Team

Biografías en español aquí

Cecilio Trinidad (he/ him)* Land Steward 

Cecilio Trinidad was born in Guadalajara Jalisco, currently residing in Forest Knolls for the last 25 years with his family of three. With 17 years of land stewardship experience, Cecilio has been tending the land at the Fibershed Learning Center since 2020.

Heather Podoll (she/ her) Partnership & Advocacy Coordinator

Heather Podoll manages communication and outreach relating to public grants and other core Fibershed projects. Heather holds an M.S. in Agricultural Ecology from UC Davis. She has spent the past 20 years involved with research, practice, promotion, and teaching of sustainable and organic agricultural systems, working with a range of nonprofit, philanthropic and educational organizations. As an avid knitter, she is delighted to bring together her background in ecological research and agricultural systems with a holistic and local perspective on fiber arts and textile systems.

Marilu Rivera (she/ her)* Land Steward 

Marilu Rivera was born & raised in Mendocino county to parents from Michoacan Mexico. She is a small business owner with more than 10 years of agriculture & horticultural background, currently focusing on ancestral food, dye & cut flower cultivation. 

Mary Kate Randolph (she/her), Climate Beneficial-Program Analyst

Mary Kate supports the development of the Climate Beneficial Verification program as Fibershed’s Climate Beneficial Program Analyst, helping to accelerate the program’s impact. She has worked with B2B sustainable apparel organizations over the years, collaborating with brands and retailers to bring private label programs to market, managing the process from farm-to-finished product. Growing up in the Hudson Valley NY, inspired by local makers and producers, Mary Kate experienced first hand the power of community and knowing the source of where/how products are made. These roots have continued to fuel her passion for sustainability and regeneration — to help scale climate strategy and solutions that create long term holistic impact for the textile industry and beyond.

Mike Conover (he/ him) Climate Beneficial™ Technician

Mike Conover is Fibershed’s Climate Beneficial™ Technician. He collaborates with the 70+ land stewards within our Climate Beneficial Agriculture program, local and regional technical assistance providers, and partnering organizations to promote land-based carbon drawdown and soil regeneration. Mike assists producers in having Carbon Farm Plans developed for their land, access funding sources to implement carbon farming practices, learn about their soil through soil sampling, and become Climate Beneficial Verified. He holds an M.S. in Ecological Design from the Conway School and has spent the past decade studying and practicing regenerative agriculture and sustainable land-planning. He sees carbon farming and regenerative agriculture as essential strategies to address global climate change, rebuild healthy soils, and create more resilient regional economies around food and fiber.

Paige Green (she/ her)* Photographer

Paige Green is a documentary and portrait photographer in Petaluma, California, whose storytelling approach to photography focuses on women, social justice and environmental activism. In 2010, Paige began working with Executive Director of Fibershed, Rebecca Burgess, to capture the stories of local natural fiber and the textile community, from fiber farmers, ranchers, small manufacturers, artisans, and designers, helping define Fibershed.

Rachel Kastner-Lopez (she/her), Climate Beneficial™ Brand Engagement Manager

Rachel works with apparel and textile brands to develop innovative sourcing relationships with Climate Beneficial™ fiber farmers. In her role at Fibershed, she collaborates with brands and farmers to successfully communicate the value and impact of Climate Beneficial™ to consumers and stakeholders. Rachel brings extensive experience working with brands across apparel, food, and cosmetics industries to develop strategies for improving businesses’ social and environmental impact in agricultural sourcing systems. After spending ten years as a regenerative farmer and educator, she transitioned to working with companies to transform industry impact through new sourcing and supply solutions. Rachel believes farmers and businesses can collaborate to create market solutions for investing in socially and environmentally just and regenerative fiber systems.

Sirima Sataman (she/ her) Director of Programs

Sirima Sataman helps bring Fibershed’s programs, communications, and operations into strategic alignment to further the organization’s efficacy and impact. Sirima has a deep and diverse background in sustainability, design, regenerative agriculture, and fine art. She is also a Fibershed Producer member and tends a flock of 20 Shetland sheep on seven acres in Coastal California.

