Who we are
Farm Discovery at Live Earth is a nonprofit organization working in the Pajaro Valley community to empower youth and families to build and sustain healthy food, farming, social and natural systems.
Our home, Live Earth Farm, is a 150 acre patchwork of working organic farm, riparian corridor, oak and redwood forest in the Pajaro Valley of Santa Cruz County, California.
What we care about
We believe that we can transform personal and community health and improve our impact on earth by building and sustaining collaborative agricultural, ecological and social systems. We believe that communities equipped with knowledge and the skills of inquiry can transform food, farming and natural systems for the better.
What we do
* Farm Discovery offers educational programs that inspire youth and families to transform their relationship to food, farming and nature.
* We steward our working farm and its wild spaces as an environmentally and economically viable piece of the food system and a learning space.
* We grow and deliver nutritious, organic food with students for community members most in need – seniors, veterans, foster youth, farmworkers and more
* We steward our working farm and its wild spaces as an environmentally and economically viable piece of the food system and a learning space.
* We grow and deliver nutritious, organic food with students for community members most in need – seniors, veterans, foster youth, farmworkers and more
* We collaborate with community partners to learn from each other and extend our collective impact in the community.
Staff
In 2007 Jessica earned her M.S. in Environment and Natural Resources from the Rubenstein School at the University of Vermont. Her Master’s Thesis consisted of Participatory Action Research in an agricultural community in Northern Vermont. She developed, implemented and evaluated a Sustainability Curriculum and School Garden with the 6th graders of Jeffersonville Elementary School. Jessica helped Thomas and Constance Broz to found the Live Earth Farm Discovery Program in 2008.
Stephanie brings a decade of experience working in public schools and nonprofits as an educator and leader. She is excited to continue the work of inspiring the next generation to know their food. Stephanie believes that knowledge and access to fresh food can change the lives of students and their families. When not working Stephanie can be found gardening, propagating plants, reading cookbooks, and making jam.
Breigha is an experienced fundraiser in the nonprofit sector with an emphasis on securing funding for complex humanitarian projects, both domestically and internationally. With a degree in Intercultural Studies from Biola University, she’s passionate about environmental advocacy, community development, and storytelling for social change. Her enthusiasm for the outdoors ranges from growing vegetables in her backyard to foraging for mushrooms, weekend rock climbing trips and backpacking adventures in the mountains.
Growing up in California’s Central Valley, Itzel has understood the importance of healthy connections between communities and food systems. She has grown up gardening corn, onions, and more with her grandparents. Itzel recently graduated from UCLA with a degree in Linguistics and Anthropology. She enjoys reading, painting with watercolor and hanging out with her pet dog, Nova.
Maya grew up on a rural island, working in various farm settings where she developed a deep connection to nature and community. She graduated from UC Santa Cruz with a degree in Linguistics, specializing in International Development and Latin American Studies. After graduation, Maya worked on community initiatives across El Salvador and Brazil, strengthening her commitment to spreading sustainable practices and creating positive social impacts. Maya is happiest in the ocean, the mountains, or in the backyard with a good book.
Ben was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area and was interested in science and biology but also took on opportunities to stay and work on farms. After finishing his degree in MCD Biology from UCSC, Ben started working at the Alan Chadwick Garden and was trained in the small scale market gardening tradition. He grew to become passionate about the work of farming; growing healthy soil and nutritious plants. Ben enjoys biking, cooking, reading and yoga.
Ash is a recent graduate of Environmental Studies at UCSC. Her passion for agriculture and soil health began in her hometown of San Juan Capistrano, where she volunteered at the Ecology Center. She later interned and worked as an organic farmer at the Center for Agroecology, where she aided in sustaining the Basic Needs Program at UCSC. She thrives surrounded by soil and the power it holds.
Growing up in a food desert in Los Angeles County, Lily grew up disconnected from the food system. They fell in love with farming while interning at their campus farm at UCSC. After graduating, Lily traveled and worked at various farms and food projects, including the National Young Farmers Coalition as a Land Fellow. Outside of her time with Farm Discovery, Lily works with early elementary school students to foster childhood connections with nature.
My name is Jesse Galiste. I am a third year student at California State Monterey Bay majoring in humanities and communications. I love to play the piano and the guitar!
My name is Mackenzie and I am a College Corps Fellow at CSUMB. At school, I am studying Marine Science and Chemistry. In my free time, I like to try new coffee shops and explore the outdoors.
Board of Directors
Tom founded Live Earth Farm in 1995 on 20 acres, and has been with Farm Discovery since its inception.
Luz was born and raised in Watsonville. As the daughter of Immigrants, the Pajaro Valley is very special to Luz because her parents both worked in agriculture. Her father migrated to California as part of the Bracero Program in the 60’s to work in Watsonville’s apple orchards and in later years, her mother joined him and worked in Watsonville’s growing strawberry industry.
Luz joined Farm Discovery as a board member after years of volunteer work with Live Earth Farm.
Luz works at a local non-profit focused on transforming people’s lives through entrepreneurship by promoting equal access to economic opportunity. Luz has always been passionate about helping and giving back to her community.
As a silicon valley product leader for 30 years and now certified plant based personal chef Matt appreciates the challenges we all face balancing busy lives and consistently providing nourishing meals for our families. Matt was inspired to join the Discovery Farm board and its mission believing that early education is a key ingredient to building lifelong sustainable healthy eating habits.
Natasha was born and raised in Wyoming where she spent many summers working on her father’s ranch. This instilled in her a love for the outdoors, and also gave her a profound appreciation of the effort and skill needed to cultivate farmland. Being a LEF CSA member for years, Natasha was inspired to join the Farm Discovery Board to help members in her local community have the opportunity to be hands-on in a farm environment. Her professional career has been focused on technical program management.
Joshua Rodriguez is a registered dietitian and diabetes educator. He currently works as a clinician for Community Hospital of Monterey (CHOMP). He received his MBA from Dominican University (Chicago, IL) and his B.S. in nutritional science from San Jose State University (San Jose, CA). Joshua was raised in Watsonville, CA and has a strong passion for community nutrition and education.
Vinod Galani is a Bay Area executive with over 25 years of Global Business, Strategy and Technology experience, with a strong focus on driving value through Digital Transformation. Vinod is currently an executive at J.P. Morgan, leading the Digital Product Operations and Strategy portfolio. Prior to his current role, Vinod led international portfolios for General Electric and Accenture. Vinod has a bachelor’s degree in Finance and a MBA in international business from Pepperdine.
Vinod is passionate about driving change within any community by leveraging his expertise and strong local and international network. He is a foodie and a big advocate of farm to table meals. Vinod lives with his wife and 2 kids in Pleasanton CA. Outside of work Vinod loves to hike local trails, play tennis and listen to his large collection of vinyl records.