TRANSCRIPT
Episode 22: The future of agriculture with Kate Greenberg

This is a transcript of the Spur of the Moment episode “The future of agriculture with Kate Greenberg.” It is provided as a courtesy and may contain errors.

Kate Greenberg: So I think there are a lot of places where we all do share a lot of the same values. It’s going to be a question of how our decision making, our policies, our negotiations and our programs align to actually allow a future where agriculture remains a driver of Colorado’s economy, even with less water. 

Jocelyn Hittle: Hello and welcome to CSU Spur of the Moment, the podcast of Colorado State University’s Spur campus in Denver, Colorado. 

Kate Greenberg: We’ve got scientists, we’ve got researchers, we have writers, filmmakers. There’s so many ways to see yourself being a part of agriculture. 

Jocelyn Hittle: On this podcast, we talk with experts in food, water, health and sustainability and learn about their current work and their career journeys. I’m joined today by Kate Greenberg, the Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture. Commissioner Greenberg was appointed by the Colorado Governor in 2018, and as commissioner, Greenberg provides leadership and direction to the Colorado Department of Agriculture, which serves producers operating more than 38,700 farms and ranches in the state. She has worked in and advocated for agriculture for more than 14 years. Welcome, Commissioner Greenberg. 

Kate Greenberg: Thanks so much for having me. 

Jocelyn Hittle: Happy to have you today. So let’s start and talk a little bit about what it means to be the Commissioner of Agriculture for the state of Colorado. What is that job actually entail? 

Kate Greenberg: Well, structurally speaking, the job is part of the governor’s cabinet. So I am part of a team of about 20 or so individuals that run all the state agencies in the state, and we were all appointed by the governor to be in these roles. We work together every day to make sure we are running state government and that we’re serving the people of Colorado. So that’s where the big picture. But on the day-to-day, the job can look very different. As you mentioned, I oversee our Department of Agriculture. We have over 300 employees across the state, eight programmatic divisions that are serving the people of Colorado and the animals of Colorado. We can talk more about that. 

But then in addition, I work with the governor’s office on policy and legislative issues that are going on. During the legislative session. We are very present at the Capitol working on bills. I oversee the budget, which influences the work that we get to do. We have our wildly important goals, which the governor has asked all of our agencies in the state to think beyond our day-to-day work and how we actually influence the future of, in this case, agriculture. So advancing that work. And then a big part of my job from the way I see it, is being out in the field with our ag producers, hearing what’s going on in the ground and making sure our work reflects the realities that they’re facing. 

Jocelyn Hittle: Great. Maybe we can start with that last one. What does it mean to be out in the field? What does that look like? 

Kate Greenberg: Well, I used to be a farmer, and then after that I was organizing farmers to shape federal policy, especially for young and beginning farmers and ranchers. So I’ve done this my whole life and by being in the field, what it looks like for me is making a contact or calling somebody I know or somebody I don’t know whose name I’ve gotten and asking, “Hey, I hear you got something interesting going on, or You got a big challenge, would you be open to me coming out there and learning what you do?” And usually the answer is yes. Usually they get to me before I get to them and invite me out to say, “Hey, we’d love to show you what we’re doing on our farmer ranch.” So then I’ll go out there either by myself or with a team or we’ll try and bring other folks, like legislators who maybe don’t get a chance to be out in the field to go see what’s going on. 

And it might be a couple hours, it might be a couple days depending on the visit, and it’s everywhere. We’ve been all over the state, Northeast, Colorado, Southwest, my home basin down in Durango we visited, had a really wonderful visit and welcome by Chairman Hart with the Ute Mountain Ute tribe. I was just in Rifle last night, so we’re all over. And this time of year, it’s a lot of conferences, a lot of indoor events, but calving season is starting, growing season. Planting will start here in a little bit as well. So different times of year, different types of trips, but it’s all about connecting with people in the place where they live and work and understanding what their lives are like in the places they live and work. 

Jocelyn Hittle: Wonderful. And I’d like to come back to some of the examples of what it is that’s happening around the state that you would like to share, but let’s continue to work backward from some of the things that you mentioned about your role. So those wildly important goals that you mentioned that are about shaping the future, can you say more about what are those for the Department of Ag and how are they playing out? 

Kate Greenberg: Yeah. For the Department of Ag, I mean the bread and butter of our work is exciting in and of itself. I mean, we do so much more than I ever knew before coming here. Every single scale in the state, we tear. So we make sure that customers at the checkout, at the grocery store are getting what they’re paying for. That’s not something you usually consider with the Department of Ag, so we’re going to keep doing that forever because that’s part of supporting a healthy functioning society. Beyond that, though, we don’t know there are big challenges we face in ag. So we have four big WIGs, as we call them, big goals, big vision for how we can help as an agency, make the future of agriculture in Colorado more resilient, more equitable, filled with more opportunity for farmers and ranchers and folks in ag. 

So we’re focused on economic resilience, building especially diverse market opportunities for Colorado ag, voluntary stewardship, soil, water, and climate stewardship is the heart of what we are doing, not only showcasing the role that ag can and needs to play in tackling the climate crisis, building drought resilience, but also the opportunities we have in agriculture to meld our stewardship with new market opportunities. Everything we do is for future generations. So next gen support, whether that’s early apprenticeships, paid apprenticeships that we provide all the way through lending and beginning farmer financing, which we just launched a loan program this past year where we have incredibly flexible terms that are meant to reach underserved producers who are looking to get a foot in the door to build their businesses. 

And then lastly, advancing animal health and welfare. We’re responsible for managing any foreign animal disease outbreak in the state, but we also want to get ahead of those. So planning, preparation, working with the ag industry and folks across the state to make sure we’re prepared. And then also supporting the work of local law enforcement, of the livestock community in advancing animal health and welfare. 

Jocelyn Hittle: Great. So you mentioned that they’re WIGs wildly important goals. Do I have that right? So what does that look like for implementation then? How do you break that down? How does your team think about how to get from here to there, given that you’re in this role for some period of time, but not forever? 

Kate Greenberg: Exactly. We are time bound, or at least I am. So every year we go through a planning process and we’re actually just about to get started in that process now where we set out what are our big goals and then how do we break down achievable steps to get there and how do we push ourselves? We want those goals to be stretch goals. So we’re starting to have those conversations with our team, with staff in the various programs that are responsible. One example is our soil health program. When I first started four years ago, I was working on soil health and in my past job with the nationally Young Farmers Coalition and had a team at CDA that was ready to go. 

So we convened a big group of folks, mainly folks who were skeptical of us doing this as a state agency saying, “Hey, I don’t really want the government getting involved in how I farm.” And we said, “Well, we don’t either, so let’s have a conversation about soil health and how you can tell us what you need.” And that launched into the Colorado Collaborative for Healthy Soils, which is its own entity. It’s since merged with CO CEWL, Colorado Working Lands Group. But that coalition was really an advisory group to us, and they were telling us they want the state to be providing support on soil health. And we’ve since done that. 

We built a program in-house, the coalition then past legislation that created the program in statute. We went from $0 in 2019 to 30 million in 2022. That was thanks to Seed Money from the Gates Family Foundation, from NRCS, from a few other entities that had small bits of money. We built the program from there. We couldn’t do it without those partners, but that made us eligible and I think competitive for then receiving a 25 million Climate Smart Commodities grant through USDA. 

Jocelyn Hittle: Well, that’s a great example. And I know soil health is such an important piece of achieving those wildly important goals across the board. Really it’s about the next generation, it’s about resiliency, it’s about economic resilience, really cuts across all of those. So that’s a great example. Let’s keep going backward to some of the other things you mentioned as part of your job working with the legislature and policy setting. Can you say a little bit more about that? 

Kate Greenberg: Absolutely. So every year, just like we do with our wildly important goals, our budget and our legislative package, we put forward through the governor’s office and then eventually to the legislature. So in the fall, November 1st is when the governor presents his budget to the legislature and to the public. And that includes what we’ve put forward as an agency. We then have to move forward in defense of our budget to the joint budget committee, which meets before the legislative session starts. That’s when we have our initial hearing. 

And then as the legislative session continues, the budget, just like policies get negotiated. So we work very hard from January through May to make sure that our goals, we are pushing them through the finish line and working in tandem with our partners in the legislature to achieve those goals. We also work on pieces of legislation that don’t come from the agency, but that might impact us. So we often will give technical testimony or just support lawmakers in understanding how something might be implemented that they want to put into legislation. 

Jocelyn Hittle: So when we talk about a day in the life for you, it could vary dramatically depending on the time of year. It sounds like you could be at the Capitol testifying to the joint budget committee, you could be on a farm in boots having a conversation around a new best practice or a challenge that a farmer rancher is having. 

