Our Staff
Executive Director
Alisha is a fourth-generation Coloradan, born right here in Grand Junction at St. Mary’s Hospital. She has lived all over the state, but spent summers and holidays growing up in the Grand Valley. After graduating from Colorado State University with a B.A. in English, Alisha served in the United States Peace Corps as a Food Security volunteer. She spent nearly three years living off-grid in a small farming village in Togo, West Africa, where she found her passion for community development and the power of food.
After completing her service, Alisha decided to come home to work on improving food systems in Colorado. She has been working for the past 10 years in the nonprofit and local government sectors, most recently as a Senior Resource Development Specialist at the City of Lakewood. Her husband Tim is a travel journalist and copywriter; they relocated to Palisade in the summer of 2019 with their terrier rescue pup Russell, and have recently welcomed a baby girl, Olivia. In her free time Alisha enjoys practicing yoga, hiking peaks, cycling, gardening, cooking nutritious foods, and international travel.
Program Operations Director
Chelsea has been a resident of Grand Junction since the summer of 2019. She grew up in a large family in southwestern Virginia where her family cared for chickens, ducks, goats, and horses and grew a large garden. After high school Chelsea attended Otterbein University where she earned bachelor's degrees in music and English. She moved to the valley after completing her masters degree in sociolinguistics at CU Boulder. While in Boulder Chelsea volunteered regularly at the Harvest of Hope food pantry, eventually serving as interim inventory manager there before moving to Grand Junction.
After volunteering for several months at the Community Food Bank, Chelsea was hired on as Program Assistant to help coordinate the new food box delivery program and to expand the food bank’s outreach efforts, and quickly proved herself to be a food bank rockstar! She is very excited to be working with such a wonderful community of coworkers and volunteers. When she isn’t at the food bank, Chelsea is very involved at her church, the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Grand valley, or is at home with her cat Pablo and her partner Ethan.
Volunteer Operations Manager
Katelynn is a new resident to the Grand Valley, moving to Grand Junction in August 2021 from New Paltz, NY. Katelynn graduated from SUNY Brockport in 2020 with a B.S. in Political Science. During her college years she went on various service trips around the country and completed an AmeriCorps VISTA summer program which really solidified her love for service and connecting others with service opportunities. Following college Katelynn served as a Team Leader for AmeriCorps NCCC where she participated in fire recovery work in Paradise, CA, served with FIND Food Bank in Indio, CA, and worked at an outdoor education camp in Kellogg, ID. Katelynn loves hiking, climbing, skiing, watching soccer, and reading on the weekends. She is excited to get to work and learn with such a dedicated group of volunteers and staff.
Warehouse Supervisor
As a trained computer specialist and retired structural firefighter of 20 years with the City of Aurora, Michelle originally came to CFB as a volunteer. As a long-time public servant, she gained an immeasurable understanding of interacting with the public, teamwork, troubleshooting, integrity, and leading. Her varied background, skills, and dedication to community service through consistent dedication to volunteering makes her a perfect fit for joining the Community Food Bank family. She looks forward to the impact she will be able to have on her community through this work and the growth she will experience in a new chapter. Michelle moved to the Western Slope, like many of us, for the incredible outdoors access — she loves to hike and enjoy the outdoors on her ofttimes.
Carly hails from Joplin, Missouri and found her way to the Grand Valley in June of 2021. Growing up, Carly spent much of her time participating in programs with the Girl Scouts, the Boys and Girls Club, and People to People Student Ambassadors. These formative experiences fostered a desire to serve her community and the environment, as well as a hunger to engage with others. At Oklahoma State University, Carly studied Spanish Language and Culture. Her passion for language took her as far as Salamanca, Spain, before returning to the States to complete her education and start her career.
After college, Carly spent more than a decade working in Hospitality. Her time in restaurants expanded her understanding of her community, and especially highlighted for her the great disparity that exists in living in a rich society with so much food waste and need. Upon moving with her family to Fruita, Carly sought avenues for positive change and service outside of the restaurant industry. She is thrilled to be a part of the Food Bank team, to exercise her passion for language and public engagement, and to contribute towards the good work that lifts people up. Carly is an avid reader and cook, loves doting on her dog Lucy Lue, and especially enjoys hiking, camping, and kayaking with her husband, Eli.
Outreach & Impact Specialist (Habla español)
Jesus Loera joined our team in December of 2021. He was born in Cuauhtemoc, Chihuahua, Mexico, but has grown up in Eagle County the majority of his life. He recently moved up to Grand Junction with his fiance to finish his education; he will be graduating this fall with my BS of Kinesiology in Exercise Science and hopes to start the Master’s of Occupational Therapy program at CMU in early 2023. Jesus is really excited to be a part of this great team and to assist this amazing community with everything he has learned about proper nutrition and working with different types of people!
Newest Team Members!
Shanna Perez, Operations Assistant Intern (Habla española)
Rene’ Fox, Front Desk Receptionist
Our Board of Directors
Cole Sjoholm, President
Kara Rachal - Vice President
Marcel Mavangulu, Treasurer
Annie Rucker, Secretary
Shaheen Sheikh, Director
Peter Kunisch, Director
Monique Serra, Director
Newly Appointed Board of Directors Members:
Wayne Smith, Director
Karla Klemm, Director
Adrienne Kaga, Director
Allyson Kenagy, Director