Nikola Alexandre (he/they) - Co-Creator & Stewardship Lead
Nikola is a Black queer forester by training and by calling. Nikola was raised by the deserts of New Mexico and the alpine mountains of Southern France. After attending a nature-based healing gathering following the Pulse massacre, Nikola committed his life to healing through tending the earth and reclaiming land stewardship as a way of nurturing a future for the communities he belongs to. Nikola holds a Master’s of Forestry and Master’s of Business Administration from Yale University, and founded Conservation International’s Ecosystem Restoration Program. niko[at]shelterwoodcollective.org
Maya Harjo (she/they) - Board Member
Maya is a Native queer farmer dedicated to healing Native food systems through the revitalization of traditional foodways and the practice of sustainable agriculture. She is Mvskoke, Shawnee, Seminole, Jewish, and a citizen of the Quapaw Nation, who was raised in the unceded territory of the Gabrielino/Tongva peoples. Maya graduated from Brown University with a degree in Development Studies and a focus in tribal sovereignty and she holds a certificate of Ecological Horticulture from the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at UC Santa Cruz. Guided by teachings from Elders, Indigenous farmers, and TEK practitioners, she seeks to be a land steward whose practices cultivate ecocultural health – restoring physical, spiritual, and cultural health to Native communities and ecological health to the land. Maya has worked throughout California and the Southwest supporting tribal gardens and farms, including as a former Farm Manager at The Cultural Conservancy. Maya is currently pursuing a Masters degree in American Indian Studies at UCLA.
Brandon Jones (he/him) - Board Treasurer
Brandon is a Black gay community development professional with a deep commitment to mitigating collective trauma through healing-centered and culturally-informed practices. Growing up in North Carolina, Brandon tilled the soil of his great-grandmother’s garden and listened closely to all her teachings. As a child, he was sure he could communicate with trees and harness the wind. In adulthood, it is his mission to reclaim that inner child that was so connected to the land and ancestral wisdom. Brandon serves as the Vice President of Placemaking for Jamestown LP, and holds a Master of Arts in Cultural Sustainability and a Master of Business Administration from Goucher College.
Myles Lennon (he/him) - Board Secretary
Myles is an environmental anthropologist, Dean’s Assistant Professor of Environment & Society and Anthropology at Brown University, and a former sustainable energy policy practitioner. His research explores the intersectional dimensions of solar energy and young Black land stewards' efforts to return livelihood to land. His research has been supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Wenner-Gren Foundation. A Black boy who loves books and being outdoors at his core, he hails from Lenape and Canarsie land (New York City) but prefers to be in the forest at Shelterwood.
Deseree Fontenot (she/they) - Board President
Deseree is a Co-Director of Movement Generation: Justice and Ecology Project where she engages with hundreds of organizers, cultural workers and climate justice activists through justice and ecology retreats, workshops, cultural productions and regional land justice movement building. As a queer black organizer, farmer, and grassroots ecologist, Deseree’s work is focused on liberating land and queering ecological education. Deseree grew up between Southwest Louisiana and Los Angeles, California. She began her movement building journey as a student organizer working on queer and trans struggles in 2008. After almost a decade of working within the LGBTQ movement, Deseree shifted her focus towards land-based work as a scholar, activist and farmer. As a descendant of three generations of rural Louisiana sharecroppers, Deseree is committed to strengthening movements for black land, healing and liberation. In 2015 she became a co-founder of the People of Color Sustainable Housing Network and in 2016 she co-founded the Queer Eco-Justice Project, organizing at the intersection of ecological justice and queer liberation. Deseree holds an interdisciplinary MA in Social Transformation focused on African-diasporic spiritual traditions, ecology and land-based movements. Deseree is also an alumna of the ecological farming apprenticeship at the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. She enjoys growing food and medicine, eating spicy foods, and nerding out about cats, nature and movies.