Kate Greenberg: Absolutely. I mean, a great example is just two days ago on Monday, I was in my city boots in the morning at the Capitol meeting with the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union for their legislative, so about 50 farmers and ranchers in the city going to testify and meet with their legislators, which I used to work with Farmers Union when I was with Young Farmers Coalition on those drive-in days. And they’re so important to having ag voices actually here in Denver at the Capitol. We then went from our lunch with Farmer’s Union to the Capitol to testify on a bill on that Farmer’s Union is helping support. 

And then after that I threw on my country booths, if you will, and got in the car, drove to rifle and met with about 100% ranchers to hear their thoughts on the Wolf Free introduction plan. So that’s the day in the life. And in between all those meetings, a lot of phone calls, a lot of texts, a lot of communication back and forth, maybe getting a newsletter approved and out the door with my comms team, working on federal legislation because I’m going to DC next week and then planning for our next field visit that we have coming up here in a few weeks. 

Jocelyn Hittle: And as you know, one of the things that we’re really focused on at the Spur campus is introducing kids to careers they might not be thinking about, but also helping to explain careers that maybe they’ve heard of but don’t really understand. And I think a job like yours is a great example of something that is focused on agriculture, but really diverse. Every day is different and the skillset that you bring to bearer really varies as well. 

Kate Greenberg: It’s absolutely true, and that’s actually an approach we’re taking in the universe of the next gen work we’re doing. As an example for that, we have a state-of-the-art laboratory in Broomfield. So one of our eight programmatic divisions is our lab. So do our animal health lab, does animal health testing, making sure animals are safe and healthy. We have food safety testing over there. We’ll take samples from events like the Super Bowl and make sure that food is safe as well for these big public events. And then I mentioned our scales. So weights and measures a big deal. You don’t think about it a lot, but it does make society run, make sure consumers are paying for what they’re getting and nothing more. So that lab actually has an outreach program that they created as part of our NextGen initiative. So we offer the opportunity for middle and high school students to come to our lab, get hands-on experience and learn about the science of agriculture. 

We also launched a paid internship program with CDA, and we can connect interns with any part of the department they’re interested in. So part of this is meeting people where they’re at and also showcasing that the work of agriculture is incredibly diverse. You don’t have to just do one thing. You don’t have to have just one skillset. In fact, farmers in the field are absolute generalists. They are marketers, they’re business people. They fix fence, they fix equipment, they take care of animals, they take care of each other. And that’s just one way to see it. We’ve got scientists, we’ve got researchers, we have writers, filmmakers. There’s so many ways to see yourself being a part of agriculture. 

Jocelyn Hittle: Absolutely. And I think there are lots of moments where we are seeing particularly young people who maybe haven’t been as exposed to ag and where their food comes from, really be surprised when they learn something new. So maybe you can tell us a little bit about something that might surprise our listeners about either agriculture in Colorado or about the Department of Ag. 

Kate Greenberg: Well, I think something that if you’re new to agriculture in Colorado, it might surprise you how diverse it is. And that’s something we try and celebrate every day is just the diversity of the people in agriculture of what we produce, of what our landscape and geography looks like. I mean, half of our state is plains. We have some of the most productive counties in the country in Northeast Colorado and certainly in the state. And then we have high country where cattle grays and Peres work on the federal lands up there, Western slope, mountains and river valleys. We have a lot of microclimates, like North Fork Valley for example. We also often talk about Palisade peaches, which we should because they’re amazing. 

North Fork is another fruit growing region, a lot of tree fruit. There you go diagonal across the state down to Rocky Ford and the Lower Arc Valley, of course, more fruit, watermelons we’re famous for them down there. Chile of course, we’re actually growing quinoa in the San Luis Valley. This is a high mountain crop. It’s one reason, another reason the Valley is so unique. It’s a big potato and barley region, but they’re dealing with a lot of water challenges, looking for how to continue ag production with less water. So crops like quinoa, there’s a growing effort to expand in new and diversified crops. 

And then just the people who we have in agriculture, we want to see more diversity, more people seeing themselves as part of our ag community, but we celebrate folks of all backgrounds who are here with us. We also recognize, we have two federally recognized tribes, and I think about 46 other tribes represented in the state, all of whom have history of agriculture in this state. There’s the acequias communities in Southern San Luis Valley who have been managing water on the acequias system in the acequias way for centuries. So celebrating that history, all those people in communities that make Colorado Ag what it is. 

Jocelyn Hittle: Can you describe the acequias system? What does that mean for someone who hasn’t heard of it? 

Kate Greenberg: And I’ll speak of the acequias system as an outsider because I, that’s what I am. So I say this with a lot of humility and respect to the acequias communities, but acequias in my understanding is two meanings. One is the actual infrastructure, the acequias ditch, we would call it a ditch most likely. acequias is an earth and ditch that moves water in order to irrigate farms. So very similar to what we might see anywhere in the state. The other meaning that I understand acequias is really around the self-governance of how to manage water and how communities come together around water. So where the state of Colorado as a whole is under the water law of prior appropriation, first in time, first in right, acequias communities have for hundreds of years managed both in times of scarcity and in times of abundance, a shared a way around how to manage water. 

So you share in times of abundance, you share in times of scarcity. There are a lot of traditions around acequias management, myodomo is essentially the ditch rider, but has a lot of responsibility on the acequias system. There’s the spring cleaning, every spring where the whole community comes out and helps clean the ditch. So there’s a lot of community culture wrapped around how water is stewarded in the acequias communities. A lot of which you could see as parallel to how we do it in the rest of the state, but it is quite unique to acequias is. 

Jocelyn Hittle: Great. Thank you. So while we’re on the topic of water, we can’t talk about agriculture in Colorado without also talking about water. So I know it is on your mind every day, and it’s part of your resiliency goals as well. Can you talk a little bit about what is keeping you up at night when it comes to water in the state? And also what’s giving you hope? 

Kate Greenberg: What’s keeping me up at night is the, what feels like accelerating pressure on our water system. We’ve known for a long time that we were going to be facing drier times, hotter times potential shortage on the Colorado River system. We’ve hit those times before. We were hoping we would have to deal with them. That said, I think the good thing is we did know they were coming and we’re not totally surprised. So there are some good foundational elements that we are able to work with to navigate the situation. But what really keeps me up is that agriculture is often looked to as the place to get water to meet our growing needs in other places. And we are not opposed to being a part of the solution. 

In fact, I was talking to producers on Monday who were asking how they can help with the issues on the Colorado River. I mean, they are very well versed in what’s going on. They want to be part of the solution. I think oftentimes agriculture can be painted as not wanting to be part of the solution. It’s just wanting to hang on. And that’s not what I hear, and that’s not what we’re doing at CDA. But that said, I think there are a lot of important questions for us to ask of if we’re going to be moving water out of agriculture into housing developments in Las Vegas, is that a better use of water than producing food on the Western slope? And that’s a lot of the dynamics that are being set up because we have the stresses on our system. 

Now we don’t want to pit urban communities against agricultural production against the environment. We are looking for ways that all of those sectors can find points of collaboration and connection because we all rely on each other. I mean, rural communities are integral to the functioning of urban society. And without urban society, we wouldn’t have markets for our crops in ag. And we all love the environment. I mean, the folks I’ve been hearing from just this week out in the Western slope, I mean, they love wildlife. They see the management they do on their lands as helping protect wildlife habitat. They’re open space managers. I mean, they’re protecting this landscape both for production and so that we can enjoy the landscape. 

So I think there are a lot of places where we all do share a lot of the same values. It’s going to be a question of how our decision making, our policies, our negotiations and our programs align to actually allow a future where agriculture remains a driver of Colorado’s economy, even with less water. 

Jocelyn Hittle: So you’re saying it’s complicated? 

Kate Greenberg: Yeah, that’s probably the shortest way to say it. 

Jocelyn Hittle: So it is a complex problem too. Not only complicated, but complex in that if you pull on one string in this system, it impacts everything else. And the decisions around where water goes and what highest and best use actually means are subjective in a lot of cases. But also I think one of the things that gives me hope is that through the state water plan, and I know you were a part of the development of the state water plan a number of years ago and other similar efforts, there are really structured ways for people to get together in the same room and have those conversations and really discover that people aren’t probably as different as it may seem at first blush. 

