Panelist Highlight, Food Sovereignty Panel Discussion

Our May 2025 FED Workshop, a Panel Discussion on the Food Sovereignty, is quickly approaching. We have four incredible panelists and one moderator that are eager to explore this topic and share about their personal stories and experiences. Read on to get a sneak peak and check out their businesses!

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Jade Sato of Minoru Farm.

As a mixed Yonsei Coloradan, Jade Sato is determined to locally grow Asian varieties of vegetables for the community in the greater Denver Metro area. Since the start of Minoru Farm in 2020 it has been a way to honor ancestors and continue explore overlapping identities in food culture and history of Asian people in Colorado.

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Thái Nguyen of Kaizen Food Rescue.

Thái Nguyen is a dedicated community leader and advocate passionately working towards food justice, sustainable agriculture, and community resilience. Leveraging her background as a refugee with expertise in marketing and advocacy, she founded a grassroots nonprofit in 2019 to expand equitable food access and empower underserved communities, and she actively contributes her expertise through service on numerous boards and advisory committees.

Thái Nguyen serves on the following boards and advisory committees:

• Blueprint to End Hunger (Food Sovereignty Advisory Board)

• Denver Sustainable Food Policy Council

• Food Justice Northwest Aurora (Board Director)

• Jefferson County Food Policy Council (Community Advisory Board)

• Mile High Farmers (Secretary & Co-Policy Chair)

• Mountain West Climate Engagement Hub (West Denver Hub Community Advisory Board)

• Office of New Americans (Community Advisory Committee)

• USDA Beginning Farmers and Ranchers (Federal Advisory Committee)

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Shaina Gonzales of Spirit of the Sun.

Shaina-Rae Nan-Bah Gonzales is Dine' and Hopi Born in Shiprock New Mexico but spent most of her life in Denver, Colorado. Shaina is the second eldest daughter of Spirit of the Sun's Executive Director Shannon Francis. Her Dine' clans are Towering House born for Red Running into the Water clan. Her Hopi clans are Massau', Bear, Sand and Snake Clan. Shaina began volunteering with teen youth with the Four Winds American Indian Council. Over the last 20 years, she has been fighting for Indigenous rights and social justice at demonstrations and provided first aid as a frontline street-medic.

With 14 years of Restaurant Management and hospitality, she worked as a manager for 6 years at Tocabe American Indian Eatery serving the Denver Native community. Tocabe is the only American Indian owned and operated restaurant in Metro Denver specializing in Native and Indigenous cuisine with connections to American Indian cultural elements.  Shaina also has experience as a Child Care Program Assistant specializing in pre-toddler and toddler early childhood development at the United States Air/Space Force child development center. Shaina is a mother of two wonderful children that are her world.

Shaina began seed harvesting, processing and caretaking Spirit of the Sun's Indigenous seeds in the fall of 2022. She developed Spirit of the Sun's first ever Indigenous Toddlers and Teachings (ITTP) focused program that launched this spring. She has written a curriculum based on Indigenous human reciprocal relationship to Mother Earth, through seeds and soil. The ITTP program is a seasonal alignment of interactive teachings weaving cognitive social emotional development fine motor and gross motor skills. Taking part in co-creating the first SOTS Indigenous, heirloom, non gmo, seed library. Her work includes working towards re-matriation to restore sacred relationships between Indigenous people and our ancestral lands. Starting from soil to seed, she advocates for the preservation of our ancestral lifeways to create sustainable food systems and self-reliance for the future of our land and Indigenous community.

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Fatuma Emmad of Frontline Farming.

Rooted in the soil and guided by the wisdom of land and community, Fatuma Emmad is a farmer, seed keeper, and advocate for food sovereignty. As the Co-Founder and Executive Director of FrontLine Farming, she stewards land with a deep respect for ancestral knowledge, cultivating foodways that nourish both body and spirit.

Raised between Denver and Ethiopia, Fatuma’s journey has always been intertwined with the cycles of land, birth, and care. Before farming, she worked as a political scientist, researching the impacts of genetically modified seeds in Africa. Now, she sees her role as both a cultivator of soil and a protector of traditions that sustain life.

Her commitment to justice extends beyond the field—she leads Project Protect Food Systems, fighting for the dignity of farmworkers, and serves as Co-Chair of the Denver African American Commission and on the Sustainable Food Council. Through her work, she uplifts the interconnected struggles of land, labor, and healing, recognizing that birth, food, and sovereignty are woven together in the fabric of liberation. Her contributions to the community and her leadership in advocating for health equity in food access have earned her numerous accolades, including the inaugural Kathy Underhill Scholarship. In 2021, Fatuma was honored as one of the 50 leaders nationwide by the Black Voices for Black Justice fund, which acknowledges significant Black leaders and organizations working toward a just, equitable, and anti-racist America. In 2025 she also became a Catalyst Fellow.

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Roberto Meza of Hearty Provision.

Roberto Meza (he/him) is a first-generation farmer, food systems entrepreneur, and educator. Born in Mexico, he co-founded Emerald Gardens, a year-round greenhouse operation in Bennett, Colorado. He currently serves as CEO of Hearty Provisions, a leading regional food hub and distributor in Colorado. Known for developing innovative, community-centered models for food production and distribution, Meza is reshaping how institutions and foodservice providers source local ingredients. His work focuses on building collaborative models, coordinating across value chains, and investing in shared resources that strengthen resilience in food systems.

Guided by a belief in collective impact, Meza also co-founded the Ag & Food Lab, a nonprofit that supports farmers and food entrepreneurs in building resilient, community-rooted food ecosystems. A passionate advocate for policy change and grassroots leadership, Meza serves on the board of the National Young Farmers Coalition and was appointed to the Colorado Agricultural Commission (2021–2025). He frequently speaks on regenerative farming, food systems innovation, and social entrepreneurship.