Meet the Cloud City Conservation Center Team:
Ash Warner
Education Director
Ash is a passionate educator who finds joy in sharing knowledge and empowering others to embrace actions that benefit our planet. She holds a BA in Environmental Studies, specializing in botany and alpine ecology, as well as a MS in Natural Science Education. Ash is a National Board Certified Teacher who has spent 13 years teaching in classrooms as far away as Switzerland and Scotland, and as close to home as Vail Mountain School and Lake County Intermediate School. Ash believes in the power of place-based, experiential education to bring learning to life. She’s excited about growing C4’s education programs, bringing all Lake County students to the farm, supporting local teachers, and connecting students with the place they live. After work (and sometimes before) she can be found skiing, running, and reading.
Christian Luna-Leal
Community Resource Navigator
Christian is an active member of the community who was born and raised in Lake County. His parents are both immigrants from Mexico and he is the first generation in his family to both graduate from high school and go to college. Having grown up in Mountain View and gone to our school as an initially monolingual Spanish speaker, he has an intense passion for advocating for the Latino community and other marginalized communities around Lake County. He has worked in our community to help connect all community members to resources initially through Full Circle. More recently he has worked in housing and has put his focus on addressing the housing crisis in Lake County both through City Council and through being the president of the Leadville Lake County Regional Housing Authority. Christian believes that C4 gives him the opportunity to grow his expertise in both peoples lived experiences with our dilapidated housing as well as a climate and energy efficiency perspective in housing. He believes this helps him be more capable of being as equitable as possible.
Email Christian. *Si, habla español*
Ellen Bransford
Development and Communications Director
Ellen comes from generations of Arkansas delta farmers but found herself drawn to Leadville's magical mountains and community. Prior to joining C4, she spent 10 years working as a teacher, school administrator, and Fulbright Scholar in the Rio Grande Valley, Mexico City, and Memphis. Most recently, she managed data and analytics for an education-focused nonprofit. Outside of work (and, when she's lucky, as a part of work!), Ellen can be found playing outside, walking her dogs, and attempting to keep plants alive. Ellen is passionate about using data and resources to ensure that programs are impactful and sustainable. She's thrilled to be working at the intersections of environment & community and health & education. She can't wait to help share the story of C4 and our amazing community!
Email Ellen. Si, habla español*
Emily Olsen
Executive Director
Emily believes in supporting community led solutions to the challenges we face. She is passionate about supporting the health of people, communities and our planet. With a background in health equity and food justice she has worked with communities across the country to create their own healthier futures. She has previously worked with organizations such as Lake County Build A Generation, Denver Food Rescue, Fresh Food Connect, and FoodCorps. She currently serves on the Parkville Water Board, the Fresh Food Connect Board and the Kitchen Committee for St George Community Meals. Emily believes that our own individual health is not separate from the health of our communities or our planet. When she is not working to support her community Emily can be found running or skiing in the mountains surrounding Leadville.
Isabel (Izzy) Lisle
Sustainability Manager
Community, sustainability, and resiliency form the backbone of Izzy's work. She is passionate about supporting sustainable community development across rural Colorado. Izzy holds a BA in Environmental Studies from the University of Vermont, specializing in Zero Waste, and an MA in Resilience and Sustainability Planning from the University of Colorado Boulder. Her love of teaching about the natural world led her to Colorado where she worked as an outdoor & environmental educator for underserved youth in the San Luis Valley. Over the past few years, Izzy’s work has highlighted the power of systems-thinking to create change. She’s written the University of Vermont’s Roadmap to Zero Waste, campaigned with the San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council to protect SLV water rights, developed Huerfano County’s community based Outdoor Recreation Action Plan, and created Boulder County’s Wildfire Community Leader Model. In her free time, you can find her cross country skiing, doing improv, or making up stories and games for her friends.
Jo Graham
Healthy Futures AmeriCorps Service Member: Youth Engagement Coordinator
Jo is passionate about caring for others and the planet and believes hope is the key to healing the earth. Originally from New England, she graduated this May with a degree in Environmental Humanities from Whitman College in Washington state. Jo loves spending time outdoors running, skiing and generally exploring.
Liz Larkin
Cloud City Farm Manager
Liz is a human who deeply cares about the health and well being of her community and planet. While growing up on a small homestead in northwest Colorado, she fostered a love for farming, hunting, and carpentry. She is passionate about nutrition, travel, and cultivating a simple, peaceful life. As a long time Leadville local Liz is very happy to be getting back to her roots by contributing her skills to Cloud City farm.
Richie Moutoux
Energy Program Director
Richie is a driven leader in the world of renewable energy, energy efficiency, and energy storage. Growing up on an orchard in Virginia, he developed an appreciation for sustainability at a young age. He studied Electrical Engineering with a focus on Renewable Energy at CU, and wrote a thesis on Utility Scale Energy Storage. He then worked for 10 years installing and maintaining renewable energy systems. He has also worked as a residential general contractor, an instructor at CMC, and was the ski race director at Ski Cooper. A self-described energy nerd, Richie believes that saving energy and saving money go hand in hand, and is constantly in search of projects that meet both of these goals. He believes strongly in C4’s mission, from the farm to zero waste to education to energy, and is excited to join in the journey to create a more sustainable community in Lake County. When not at work he can be found on a trail or a river, on skis, a bike, or a boat, with his wife Heather and dog Yuki.