Kate Greenberg: Yeah, I think that’s right. And I’m glad you brought up the water plan. The state just launched the second version of it as you know, and I just want to give hats off to DNR and the Colorado Water Conservation Board who really did the bulk of the lift. I mean a absolutely incredible amount of work to get input from all of our river basins across the state, which are also self-organized around basin round tables. So showing our commitment to not just hearing from local communities, but following the lead of local communities. 

And I have to say that this plan has more robust language and roadmap for how to sustain robust agriculture in the state than the previous plan. I mean, the commitment from the state of Colorado to avoid buy and dry, to invest in new opportunities for agriculture, and again, to make sure that ag remains a driver of our state. Both our culture and our economy is laid out real clear in this plan, and it is a really hopeful roadmap for how we can meet the needs of the future. 

Jocelyn Hittle: So one of the things that also gives me hope, as I think about how we address food production and agriculture and recreation and water use in a state, as we know that climate is putting increasing pressure on already water scare system is our next generation, and that’s part of the reason that we’re focused on educating around climate, around water, around food health, sustainability at Spur. Can you talk a little bit about what you see as important for educating the next generation specifically around ag, but obviously it touches all those other things as well. 

Kate Greenberg: Well, I think for starters, it’s knowing what young people care about and really asking them, what do you care about? What keeps you up at night? What are your passions and how can we connect that back to agriculture if that’s what you want to do? And again, I really think, and I believe firmly that almost everything in society comes back to agriculture. If you’re talking about housing, if you’re talking about technology, you’re talking about water, you’re talking about climate, you’re talking about wildlife. I mean, it all touches agriculture one way or another, not to mention how do we feed ourselves and food systems. 

So there’s so many points of entry. So I think really understanding where is the starting place? Where are young people starting? Where is any given young person starting, and how can we build a pathway for them to find their passion that leads toward agriculture? And not everybody will choose to be in ag, and that’s great too. We need doctors and nurses and everybody else in society. But I hope that the work of Spur is so exciting and hopeful for me because even if somebody isn’t going into ag, if they have an appreciation of ag and a connection to their food, I think that just builds a healthier society. 

Jocelyn Hittle: So can we talk a little bit also about how you connect with other Western states? So do you intersect with other ag commissioners, understanding that a lot of the challenges that are true in Colorado also apply in other arid and water scarce Western states? What is that inter intersection like? 

Kate Greenberg: Absolutely, yes we do through a number of ways. So for starters, we have a national association. It’s called NASDA, the National Association of State Departments of Ag. All 50 states and territories are represented in NASDA. And then we’re also broken down by regions. So we have AWASDA, which is the Western Association. That means the 13 Western states are together in the WASDA Association, which I am chair of this year, which means we’ll be hosting all of those states here in Denver in July. And we get together throughout the year to talk about what are we all facing, how are we dealing with certain things? It’s a really wonderful opportunity to ask questions. If another state has gone through something we are going through now, we can ask those questions or share what we’ve gone through. So a lot of sharing of ideas. 

I’m also the immediate past chair of the Western US Trade Association for Agriculture, which means supporting our companies in Colorado and the all Western states in increasing their export markets. I come from the local food movement and I’m deeply committed to it. And this work has also opened my eyes to what’s possible around the globe. And I think the work that we do on international trade is really exciting because it’s business to business. So we actually take small Colorado companies, food and ag companies and beverage companies, and we say, “Hey, where are you looking to do business?” And they’ll say, “I’m interested in this country or this market,” and we’ll take them there and we’ll connect them with people. And there’s a lot of cultural exchange that goes on in the process of doing that business. So that means our companies in Colorado and the West have now this international network of people. We do the same by bringing companies from around the world here to Colorado. So all of that happens through these Western networks. 

Also with our Climate Smart Commodities program grant that we got that 25 million. I think part of why we were successful is that we actually coordinated with six other Western states. We know that climate smart ag, climate solutions at ag, however you want to phrase it, isn’t going to be a state by state deal. And if we can find solutions that are particular to the arid west in particular, I think we’re going to be a lot more successful as not just as a state, but as a species ideally. So those are some examples. I’m actually in just a few days going to Washington to DC to meet for our NASDA winter policy meetings. 

So we do run policy through NADSA that gets into the national policy book and then directs our NASDA staff of how to advocate in DC for all of us. Doesn’t mean it’s 50 states. We all are very different in our governors and our leadership and what we all want, but that’s why we go through the policy-making process and debate the policies we want to put forward. And that also helps us leverage our voice as Colorado Department of Ag with congress, with federal agencies. We have a lot of fantastic partners on the federal side, but we are plugged in there both as a state and as a western region. 

Jocelyn Hittle: Great. So you mentioned as part of that intersection with other states, some international work imports, exports. What’s coming into Colorado and what’s going out of Colorado? Just out of curiosity, what might surprise people about how we’re importing and exporting food products? 

Kate Greenberg: Well, our number one export is beef. Cattle is our number one commodity and our number one export, not just an ag, but a top driver of exports across sectors in the state. We do a lot of business with a lot of countries that are both established markets and emerging markets. One example I’ll talk about is the United Kingdom and big trading partner, but a lot of opportunities left because we don’t have a trade agreement officially with the UK. We have had just direct conversations as a state of how can we help increase our business. I mean, we’re one of the largest shared investors in each other’s countries, obviously allies, partners, but we do business with, I mentioned cattle. We brought Mexican and Canadian cattle buyers actually to spur during the stock show because we do a lot of trade on the cattle genetics side as well. 

Of course, spirits, beverages, we do a lot of exporting there. Our largest ag commodities in the state are usually sold and traded on the export market. You think of corn, wheat, dairy being our top drivers, economically speaking, just from a scale perspective, that’s all global market. So it’s everything from the commodity side to, again, we’ve brought small breweries from Colorado abroad to sell Colorado beer. Colorado Lamb is a big one as well. A lot of it is comes to our branding as well. I think folks that we work with around the globe really do see Colorado as a special place, a special landscape, a lot of, and we’ve been told this from our partners abroad, innovation, entrepreneurship, commitment to climate change being drivers of why they see Colorado as an opportunity to partner on the business side. 

Jocelyn Hittle: That’s great. Excellent. Thank you. It’s always interesting to hear a little bit about how we are seen from outside, and particularly that we are innovative and forward-looking, I think is testament to not only the way that the agricultural community, but also the innovative and entrepreneurial spirit that has existed in Colorado for a long time as well in all sectors. So let’s talk a little bit about how you got where you are. So you have a farming background, at least you have worked on farms, but did you start growing up on a farm? H how did this path emerge for you? 

Kate Greenberg: Well, it was definitely emerging path. It was not a planned path, I’ll tell you that. So I grew up in Minnesota, split part-time between the country and the city. Early years were a Mankato, which back then was pure ag country, corn, beans, dairy. So my family, I’m not from a farming family, but I was growing up all around farming families and spent a lot of time on their farms as I was growing up. But then I also spent most of my childhood in the heart of the city in Minneapolis, and didn’t think twice about where my food came from or who was growing my food. 

So it wasn’t until I left for college, went to Whitman College out in Walla Walla, Washington, Eastern Washington, and started a farm internship because I realized, “Wow. Man, I’m eating three meals a day and I have no idea how this gets to my plate. I want to figure that out.” So it really just was that initial curiosity from I think being in a new place and having my world opened up a bit. And then getting into farming, opened it even more. I spent various seasons on different farms, Western Washington being the main growing season for me, which was very different from Eastern Washington in terms of precipitation and climate, a lot of lot more rainfall in the west than the east. 

But spent many seasons doing seasonal work in ag, in natural resources, managing field programs that were focused on the policy and ecology of the Intermountain West. And then eventually moved to Mexico because I was intrigued by project to reconnect the Colorado River with the sea. We have allocated the Colorado River to the extent that the river no longer reaches the sea, which it used to be a 2 million Hector Delta. So I moved to Mexico to work with the Sonora Institute, essentially in an ag position, helping plant trees, collect native seed, sow those seeds along the riparian area, really riparian restoration effort with a lot of ag component, a lot of irrigating in the desert. 

And meanwhile, what was going on above us was a negotiation to see if we could get by we, a water trust that was actually created, get water to go through the Colorado River Channel to actually reconnect with the sea. So that’s what opened my eyes to policy in particular. Now, I was hoping I could just do seasonal work and farm for as long as I could without having to get involved in policy or politics. And that changed dramatically when I was standing in Mexico at our work site, literally watching the Colorado flow underground and realizing, “Hey, this is because of decisions that we’ve made as societies, as countries, as states that have led to the landscape we’re managing. So if I really care about ag in the future of ag, future of nature and natural resources in the west, probably need to get involved in policy.” 