Layel Camargo (them/them) - Co-Founder & Cultural Strategy Lead
Layel is Yaqui and Mayo of the Sonoran Desert born on the ancestral lands of the Kumayaay. As a transgender and gender non-conforming person, they’ve dedicated the last decade advancing climate justice through storytelling, cultural strategy and art making by creating campaigns like ‘Climate Woke’ with The Center For Cultural Power and supporting media projects like ‘The North Pole Show’ with Executive Producers Rosario Dawson and Movement Generation, Justice and Ecology Project. They are the producer and host of ‘Did We Go Too Far’, a climate justice podcast with Movement Generation. Most recently, Layel was named on the Grist 2020 Fixers List, and co-awarded a Humanitarian Award by the international association of sufism. They graduated from UC Santa Cruz with degrees in Feminist Studies and Legal Studies. layel[at]shelterwoodcollective.org
Joan Lora (he/him) - Infrastructure Lead
Born in the Dominican Republic and raised in Florida from the age of six, Joan knew from a young age that he was interested in a career in the sciences. Joan studied pre-med in undergrad and pursued a PhD in spatial navigation and head direction cells in mice. During graduate school, Joan discovered carpentry and furniture making and was instantly enamored, and continued expanding his woodworking knowledge while working in the sciences after graduating. With Shelterwood, Joan is excited to meld the worlds of science and woodworking, while making carpentry more accessible to folks not normally seen in this space. joan[at]shelterwoodcollective.org
Julia Velasquez (she/they) - Community & Retreat Center Lead; Board Member
A first generation Guatemalan-American, Julia discovered their love of community engagement as a high school intern at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) where they led the South L.A. Youth Internship Program. Before calling Shelterwood home, they were part of the inaugural team at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures as the Manager of Youth Programs, which opened in October 2021. Julia is passionate about community inclusion, composting, land stewardship, education and empowering folks to return to land. She is a proud community college re-entry transfer student with a B.A. in Anthropology from UC Berkeley. In addition to Julia’s role on Shelterwood’s staff, she also serves as a member of Shelterwood’s Board. julia[at]shelterwoodcollective.org
Yomi Sachiko Young (she/her) - Disability Justice Lead
Yomi is a single mama, beloved daughter, community elder and disability justice dreamer/organizer driven by the promise of liberation for all bodyminds. Hailing from the Bronx, NY, Yomi spent her formative years in California's Mojave Desert where she fell hard for big skies and wide open spaces. It was rugged desert terrain that taught her how to navigate wild spaces as a wheelchair user, and she still feels most alive and held in nature. Yomi is a former print journalist who once served as Executive Director of the landmark Center for Independent Living in Berkeley, CA, the nation's founding advocacy organization run by and for people with disabilities. She still writes on occasion, but mostly helps funders and movement organizers ground in disability justice praxis. Yomi has a B.A. in Public Health Equity from Mills College. yomi[at]shelterwoodcollective.org
Cole Nandwani (them/them) - Operations Lead
Cole is a queer, non-binary, grassroots and food justice organizer who comes from a line of Filipino farmers and German migrants. They have worked in Cooperative and School Administration for the last 8 years while completing their certification in Urban Agriculture and Permaculture Design. Cole’s work has been featured on Heritage Radio’s “Food Without Borders” Podcast, Buzzfeed’s article “Couples who are crushing the small business owner game” and The Laura Flanders Show’s “Co-op Stories: Khao’na Kitchen”. Cole completed The Marble House Project’s Culinary Artists Residency in 2019, held a 4.0 Schools Fellowship from 2017 - 2019 and graduated from the Green Workers Cooperative Academy in 2019. They hold a B.A. in Theatre Arts and Feminist Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz. In addition to their role as Operations Lead, they are also developing Shelterwood’s Food & Farming work. cole[at]shelterwoodcollective.org
Jose Becerra (he/him) - Forest Restoration Technician
José is a culinary artist and forest restoration practitioner hailing from central Mexico and putting roots down in Northern California since 2017. With a background in culinary arts and sales, he found his way to Shelterwood through a calling for a closer connection to the rest of nature and a deep love of creating sanctuary space for community. After a few years of getting to know the Shelterwood forest, he’s trading in his apron for a pair of sturdy boots and a passion for forest care. José now leads Shelterwood’s planting, fuels-to-flows, and outdoor education programs within the Forest Stewardship team. When he’s not helping to restore ecological habitat, you can find José baking cakes, mixing cocktails, and dancing. jose[at]shelterwoodcollective.org