Staff

Alexandra Justesen
Harvest & Programs Coordinator

As a recent graduate from Arizona State University, Alexandra found herself in Denver. In her time at ASU, she researched climate policy, environmental justice, urban sustainability and food system resilience. After searching for the right way to put this education to practice, she was drawn to Community Fruit Rescue’s mission. CFR’s bottom-up approach to increase food system resilience and reconnect people with their food was exactly right. Her background in early childhood education, organizing at non-profits and canvassing within different communities has been a constant reminder that most things do take a village. In her free-time, Alexandra is aiming to put down roots in Colorado and explore a new ecosystem that is quite different from her desert beginnings.

Melanie Hill
Executive Director

Melanie serves as Community Fruit Rescue's Executive Director as of February 2023. She was first introduced to CFR while completing her Master's thesis - now the ongoing Bears & People Project - and joined the CFR Board of Directors after spending a season as a harvest leader. She received her MA in Media & Public Engagement from CU Boulder, with a focus on black bear coexistence in the region. After working more than a decade at the WILD Foundation as the Communications & Outreach Director, Melanie continues to focus her work around community-based environmental programs and advising students in the CU Wildlife Club. In her spare time, you can find Melanie exploring the great outdoors via foot, ski, and bike with her husband, apple-loving toddler, and two pups.

Phiala Deal 
​Harvest Outreach Intern

Originally from Virginia, Phiala moved to Colorado for college. She graduated this spring from CU Boulder with a degree in environmental studies and geography. Her interest in sustainable food systems led her to interning for Community Fruit Rescue. Phiala has a background in working in agroecology and researching how climate change is affecting food systems in the Arctic. When she's not working, Phiala enjoys hiking, cooking, and making jewelry.

Emma Perlstein
​​Harvest Outreach Intern

Emma is currently a junior at CU Boulder studying Environmental Studies and Economics. She is originally from Atlanta, Georgia, but loves the mountains and Colorado! Her passion for environmental conservation, specifically sustainable agriculture, led her to Community Fruit Rescue and drives her academic and extracurricular pursuits. Outside of school, Emma loves to hike, garden, and thrift, and she is a big fan of CU football. Emma also works for the College of Arts and Sciences as a student ambassador at CU where she loves to learn more about the University and talk to prospective students.

Board of Directors

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Blair Norman
Board President

Blair Norman co-founded Community Fruit Rescue in 2014 and serves as President of the Board. In 2014 she saw fruit rescue as a way to provide resources for the community as well as to reduce the attractiveness of our neighborhood apple trees to our local bears. She was a community garden volunteer leader in Boulder for 6 years and enjoys engaging volunteers to form community bonds. She works as the warehouse manager for a small bag manufacturing company in Boulder when she is not hiking, biking or camping in the Rocky Mountains.

Erin Hauer

Erin Hauer is a designer at a local landscape architecture firm that works closely with community, ecology, and water resources. She is involved in growing Fruit Rescue's tree care program, bringing insight from her master’s studies abroad on participatory design and management as well as her research experience with the European Forum on Urban Forestry. Her first harvest memories in Boulder were made while gathering fallen apples from a community lawn and baking them into pies with her grandmother.

Kelly Nix
​Secretary

As the Managing Director of Luvin Arms Animal Sanctuary, Kelly Nix fervently advocates for farmed animals, blending over 15 years of public education experience to enhance Community Fruit Rescue's educational and outreach efforts. With a Master's in Educational Leadership and Special Education and nearing completion of her Master's in Humane Education from Antioch University, Kelly seamlessly intertwines her profession with her passions. Away from Luvin Arms, she enjoys family activities, vegan recipe trials, treasure hunting at thrift stores, and local community events. She cherishes moments with her four beloved dogs, embodying her deep-seated love for animals and humane education principles.