So I bounced around about some one way tickets and tried to figure things out. And then was lucky enough to be brought on by the National Young Farmer’s Coalition in the very early days of the coalition, late 2012, one of the co-founders Lindsey Shute, was my boss, and just an incredible leader and visionary for creating this national network of young people who were facing the same barriers in getting started in farming and then really land access and access to capital we’re the top two. 

So I was brought on as a western organizer, moved to Durango, which is home base, been the home base for the last decade, and got to drive around the Intermountain West, getting chapters of young farmers built, getting farmers to DC, bringing Congress out to the farm, and then building policy that was built by young farmers for the future of young farmers. So they have actual access of opportunity to create a life in agriculture. 

Jocelyn Hittle: Great. Well, that’s quite a journey, and I think a lot of people that I talked to wasn’t linear. You didn’t set out to have this exact path, but maybe you could talk about a couple of the particularly pivotal moments or people who’ve influenced you along that path to where you are now. 

Kate Greenberg: It was anything but linear, and I think that will be how the rest of my life goes, I would imagine. I mean, there’ve been so many pivotal people along the way, and frankly, so many of them have been in agriculture early on. I was new to Durango. Actually, I do have old family connections in the ag world in Southwest Colorado, but that was 40 some years ago that my folks were helping out on a ranch down there. So I was basically new. And in any rural community, you know, get a newcomer and folks are waiting to see how long they stay and if they’re really committed. And I respect that deeply because you see people come and go in with big ideas and a year later they’re gone. And people who live in rural communities are there for the long haul and there for their communities. 

So I think I certainly realized I needed to prove my commitment early on. But there were some early cheerleaders too, who I think realized that there was a role for young people to have a voice at the table, a seat at the table, and actually created that seat for me. That happened actually with our basin round table on talking about water. And Mike Preston, who was with Dolores Water Conservancy District, and now is with the Ute Mountain Ute Farm and Ranch Enterprise Board, and really believed in me and what I was doing from the beginning. There were a number of people like that all across the west, actually. And then of course, I took a big leap of faith in applying for this job, part of my role as I eventually became Western program director and built the Western program. And when Governor Polis was elected, he opened up applications for all of his cabinet positions. 

You don’t need to do that as governor, you can hire whoever you want as long as they can get confirmed by the Senate. But he opened up applications. I had never worked with the governor before, didn’t know him. So I went all around Colorado saying, “Hey. The young farmers and ranchers we’re working with, there’s a great opportunity in Denver, you all should apply to be the ag commissioner for Governor Polis. And most everybody I talked to said, “That’s nice, but I’m farming and I’d rather keep farming. Thank you.” And which made a lot of sense. And I wasn’t farming at the time, so I said, “Why not. Put my hat in the ring.” And a few weeks later I was moving to Denver. So talk about non-linear. But I think along that way, again, there were people who I leaned on. 

One of my predecessors, John Stulp former ag commissioner and water czar as he was dubbed when he was helping with the previous iteration of the water plan farmer in Southeast Colorado. Just remarkable human, remarkable family. And one of those people who was every step of the way had faith and belief in what was possible for the next generation. And that’s just to name a few. But it’s really been the effort of the community to do anything that we’ve done. I mean, the soil health example I gave, that’s been built by hundreds of people and dozens of organizations across the state. So really I think the bottom line is the partnerships and collaboration that exists in ag have really been the thing that’s propelled me forward. 

Jocelyn Hittle: And it seems to me also that non-linear path also leads to a diverse skillset that comes into play on a daily basis for you. So we talked about the diversity of the job, but it also takes a diversity of skills. Maybe you could talk a little bit about, I mean, you lead a team, you have policy and political conversations. You have to be conversant in the technical side and understand what farmers and ranchers are telling you. Can you talk a little bit about how that mix serves you in this role? 

Kate Greenberg: I think the best thing I can do in this role is help lift up other people in their roles. I am a generalist through and through. I am an expert in nothing. So I rely on a team of experts who are excellent at what they do at CDA. And that’s really the baseline for me, is knowing who to call on a particular issue and how to recruit the right people into the conversation to get to the best answer. So with that, I also came into this job wanting to just be a sponge, just to absolutely soak up everything I can, both from how state government works to what’s going on in ag and how we can help with our role. So that’s really foundational to me, is how can I help make sure that everybody on my team is doing the best that they can and really uplifted in their work. 

In addition to that, I mean, you mentioned policy, politics, speaking, being in the field, being in DC, I think it’s so much learning as you go and there are some foundational things like being curious about what people’s lives are like. Anybody can learn how to do that. I’m not learning how to be an engineer that and very technical skillset, but I am very curious on and to know more about how people are living their lives, what their needs are, how we can be a partner in helping meet those needs. I don’t want to oversell what we do that as if we could fix every challenge that’s out there, but we are a partner in this. I think one example, we have been doing a lot more emergency response in the last few years. All of us have. But CDA as an agency have been doing a lot more than we are built for. 

We have COVID, big response effort of course, but all the wildfires we’ve faced, the winter storms, this winter, foreign animal diseases that we’ve managed every year since I’ve came on board, all of that now we are responsible for as a state and as an agency. And a lot of that is response and reaction. But we also are thinking so much about proactivity. How can we actually work with our ag community to get ahead of these, to plan for events we know we’re going to face because natural disasters happen and making sure people know what they need to do to prepare as best as we can, knowing that they have CDA, department of ag alongside them through whatever event we go through. And that we’re there through recovery as well. 

So that’s that emergency response model I think of writ large for how we are a partner in this work. How can we prepare? How can we stand by your side? How can we help you through? We’re not going to fix everything. We can’t, shouldn’t as a state agency in my mind, but we’re a really important player in this landscape of supporting ag. 

Jocelyn Hittle: So that ability to be curious and to ask the right questions and to know who the experts are, who need to be brought together to whether the conversation is around preparedness and proactivity or responsiveness to fires or other disease, other things here, seems to be something that has been accrued through these different positions and steps along your path to where you are now. 

Kate Greenberg: Absolutely. I think that’s a great way to put it. And just soaking up whatever I can along the way. I think that it’s hard too, if you’re just getting started, there might be some imposter syndrome, like you shouldn’t be in the room, or if you make it in the room, you probably shouldn’t speak because you don’t know enough. And I don’t believe in that. I think there’s always room for your voice. There’s always room for more humility too in the world at large. But that doesn’t mean any young person should be suppressing their voice or what they care about because they feel like they don’t have enough expertise. 

So I think finding ways to participate, participation is another foundation. Say yes to going to the meeting, say yes to testifying and seeing what that feels like. Say yes to joining a board or a committee or planning effort and learn how strategic plans are built or budgets are built, or how to work in a group of people that does not agree and how do you navigate that. So I think there’s so many ways to build the soft skills as we call them, which I mean, without the soft skills, who are we? Without being able to relate to people and be curious about how people are living their lives. I think the hard skills don’t have a place to land. 

Jocelyn Hittle: Yeah, that’s a really great way of saying it. Well, thank you so much for all of those thoughts. Really appreciate your comments on your journey. Where can people find more information about the work you’re doing now in the… I’m assuming CDAs website, but other resources that you would point people to? 

Kate Greenberg: Yeah. Our website is ag.colorado.gov. We’re also on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, which are great places to follow us. I’m @coagcommish on Instagram and so you follow me there. And then we also have a monthly newsletter, which is a great place to find out grants opportunities. Again, if there’s an internship that we have available or you want to an apprenticeship out on a farmer ranch, you can always call our team or go to our website and find out more. 

And then we show up in the field too. I’m hiring more people from across rural Colorado, hopefully urban Colorado too. We’re working on some physicians in the front range, but getting people from the ag community who represent CDA across the state, but also represent their communities with us who can be that direct point of contact to share the information that’s going on. So as you get involved with us, meet us, come out to conferences, come to events. Those are published both on our websites and social, but also a partner websites, lots of events that are hosted by partners that we attend and just communicate to the public about what we do and how to get involved. 

Jocelyn Hittle: Great, thank you. So my very last question for you is our Spur of the Moment question. So this one is related to your work to a certain extent and is really about food and what you cook. So do you have a dish that you are well known for? 

Kate Greenberg: Oh man. Well, early on, it was hot dish because I’m from Minnesota. 

Jocelyn Hittle: Yes, of course. Hot dish. The best dish, hot dish. What is hot dish for those folks who are not familiar with the- 

Kate Greenberg: Well, hot dish you might call casserole in some parts of the country. For us it was hamburger hot dish growing up. 

Jocelyn Hittle: Amazing. So do you still make hot dish? 

