CSA that provides shares to over 70 members and also sell their amazing produce at local farmers markets, restaurants, and host incredible sunset farm-to-table dinners where they invite local chefs to get creative with the bounty growing on the farm. She is excited to bring her farming knowledge as well as her passion for education to Farm to Crag to help spread the wonderful awareness of the regenerative agriculture world.

Director, Treasurer
@tylerkarow
Tyler is a climber, skier, civil engineer, consumer of large meals, and entrepreneur working to build minimalistic forms of housing. After hitting the road to pursue climbing full-time, he quickly fell into the role of hosting dinner parties in his van and organizing group meals within the climbing community. Traveling around the world to climb and reading about our food system inspired him to transition from eating as cheaply as possible to sourcing food with intention. Tyler hopes to enable others to learn about regenerative farming, sustainable food systems, and encourage people to make choices that positively impact both individual bellies and the planet. His climbing accomplishments include a free ascent El Capitan via Golden Gate, a speed record on El Capitan’s Sunkist, summiting all the peaks of the Chaltén (Fitz) Skyline, and numerous other big wall ascents in Alaska, Patagonia, Kyrgyzstan, and Jordan. Tyler has started multiple profitable businesses and currently lives in Truckee California where he works as a developer, designer, and builder in the construction industry.

Director
@emmy.lou.woo
Whether at the crag or on the slopes, Emmy lives for outdoor adventures, community building, and stellar snackage. While Maryland will always be home, Emmy spent a decade traveling the world as a strategy consultant before realizing her need to align her business skills with her most deeply rooted values and love of the outdoors.
As a Program Manager at Patagonia, Emmy is all about creating connections and making big ideas happen. She firmly believes that a shared meal can be an opportunity for education, respectful discord, and the powerful realization that regenerative agriculture can save our home planet.

Director
@liljabee
Lilja is a climber, cyclist, experience designer, and logistics whiz. She started working on an organic farm after high school which started a trend of interests in organic flower farming, beekeeping, and whole foods nutrition. Climbing with friends across California was made happen by collaborative dinners, creative recipes, and scouting out local farmers markets during trips. As a board member, she hopes to help expand Farm to Crag's outreach by continuing to host events around the world, while learning from & supporting as many farmers as possible. Lilja has spent her career tying sustainability into whatever she is doing; be it hosting events, global operations, or active tourism. She strongly believes that circular agriculture supports a healthy climate, strong bodies, and happy communities!

Director
@bleavitt8
Brittany Leavitt has always felt a deep connection to the outdoors, from the watersheds of Maryland to the mountains of upstate New York to the ocean shores of Massachusetts, and now amidst the vibrant city life of Brooklyn, New York. For nearly a decade, she has been a leader in teaching and empowering others to safely explore and enjoy outdoor spaces, while working tirelessly to create inclusive pathways for People of the Global Majority (PGM) in the outdoor community.
Through collaborations with organizations like Outdoor Afro, AMGA, Pigtown Climbs, Appalachian Trail Conservancy, Yosemite Conservancy, and REI, Brittany has made an indelible impact. In 2018, she was honored as one of Blue Ridge Mountain Magazine's "30 Under 30" and recognized as "One to Watch" by the American Alpine Club's DC section.
Brittany’s voice and advocacy have reached far and wide, with her work being featured in Essence, The Washington Post, Vice i-D, Climbing Magazine, REI, Patagonia, and more. Her storytelling extends to campaigns for globally renowned brands like Nike, The North Face, Vans, Outdoor Research, Subaru, and The Parks Project. She has even been immortalized in children's literature, appearing in Thrill Seekers: 17 Women of Extreme Sports, and will be featured in the forthcoming book Black Girls Gardening: Empowering Stories and Garden Wisdom for Healing and Flourishing in Nature (2025).
As a speaker, Brittany has shared her expertise at esteemed institutions, including Tufts, Dartmouth, and Yale. Her commitment to youth education led her to co-create a Girl Scouts badge focused on introducing young girls to climbing and hiking. Brittany’s belief in the power of representation and education is a driving force behind her work both as an athlete and an organizer.
Notable achievements include being part of the first all-African American team to summit Mount Kilimanjaro with Outdoor Afro in 2018 and co-creating the Color the Crag climbing festival with Brothers of Climbing to celebrate and uplift the PGM climbing community. As one of the founding members of Brown Girls Climb, Brittany has spent six years fostering growth, education, and leadership for women of color in climbing spaces. Now serving as the CEO and Executive Director, she leads the collective in creating meetups, workshops, and mentorship opportunities across the nation.
Brittany’s love for education extends beyond outdoor spaces. She spent five years as an early educator at the Smithsonian Institution, nurturing curiosity and learning in children aged 2-6 through object-based exploration. She continues to facilitate workshops for teachers, focusing on youth activism, representation, and integrating outdoor connection into classroom learning.
In addition to her climbing and educational endeavors, Brittany co-coordinates the award-winning Cooper Street Community Garden in Brooklyn, NY. Under her guidance, the garden serves as a vital space for intergenerational learning, food justice, and community connection.
As a climber and adventurer, Brittany has dedicated 14+ years to sport climbing, bouldering, and traditional climbing, as well as 15+ years to backpacking. Her mountaineering accomplishments include summits of Kulshan (Mt. Baker) and Mt. Rainier. Certified as a Wilderness Medicine Instructor with Backcountry Pulse, Brittany empowers communities through training in wilderness first aid and emergency response.
Brittany Leavitt’s unwavering commitment to equity, education, and community shines through every aspect of her work, making her an inspirational force in the outdoors and beyond.

