Kladé Hare Nersasian

CHEIF LOAN OFFICER,

ROCHDALE CAPITAL

Kladé serves as Rochdale Capital's Chief Loan Officer and is responsible for sourcing loan transactions that align with the mission of the organization, to support co-op and community development in under-resourced areas nationwide.  Ms. Hare has over 13 years of experience working with community development and non-profit organizations.  Prior to joining Rochdale Capital, Ms. Hare was the Director of Lending at the National Housing Trust where she oversaw new business development, loan underwriting, and product development.

Patty Viafara

DIRECTOR OF WORKER OWNER INITIATIVE,

NEXUS COMMUNITY PARTNERS

Patty joined Nexus to lead the Worker Owner Initiative (WOI), which is part of Nexus’ Community Wealth Building Strategy. She helps companies assess employee ownership as a model for stronger businesses and create employee and community wealth. The vision is to raise awareness of these models so that business ownership, quality jobs, and community self-determination are accessible to all of us. Patty been working with small businesses and nonprofits for over 14 years in a variety of roles, primarily focused on the people side of operational change. She has worked with over 30 companies at various stages in their journey to employee-ownership. She truly takes pride and joy in helping groups envision and implement their future. Patty was born in Colombia to biracial parents and counts over 40 first cousins. She draws from personal experience growing up in Miami, Florida where 54% of the population is foreign born, and has learned that she can find common ground with just about anyone. In her free time, she enjoys paddleboarding, hiking, hand-building pottery, singing, dancing and spending time with her family and dog Stella.

Zoe Hollomon

CO-FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR,

MIDWEST FARMERS OF COLOR COLLECTIVE (MFCC)

Friendly Vang

FOUNDER, FRIENDLY HMONG FARMS

Friendly co-founded and operates Friendly Hmong Farms and the PNW BIPOC Farmland Trust, leveraging her 20+ years of experience in community organizing, advocacy, and public policy. Her work to advance food sovereignty, land reparations, and racial justice is informed and shaped by a childhood growing up in the Frogtown neighborhood; farming in the summers, and at the markets with her mom and grandmothers. She holds a master’s degree in public policy from the University of MN-Humphrey Institute. She and her partner of 29 years parent four kiddos in Hopkins, MN. 

Aaron Blyth

AGRICULTURAL PROGRAM DIRECTOR, LATINO ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CENTER (LEDC)

Aaron helps direct LEDC’s Agricultural Program working to secure grants, managing the program budget, and coordinating LEDC’s Agricultural training activities including; business technical assistance to farmers, loan application assistance, marketing assistance, and in-field technical assistance. Aaron also helps to build key partnerships with other farming and government organizations involved in creating pathways for success to Minnesota’s Latino agricultural entrepreneurs. Aaron started working in Organic vegetable production in 2001. He is a graduate of the University of Santa Cruz’s Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems’ Apprenticeship program in Ecological Horticulture. Aaron spent over 8 years working and managing Organic vegetable farms in Oregon and Minnesota. He spent 6 years as the farm manager of Big River Farms, an Organic vegetable training farm that works with emerging and immigrant farmers. Most recently, he spent 5 years as the Director of Shared Ground Farmers’ Cooperative, a majority-owned Latino marketing cooperative in St. Paul, MN. As a white employee of a Latino organization, Aaron is inspired to do this work for two reasons. First, he is consistently in awe of the vision, dedication, and wisdom Latino agricultural entrepreneurs bring to rural Minnesota. Secondly, Aaron wants to see a thriving Minnesota agricultural economy and believes deeply that the future of a healthy rural Minnesota depends on the energy and passion of the growing Latino community that has made rural Minnesota it’s home.

Angela Dawson

FOUNDER & CEO, MINNESOTA BLACK FARMERS ASSOCIATION AND 4O ACRE CO-OP

Angela Dawson is a fourth-generation Midwest farmer who has several degrees and certificates in business management. She has a passion for equity, education, agriculture, and public health and over twenty years of cooperative business development, public health advocacy, and fundraising experience. She has been a cooperative business developer focusing on food security in urban markets for over ten years, including serving as the director for the Northside Food Project, which included developing a neighborhood farmer’s market and providing nutrition education and cooking demonstrations. Before founding the co-op, becoming a full-time farmer, and providing technical assistance and training to other farmers, Angela was a public health researcher, academic writer, and law student.