Kate Greenberg: Not as much, I have to say. I still love it, but- 

Jocelyn Hittle: How could you not? 

Kate Greenberg: I know. It’s hard to break that habit, but there’s just so much good food here in Colorado, so much fresh food and you could make so much just from what’s grown here. I mean chili, we raised pinto beans in Colorado, a lot of dry land down in the southwest and elsewhere around the state. So you could do chili with local beans, local beef, local onions, local garlic, local tomatoes, whatever else you add. You have corn obviously with Olathe sweet corn if you add corn to your chili. I love chili and cornbread. Love, love, love, any time of year, this time of year in particular in the winter. 

Jocelyn Hittle: Yeah, absolutely. So local chili and on occasion, hot dish. 

Kate Greenberg: That sounds about right. 

Jocelyn Hittle: Okay, good. Okay. So thank you very much. We really appreciate the time that you spent with us here on Spur of the Moment and grateful for your service to the state of Colorado. Thank you very much, Commissioner Greenberg. 

Kate Greenberg: Thanks so much. It’s been a pleasure. 

Jocelyn Hittle: The CSU Spur of the Moment Podcast is produced by Kevin Samuelson and our theme music is by Ketsa. Please visit the show notes for links mentioned in this episode. We hope you’ll join us in two weeks for the next episode. Until then, be well.

GLORIA MONTAÑO GREENE

Deputy Under Secretary, USDA, Farm Production and Conservation

Gloria Montaño Greene was appointed Deputy Under Secretary for USDA’s Farm Production and Conservation (FPAC) mission area on February 22, 2021. Her experience is focused in government and community work and includes federal policy, politics, advocacy, intergovernmental relations, communications, and management.

As the FPAC Deputy Undersecretary, Montaño Greene leads agencies that deliver farm programs and services to farmers, ranchers, and agricultural producers. These programs include farm loans, conservation, disaster assistance, crop insurance and price support.

Montaño Greene is a former State Executive Director for the Farm Service Agency in Arizona from 2014-2017. With FSA in Arizona, Montaño Greene led implementation of the 2014 Farm Bill programs across the state.

She previously served as Deputy Chief of Staff and Chief of Staff to Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva of Arizona. Montaño Greene also served as Deputy Director for Chispa Arizona, a program of the League of Conservation Voters focused on the empowerment of Latino voices in Arizona on issues including energy, public lands, and democracy access.

Montaño Greene is originally from rural Arizona. She is a proud graduate of the University of Arizona.

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JAIME VIENNEAU

Strategic Initiatives Coordinator for the Lands and Resources Sector, Ktunaxa Nation Council

Jaime Vienneau is a member of the Ktunaxa First Nation, Yaq̓it ʔa·knuqⱡi’it located in southeastern British Columbia, Canada and lives in Cranbrook, BC with her husband and two children. Jaime has over 20 years’ experience working with the Ktunaxa Nation Council Lands and Resources Sector, and is currently co-leading the Ktunaxa Nation’s participation in the Columbia River Treaty renegotiation. 

Jaime has a Master of Arts Degree, specializes in Indigenous Leadership and has credentials in Business and Public Administration.

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GILI ELKIN

Co-Founder and General Partner, ICI Fund (Innovation. Community. Intelligence)
Board Member, Kando, Viridix, Genda, Suridata, Tailor-Ed, Illustria

Gili is a Co-founder and General Partner at ICI Fund (Innovation. Community. Intelligence), investing in early-stage Israeli companies with artificial intelligence solutions that secure our future and supporting their scale up in the US market. Gili sits on the boards of Kando (AI & Wastewater), Viridix (AI & Agriculture), Genda (AI & Construction), Suridata (AI & Cyber), Tailor-Ed (AI & Education), Illustria (Cyebr security) and is an investor in PredictaMed (AI & Healthcare). 

Previously, Gili was a Managing Director at SynTech Bioenergy, a renewable energy company located in Colorado.  Gili is an Israeli lawyer who worked at Naschitz Brandes, ADV., one of the leading Israeli Corporate law firms and at Ernst & Young as Tax Consultant, providing tax advice to US and European VCs investing in Israeli companies. Gili served on the Board of Directors of the B’nai B’rith of the Rockies, Colorado.  Gili holds an LLB and BA (in Law and Business) from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and an MBA from the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University. Gili also served in the Israeli military (IDF), driving tanks and guiding combat soldiers to shoot anti-tank guided missiles out of a tank. She is an avid snowboarder and is melted by dark chocolate!

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JOHN TRACY

Director, Colorado Water Center
Professor of Ecosystem Science & Sustainability, CSU Fort Collins

Dr. Tracy serves as Director of the Colorado Water Center and as Professor in the Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability at Colorado State University. Dr. Tracy has led research initiatives on understanding and developing sustainable water management practices in a wide range of hydro-climatological systems across the western United States, including the western High Plains, Northern Plains, Southern Plains, Great Basin and Pacific Northwest regions. His more recent efforts have focused on developing programs to: increase our understanding of the integrated behavior of water resource systems under the influence of changing hydrologic, economic, and social conditions; developing science based approaches to support the management of transboundary aquifer resources; addressing the linkage between water management and health outcomes; and understanding community water security from a socio-technical perspective. Dr. Tracy received his B.S. degree in Civil Engineering at Colorado State University in 1980, and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Civil Engineering at the University of California at Davis in 1986 and 1989 respectively. Dr. Tracy also served as President of the American Water Resources Association, the University Council on Water Resources, and as Secretary/Treasurer of the National Institutes for Water Resources. 

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BENNY CHEFETZ

Professor of Soil and Environmental Chemistry & Columbia Foundation Chair in Soil and Water Sciences, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Dr. Chefetz’s research interests relate to physico-chemical processes of organic pollutants occurring in water, reclaimed wastewater, soils and sediments. An overarching goal is to elucidate physical, chemical and biological processes that influence the fate of organic molecules in the environment with special emphasize on the agricultural environment.

Special interests are: (1) Fate of pharmaceutical compounds in soil and water; (2) Sorption-desorption behavior of xenobiotics in soils and sediments; (3) Irrigation with reclaimed wastewater: effects on human health; (4) Nano particles in the environment; (5) Nature and reactivity of dissolved organic matter. 

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SYLVAIN FABI

Consul General of Canada

Sylvain Fabi (BBA, Bishop’s University, 1988) joined the Consulate General of Canada in Denver in October 2020. As Canada’s Consul General in the U.S. Mountain West Region, Mr. Fabi oversees a team of 17 people who work within Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Utah and Wyoming to strengthen trade and economic ties; enhance political, academic and cultural links; and assist Canadians visiting or living in the five-state territory.  He is also Canada’s chief negotiator for the modernization of the Columbia River Treaty with the United States.

Mr. Fabi joined the Trade Commissioner Service of External Affairs and International Trade Canada in 1992.  He worked in various geographic and trade policy divisions in Ottawa.  He was senior departmental adviser to the Minister of International Trade (2009 to 2010), Director for bilateral relations with South America and the Caribbean (2010 to 2013) and Executive Director of the North America Policy and Relations Division (2013 to 2015).

Mr. Fabi’s assignments abroad include trade commissioner at the embassy in Moscow (1995 to 1998), commercial counsellor at the embassy in Havana (2001 to 2005) and commercial counsellor at the embassy in Santiago (2005 to 2009). Mr. Fabi served as High Commissioner for Canada in Jamaica and the Bahamas (2015 to 2017). Before becoming Consul General in Denver, he was Executive Director, U.S. Transboundary Affairs Division (2017 to 2020). 

Mr. Fabi is married to Jany Joyal and has two children, Frédéric and Isabelle.

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TONY FRANK

Chancellor, CSU System

Dr. Tony Frank is the Chancellor of the CSU System. He previously served for 11 years as the 14th president of CSU in Fort Collins. Dr. Frank earned his undergraduate degree in biology from Wartburg College, followed by a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the University of Illinois, and a Ph.D. and residencies in pathology and toxicology at Purdue. Prior to his appointment as CSU’s president in 2008, he served as the University’s provost and executive vice president, vice president for research, chairman of the Pathology Department, and Associate Dean for Research in the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. He was appointed to a dual role as Chancellor in 2015 and became full-time System chancellor in July 2019.

Dr. Frank serves on a number of state and national boards, has authored and co-authored numerous scientific publications, and has been honored with state and national awards for his leadership in higher education.

Dr. Frank and his wife, Dr. Patti Helper, have three daughters.