Director
Larry is a semi-retired CFO that is currently helping clients in the Agribusiness Industry. Over his years in the working world, he has worked for 3 companies - all family owned. 12 years in the rafting and kayaking industry on various rivers in Northern California. 24 Years in petroleum as Controller/CFO. The company sells lubricants and various fuels in California and Nevada. 10 years as CFO for Grow West, an Agriculture Retailer that sells knowledge, fertilizer and chemistry to farmers/growers/producers in the Northern Sacramento Valley and North Coast. His duties included responsibility for overall financial strategy, process automation, digital transformation, compliance and continuous financial reporting. He reported directly to the CEO in each of these companies and the Board of Directors presenting data necessary for predictive and focused decision-making. His role also consisted of constantly monitoring new innovations and acquiring the technology necessary to improve real-time data, employee productivity, delivery systems and enhancing customer experience and profit margins. He also represented these companies in banking negotiations, M&A, insurance and retirement investments. He has also served on committees and as Board Chair for two fundraising boards over the last 15 years. These include The First Tee of Greater Sacramento and UCP of Sacramento and Northern California. The last 11 years have brought an awareness to Larry surrounding agriculture. While he has lived around agriculture for almost 50 years, it has been in the last 11 or so that he has become more aware/involved in the understanding of growing plants, the resulting crops and farming families and practices. Along with his wife Lee, he would like to “toot the horn” of regenerative farming practices and the people who care so deeply for the farmer/producer/grower to be better rewarded for their lifestyle and continued efforts to provide healthier food for all to enjoy.
A graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, her roots are between California and Colorado. Her latest project, OUTLIER, explores the role identity, community, and belonging play in our survival as a species. Honored by Protect Our Winters as "Alliance Member of the Year" for her advocacy, she is also an Explore Fund Council Member for The North Face.

Director
Lee is an interior designer by trade. She has worked on numerous homes mostly in Northern California as well as a few in various other areas. Her passion for textures, reclaimed and repurposed items are her design aesthetic, along with organization, a must for clean design. The fun of design is working with a team of skilled craftsmen to make something beautiful. She has always been entrepreneurial and a bit of a risk taker.Lee and her husband Larry have been married for 48 years and have raised two daughters who are married and are raising their children. We have been very fortunate in our lives with the families we came from as well as the ones we created. Outdoor adventures have always been a part of our life, whether they are hiking, golfing, biking or skiing, there is nothing like enjoying the outdoors.Farm to Crag makes her feel like she has found her people. She has become increasingly sensitive to her body’s input and what she eats, drinks and breathes. Lee is interested in being a more informed consumer and cook. She is also interested in being a part of the growing movement through public education and personal growth. Farm to Crag Summits are filled with farmers, outdoor adventurists, and professionals who are leading the message through action. The Native American input and connection is another rich part of the overall program. I am proud to be included in an organization that is dedicated to a cause that benefits everyone.

Director
Jess is a lifelong outdoor enthusiast—an avid climber, triathlete, and snowboarder—whose passions extend from the mountains to the kitchen. Jess is deeply inspired by the many ways food shapes our lives, with a particular love for sustainable agriculture, the power of food as both fuel and medicine, and the craft of creating and sharing memorable meals.
Professionally, Jess works at the intersection of social justice and finance, helping investors align their portfolios with their values. She brings this same blend of rigor and purpose to her role at Farm to Crag, where she contributes writing for program development and fundraising.

Director
Heather has lived in the Yosemite area for over 20 years. The steep granite valley walls, seasonal change of the river song, and community of animals and humans have deeply shaped her being and worldview. Co-Founder of Balanced Rock, she brings her skills of non-profit management and leadership, group facilitation, community building, mentorship, and program development to help Farm To Crag through its continued evolution.
She delights in creating unique, powerful programs and supporting Farm To Crag in bringing their magic to the world. She is a gifted teacher, cook, and seasoned mountain guide, reminding us that the beauty of nature is at the heart of our food movement.

Previous Board Members

Co-Founder, Vice President & Director
Julie is a climber, fisherwoman, biker, website designer, mom, and maker of beautiful food. Her business degree, 20 years experience in web design, and 10 years working in public relations provided realistic goals for Farm To Crag. Her community engagement is above and beyond, and her commitment to this planet being healthy for all beings is the basis for her investment in local organic regenerative food sources.

