Food Summit: A Farmer, Rancher, & Community Event - Eco Health Institute

Hernan Colmenero was born where the river meets the ocean on the Texas-Mexico border. His work invokes a call to sit within our environment and listen. As the Founder and CEO of the Institute for Ecology, Scholarship, and Health, he helps firms design creative solutions to conceive, launch, and monitor sustainable bionomic initiatives.

His clients include school districts, education service centers, universities, not-for-profit organizations, and private ranch owners looking to make a positive and lasting change in their environment and our future.

Dr. Alexis Racelis holds the Houston Endowed Chair for Science and Technology at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, where he serves as an Associate Professor in the School for Earth, Environmental, and Marine Science, and Director of the Agroecology and Resilient Food Systems Program. He is also the Co- Director of the Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Advancement. His academic program reflects a deep commitment to students and community of south Texas, centered on equitable access to intellectual capital through participatory action research, culturally relevant pedagogy, and community engaged scholarship. In addition to being a UT System ROTA recipient (2018), Alex is also an AAAS Leshner Fellow of Public Engagement, and a USDA Kika de la Garza Science Fellow. He currently serves as an appointed Member of USDA’s Federal Equity Commission, Subcommittee in Agriculture.

[coming soon]

Born in Mexico City, Lisa’s background in journalism and community organizing in Latin America led her to the Rio Grande Valley in 1991 to work with Central American refugees. With advanced degrees in public health and international development, she has also managed adult education programs in Philadelphia, returning to the RGV where she co-founded a binational Community Health Worker project. For 20 years she has led community engagement efforts at the University of Texas Houston School of Public Health, Rio Grande Valley location. She manages community-based research efforts to address diabetes, mental health other chronic conditions and manages the “Tu Salud !Si Cuenta!” campaign in 10 cities. She co-facilitates a 20-year running Collaborative Action Board (CAB) dedicated to promoting health equity in the region. Mitchell-Bennett is the President of the Board of the Brownsville Wellness Coalition, with its mission of “cultivating healthy food and lifestyles”. She writes a health column for local newspapers, co-produces a weekly health segment on Televisa. Mitchell-Bennett loves her beautiful border community where she has raised her 3 children. She enjoys volunteering with refugees and advocating for trails, community gardens and urban farms, so all families can have opportunities to be healthy!

Shakera Raygoza is the owner of a 20-acre organic urban farm, Terra Preta Farm serving local farmers markets, schools, and wholesale distributors. In 2020, Raygoza, founded Sentli Center for Regenerative Agriculture, a non-profit organization with a mission to reconnect people to the land and local food system.

Elizabeth Rodriguez holds an associate’s degree in Social Work and Anthropology from South Texas College. She also has a bachelor’s degree in Social Work and a background in cultural Anthropology. Currently, she is pursuing a master’s degree in the School of Social Work at UTRGV.

In 2016 she became a member of the Brown Berets, San Antonio chapter of Carnalismo. Interned at LUPE, La Unión del Pueblo Entero 501-c non-profit organization founded by Cesar Chavez and Dolores Huerta in 2017, working various positions such as Civics Instructor, Adult Education Coordinator, and lastly as Community Organizer.

In 2018 she joined the McCain Institute, as an outreach specialist bringing awareness to human trafficking in agriculture. She traveled and visited farm workers in the North West Texas Panhandle, South West and South Texas, visiting over 72 counties in Texas and building relationships with H2A, Seasonal and Migrant Farmworkers, working in various industries.

In the year 2021, post-pandemic, she was part of a farmworker advocacy coalition that organized vaccine clinics prioritizing farm workers and their families directly on packing sheds and grower locations, and vaccinated over 2,000 farm workers in Hidalgo County. She organized and helped over 25 agricultural workers employed through Premier Produce packing shed recover thousands of dollars in unpaid wages.

In 2023, she was granted the opportunity to work with UTHealth, sub-contracted to aid in the one-time farm worker relief program, in which we helped over 3000 farm workers in a short period collect a one-time relief. The relief was processed and farm workers received this grant during the slowest season of the year, the hot summer, which helped their families get through the hardest time of the year when they struggle the most to put food on their tables and pay their bills. Through this grant, parents were able to ensure their children were prepared with clothes for school and many farm workers, H2A, migrant and seasonal workers received the message that Americans are advocating for the hard work they do to feed this country. This grant also boosted the economy during a period when the cost of living increased drastically and wages stayed stagnant.

In 2024 she had the honor of joining the Environmental and Society research group at UTRGV as a research assistant for the environment and Alford research group SEEMS. As a product of generations of farm workers, parents who met as migrants in the fields, and grandparents who came into this country through the braceros program, I have brought great honor to my family and have been blessed with the opportunity to return that respect and dignity back to them.

Mackenzie Feldman is the Founder and Director of Re:wild Your Campus, an organization that works with schools across the country to eliminate synthetic pesticides from campus grounds. Mackenzie is a Master’s student at UTRGV studying Agroecology, where she is working with farmers in the Valley who are cover cropping. She is also co-author, with her mother Kathy, of the book Groundbakers, a plant-based cookbook that features 16 people changing the food system.

Omar was born and raised in Weslaco, TX, and later moved to Edinburg, TX. He has been everything from a janitor to a freelance graphic artist, webmaster, and art gallery owner . . . so you can say he has a little perspective on the RGV experience. He has been with the Food Bank RGV since 2010 working in communications, advocacy, and now in grant writing. He is still telling the story of people in the RGV and the generational food insecurity of the region to anyone who will listen, and in particular, to those willing to help. He holds a BFA from the University of Texas-Pan American and is working on his Grant Professionals Association certification. He has the loving support of his partner who teaches at UTRGV, their two children, and two indifferent cats.

Jose studied Business Administration at the University of Texas at Austin and has a background in manufacturing operations. In 2020, he joined some friends to operate a mushroom farm, where he developed an interest in mushroom cultivation that quickly became a passion. Today he works at the Center for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Advancement at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, where he gets to collaborate with local farmers and community leaders in looking for ways to improve the health of our people, our food systems, and our planet. He will be speaking about upcoming opportunities from the new Rio Grande Colonias – Regional Food Business Center.

Blanca Estela Delgado is currently serving as Cooperative Developer for The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley at the Texas Rural Cooperative Center under The Center of Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Advancement. Blanca is a native Texan and resident of the Rio Grande Valley. She is first-generation Mexican-American and first-generation college student. Blanca earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mexican American and Latino Studies from The University of Texas at Austin. Blanca has over 9 years of experience supporting Hispanic communities and has extensive experience developing programs for socially disadvantaged groups in South Texas.

Juancarlo started his career with the Texas Farm Bureau Insurance back in 2009 after working for a family insurance business for the majority of his life. His specialization is based in Texas Farm Bureaus roots, Farm and Ranch protection, which includes Farm and Ranch continuation. He has been an agent and agency manager in over 6 counties and moved back to the RGV in 2016.

See you soon!

APRIL 22ND, 2025 | BROWNSVILLE, TX

Moving from Vision to Action

Don’t miss out on these sessions:

Unlocking Funding for Farms and Food Businesses:

Navigating Market Opportunities for Farmers & Food Businesses:

Harnessing Data for Impact in Food, Agriculture, and Policy:

Coordinating People, Services, and Infrastructure for Success:

Building the Next Generation of Agriculture Leaders in the RGV:

Location

This year, the events will take place in Brownsville, Texas.

This lively border community is nestled within the four county region more widely known as the Rio Grande Valley (RGV).

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