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JOCELYN HITTLE

Associate Vice Chancellor for CSU Spur & Special Projects, CSU System

Jocelyn Hittle is primarily focused on helping to create the CSU System’s new Spur campus at the National Western Center, and on supporting campus sustainability goals across CSU’s campuses. She sits on the Denver Mayor’s Sustainability Advisory Council, on the Advisory Committee for the Coors Western Art Show, and is a technical advisor for the AASHE STARS program.

Prior to joining CSU, Jocelyn was the Associate Director of PlaceMatters, a national urban planning think tank, and worked for the Orton Family Foundation. She has a degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from Princeton, and a Masters in Environmental Management from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.

Jocelyn grew up in Colorado and spends her free time in the mountains or exploring Denver.

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ROBERTO SALMON

Founding Partner, Centro Luken de Estrategias en Agua y Medio Ambiente

Roberto F. Salmon Castelo is a founding partner and consultant at Centro Luken de Estrategias en Agua y Medio Ambiente. He served from April 2009 until May 2020 as the Mexican Commissioner to the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) and has a solid experience in international negotiations related to water and boundary issues between Mexico and the United States. In this capacity, he led the Mexican team to accomplish the signing of 11 binational agreements (Minutes) with the United States, which are binding for both countries.

From 2002 until 2009, he worked for the Mexican National Water Commission (CONAGUA), first as the Northwest Regional Manager and later as the General Director of the Northwest Basin Region, based in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico from where he oversaw all affairs related to water resources. In addition, Mr. Salmon served as the Planning and Special Projects Director for the Center for Research and Development of Natural Resources (CIDESON) of the State of Sonora. He also started a consulting company oriented to surface, groundwater, and environmental studies and projects.

He also has vast experience in financial projects. He served as the Director of Budget and Planning and later as the Chief Financial Officer at the University of Sonora and other private entities. He is also a founding partner in three financial enterprises in the State of Sonora.

Mr. Salmon has participated as a leading consultant in many projects on various subjects, such as water resources, plant location, financial engineering, statistics, economic feasibility, agriculture, and strategic planning.

In the academic sector, he served as a professor at the Instituto Tecnologico de Sonora, University of Sonora, Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey (Campus Guadalajara and Obregón), as well as a teaching and research assistant at the University of Arizona in the departments of Agricultural Economics and Hydrology and Water Resources.

He has authored or co-authored several articles on water resources and US-Mexico transboundary water issues and has been a speaker at binational and international conferences.

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EDWARD DRUSINA

Former United States Commissioner of the International Boundary and Water Commission

Mr. Edward Drusina, TX P.E. retired from the United States Commissioner of the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) in 2018. Mr. Drusina has served his community and his country with distinction. Mr. Drusina was appointed Commissioner by President Barrack Obama on January 19, 2010 and remained Commissioner until his retirement on May 2018 completing 44 years of engineering service to his City, State and Country.  A licensed Professional Engineer in Texas and graduate of University of Texas at El Paso, his career has lead him to successful work in both the private and public sectors. Prior to the IBWC appointment, Mr. Drusina was the Regional Director for Paragon Resources Inc., President and CoOwner of Omni Construction Management Services, Corperate Associate of Moreno Cardenas Inc, Director of Public Works for the City of El Paso, and Design Branch head for the US Army at Fort Bliss, Texas. He has been a Senior Project Engineer with Weston Solutions since 2018.

Mr. Drusina also headed some very impactful undertakings related to water in the Southwest. He represented the City of El Paso on the Far West Texas Water Planning Group, was the Construction Manager for the pipeline and injection wells for the largest inland Desalination Plant named the Kay Bailey Desalination Plant and was the City of El Paso stormwater manager.

Throughout his distinguished career, Mr. Drusina has also remained active in the different organizations along the border region. He was one of the founding members of UTEP’s Alumni Academe of Civil Engineers, served on the American Red Cross Board, was the Department of State’s advisor for the North American Development Bank Board,  and served on different state and federal committees aimed at addressing border environmental concerns.     

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STEVEN BARTON

Chief of Water Management, Columbia Basin Water Management Division for the Northwestern Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Mr. Barton assumed the role of Chief, Columbia Basin Water Management Division for the Northwestern Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in April 2015. As Chief of Water Management, Mr. Barton plays a key leadership role in managing a large, multi-purpose reservoir system and implementing the Columbia River Treaty with Canada, where he serves as the U.S. Co-Chair of the Treaty Operating Committee.

Mr. Barton has 30 years of experience managing water resources in the western United States. Prior to his current role, Mr. Barton served in technical and leadership positions with both with the Bonneville Power Administration and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in a variety of areas including weather and stream flow forecasting, mid- and long-term reservoir system planning, wind integration, and real-time reservoir operations.

Mr. Barton holds a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Oregon State University, a master’s degree in civil engineering from Colorado State University, and is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of Colorado.

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JAY FAMIGLIETTI

Professor of Hydrology and Executive Director, Global Institute for Water Security at the University of Saskatchewan

Jay Famiglietti is a professor of hydrology and the Executive Director of the Global Institute for Water Security at the University of Saskatchewan, where he holds the Canada 150 Research Chair in Hydrology and Remote Sensing. Before moving to USask, Famiglietti served for 4 years as the Senior Water Scientist at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology. Prior to working at JPL, he was a faculty member at the University of California, Irvine, and at the University of Texas at Austin. Famiglietti’s research group uses satellites and develops advanced computer models to track how freshwater availability is changing around the globe. A fellow of the American Geophysical Union and of the Geological Society of America, he is committed to science communication.

Prof. Famiglietti is a regular advisor to state, provincial and federal government officials on water availability and water security issues.

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MICHAEL WEBSTER

Executive Director, Water and Sanitation, City of Cape Town

Mike Webster is the Executive Director of the Water and Sanitation Directorate in the City of Cape Town. In this position, he leads the utility responsible for the full water cycle from “source to tap” and back to the environment. The utility serves the 5 million people of Cape Town through 660,000 water and sewer connections and 20,000 km of pipeline.  It has 5,100 staff, an annual operating budget of over USD 500 million (equivalent) and an annual capital budget of USD 180 million equivalent. The Executive Director is part of the Executive Management Team reporting to the City Manager.

Prior to joining the City of Cape Town in 2018, Mike worked for the World Bank for 16 years as a water and sanitation specialist based in Washington DC. He joined the Bank through the Young Professionals Programme and worked in operations in South Asia, Europe and Central Asia and Africa with field assignments in India and Zimbabwe.  Mike was Task Team Leader for over 20 investment operations in water supply, sanitation, solid waste management, municipal services, rural infrastructure, environmental protection and urban upgrading.

Mike graduated as a civil engineer from the University of Cape Town and went on to do an MSc in engineering at Loughborough University and a Master’s in Public Policy at Princeton University.

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KATE GREENBERG

Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture

Kate Greenberg was appointed to serve as Colorado’s first woman Commissioner of Agriculture by Governor Jared Polis in December 2018. As Commissioner, Greenberg provides leadership and direction to the Colorado Department of Agriculture, which serves producers operating more than 38,700 farms and ranches in the state. She is a member of numerous state boards and commissions, current board president of the Western U.S. Agricultural Trade Association, and vice chair of the Western Association of State Departments of Agriculture. Commissioner Greenberg is the recipient of the Emerging Conservation Leader Award from Western Resource Advocates and a 2019 Who’s Who In Agriculture honoree. She has worked in and advocated for agriculture for more than 14 years.

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TY SMITH

Director of the Native American Cultural Center and Interim Assistant Vice President in the Office of Inclusive Excellence, Colorado State University

Ty A. Smith, MBA, was born and raised on the Navajo Nation. He is Tódích’íi’nii  (Bitter Water Clan), born for  Ashiihi (Salt Clan). Ty received both his baccalaureate degree (B.S. Mechanical Engineering) and master’s degree (MBA) from Colorado State University. He was a practicing engineer in the energy industry prior to becoming director of the Native American Cultural Center (NACC) at Colorado State University in 2005. NACC’s mission is to ensure a successful educational experience for students by providing support and services related to recruitment, retention, graduation, and community outreach. The office embraces and encourages a supportive environment based on the traditions and cultures of Native American peoples.

Ty is also the Interim Assistant Vice President in the Office of Inclusive Excellence at CSU. He resides in Fort Collins along with his wife, Jan, and their two boys, Ty Jr. and William.

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KAREN ROTER DAVIS

Managing Partner, Entrada Ventures

Karen Roter Davis is a technology executive, investor, and board member, passionate about driving innovation that energizes and transforms companies from early-stage start-ups to global leaders. She is currently a Managing Partner at Entrada Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund, where she invests in enterprise and industrial technology companies.