Treasurer & Director
Anne Gilbert is a professional climber, registered nurse, and local food enthusiast. While her passion for climbing takes her all over the world to far reaching places like India, Pakistan and Iran, she is also deeply rooted in her home of Montana. Being involved in the sustainable agricultural world of Montana, from collaborating with university agriculture professors and individual farmers and ranchers to being a CSA member, has opened her eyes to the importance of healthy soil to combat climate change and the power and resilience of rural communities. Finding a balance of taking care of herself in the mountains and taking care of others in the hospital, Anne Gilbert believes in local and sustainable food for both fueling and healing the body. She brought her passion for climbing and knowledge of health and the human body to Farm To Crag to help spread the love of creating a healthier food system one leafy green at a time.

Co-Founder
Linda is a climber, endurance biped, and earnest local foods enthusiast that loves to explore wild places, peoples, and food cultures. With professional roots in wilderness management and wildlife biology, Linda took her passion for the outdoors to the outdoor industry, the nonprofit conservation sector, and eventually, to starting her own functional nutritional consulting practice after healing from debilitating chronic disease using food as medicine. She now helps people in the outdoor community heal and thrive using properly-prepared, nutrient-dense foods, and helped begin Farm To Crag as a way to help her community access nourishing local foods wherever they climb and play. Linda seeks out quality food growers and suppliers across the country. Find her at thenourishingnomad.com.

Director
Katie is a climber, gardener and professional chef. She is a lover of granite, edible flowers and eating her favorite foods in wild spaces. For her, food is all about connection; about bringing people together with each other and with the natural world. In 2013, Katie came back from a trip to Patagonia where she had spent more rainy days cooking for herself and fellow climbers than actually climbing, and realized that she wanted to dedicate her professional life to cooking. She went on to help open the kitchen of the Mountain Rambler Brewery in Bishop, CA, where she spent years feeding climbers. She more recently moved to coastal Maine for opportunities to cook more exclusively with hyper-local ingredients. Katie believes in the deep value of knowing landscapes intimately, in investing in those landscapes and encouraging others to do so through food choices. She is excited to educate her peers about the infinite ways to prepare and use whole, farm-fresh, seasonal foods.

Secretary & Director
@joodymarks
Joody is an event planner, CranioSacral Therapist, mountain yogini, and mellow mountaineer who loves immersing in alpine terrain. She grew up spending summers adventuring and leading backpacking in the Sierra Nevada mountains and lived in Yosemite as a seasonal park ranger for 7 years after graduating college. In 2010, Joody started organizing boutique events that interweave regenerative farms, chefs, wellness leaders, nature connection, and music. She is passionate about making such transformative experiences accessible to systemically impacted communities. Joody most often works as an event strategist and coordinator for non-profits, weddings, artists, organizers, and healers. She also sometimes works as a wilderness guide, certified Biodynamic CranioSacral Therapist, Certified Yoga Teacher, and meditation teacher. She loves how Farm To Crag throws a dinner party and is so grateful to the founders for bringing their beautiful vision into the world. Joody is excited about this potent collaboration between the climbing and regenerative farming worlds.

Director, Product Management
@alegoesoutside
Ale is an innovator, climber, and socially conscious disruptor working in the intersection of technology and impact. Born and raised in Nicaragua, “la tierra de lagos y volcanes,” she was always mesmerized by the natural beauty around her. She started climbing in Washington, DC and, through climbing, found community, belonging, and a deeper appreciation for nature. She began her career at the International Monetary Fund's Innovation Lab and World Bank. Skilled in strategy, product management, and human-centered design, she loves to bring her tech and strategy skills to the projects she’s passionate about—like Farm To Crag. As a climber, she believes in the potential of the climbing community for positive impact and stewardship. She is now pursuing an MS in Creative, Technology and Design at the University of Colorado Boulder and is grateful to be able to apply what she learns to the beautiful mission of Farm To Crag.

Director, Operations
@orion_ontheroad
Orion is a passionate advocate for improving the environmental and social outcomes of food systems, from farm to fork. With a strong background in agriculture, supply chain management, and sustainable sourcing, Orion has worked extensively with CPG, distributors, logistic partners, and farmers in diverse countries, including Kenya, Nigeria, India, Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia. Embracing their passion for soil science, Orion is dedicated to supporting farmers with soil and carbon management.

Director
@NotLostJustDiscovering
Award-winning filmmaker, athlete, regenerative organic farmer, and writer, Dani Reyes-Acosta inspires individual action and collective communion through stories of reciprocity in the outdoors—rewriting the story of how we build community along the way.
A graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara, and Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, her roots are between California and Colorado. Her latest project, OUTLIER, explores the role identity, community, and belonging play in our survival as a species. Honored by Protect Our Winters as "Alliance Member of the Year" for her advocacy, she is also an Explore Fund Council Member for The North Face.