Drew Blankenbaker

Treasurer

Senior Relationship Manager at Iroquois Valley Farmland REIT

Drew Blankenbaker is the Senior Relationship Manager at Iroquois Valley, an organic farmland finance company that works with impact-driven investors to provide capital to organic and regenerative farmers across America through long-term leases, flexible mortgages, and post-investment support. With two decades in agriculture and rural development, he has run a diversified farm and led efforts to restore farmland access and strengthen regional food systems.  He is most passionate about inspiring and developing the audacious farmers and food system leaders of tomorrow. Drew received his Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Idaho and a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana. When not touring the partner farms of Iroquois Valley, Drew can be found skiing, running backcountry trails, or paddling the rivers and lakes of western Montana with his family.

Steve Crider

Principal & Consultant at Stone Soup Advisors LLC

Steve Crider has spent his professional working life in the organic food and agriculture movement. Steve is deeply committed to collaborating with others to create a more sustainable and just food system. For years, Steve was the Farm to School lead at Viva Farms. Prior to his time at Viva, his work includes time with Amy’s Kitchen, Cascadian Farm and CF Fresh (Viva Tierra). He served on the Board of Directors of Oregon Tilth for four years, stepping down in June 2018. Steve set off for Japan in 1983 to meet Masanobu Fukuoka, author of One Straw Revolution and eventually spent nine years there where he helped found the organic food import company, Taneyama ga Hara, Ltd. On the local front here in Skagit County, Steve has volunteered with the Burlington-Edison School system, and served on the Boards of Directors for Neighbors in Need Foodbank, META Performing Arts and Burlington Little School. Steve was the 2012 recipient of the annual “The Flash of Silver” Award for local food security endeavors.

Lisa Engebretson

Ex-Vigneronne

Lisa Engebretson brings a rich blend of agricultural expertise, business acumen, and community spirit to the Viva Farms Board of Directors. After studying economics at the University of California, Lisa built a diverse career spanning two decades across agriculture and retail management. Lisa spent ten years as the owner and operator of a vineyard and winery in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, where she practiced sustainable farming and her pinot noir earned a silver medal at the Oregon State Fair. Her hands-on experience as a farmer and small business owner gives her a deep appreciation for the challenges facing beginning agricultural entrepreneurs. Prior to farming, Lisa spent ten years in retail management with West Marine Products, contributing to the company as it grew nationally – all while pursuing a passion for competitive sailing on the West Coast and in Europe. Lisa first put down roots in the Skagit Valley in 2005, when she and her husband – who grew organic berries for Sakuma Brothers – moved to the area to raise their family. Volunteering in the Burlington-Edison School District teaching Lego robotics and programming to elementary students deepened her commitment to investing in the local community. Lisa enjoys a sincere desire to give
back and a deep commitment to providing opportunities for underserved individuals to become farm owners.

Noa Kay

President

Owner – Operator of Songbird Haven Farm

Noa moved to the Pacific Northwest in 2009 to pursue a Masters in Public Health. She has worked on a wide range of public health and public policy issues in her roles at nonprofits, local government, and state agencies. Eager to work more directly at the intersection of environmental and human health, Noa took the Viva Farms Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture and started Songbird Haven Farm in 2019. Since starting to farm, Noa has drawn on her background in education and public health to run her own business and advocate for policies that support sustainable farmers. She built partnerships throughout the state as the campaign manager for the Washington Sustainable Farms and Fields legislation which passed in 2020. 

Kenny Lee

Co-Founder at Aigen

Kenny Lee is an alumni of the Viva Farms King County Practicum in Sustainable Agriculture where he fell in love with farming and the agriculture industry. Kenny is the co-founder and CEO of Aigen, an agtech startup with the mission to Regenerate Earth with robotics and AI by breaking chemical dependency in agriculture. He has a wonderful family with two kids and is married to his childhood sweetheart. With an MBA from MIT in sustainability and data analytics, he is pioneering AI-driven tools that empower farmers to enhance productivity and sustainability.

Griffin Lehman

Co-owner & operator of Dear Table Farm

Griffin grew up in the country side of Connecticut. Some of his earliest memories are pulling fresh vegetables from the garden, and running them to the kitchen to be cooked up and enjoyed right then and there. After graduating college, Griffin spent years searching for a career. He tried working for large corporations, teaching English in Korea, and growing a tech start-up. Finally he followed his passions and found his way back to the garden. He joined the practicum at Viva Skagit in 2021 and started his own farm, Dear Table Farm, with his fiancé less than a year later. When not farming, he can be found cooking, playing music, or throwing the frisbee for his dog.

Jeff Levine

Project Manager at Dalberg

Jeff Levine is a strategy consultant focused on global development. He works on a range of issues including strategic planning, agriculture, and climate finance. Recent examples of his work include developing a climate adaptation and resilience strategy with the ClimateWorks Foundation and advising the Nature Conservancy on scaling financing for regenerative food systems. Prior to Dalberg, Jeff served as an investment officer at an impact investing fund in East Africa. He holds a BA In International Relations and Environmental Studies from the University of Southern California. Jeff grew up in Mount Vernon and is excited to return home to support Viva in its mission to scale sustainable, strong, and just food systems – in the valley and beyond. He currently lives in Seattle with his wife.

Alexander Pate

Secretary

Director of Outreach & Partnerships at Foodshed Capital; Agricultural Finance Consultant at NY FarmNet

Alex Pate is the Director of Outreach & Partnerships for Foodshed Capital (FoodCap) and an Agricultural Financial Consultant with Cornell University’s NY FarmNet. Focusing on increasing business viability for historically underserved farmers, he leads the organization’s outreach efforts to small farms and mission aligned organization. He brings experience in diversified vegetable and fruit production, aquaculture management, permaculture design, mutual aid food distribution, coalition building, and educational programming. Alex holds an M.S. in Crop Sciences from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and B.A. in English and History Education from DePaul University.

Rebecca Peck

Rebecca is a retired social systems worker who has lived in Skagit since her teens. She wants to help build equality and justice for all in our valley.

Mauricio Soto

Arado Farm Owner – Operator

Mauricio has been farming his whole life, beginning in his home of Nayarit, Mexico. Since coming to the U.S., he has worked as a farm-worker, crew boss, and farm manager in California and in the Skagit Valley. He is considered a pruning expert around the valley. Mauricio was also Farm Manager at Viva Farms for several years before deciding to go full-time on his farm, Arado Farms with his wife, Senaida, which is located in the Viva Farms incubator. They specialize in raspberries and strawberries.  

Richard Yarmuth

Richard Yarmuth recently retired after practicing law for 50 years. He had a diverse practice – trying scores of business related cases, including for antitrust plaintiffs (representing hundreds of mint farmers in Washington and Oregon suing the toothpaste and chewing gum companies that were the principal buyers of their products); negotiating utility contracts on behalf of local cities and counties, including the City of Seattle’s first in the nation design-build-operate water filtration plants (for the Tolt and Cedar rivers); litigating cases promoting Seattle professional sports teams (successfully suing to prevent the Mariners from moving to San Diego and unsuccessfully suing to prevent the Sonics from moving to Oklahoma City); and ​working for two years as an attorney for the Navajo Nation in Arizona. He and his wife spent a year with their family studying food and cooking in Rome, and operated a goat farm in Darrington for 12 years, raising goats and making goat cheese. Along the way, Richard served on several nonprofit boards in Seattle, including the Pike Place Market PDA, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Capitol Hill Housing (CHIPP, currently Community Roots Housing) and City Year, an AmeriCorps youth services program. He currently lives with his wife in Bow, in the Skagit Valley.