Karen spent over a decade in various senior positions at Alphabet, initially from 2003 to 2008, serving as a Principal in their New Business Development group, scaling its then early-stage businesses, as well as overseeing operations for the company’s groundbreaking 2004 IPO. Most recently, from 2017 until February 2022, Karen was Director of Early Stage Projects at X (formerly Google X), where she provided strategic direction and oversight for a portfolio of early-stage technology ventures.

Karen returned to Google in 2016 through Alphabet’s acquisition of Urban Engines, a SaaS geospatial analytics platform. Karen was the first business hire into the engineering-centric Urban Engines and established foundational business development, strategy, and operations functions as General Manager of Strategy and Business Operations.

Prior to joining Urban Engines, Karen was recruited by GE Digital to build software and analytics venture investing, M&A, and strategic partnerships to advance GE’s “Industrial Internet” (IoT, Industry 4.0) capabilities across its multi-billion dollar industrial businesses.

In addition to her executive experience, Karen has held multiple board and advisory engagements, including her service as a Board Director of Innovyze, a global leader in water software analytics, acquired in March 2021 by Autodesk (Nasdaq: ADSK). She is certified in Cybersecurity Oversight by Carnegie Mellon’s Software Engineering Institute and the National Association of Corporate Directors. She also serves on Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Carbon Initiative Impact Committee.

Karen earned her M.B.A. from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, her J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law, and her B.A. from Princeton University’s School of Public & International Affairs. She is a former Adjunct Professor of Business of Innovation at Northwestern University, a frequent author and speaker on a variety of innovation topics, a patent inventor, and a singer and songwriter.

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WILL SARNI

Founder and CEO, Water Foundry

Will Sarni is the founder and CEO of Water Foundry a water strategy consultancy. He is also the Founder and General Partner of The Future of Water Fund, a water technology venture fund focused on addressing water scarcity, quality and equitable access to water. He has been a sustainability and water strategy advisor to multinationals, water technology companies, investors, and non-governmental organizations for his entire career.

Prior to Water Foundry, he was a managing director at Deloitte Consulting where he established and led the water strategy practice. He was the founder and CEO of DOMANI, a sustainability strategy firm, prior to Deloitte.

Will is an internationally recognized thought leader on water strategy and innovation. He was ranked as; A Key Player Pressuring Businesses to Care About Water and one of the Top 15 Interviews In Smart Water Magazine 2019. Sarni is the author numerous publications on water strategy and innovation including the following books.

  • Corporate Water Strategies” (Earthscan 2011, and in Chinese by Shanghai Jiao Tong University Press 2013)
  • “Water Tech – A Guide to Investment, Innovation and Business Opportunities in the Water Sector” (Sarni, W. and Pechet, T., Routledge 2013)
  • “Beyond the Energy – Water – Food Nexus: New Strategies for 21st Century Growth” (Dō Sustainability 2015)
  • “Water Stewardship and Business Value: Creating Abundance from Scarcity” (Sarni, W., and Grant, D., Routledge 2018)
  • “Creating 21st Century Abundance through Public Policy Innovation: Moving Beyond Business as Usual” (Sarni, W. and Koch, G., Greenleaf Publishing 2018)
  • “Digital Water: New Technologies for a More Resilient, Secure and Equitable Water Future” (Routledge, 2021).

He is also the co-author, with Tony Dunnigan, of a children’s book on water, “Water, I Wonder” (Outskirts Press, September 2022).

Sarni is a co-founder of WetDATA and a host of the podcast, The Stream with Will and Tom. He is a board member of Silver Bullet, Project WET and the Rocky Mountain Rowing Club. He was the Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board for the WAITRO Global Water Innovation Summit 2020 and was on the Scientific Program Committee for Stockholm World Water Week from 2013 through 2019. His advisory work includes working with the 2020 X-PRIZE (Infinity Water Prize), as a Bold Visioneer for the 2016 X-PRIZE Safe Drinking Water Team and a Technical Advisor for the Climate Bonds Initiative: Nature- Based Solutions for Climate and Water Resilience. He is also on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Water Security.

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KEVIN O’DONNELL

Senior Vice President of Sustainability, Dairy Farmers of America

As senior vice president of sustainability, Kevin is responsible for steering DFA’s sustainability activities and evolving the Cooperative’s environmental, social and governance efforts. Prior to joining DFA, Kevin worked as the sustainability strategy advisor for a venture capital fund focused on global food system innovation. Before that, he served for more than 16 years in a variety of global sustainability leadership roles at General Mills and Nike. Kevin started his career in the public and consulting sectors advising industries on sustainability. He has had extensive global sustainability and sourcing experience in 25 countries across five continents.

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ROBERT SAKATA

President, Sakata Farms Inc.

Robert T. Sakata is President of Sakata Farms in Brighton Colorado which was started by his father Bob. Growing up on the family farm his parents were a great example of how important involvement in the community is. Following their footsteps Robert was the founding President of the board of directors for the Colorado Fruit & Vegetable Growers Association which aims to fill a need for a common voice representing produce growers across the state. Currently Robert serves on the board of directors for the Fulton Irrigation Company and is the president of the New Brantner Irrigation Ditch Company. He also serves on the Board of Trustees for the National Onion Association and in 2021 was appointed by Colorado Governor Jared Polis to the Colorado Water Conservation Board (CWCB). The mission of the 15 member CWCB board is to conserve, develop, protect and manage Colorado’s water for present and future generations. Prior to that Robert served the state of Colorado on the Water Quality Control Commission (WQCC) for 15 years appointed by three different Governors. The WQCC is charged with setting the water quality standards protecting designated uses for waters of the State.

While studying at the Molecular Cellular & Developmental Biology department at University of Colorado Robert worked for AMGEN when they opened their research labs in Boulder. Due to housing constraints for a seasonal workforce Sakata Farms transitioned away from growing vegetables to winter wheat, grain corn, and pinto beans on his family farm.

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STEPHEN ROE LEWIS

Governor of the Gila River Indian Community

Stephen Roe Lewis was raised in Sacaton, “Gu-u-Ki”, on the Gila River Indian Community. His father is the late Rodney Lewis and mother Willardene Lewis. Mr. Lewis has a son, Daniel currently attending Arizona State University.

Mr. Lewis is in his third term serving as Governor of the Community, having previously served as Lt. Governor. Prior to serving in elected leadership, Governor Lewis served the Community as a member of the Board of Directors for the Gila River Healthcare Corporation, as a Gaming Commissioner for the Gila River Gaming Commission, and as a member of the Board of Directors for the Gila River Telecommunications, Inc..

Stephen Roe Lewis graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor’s of Science and pursued graduate studies at John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Governor Lewis currently oversees the implementation of the Community’s Water Settlement of 2004 (at that time the largest water settlement of its kind in United States history). Governor Lewis advocates for renewable and green technologies guided by O’odham agricultural history and cultural teachings. Governor Lewis’s vision is to support a new generation of Community member agriculturalists with the goal of promoting and protecting the Community’s shudag (water) and agricultural development.

During his tenure as Governor of the Gila River Indian Community, Governor Lewis has brought innovative solutions to long-standing issues that will create long-term gains for the Gila River Indian Community. One of these projects, Management Aquifer Recharge sites, brings together the need for access to water while restoring the return of the Community’s riparian area which is vital for farming and the return of wildlife to the Community. Bringing back the Gila River, which is critical to the culture and identify of the Gila River Indian Community, has been a key milestone during Governor Lewis’ Administration and one that will lay the foundation for future projects across the Community.

In addition, Governor Lewis’ innovation can be seen in his approach to providing educational opportunities for the youth of the Gila River Indian Community. The Community was the first tribal community in the Nation to utilize the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act to create a program that revolutionzied how infrastructure is constructed and maintained throughout Indian Country. This program, the Section 105(l) program was utilized for education construction in the Community, and the Community is working to expand the uses of the program to other infrastructure in the Community and throughout Indian Country.

Governor Lewis has also prioritized the Community’s Veterans and youth by working to establish the Community’s first Veteran’s and Family Services Department and by committing more resources to protect the Community’s children by advocating for the protection of the Indian Child Welfare Act both at home and nationally.

These projects illustrate the commitment that Governor Lewis has to respecting the history and culture of the community while providing for a brighter future for all of the Community’s citizens.

In addition to his leadership in the Community, Governor Lewis has worked on numerous political campaigns and organizing projects throughout Indian Country including serving as an elector for the 2020 Presidential election and selected as an Arizona delegate and Co-Chair of the Native American Caucus for the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Governor Lewis was the first Native film curator for the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah and was an Associate Producer for the groundbreaking and critically acclaimed TBS six-part feature documentary, “The Native Americans.”

