staff
Meet the Team
AUA’s organizational structure is based on a horizontal and collective leadership model. With this shift, AUA has moved away from titles such as ‘executive director’ and ‘manager’ roles.
Valentine Espinoza
Soil Health Organizer
Valentine is passionate about documenting her community and social movements. She’s spent the last ten years working across the country and in southern Mexico with Prairie Dust Films, and The Waters Connect Us documenting and advocating for land and water conservation, sustainability, and food sovereignty. Her most recent work has been
grounded in community based soil science.
Bea
Program Steward
Bea, Programs Steward, is a land steward who imagines a more resilient food system built upon land rematriation, justice, and reparation.They spent four years living, learning, and farming in New York before settling down in Chicago.
Tucker Kelly
Water Access Steward
Tucker Kelly, Water Access Steward, began farming in 2010 on an organic farm in Ohio. Their area of focus since moving to Chicago in 2016 has been providing vocational training for ex-offenders and young adults with disabilities. Since 2023, they have helped Chicagoland growers improve their access to affordable, safe water for agricultural uses. Their joys: cycling, high summer, and chocolate.
Jazmin Martinez
Co-Operations Steward
Jazmin is a farmer from La Villita/Little Village neighborhood in Chicago and uses They/them pronouns. They are an owner-worker of Catatumbo Cooperative Farm currently located in South Chicago. They have previous experience working in social services providing crisis and trauma-informed support and connecting individuals and families to resources. Additionally, their background involves organizing within the immigrant rights movement. Through their work, they saw a need to create economic opportunities for historically excluded communities and was drawn to urban farming, particularly within a worker-cooperative model. Their work is grounded in reverence for the land and hands that feed and nourish us. They are committed to connecting urban agriculture with broader social justice movements to envision and create other possible worlds.
Viviana Okakpu
Co-Operations Steward
Viviana Okakpu, Co-Operations and Solidarity Steward, is an urban farmer, herbalist, animal keeper, homesteader, business owner, and myco-remediator born and raised on Chicago’s Southside. They ground their work in a deep reverence for the land, water, and food and medicine sovereignty.
Aasia
Resource Steward
Aasia is AUA’s Resource Steward, part of a team, she leads the organization's financial sustainability by managing a value-aligned, diverse portfolio of funders and donors as well as developing new funder partnerships. Aasia holds a Bachelor's degree in Anthropology from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She has worked in development for five years, communications + community organizing for over a decade.
Grower Programs
Learn about our programs.
At our core, we are dedicated to fostering a sustainable and thriving agricultural community in Chicago. Our initiatives support growers through comprehensive programs that enhance soil health, provide essential water access, and offer invaluable mentorship. By empowering farmers with capacity building grants and resources, we aim to create a resilient, productive, and environmentally-friendly urban farming ecosystem.
[Image: Dr. Israel and Dr. Martin with AUA at the African Heritage Garden]