Owner-operator of Dry Land Distillers, a successful craft distiller in Longmont, Colorado. CGC Board member since 2020. Nels taps into 25 years experience in organizational development and leadership consulting at a global consulting firm to help the CGC effectively manage operations and activities.

Andrew Calabrese is a Professor of Media Studies and Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Programs at the University of Colorado’s College of Media, Communication and Information (CMCI). His research and publishing are about media and social movements, communication rights and media policy. His recent work focuses on the intersections of media and food politics, including matters of public knowledge about food, food sovereignty, barriers to access to healthy food, and risk factors associated with food production and consumption. He is active in the Boulder County community in promoting public awareness about local food and agriculture. He currently is making a documentary film about the movement to establish local and regional grain economies, with a particular focus on developments in Colorado.

Hannah Rossman co-owns Blue Grouse Bread with her cousin, Ben, in Norwood CO. At the bakery they mill 100% of their own whole wheat flour from wheat berries sourced in various locations of Colorado. With the recent addition of a grant funded community mill and sifter behind the bakery, Blue Grouse hopes to help revitalize the grain economy of Wright's Mesa and beyond by linking local growers with local bakers. Hannah's background in bread began during her upbringing in northern Vermont where wood fired bread ovens and hearty sourdough loaves were a huge part of her community.  She opened Blue Grouse in 2016 hoping to bring a little bit of Vermont to the Western Slope.

As an artisan baker, David Kaminer is proud to do what bakers have been doing for thousands of years – creating life out of flour, water and salt. He grew up outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and graduated from Pennsylvania Institute of Culinary Arts in 2002. He jumped at the opportunity for an externship at the Broadmoor in Colorado Springs and moved to this beautiful state that same year. David has had amazing opportunities to grow and refine his culinary know-how at bakeries and restaurants in Golden, Denver, and Boulder. He resides on Raleigh Street in northwest Denver with his wife Missy, son Desmond, and dog Caper. Thanks to Colorado's cottage food act, and the support, shovels and sweat of his invaluable friends, He broke ground on the Raleigh Street Bakery dream in August 2014 and sold his first loaf in January 2015.  

Robbie Vitrano, ceo Innisfree. Regenerative agriculture, climate finance, media, and social entrepreneurship make up Robbie’s Venn diagram portfolio.

In addition to his board role with the Colorado Grain Chain, he is board chair of Mad Agriculture, an organization igniting the regenerative ag revolution through their work with farmers, markets, brands, media, and finance.  He is also the co-founder of Ecority, a clean energy finance and marketing platform helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and facilitate environmental justice in partnership with the $2T U.S. credit union sector. 
Along the way he has built and sold several consumer food brands designed to help reimagine the food system, address malnutrition, and support regenerative supply chains (Naked Pizza, Good Spread, and Dubai-based Locale).  He co-founded Trumpet, a brand design studio, and Idea Village, a non-profit social entrepreneurship hub in post-Katrina New Orleans that has become a global model of place-based innovation.  Both Naked Pizza and Trumpet, were named to Fast Company’s list of “World’s Most Innovative Companies.". 

Felicia Ohnmacht is the a co-founder and Director of Operations with Whiskey Sister Supply. Along with her sister, Stephanie, as grain advocates they work closely with farmers and distillers because they believe that what’s in the bottle and how it gets there matters. It all started with their family farm, ultimately saving it, and in the process her love of both industries grew. A few years ago, an opportunity arose for Felicia to manage the family farm. In this additional role, she now brings a very unique perspective to understand the challenges that face both industries and the best ways to bring them together. Don’t be surprised if you find her having deep conversations about grain terroir, farming successes/challenges, and being genuinely curious about all things distilling over a dram. 

Sarah co-owns Jones Farms Organics, a 4th and 5th generation family farm in the San Luis Valley, and the 1st Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC) Farm in the state of Colorado. JFO grows multiple varieties of heirloom wheat and rye (Rouge de Bordeaux, Yecora Rojo, Sonora, Durum, Wrens Abruzzi, and Ryman Rye) and over 20 varieties of specialty potatoes. As the director of sales, marketing, and logistics, she has cultivated relationships with over 30 direct customers. Sarah was the vision behind the recently launched Rye Resurgence Project, which was awarded grant funding from the SLV Water Conservancy District to help farmers in the SLV reduce reliance on groundwater, improve soil health and maintain profitability through cultivating a market for local terroir driven rye. 

Joan has spent seven years working with grain: six years as a sourdough bread baker and one year as a miller. Four and a half of these were with Moxie Bread Co. in Boulder County, Colorado. As a baker, Joan always loved fermentation and the sourdough bread process, as a space of limitless creativity and deliciousness! As a miller, she was inspired to meet the passionate people all along the grain chain -- from the farmers to the food and drink makers. As an educator and artist, she's been rewarded by teaching bread classes and creating educational (and fun) grain resources for our community. These lives have informed one another and have left Joan with a great sense of hope for a more accessible, transparent, sustainable, and healthy grain system. Joan is also a founding member of the Andy Clark Foundation. 

Audrey has been involved in rural and urban food systems across the continent and is passionate about seeds, education, and supporting equitable local food systems, bridging the gap between nutrition and planetary health. In 2020, she received a Bachelor of Science in Global Resource Systems from the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Audrey is grateful to have returned to the mountains of Colorado where she enjoys getting to learn and interact with our regional food system. In her free time she enjoys reading, spending time in nature, singing, practicing the violin, yoga, and time with friends and family. 

Lisa found her true passion in Colorado's craft beer industry after earning a Masters degree in Hydrogeology from the University of Northern Arizona in Flagstaff. Using Colorado grown grains was a very important (self-imposed) requirement for her and her husband/business partner, Brandon, when they opened Primitive Beer back in 2018. This brewery focuses on 100% spontaneously inoculated lambic-style beers using only Colorado grown and foraged ingredients.