Our Staff
After earning a Single Subject teaching Credential in Geo-Science from the University of California, Irvine, Matt worked as high school science teacher (Irvine, CA) at Northwood High School for seven years. He created the curriculum for a UC-approved Marine Science laboratory course, which covered history, chemistry, geology, physics, biology, an ecology of the world’s oceans. Moreover, working with Coastline ROP (Regional Occupation Program) and the California and Orange County Departments of Education, Matt created an ROP Environmental Horticulture curriculum that emphasized career technical education for students who needed high school credits to graduate or learn skills needed to get employed in the field. Matt was an Environmental Education, Protection and Awareness Volunteer in the Peace Corps (Togo, West Africa), where he worked with local non-governmental organizations, farmers, students, and community members teaching about Agroforestry techniques (soil conservation, tree nurseries, improved cook stoves, and animal husbandry, and other related topics). Prior to Peace Corps, Matt was a youth worker and led high school students on projects in Brazil, Mexico, Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Valencia building camps, homes, and schools for orphans and low-income families. Matt graduated from University California, Santa Barbara with a B.A. in Environmental Studies.
Matt Brown
Co-Founder, Executive Director
Community Outreach & Education
Organic Farmer
Nathan McFall
After serving as an Environmental Protection Extension Agent teaching farming and environmental education in Africa for two years in the Peace Corps, Nathan found that his passion was in living close to the Earth and in a community where it truly takes a village to move through life well. He then decided that he wanted to find a way to create that atmosphere here Stateside. He has acted as the Assistant Director of the Natick Community Organic Farm in Massachusetts, as well as Farm Manager of Green Fire Farm and Everett Family Farm in California. He has farmed on 4 continents always with an emphasis on the importance of educating not only the general population, but today’s up and coming new farmers as we look toward a more sustainable future. He is currently the Owner/Operator of Food Waves partner farm, Converging Creeks Farm in Colton, OR where he hopes to realize the dream of bringing this community effort to the greater Portland areas and beyond. He holds a B.S. in Environmental Science/Agriculture from Texas A&M University.
Co-Founder, Food Production Director
Community Outreach & Education
Organic Farmer
General Contractor/Builder
Our Board
Bobbie Brown
In collaboration with Matt Brown, Nathan McFall and Benjamin Green, Bobbie Brown founded FoodWaves in 2010. Currently, Bobbie is serving as Board President; responsibilities include ensuring effective action of the board in governing and supporting the organization, oversees board affairs, acts as the representative of the board as a whole, and speaking to the media and community on behalf of the organization. Additionally, Bobbie is currently a School Psychologist in Tigard-Tualatin School District, providing Special Education services in classrooms serving children with disabilities who require intervention, making recommendations for eligibility and placement of educational services. Bobbie also served as a Peace Corps Volunteer as a Girls’ Empowerment Education Volunteer in Togo, West Africa along with Matt and Nathan. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, Bobbie worked to enrich the educational opportunities of school-aged girls and woman by creating clubs to promote community development. Bobbie has a M.A. in Educational Psychology from California State University, Long Beach and a B.A. in Psychology from University of California, Santa Barbara.
Board President
Angie Turner
Board Secretary
Angie Turner is the secretary and volunteer coordinator for FoodWaves. Angie comes from a family of small farmers and back yard gardeners. A born and raised Oregonian, Angie has lived all over the state, from Central Oregon, to the coast and the Willamette Valley, she has settled in the Portland area after graduating from Oregon State University. She is a Special Education teacher for the Multnomah County Education Service District and teaches as a Hospital School Teacher at Unity Center for Behavioral Health and has a MS in Behavior Support from Portland State University. Angie is a huge advocate for urban farming and was one of FoodWaves' first volunteers. She, her partner, Bill and her dog Frayja are a backpacking, CrossFitting, backyard chicken owning family who are dedicated to sustainable farming and education.
Robbie Atkins
Robert has over 10 years’ experience working with customer data on various database platforms. For the past 6 years he has worked for a local Business to Business consulting company providing database marketing and predictive analytics to Fortune 500 companies. Prior to that, he worked in New York for American Express in the Customer Marketing Capabilities department cutting costs and driving response rates for the Consumer Balance Transfer division. He lives in Tigard with his wife, Janice, a dentist who works for a local Bull Mountain dental practice, and their two boys, Calvin and Riley. Robert has a BS in Psychology and kinesiology for the University of Oregon where he was a 4 year letterman in Tennis. After college, he developed his passion for computers and statistics while working for his father’s company Coast Research Co. He spent close to 2 years tracking results of a clinical trial to develop in vivo medical technology to support a wearable artificial kidney. Growing up in Southern California and having spent 10 summers in Iowa working on his grandparents farm, Robert developed a connection with the ocean and a deep respect for the importance of the land and farming
Olivia Thomas
Olivia has a BS in biology and a MSW from the University of Kentucky as well as doctoral work in natural medicine. In New Hampshire she was an environmental education instructor for the Otter Lake Conservation School. In Oregon she became a Program and Development Director for Friends of Opal Creek. She has lived and worked on a number of farms including Sun Point Farm, which included a biodynamic garden which produced vegetables for markets in Boston and dairy goats; Kettle Spring Farm, a 600-acre historical property in Kentucky where she helped her friends raise cattle; and Eclectic Institute’s herb farm. More recently, Olivia has worked for Portland State University as a Development Director and as a Program Planning and Grants Director for its Center for Health and Social Inequality Research. Since 2001, she has owned a small timbered acreage in Colton, Oregon where she enjoys growing apples for storage and cider each Autumn.
Alicia's experience with FoodWaves started as a farm intern in 2013 learning how to be a successful small-scale organic farmer. The knowledge and hand-ons experience gained through the internship highly contributed to the start of Alicia's own farm a year later, Ginger Mountain Farmstead. Although Alicia is no longer operating the farm, she became a board member of FoodWaves in 2018 to stay connected through supporting local food access and food justice.
Outside of FoodWaves, Alicia is currently a faculty instructor of GIS (geographic information systems) and geospatial programs advisor at Portland Community College. Alicia received her academic training in Geography, Sustainable Urban Development, and GIS from Portland State University. She has a strong passion for GIS and human geography, as well as teaching. Her master’s research incorporated both of these fields of geography using public participation GIS to map Sense of Place in Mt. Hood National Forest.
As a board member of FoodWaves, Alicia helps develop the Small-Acreage Market Farm Internship Program (SAMFIP) and serves as a mentor for annual farm interns. Additionally, Alicia helps support the board with project planning for the annual fundraiser and grant processes. "FoodWaves is more than just a local farm; it is a family, community, and model for sustainable food practices that I am so proud to be part of."