As the Director of the Climate Beneficial Verification Program, Siena is responsible for scaling the strategic direction of the program to align with market demands for measurable, traceable, and holistic climate solutions. As someone whose experience spans design, marketing, strategy, education and tool development, they specialize in bringing together the often disconnected worlds of data and storytelling, business realities and aspirations.  Over the last decade they have worked with small innovators to large sector players including, Textile Exchange, Patagonia, Parsons School for Design, Gap, Nike, and the Sustainable Apparel Coalition.  Siena’s passion for regeneration began after living next to a small scale cattle rancher in Colorado, and believes strongly in reconnecting the narrative of communities and ecosystems in our contemporary sustainability discourse.

Vicki Russo (she/ her) Director of Business Administration

As Fibershed’s Director of Business Administration, Vicki Russo oversees financial aspects of the organization, human resources, and organizational policies. She holds a BA in Business Management. She has spent the past 30 years working in training and development and organizational development. Vicki was born and raised in Sonoma County and is excited to contribute to this community.

Rebecca Burgess (she/ her) Executive Director 

Rebecca Burgess has two decades of experience working at the intersection of ecology, fiber systems, and regional economic development. She is the author of the best-selling book Harvesting Color, a bioregional look into the natural dye traditions of North America, and Fibershed: Growing a Movement of Farmers, Fashion Activists, and Makers for a New Textile Economy released in 2019. She has taught at Westminster College, Harvard University, and California College of the Arts. She also holds a new board position at the Livestock Conservancy and is serving on the leadership council of the Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Systems at Chico State University.

*We are grateful to work with a talented team of consultants and project leaders, all of whom conduct specialized services for the organization, along with other work in the community. For a full list of contractors, please contact hello@fibershed.org.

Dustin Kahn (she/ her) Secretary

Dustin has been a graphic designer for nearly 40 years, currently working primarily in publication and website design. She also grows dye plants and is a natural dye instructor, having studied natural dyes since 2009, with a special interest in indigo. For three years, Dustin was a partner in West County Fiber Arts, a fiber arts school in Sonoma County, and she is currently organizing fiber arts classes for the Fibershed Learning Center.

Kat Anderson, Ph.D (she/ her)

Kat has a Ph.D. in Wildland Resource Science from UC Berkeley and is the author of the book Tending the Wild: Native American Knowledge and the Management of California’s Natural Resources. The book was recently chosen by the celebrated permaculture designer Ben Falk, as one of the most important books to read in order to permanently solve food security. Kat has worked with Native Americans for over 25 years, learning how indigenous people judiciously gather and steward native plants and ecosystems in the wild. Her interests are to learn, celebrate, and restore the similar plant uses, gathering and tending practices, and ethical stances towards nature that are in multiple local cultures here and around the world.

Marlie de Swart (she/ her) Treasurer

Marlie is a fiber skills educator and small business owner, as well as a fiber and ceramic artist. She has been involved in creating fiber works from local sources since childhood. She grew up in Holland, graduated from the Sorbonne in Paris and Occidental College in Southern California, and met her husband while attending Art Center College of Design. Currently Marlie has a local fiber arts cooperative store, Black Mountain Artisans, in Point Reyes Station. She recently published a book of her knitting designs called Knitting Woolscapes, Designs Inspired by Coastal Marin Wool.

Rebecca Burgess (she/ her) Executive Director 

Rebecca Burgess has two decades of experience working at the intersection of ecology, fiber systems, and regional economic development. She is the author of the best-selling book Harvesting Color, a bioregional look into the natural dye traditions of North America, and Fibershed: Growing a Movement of Farmers, Fashion Activists, and Makers for a New Textile Economy released in 2019. She has taught at Westminster College, Harvard University, and California College of the Arts. She also holds a new board position at the Livestock Conservancy and is serving on the leadership council of the Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Systems at Chico State University.