Rio Grande

Engaging entrepreneurs and stakeholders in a collaborative effort to grow trust, connectivity, and community engagement, ESHIP Rio Grande is aligning around the food and agriculture sectors in north central New Mexico.

Work is initially focused across a geographic area that includes Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Los Alamos, and Espanola.

We’d love to get you plugged into the exciting work and collaborations emerging in your local ESHIP Community! Sign-up to receive info about upcoming opportunities and stay in-the-know with monthly updates.

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Meet Our Council

Get to know the power behind the work! Meet our group of council members who make our local efforts happen.

Get to Know Us

Arin Ortigoza HeadshotErin Ortigoza

ESHIP Rio Grande Local Director

Erin has been involved with food community planning and development in a variety of capacities for over 15 years. Through her previous work as the senior planner at Santa Fe County, Erin was responsible for creating the Santa Fe County Agriculture and Ranching Implementation Plan. She also coordinated numerous agricultural demonstration projects and the AgriGate of Santa Fe County, an online clearinghouse of food and agricultural information designed to support food access and networking opportunities in the region.

Before coming to Forward Cities, Erin was also the co-owner of Ancient Waters Farm, her family farm in La Madera, New Mexico, from 2012 through 2017. She is passionate about facilitating collective work supportive to a rich and resilient entrepreneurial environment for the food and agricultural community of New Mexico.

ESHIP Rio Grande Local Director, Erin Ortigoza, Discusses Food Agriculture, Hunger and Economic Development

Listen in as ESHIP Rio Grande Local Director, Erin Ortigoza, speaks with a community partner Michael Venticinque of the New Mexico Farmers' Marketing Association on The Richard Eeds Show.

They weigh in on the importance of regional collaboration to maximize every grower’s ability to fully access local and regional markets, emphasizing access to resources and food safety training for diverse communities to better balance supply and demand for New Mexico grown produce.

Listen Now!

ESHIP Rio Grande Council Members React to Newly Released Food Asset Survey

ESHIP Rio Grande Council conducted an exploratory study about the storage and transportation capacity across the state to inform the work. They sought detailed information about storage availability, backhaul capacity, transportation variability, and how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the local food supply chain.

Watch the reviews
Read The Survey Report

VIEW PRESENTATION OF RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

The purpose of the Research Summary is to inform the local council on the latest ecosystem data available as they support and form current and future pathfinder projects.

Download Full Summary

This Kauffman Foundation initiative is led by a collaborative council of individuals who represent different stakeholders from across the community. Forward Cities is managing the implementation of this effort as a grantee of the Kauffman Foundation.

For more information contact:

Erin Ortigoza

ESHIP Rio Grande Local Director

eortigoza@forwardcities.org

Brett Brenton

Senior Director of Learning Networks

bbrenton@forwardcities.org