Governor Lewis proudly serves as the Secretary of the National Congress of American Indians, President of the Arizona State University’s American Indian Policy Institute Board of Directors, on the Executive Board for the National Indian Gaming Association (NIGA), and on the Board of Trustees for the Heard Museum of Phoenix.

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CODY DESAUTEL

Executive Director, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation

Cody Desautel is a member of the Colville Tribe, where he has lived his entire life with the exception of his years spent away at college. He graduated from Inchelium High School in 1995, and from there earned a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science, and later a master’s degree in Indian Law.

Over the next 20 years he would work on the Colville Reservation for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Tribe as an Inventory Forester, Natural Resource Officer, Forester, and Fuels Planner. He was the Natural Resource Division Director from April of 2014 through June of 2022, where he oversaw approximately 15 programs, and 500-600 staff. His responsibilities included forest management, fire suppression and fuels management, cultural resources, oversight of the Tribe’s 450,000 acre carbon project, and reintroduction of important fish and wildlife species (bighorn sheep, pronghorn, lynx, and salmon into the blocked area above Chief Joseph dam). He currently serves as the Executive Director for the Colville Tribe.

In addition to his regular duties he also serves as the President for the Intertribal Timber Council, and is a member of the Washington State Forest Practice Board, Wildland Fire Advisory Committee, and Forest Health Advisory Committee.    

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NATHAN MATTHEW

Consultant, Simpcw First Nation

Nathan Matthew is a member of the Simpcw First Nation, Secwepemc Nation, growing up in the First Nation community of Chu Chua in British Columbia.

Nathan has been on the Simpcw Council for over twenty years as Chief, and has served two terms as the Chairperson for the Shuswap Nation Tribal Council. He has been involved in the many of the Secwepemc Nation social, educational, economic and political developments.

Nathan has been involved with the Columbia River Treaty negotiations for several years and is currently the Secwepemc Observer at the Canada/United States Columbia River Treaty negotiations. As an Observer, Nathan attends all CRT negotiations and participates in all of the Canadian delegation negotiation preparations.

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JENNIFER GIMBEL

Senior Water Policy Scholar, Colorado Water Center

Ms. Gimbel has had the opportunity to work for both State and Federal governments on western water issues. For the Department of the Interior she worked as the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science and Deputy Commissioner for the Bureau of Reclamation. For the State of Colorado, she worked as the Director of the Water Conservation Board and was appointed by the Governor of Colorado as Commissioner on the Upper Colorado River Commission and the Governor’s representative in Colorado River negotiations. She also held several positions with both the Colorado and Wyoming Attorney Generals Offices.  

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ANGELA BRICMONT

CFO, Denver Water

Angela Bricmont is the CFO of Denver Water. She manages the financial resources of the Board of Water Commissioners, a 100+ year-old water utility serving 1.5 million customers in the City of Denver and surrounding suburbs. Angela is responsible for accounting, financial planning and performance, treasury, rates and customer care in addition to managing several retirement plans.  Since joining Denver Water in 2010, Angela has overseen a credit ratings upgrade to AAA, implementation of a new rate structure, issuance of Green Bonds, and funding lead line removal at no direct cost to customers.

Prior to Denver Water, Angela worked for several consulting firms focused on financial planning and rates for public utilities.  Angela also served as Vice President of Rates and Regulatory Matters for Comcast and the Director of Budget and Operations at the University of Denver. Angela has a bachelor’s degree in Finance and an MBA from the University of Denver. Angela was appointed by the Mayor to serve on the Denver Urban Renewal Authority Board, and she was appointed to serve on EPA’s Environmental Financial Advisory Board. 

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MAURA BARRY

Senior Deputy Assistant to the Administrator & Agency Global Water Coordinator

Maura Barry serves as Senior Deputy Assistant to the Administrator in USAID’s Bureau for Resilience and Food Security and as interim USAID Global Water Coordinator. In this role, she oversees the implementation of the Agency’s responsibilities under the U.S. Global Water Strategy. Ms. Barry also oversees the bureau’s strategy, program, budget and administrative functions, which support implementation of both the Water for the World and Feed the Future initiatives. Prior to joining RFS, she served as the Deputy of the Center of Excellence on Democracy, Human Rights, and Governance in USAID’s Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance. Before returning to Washington, she served for a year as the Acting Deputy Chief of Mission to the U.S. Embassy in Jamaica.

Ms. Barry has been working in international development for over 30 years. As a career member of the Senior Foreign Service, she has held various leadership positions throughout USAID. She served as USAID Mission Director to Jamaica responsible for the overall direction of programs that cut across a range of sectors, including citizen security, environment and health. Other assignments include serving in the Regional Development Mission for Asia (RDMA) in Bangkok overseeing a diverse portfolio aimed at narrowing the development gap in Southeast Asia, including programs in security, disaster management, human rights, trade, food security and local capacity development. In addition, Ms. Barry served in Afghanistan as the Deputy Office Director for USAID’s Office of Democracy and Governance, and as USAID East Africa’s Office Director for Somalia. In addition to her years with USAID, Ms. Barry worked for the United Nations Development Program and with CARE International. She holds an MPA in Public and Non-profit Management from New York University and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya.

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ANA MARGARIDA LUÍS

Member of the Board, Aguas de Portugal VALOR

Ana is member of the Board of Aguas de Portugal (AdP) VALOR and AdP Internacional, both of AdP Group. In recent years, Ana was also member of the Board of Aguas do Tejo Atlantico(the largest waste water utility in Portugal) and before she has been 15 years at EPAL (the largest drinking water utility in Portugal), as head of Asset Management and Climate Change. Before joining AdP Group, Ana worked for 10 years as a consultant, at Sir Alexander Gibb and Partners.

International project participation include EU and US Water Research Foundation funded R&D projects, as well as the collaboration with the EIB. Participation at several national working groups, having founded the “Climate Change Adaptation Group” of The Portuguese Association of Water Utilities.

Ana is also a member of the Policy Advisor Committee of Water Europe.

She holds a PhD in Strategic Risk Management by Cranfield University.

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HAPPY HAYNES

Executive Director, Denver Parks and Recreation

Allegra “Happy” Haynes is the Executive Director of Denver Parks and Recreation overseeing 250 urban parks, 29 recreation centers, 31 pools and 14,000 acres of mountain parks. Her vision is to help build a healthier city, create more park land and opportunities for all ages to play and exercise, increase sustainable practices, grow the urban forest and connect diverse communities to nature. Happy is a Denver native. She received a BA degree in Political Science from Barnard College at Columbia University and an MPA from the University of Colorado at Denver. During a career in local government spanning 36 years, Happy served 13 years on the Denver City Council from 1990 – 2003, including two years as President, and has served under three different mayors. She also served as an elected member of the Denver Public Schools Board of Education for 8 years. She currently serves on the national boards of the City Parks Alliance and the Trust for Public Land along with local boards including the Colorado Trust for Public Land, Denver Museum of Nature and Science, Denver Zoo, Denver Botanic Gardens, Salazar Center for North American Conservation, Civic Center Conservancy, Denver Park Trust, and The Park People.

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JENI ARNDT

Mayor of Fort Collins

Fort Collins has been home since I was three weeks old.

After attending Moore Elementary, Blevins Junior High School, and Poudre High School, I earned an undergraduate degree in Sociology at Colorado College. Soon afterwards I earned an MA in Geography from the University of Colorado followed by an MA in Special Education from Purdue University in Indiana. After teaching special education for a few years, I earned a Ph.D. in Literacy and Language from Purdue. 

When I was away—in college, in the Peace Corps (Morocco), in graduate school, living and working in Mozambique, Africa— Fort Collins was always my home. When the opportunity arose to live anywhere, my husband, Channing, and I enthusiastically returned to Fort Collins with our three children. My work experience includes Congressional intern, ESL teacher, Peace Corps volunteer, secondary special education teacher, middle school principal, International Baccalaureate Coordinator, university faculty member and department head.

In addition to working, teaching and attending school, I have been an active volunteer. Serving in the Peace Corps in Morocco was an honor. I served on school boards in Lafayette, Ind. and in Mozambique. After moving back to Fort Collins, I served on the Commission on Disability as well as Childsafe before running for State Representative in 2014. As a State Representative I have focused on water, agriculture, small business and public education. After 3+ terms in the General Assembly I was elected Mayor of Fort Collins in April, 2021.

Personally, my husband of 32 years and I have three adult children. My mom, Libby James is my rock and role model. In my free time, I run, bike, swim, read and talk to people. 

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