Staff
The Metro Team is dedicated to “learning, connecting and engaging to achieve Healthy People and Healthy Places.” Our bilingual staff reflects the multicultural landscape of the San Joaquin Valley and showcases a diverse set of backgrounds, including city planning, community organizing, environmental justice, community food systems, public relations and communications.
Administration
Emogene Nelson
Position: Executive Director
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Fresno Metro allows me to use my gifts and talents to serve the community through outreach and service from a place of servitude, gratitude, and love. "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." Maya Angelou
Dr. Vicki Taylor
Position: Deputy Director
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I am grateful to serve the community alongside such amazing and talented colleagues leading this valuable work for Fresno Metro. Their passion and commitment to fulfilling Metro's mission and vision and ensuring that equity is at the forefront of all programs does not go unnoticed. "Hunger is not an issue of charity. It is an issue of justice." ~ Jacques Diouf
Keith Bergthold
Position: Strategic Advisor
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“Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.” ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
Nora Chandara
Position: Fiscal and Operations Manager
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"Working for Metro allows me to practice my belief of self-empowerment… rather than giving people fish, I work toward teaching them how to fish."
Latrica Crutchfield
Position: Administrative Assistant
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Why do you love working for FMM: I love working for Fresno Metro Ministry because of the outreach and ongoing community work we are providing. Being able to provide food to our community is truly a blessing. The work that is being done with our Cooking Matters Team is just outstanding. Teaching each family and child about healthy eating, our Gardening team showing us ways to be able to grow our own foods. The work is just unending, bless to be part of it all.
Programs
Food to Share
Vue Vang
Position: Food to Share Lead Driver
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"I’m honored to be a part of the Fresno Metro Ministry team. I’m very proud of our vision to connect the community’s needs and passions to solutions for change."
Jennifer
Position: Food to Share- Project Coordinator
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I love working with FMM because I get to be a part of a great organization that's making a difference in our community! To be able to put a smile on the people we serve faces because of the resources provided and the opportunity to learn from us as we learn from them.
Richard Thibodeaux
Position: Food to Share Driver
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Working for Fresno Metro Ministry / Food to Share is an absolute thrill. Working to make a positive difference in the lives of all human beings is very rewarding and it's great to have awesome fellow co-workers helping along the way!
Rayshawn McCaa
Position: Program Manager
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"Working at Metro affords me the opportunity to help provide families and children throughout the City of Fresno access to a healthier lifestyle."
Community Garden Staff
Christopher De León (Chris)
Position: Community Gardens Program Manager
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"Fresno Metro has given me the opportunity, resources and framework to be able to engage community members in the development of community gardens/urban farms and work towards addressing core systemic issues within our food system. I love that I get to work with my hands, work directly with community members, and advocate for much needed resources. I am dedicated to the work and continue to stay motivated by the impact we have on our communities."
Yang Soua Fang
Position: Community Gardens Project Manager
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"Working with Fresno Metro has been an amazing experience because I am able to apply my skills to serve a wide range of demographic from little children to older individuals and more particularly the Hmong community. I love that I am able to fully apply my language skills to assist our elderly Hmong population as they create green spaces to grow fresh produce for their families to eat while also being able to teach young minds about the food systems and how to battle the issues of food waste and food insecurity. I appreciate the space that I am give to build a healthy community through collaboration and unity."
Itzel Escarcega
Position: Community Gardens Project Manager
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Metro has given me the safe and creative space to be able to utilize all of my skills while also being able to support my gardens team, be of direct service to the communities we serve, and sustainably come up with solutions to the day-to-day challenges we face to take care of the environment and people we are surrounded by. Planting seeds everywhere I go both literally and figuratively, while nurturing their growth is another way to express my experience working at Metro :)
Raul W Ortega III
Position: Community Composting Site Operator
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I heard of Fresno Metro Ministry about 4 years ago and started working for them in January 2022. I enjoy working with Metro because it is quite different than all my other employers. Metro is full of diversity and inclusion, which makes it a safe and happy space to work at. My position at Metro aligns with my moral values and allows me to be happy with myself at the end of the day, which is something that all my previous job didn't allow. Metro is giving me the chance to do something good for my community and gives me the opportunity to make change and grow myself in ways that I feel I need to.
Food Security Project
Tara Sweeney
Position: Food Policy Council Project Coordinator
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“I love working at Fresno Metro because I get to work alongside amazing people, that are mutually mobilized for the betterment of the health of our neighbors and our community."
Inez Zuniga
Position: Food Security Project Coordinator
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“The people make the program. The Metro team is a group of compassionate individuals who work diligently towards a vision of a healthier region by incrementally improving our broken food system through innovative programs such as food recovery and distribution, cooking matters, Calfresh outreach, and the urban gardens project. I am proud to be part of the movement towards a healthier San Joaquin Valley."
Erika Enomoto
Position: Food Policy Council Project Coordinator
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“I love that through my work at Fresno Metro, I can actively help make Fresno a better place to live by connecting people to each other and to their food. It's amazing to work alongside people who are working toward the same mission through our different programs."
Climate Action Corp Fellows
Leierin Carney
Position: California Climate Action Corp Fellow
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I love being at Fresno Metro Ministry because of the wonderful people I work with and the sense of purpose I feel every single day when helping our community.