Sarah Hamilton
Cloud City Farm Director
Sarah's passion is growing healthy food for her community. This passion was fostered by her childhood spent on her family's small vegetable farm in Canon City, Colorado followed by a larger, community-oriented urban farm south of Colorado Springs. After graduating from college with a degree in biology, Sarah realized that regenerative agriculture was the nexus of her passions for the health of the planet and the health of the human community. She pursued her farming dream by starting New Roots Farm, a small organic vegetable farm, first on leased land in Pueblo, CO and then moving back to family land in Canon City. She ran New Roots farm with her parents for 5 years, striving to work with nature and use regenerative farming practices to grow good food. Sarah moved up the Arkansas River Valley to Leadville in early 2022 and fell in love with everything about it, except for the lack of gardening opportunities. She is thrilled to now be filling that hole in her life by joining the C4 team as Cloud City Farm Manager. She believes that the garden and the kitchen table are the best places to build community, and is dedicated to building on the grassroots history of Cloud City Farm, ensuring that it is a place where every Lake County resident can come experience the joys of growing and sharing healthy food.
Tony Barlage
Board Chair
Tony has 20 years of experience working in the environmental, energy, and sustainability fields; as a consultant, operations manager for a bio-energy start-up, and in Director/VP operations roles with technical expertise in sustainability services and air quality. He was most recently the lone Vice President of Spirit, leading the Rocky Mountain Region, co-leading the development of company-wide sustainability services, and overseeing all Denver office operations, recruiting, and company-wide Employee Development Program. He also led internal process improvement and procedural development efforts, was heavily involved in companywide marketing and business development, and worked on organizational strategy, growth/talent acquisition, and strategic program development. Tony has served as acting Program Director for the Natural and Cultural Resources Program and assisted with oversight and strategy of the RMR Air Program.
Julia Johannesen
Board Treasurer
Originally from the "Natural State" of Arkansas, Julia moved west to Flagstaff, AZ over a decade ago to study sustainable communities at NAU. Having focused on nutrition and agriculture in undergrad, she then decided to research sustainable food systems. Shortly after, she moved to CO and began working in outdoor and environmental education. With an underlying passion for health and helping others, she eventually shifted gears and became a nurse, a career she has enjoyed for the last 5 years. When not working in that capacity, Julia also teaches wilderness and emergency medicine. Equally passionate about playing outside, she spends her free time biking, climbing, skiing, and running around the Arkansas River Valley. Excited about planting even deeper roots in Leadville, Julia is grateful to be on the board of C4, contributing to the mission of sustainability in Lake County.
Luz Escalera
Board Member
Luz is an immigrant from Mexico. She came to the United States at the age of 15 and has been in Leadville since 2003. She is the mama of four, a Latino community leader, and a certified interpreter in language justice. Since 2010, she has been working for St. George’s Episcopal Church, another non-profit organization in Leadville focused on food justice and food security. Her passion has always been to help her community and she is honored to serve on the C4 board.
Nathalie Eddy
Board Secretary
Nathalie is an advocated for strengthening community relations, improving transparency, and putting people before the oil and gas industry. She currently works for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment as their Air Quality Environmental Justice Liaison. She has previously worked with organizations such as Earthworks, Lake County Build a Generation, the World Resources Institute, the Global Gender and Climate Alliance, the Colorado Attorney General’s Office, the Amerindian People’s Association, the US Climate Action Network, the Center for International Environmental Law and the United Nations Climate Change Secretariat.
Paloma Gethzemani Grajales Domínguez
Board Member
Paloma is a passionate advocate for environmental justice, health equity, and educational access. As an immigrant Latina, she brings a deep understanding of the systemic barriers faced by many communities and is committed to creating opportunities that foster resilience and inclusion.
Paloma recognizes the intrinsic connection between environmental sustainability and community well-being, aligning with initiatives that uplift underrepresented voices and drive equitable solutions. She has extensive experience in strategic planning, fundraising, and governance, actively working to bridge gaps between policy, education, and community empowerment.
Additionally, Paloma facilitates mental health workshops tailored to Latinas, focusing on dismantling harmful narratives and promoting collective healing. Her work emphasizes the importance of integrating cultural identity, social justice, and ecological awareness into community-driven solutions.
Stephen Mack
Board Member
Stephen moved to Colorado in 2000 and to Leadville in 2016. As a forensic engineer, Stephen focuses on the built environment by applying modern building envelope practice and current energy efficiency standards to historic structures in Lake County. With over 20 years of progressive experience in building sciences, Stephen has developed a holistic approach to moisture, air, and vapor mechanics. When he’s not working, he enjoys cycling, skiing, and hiking with his wife and son. He is passionate about developing, executing and perfecting sustainable energy efficient building practices in Lake County.
Erin Allaman
Board Chair Emeritus
Erin grew up in the Denver-metro area and moved to Lake County in 2005. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and International Studies from Amherst College and a PhD in Educational Foundations, Policy and Practice from the University of Colorado, Boulder. Erin has worked as an educator in public, international, wilderness, community, and college settings. She is passionate about environmental education and bringing youth voices to the table as we work together to care for our environment, our community, and each other. When she’s not teaching, you can find Erin exploring Lake County’s amazing trails by ski and bike - or on the ultimate adventure (parenting) with her partner and two kids. Erin is honored to serve on the C4 board and support sustainability in Lake County.