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Meet the Board
KAT WALTER (she/her)
President
Kat moved to Corvallis in 2023 from Yellow Springs, Ohio, to live more closely Oregon's natural spaces and to engage with the development of regional, resilient food systems. Kat has extensive experience in the nonprofit world, most recently as the program and operations director at the Yellow Springs Community Foundation, where she worked closely with local nonprofits, donors, and community members. She has led best practices training for nonprofit boards and staff and convened collaborations to create new programs based on community need. She has also been a community organizer for the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund and a high-school English teacher. In all of her work, community, individual, and ecosystem vitality have been essential.
Kat's board experiences include serving as development committee chair at the Glen Helen Association during their $4.25m capital campaign and as board president of the Arthur Morgan Institute for Community Solutions, now Agraria, when it purchased a 128-acre farm to practice regenerative agriculture. Other volunteer experiences include creating programs for the gift economy, for reducing our carbon footprint, and more broadly, for strengthening community resilience. Kat is excited to bring her experiences and her interest in regional food resilience, systems thinking, and network-building to regional food-system work. To her, food is at the crossroads of soil and community. Kat currently consults with nonprofits to assist with development.
GABRIELLE ROESCH-MCNALLY (she/her)
Vice President
Gabrielle Roesch-McNally has a PhD in sociology and sustainable agriculture and has been working in food systems and agriculture for 20+ years. In her day job, she directs the Women for the Land program at American Farmland Trust. Much of her work is at the intersection of climate, social change, and equity. She lives in Albany with her family and on a small suburban homestead. She loves local food, from growing, to cooking, to preserving and sharing.
ALIZA TUTTLE (she/her)
Secretary
Aliza Tuttle discovered green vegetables when her family returned to Corvallis after many years in the rolling corn and wheat fields of Iowa. This change in food options sparked a long-lasting interest in the relationship between food, place, economics, and culture. Aliza holds a BS in Human Geography with a focus in Global Food Systems and a Master's Degree in Urban Studies with a certificate in Sustainable Food Systems. She works as a program evaluator at Portland State University and takes breaks from research to care for her chickens, turkeys, sheep, goats, and dry farmed flower garden.
LIZ HABLEY (she/her)
Treasurer
Liz joined the TRFW board in January 2025 and has been involved with nonprofit leadership and food systems for over a decade in Corvallis. She has a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from Hanover College, IN and a Masters in Natural Resources from OSU with a graduate certificate in Water Conflict Management and Transformation. Liz currently works as the Community Food Systems Manager for the Corvallis Environmental Center and is known as “Farmer Liz” to kids in Linn and Benton Counties. Se habla español; she learned Spanish as an Environmental Community Management Peace Corps Volunteer in Peru. If you see her in the wild she may be wandering the farmers’ market, hiking with her kids, or hunting for mushrooms, although she’s often holed up building something in her garage, hanging out with her chickens, or cooking/processing her bounty. She brings to the TRFW a passion for partnerships and collaboration and a deep desire to improve our community food system.
ASHER WHITNEY (they/he)
Board Member
Asher has a dual Bachelor's degree in Horticulture and Environmental Sciences from Oregon State University, with long-term plans of pursuing a Ph.D. in Horticulture or a related field. They joined the TRFW board in September 2022 as a student board member and became a full member upon graduation in 2023. Through most of his undergraduate training, he was a research assistant focusing on agricultural extension and education. He is passionate about promoting local food security and propagating knowledge in this and related fields. They currently work at Plato al Pueblo in Corvallis, Oregon.
Asher grew up in Salem, Oregon, and has been a member of the Corvallis community since 2018. He spent his childhood in the kitchen with his parents where he developed a love of cooking and sharing food with friends and family. In their free time, Asher heads outdoors to hike and bike or to the farmer's market and kitchen to prepare and share delicious food.
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