Board of Directors
PJ Bergin, Chair
PJ developed and ran two successful businesses geared to serving design and architectural professionals nationally for 28 years. After selling those, she became a full time visual artist in Chaffee County creating artwork for health care facilities and private residences. Out of concerns for the slow decrease in farm land and access to local food, PJ started SOIL Sangre de Cristo in March 2020. She now balances her artist career and the growing non-profit with overwhelming support from the community.
Brian Aitken, Treasurer
Brian is a partner with Badger Creek Ranch, another member of SOIL Sangre de Cristo. For over two decades, Brian worked as a country director for the International Monetary Fund, based in Washington DC. He eventually wanted to live out west and become involved in land conservation. Between Brian’s years of working for the IMF and his current involvement in local ranching, Brian makes a most welcome fit to be on the board of directors as treasurer.
Patrick Collette, Secretary, Farmer Member
Patrick has roots in the local food chain working with Triangle Oasis and Rocky Mountain Garlic. He is also the assistant manager of the Salida Farmers Market, working with Foodshed Alliance. Patrick is a valuable voice on the board representing views of the food producers in both the growing and marketing aspects of their businesses.
Lindi Lewis
Lindi has had a life-long commitment to making healthy organic foods available to all and a deep joy in working with the earth. Many organic gardens and greenhouses later, she is working with Max at the Triangle Oasis farm and Food Shed Alliance Farmers Market. The local community’s support for organic and sustainable agriculture is a value she shares with SOIL and is a motivating principle to helping more people be able to invest in our food and earth.
Tiffany Collette, Advisor to the Board of Directors
Tiffany is the owner of Rocky Mountain Garlic with her husband, Mike Colette. Following the organic and biodynamic processes, “RMG” brings over fifteen varieties of the unique crop of high desert garlic to market every year. They have also expanded into other fresh veggies with the newly built greenhouse seen from Hwy 291 as you travel west out of Salida.
Caitlynn Fortner
Caitlynn benefits from local food producers in BV and surrounding areas and loves to use local products in her cooking and food preservation projects. She's been passionate about agriculture since high school where she interned in rice improvement research and started the Culver Hunger Fighters, a nonprofit focused on providing meals to children. She later worked for the USDA Agricultural Research Service Citrus Germplasm Repository researching new plant diseases. Although she now works in the software industry, she's always looking for ways to support farmers so folks in this region can eat more delicious, sustainable food.
