Brett KenCairn
Brett serves as the city of Boulder’s Senior Policy Advisor for Climate Action and leads the City’s Natural Climate Solutions team. He is also the Director of the Center for Nature-based Solutions—a national initiative to expand natural climate solutions nationally that is co-sponsored by the Urban Sustainability Directors Network.
Brett’s primary responsibility is the ongoing evolution of the city’s climate action initiatives. Over the past two years, Brett has coordinated cross-department/multistakeholder efforts in soil regeneration and sequestration research on agricultural lands and an urban forestry expansion campaign at a local, regional and national level. Prior to working for the city, Brett worked across the western US in community-based sustainable development, working in both rural, Native American and other communities in transition across the western US. He also is the founder or co-founder of four non-profits and two for-profits including the Rogue River Institute for Ecology and Economy, Veterans Green Jobs, and Community Energy Systems.
Ashley Stolzmann
Ashley Stolzmann is Boulder County’s newest county commissioner; she was elected in November 2022. Before becoming commissioner, she served on the Louisville City Council from 2013, first as a council member before being elected mayor in 2019. Ashley has served as a member of the Denver Regional Council of Governments’ Executive and Finance Committee, the Regional Transportation Committee, and the State Transportation Advisory Committee. She received a chemical engineering degree with the highest scholastic honors (first in class) from the Colorado School of Mines and her professional background includes product and process engineering. As a Boulder County Commissioner, she is committed to serving the Boulder County community in a way that protects the environment and allows every person the opportunity to thrive. Ashley believes that taking climate action is the most important issue facing Boulder County and the world.
Damien Thompson
Damien Thompson, PhD is Associate Professor of Anthropology, Department of Anthropology, Sociology and Criminal Justice at Regis University. In addition to his training in anthropology, Dr. Thompson also holds a certification in Permaculture Design, an Advanced Permaculture Design certification and a 200-hour Yoga Alliance Teaching Certification. His interests center on the building of community food systems, small scale urban food production, developing community and cultural practices related to food and medicine, teaching and learning in education and permaculture as one method related to how to pursue those interests. Specifically Dr. Thompson is interested in how communities can utilize traditional and modern information and practices to build food systems which uplift marginalized and oppressed peoples, restore ecosystems, build biodiversity, support cultural diversity as well as provide individuals and families with the highest level of access to the means to support their own health. In 2018 Dr. Thompson co-founded FrontLine Farming a Denver-based, BIPOC and women-led farming non-profit organization whose mission is to create greater equity across the food system, to support and create greater leadership and access for women and people of color in our food systems.
Jennifer Riley-Chetwynd
Jennifer Riley-Chetwynd has worked on water issues locally, nationally and internationally. She is the Director of Marketing and Social Responsibility at Denver Botanic Gardens, where she drives sustainability-oriented programming, partnerships and communications. She is the Co-Director of the One World One Water (OWOW) Center, a joint initiative of the Gardens and Metropolitan State University of Denver. Prior to coming to the Gardens in 2011, Jennifer worked for Rain Bird, where she spearheaded the company's global CSR initiatives. Jennifer currently serves on the board of environmental news organization H2O Radio, is a past board member of the Alliance for Water Efficiency and the American Public Gardens Association and was the co-organizer for the 2011 International Water Forum at the United Nations. Jennifer has an MBA from the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business, an MA in Latin American Studies from the University of Texas at Austin and a bachelor's degree in Journalism from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism.
Nick DiDomenico
Nick DiDomenico is Co-Founder of Drylands Agroecology Research (DAR), which educates, designs, installs, and maintains regenerative land stewardship projects throughout the Boulder County region in Colorado. Using terraforming, agroforestry, silvo-pasture, holistic grazing, and other strategies, Nick and his team are working to restore hundreds of acres. Nick DiDomenico and co-founder Marissa Pulaski turned their barren and overgrazed land into a beautiful and productive farm, where they sell their meats and produce through a CSA, hand-craft kombucha, grow their own apothecary, and train interns on permaculture practices. Elk Run Farm is the pilot research project for their nonprofit, Drylands Agroecology Research. The organization aims to collaborate with local government and private landowners to transform unused and degraded land into abundant food systems, targeting communities that cannot afford nutritious local food.