​Staff

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​Ashley Alvarez | Program Manager

Ashley is Unangax̂ and Black and Filipina.  Ashley grew up in Bellingham Washington with her grandparents and was involved in her local Unangax̂/Aleut community through a Unangan dance group, Sngagim Axasniikangin (Dream Dancers).  As a first generation college student and Gates Millennium Scholar she attended Western Washington University and earned a Bachelor’s of Arts in Human Services. In 2015, she earned her Masters in Social Work from University of Washington with a concentration in Community-centered Integrative Practice and in 2020, she earned her Masters in Urban Environmental Education. Ashley is co-founder of Alagnax̂ Farm, a farm located in South Seattle serving BIPOC community members through access to culturally relevant foods, greenspace and educational workshops.

 Nat Mengist | Director of Learning + Change

A first-generation Ethiopian born in Moses Lake, WA, Nat graduated with a B.A. in the University of Washington’s eclectic Comparative History of Ideas program in 2015, and a Master’s in Education Policy in 2016. Then, as a children’s garden coordinator, he spearheaded the first racial equity team at Seattle Tilth. Nat worked with the NSF funded Learning in Places study from 2018 to 2021, started an independent consultancy for anti-racist coaching called FLOWERBOI FACILITATIONS, LLC in 2020, and was a Farm Coordinator at The Common Acre's 24th+Main site for two years. He is currently a Ph.D student in Human Centered Design and Engineering at the University of Washington.

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Talia London| Executive Director
Talia (Unangax̂) grew up as a guest in the Lummi nation.  Talia is excited to offer space through TCA to BIPOC community to work with Native plants and grow food. Talia has worked alongside multiple community organizing groups for most of her young adult and adult life. Most recently in the last 3 years, she has worked with young people in multiple settings throughout Seattle including the Renton Native American Education Program teaching young people about herbs and Native plants. Additionally, Talia has actively worked alongside other BIPOC organizer's to support mutual aid and food sovereignty efforts in King County.
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Board

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Demarus Tevuk | Board Member

Demarus is a researcher, writer, and educator with a strong background in traditional ecological knowledge, native pollinators, native plants, science, and engineering. Demarus is an Inupiaq from Nome, Alaska and her childhood with indigenous communities across North America greatly influenced her research on the definition of sustainability from the indigenous perspective. Demarus earned her degree in Environmental Studies from the University of Washington and she has a certificate in Permaculture Design. She produced case studies on climate change projects led by tribes that were funded by EPA Region 10 grants. Demarus loves to pick berries and gather traditional food and she is an avid fiber artist and loves to sew, spin yarn, weave, knit, and design knitwear.

Mari Shibuya | Co- Chair

Mari is an artist, muralist, facilitator, and visual thinker passionate about the power of creativity to seed a fertile space for transformation. Coming from a background in psychology and philosophy, Mari fuses their passion for mental wellness with their deep belief in creative self expression as an avenue for individuals to gain authorship in their lives and in their communities by cultivating self confidence and leadership through self expression. Mari’s work as an artist focuses on community building through public artwork and visually exploring the regenerative and healing power of creativity. In their work as a visual thinker, Mari creates illustrations and graphic recordings for organizations committed to social justice and environmental work such as ZERO Energy Oregon, Zero Youth Detention King County and the University of Washington Ocean Nexus Center that depict the content of trainings and the mission, vision and values of the organization. Mari has the honor of leading creative empowerment work for organizations such as Partners for Youth Empowerment (PYE), Young Women Empowered (Y-WE), Urban Artworks, Gage Academy and The Art of Resistance and Resilience Club at Franklin High School.

​Tony Johnson | Co-Chair

Tony, born in California and raised in rural Michigan, identifies as Afro-indigenous and Swedish. They carry on in the family tradition healing and service to the community, beginning in the food industry in their teens. Since graduating with a BS in Geology and an environmental concentration from WWU in 2013, he has been working and learning in the non-profit field for 7 years, spending half of that time in Guatemala tutoring and volunteer coordinating for the educational non-profit, Safe Passage, before moving to Detroit where he worked as secretary to the board and managed, Buckets of Rain, an urban ag non-profit. Working to lean on and evolve this accumulated knowledge and experience, while also learning herbalist practices and beginning an art practice, Tony is dedicated to reimagining, creating, and cultivating systems of relating to self, others, and the land which tend to the needs of all beings involved.

Michaela Vendiola| Board member
Michaela is the Tribal and Community Liason of the North Sound ACH and is an enrolled tribal member of the Walker River Paiute Tribe and a direct descendant of the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community. She was born in Bellingham and raised on the Lummi Indian Reservation.  She also served as the Community Health Representative for the Home Visit Program at the Lummi Tribal Health Center while attending and graduating from Western Washington University.

Christine Tran| Board Member
Christine Tran is the Executive Director of the Los Angeles Food Policy Council. The Los Angeles Food Policy Council serves as the backbone organization for a network of over 400 organizations and agencies working for healthy, sustainable, and fair food.