Board of Advisors
Nicol Ragland
Nicol Ragland
Nicol Ragland
With a degree in environmental science as well as photography, Nicol has created imagery with an emphasis on cause driven storytelling that does not cause dispute but rather reconfigure who we are. An aesthetic meant to push boundaries and bridge difference. A long term photographic and film exploration into humanity’s relationship to cul
With a degree in environmental science as well as photography, Nicol has created imagery with an emphasis on cause driven storytelling that does not cause dispute but rather reconfigure who we are. An aesthetic meant to push boundaries and bridge difference. A long term photographic and film exploration into humanity’s relationship to culture and the wild, Nicol finds culture to be an accumulation of ideas where we explore ways of exploring. This infinite play is where she’s found the best terrain to collaborate, listen carefully and recognize expansion due to authoring and co-authoring. After having directed the film, FARMERS FOOTPRINT, she has continued in the growing movement of Regenerative Agriculture to document work from RCS Australia as well as black farming in Oklahoma. Currently she is building the non-profit REGENERATE OKLAHOMA - a statewide soil health initiative that seeks to advance the practices of regenerative agriculture.
Nicol was born in Oklahoma, and valued dual citizenship there and in Colorado as a child. She worked in the craft of imagery for 18 years in Los Angeles to then return back to red-dirt roots, creating a home on Oklahoma’s RAGLAND RANCH.
Nicol's work can be seen @ https://www.nicolragland.com/
Ray Archuleta
Nicol Ragland
Nicol Ragland
Ray Archuleta is a Certified Professional Soil Scientist with the Soil Science Society of America and has over 30 years of experience as a Soil Conservationist, Water Quality Specialist, and Conservation Agronomist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). During his tenure with the NRCS Ray served in New Mexico, Missouri, O
Ray Archuleta is a Certified Professional Soil Scientist with the Soil Science Society of America and has over 30 years of experience as a Soil Conservationist, Water Quality Specialist, and Conservation Agronomist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). During his tenure with the NRCS Ray served in New Mexico, Missouri, Oregon, and North Carolina. Ray received his AS degree in Livestock Science from Northern New Mexico College and a BS degree in Agricultural Biology plus 30 hours of graduate work in soil-related courses from New Mexico State University. He served in the Peace Corps for two years in Guatemala as a Livestock Specialist.After his retirement from the NRCS in 2017, Ray founded Understanding Ag, LLC, and Soil Health Academy, to teach Biomimicry strategies and Agroecology principles for improving soil function on a national scale. Ray also owns and operates a 150-acre farm near Seymour, Missouri that he operates along with his wife and family.
Robyn O'Brien
Nicol Ragland
Robyn O'Brien
Robyn O’Brien is co-founder of rePlant Capital, an impact investment firm, deploying integrated capital from soil to shelf to support American farmers and the food industry in their conversion to regenerative, organic agriculture. With a twenty-year background in food and finance, Robyn O’Brien triggered an allergic reaction in the food i
Robyn O’Brien is co-founder of rePlant Capital, an impact investment firm, deploying integrated capital from soil to shelf to support American farmers and the food industry in their conversion to regenerative, organic agriculture. With a twenty-year background in food and finance, Robyn O’Brien triggered an allergic reaction in the food industry when she asked: “Are we allergic to food, or what’s been done to it?” She has been called “food’s Erin Brockovich” by Bloomberg and the New York Times. Originally from a conservative Texas family, Robyn earned an MBA on a full scholarship from Rice University, graduating as the top woman in her class before going to work as a financial analyst that covered the food industry. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Washington and Lee, where she was also Phi Beta Kappa and is an adjunct professor at Rice University.
Trey Blackhawk
Lynnette Miller
Lynnette Miller
Mr. Blackhawk was born and raised in Northeast Nebraska in a small town called Winnebago. He is also an enrolled member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. Trey is passionate about growing a variety of foods that are in abundance! He aims to help Tribal nations and rural communities establish sustainability and food sovereignty through local food systems. Trey is the Manager at the Winnebago Tribal Farm for the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, he is also a part of the Future Leaders in Agriculture program for the USDA, and a part of the USDA 1994 Tribal Scholars Program. Trey is pursuing two majors, one in Biology and the other in Agriculture. Growing up in a food desert with limited access to fresh and nutritious foods is what led him to pursue a career in Agriculture and take an internship with the Office of Tribal Relations within the USDA.
Lynnette Miller
Lynnette Miller
Lynnette Miller
Lynnette Miller grew up on a large cow/calf ranch in Olpe, Kansas. She graduated from Emporia State University and raised two children on a farmstead outside of Olpe. Lynnette joined with Gail Fuller in a venture to provide regeneratively grown food to the local food systems in 2015. She owns and holistically manages a flock of Katahdin ewes, along with laying hens, pastured pigs, and meat chickens. She spends the fall canning & preserving the harvest and also makes most of their beauty care products. Lynnette and Gail recently relocated their farm to Severy and are in the early stages of building a 162-acre food farm including grass-based meats, produce, value-added products, and education events. Their goal is to help revitalize rural communities by reshaping the way we grow food. Lynnette is continually changing and learning to provide a healthy life while protecting and regenerating the environment and land.
Laura Thomas
Lynnette Miller
Laura Thomas
Laura grew up in rural Nebraska and has had the privilege to live, study and extensively travel nationally and globally. She is an international nonprofit and social impact sector researcher, consultant and director based in Omaha, Nebraska. She received her Masters of Science in International Mission Driven Organizations from the SIT Graduate Institute (formerly named the School for International Training) in Brattleboro, Vermont. She is the Communications and Partnership Manager for GC Resolve and the senior advisor for the Nebraska World Affairs Council. Her greatest joy and most important role is raising her incredible five-year-old son Grayson.