

Meet the Team


Fatuma Emmad
Co-Founder, Executive Director, Farm Director
Fatuma Emmad is the CO-Founder, Executive Director and Head Farmer of FrontLine Farming. She serves as President of Mile High Farmers and is a Co Convener for Project Protect Food Systems Workers. She is a lecturer in the Masters for Environmental Studies Program at CU Boulder. Before becoming a farmer, Fatuma was a political scientist who engaged in issues affecting farming communities such as the push for genetically modified seeds across Southern and Eastern Africa.

Saleema Robinson
Majestic View Farm Manager
Saleema received her Masters in Conservation Ecology with a focus on agroecology and social justice from University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability in 2018. She has been urban farming for 6 years in the Midwest and Southwest in the form of apprenticeships, running her own business, and co-founding a women of color farming collective. She comes to the field of agriculture with diverse experiences in ecological research, education, and social justice all of which informs her land and people ethics. Her passion for growing plants, her love of agroecology, and her drive to feed her community motivates her to continue to develop as a farmer and land steward.

Alexis Albanez
Farmer
Alexis has been with FrontLine Farmign since 2021 helping in various ways such as tending crops, implementing IPM, expanding our mushroom growing, and providing our CSA and markets with top notch customer service. She is such a valued part of the heart-centered work we do at FrontLine, always working to grow food and relationships within our community. Alexis is an indoor and outdoor farmer with additional experience with parks and recreation.

Mark Ludke
Database Administrator
Bio coming soon

Dr. Damien Thompson
Co-Founder, Director
Damien Thompson, PhD the Co-Founder and Director of the Center for Food Justice and Health Communities. He also is the Sustainable Food Systems Specialization Lead for CU Boulder’s Masters of the Environment Program. In addition to his training in anthropology, Dr. Thompson also holds a certification in Permaculture Design, an Advanced Permaculture Design certification and a 200-hour Yoga Alliance Teaching Certification.

Kassandra Neiss
Data Activist, Systems Manager
Kassandra Neiss, or Kasey, is the Data Activist and Systems Manager. Kasey holds an MA in cultural anthropology from the University of Denver and a BA from Hampshire College in US ethnic studies and oral history. They also own their own research consulting company and has taught anthropology at Community College of Aurora, Colorado. Kasey has decades of experience in food access and racial justice initiatives.

Monticue Connally
Lead Herbaist, Youth Program Coordinator
Monticue Connally is a Community Herbalist and Medicine Man in Colorado who resonates with the sounds of African Drums, Rhythmic Chanting and the ways of Afro-Caribbean Folklore. Herbal Men’s Health, Herbalism Basics and Blessing with Herbs are just a few of the classes and workshops that Monticue offers at Frontline Farming and through his Patreon Account. He’s taught classes and herb walks at Ruby Hill Tiny Farm, Montbello Walks, Woodbine Ecology Center and for the Denver Botanic Gardens Herbal Certification Program. He’s a drummer for the annual Kwanzaa celebrations where he is often asked to speak to the children or rap songs to them about the many wonders of plant medicines and earth based spirituality.

Alicia Bolivar
Bookkeeper
Bio coming soon

JaSon Auguste
Founding Member, Celebration Community Farm Manager
JaSon, a founding member of FrontLine Farming, has served as Vice-President for the Mile High Farmers as well as the BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color) Policy representative on the National Policy Committee for the National Young Farmers Coalition. In addition to farming, he is an artist who has focused on visual and graphic arts for the majority of his professional career.

Jessica Caouette
Business Operations Manager
Jessica Caouette is the Business Operations Manager. Jessica finished her BSBA with DU's Hospitality Management program in 2010 and back in Denver in mid 2011, she started The Denver Bicycle Cafe with an old friend and owned and managed it for 8 years until November 2019. Her skills in budget management, bookkeeping and business systems come in handy as FrontLine grows with its community.

Chole Shane
Assistant Farm Manager
Bio coming soon

Patricia Halleslevens
SNAP Outreach Coordinator
Bio coming soon

Alicia Nescio
Events and Communications Manager
Alicia is originally from Philadelphia, and a big fan of food. She’s Afro-Latina, with a Puerto-Rican father and an African American mother. Her family has a strong tradition of cooking, and she learned a lot about her heritage through the dishes they prepared. Alicia attended culinary school in Philadelphia. In Colorado she have worked at the Four Seasons, the Marriott, and as the Executive Pastry Chef at Somebody People. After nearly a decade in the restaurant industry, she realized that her passion had shifted more toward event planning than cooking. At Frontline she is fully immersed in event planning, working on Farm to Table experiences, Corn Harvest events, and communications and advertising for our nonprofit.