Laura McGinley

Laura is a Florida native that vows to never leave Colorado! An accountant by trade, math is her third true love. Laura led the finance and accounting function for The Kitchen Restaurant Group’s growth period from 2013 to 2020, then took the financial and operational helm of Wahoo's Colorado in early 2020. She currently serves as Controller on the executive committee of the Colorado Restaurant Association Board of Directors. Fun fact: Laura originally dropped out of college to work professionally as a waterski stunt showman in the early 2000s, but returned to graduate with honors from the Warrington College of Business at the University of Florida, only after her body gave out from stunt work at the ripe old age of 26. These days you’ll find her on snow skis in Colorado’s beautiful backcounty, crocheting yet another blanket, or slinging tacos at one of Wahoo’s seven front range locations. ​

Lauren Tracey

Lauren Tracey lives on one of the oldest original fruit farms in Boulder and is excited to serve her community as a board member through Community Fruit Rescue. Lauren loves learning and helping others learn and is retired from a 25 year career in public education. She has a BS in Molecular Biology from CU, a degree in Contemplative Education from Naropa, and a Masters in Leadership and Administration from UCD. She grows raspberries, gooseberries, 3 varieties of apples, blackberries, peaches, plums and cherries, and loves to find new ways to preserve & share with others. Lauren is interested in food justice, climate action and community contribution. She works with Cool Boulder to support the Pollinator Advocate Program, and spread the word about native plants and biodiversity. Lauren loves to travel with her husband, and three children who live both locally and globally.

Micah Parkin
​Treasurer

Micah Parkin co-founded Community Fruit Rescue in 2014 and serves on the Board as the treasurer. In addition, she is a founder and Executive Director of 350 Colorado. She has 20+ years of experience as a climate and clean energy advocate, community leader and organizer, and nonprofit director. Micah serves on the City of Boulder's Clean Energy Technical Team, as well as the RenewablesYES and Empower Our Future teams. She serves on the steering committee for the Coloradans Against Fracking coalition and the board of Colorado Rising as well as on "The Shed" – Making Local Food Work coalition. She created the Boulder Edible Landscapes Coalition to promote local food growing and access for all community members. Micah is the mother of two daughters who fuel her passion to build a powerful climate and clean energy movement, create resilient communities and transition to a sustainable future.

Advisory Council

Jonathan Sekerak

Jonathan Sekerak is a brand and culinary innovation strategist at SRG, where he focuses on creating regenerative, for-profit business models. Prior to this he was the founder of a Boulder-based startup called UglyFruit, a social cause company seeking to combat food waste by converting seconds into shelf stable fruit snacks. Jonathan's passion lies at the intersection of human and planetary health, and he seeks to promote regenerative agriculture as the key to solving the challenges we face on both of these fronts. When he’s not skiing, hiking or otherwise adventuring in the mountains, you can usually find him cooking Thai food, seeking out live music, or planning his next SCUBA trip.

Ethan Welty

Ethan Welty is a research scientist turned urban forager. With technology and big data, he champions the overlooked but abundant food growing in cities, hoping to convince even the most diehard urbanite that cities can be a source of fresh and free food. He is a co-founder of Falling Fruit (fallingfruit.org) – a collaborative global urban foraging map – and co-founded Community Fruit Rescue in 2014, where he serves on the Steering Committee as a technology consultant extraordinaire. All the while balancing his photography career with research on glaciers for a Ph.D. at the Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research.

Lindsey Loberg

In addition to serving on Community Fruit Rescue's steering community, Lindsey Loberg is the Co-Executive director for Boulder Food Rescue, a nonprofit focused on building a more just food system. Lindsey first became involved with food justice work as a high school teacher in their hometown of Milwaukee, WI, facilitating student projects exploring food systems, food access, food waste, and food sovereignty. Their work focuses on community engagement and facilitating democratic, participatory systems of food access. They also sit on Boulder’s Human Relation’s Commission. Lindsey is learning Spanish and likes bicycle adventures.