Trainers, Mentors, Navigators
Aimeé Artigues
Strategic thinker with an entrepreneurial and practical attitude for building new opportunities in a dynamic environment. Currently a project manager at The Ember Alliance, for the Resilient Communities and Ecosystems division. Aimeé leverages her M.S. degree to lead projects that promote a better relationship between communities and fire on the landscape. She is excited to have a juncture to collaborate, help others, and grow in a diverse environment with new ideas, partners, and colleagues.
Mike Jensen
Mike has worked for more than 30 years with the Cooperative Extension Service. He has worked in Michigan, Florida, and now Washington State. He has worked with thousands of volunteers and hundreds of communities on issues, and mitigation of those issues, including Wildland Fire. Mike was a member of the L’Anse Fire Department, while working in Michigan, and authored more than $2 million of local and regional grants for structural and wildland fire protection. He was a member of the “pilot” for Ready, Set, Go,(IAFC) and facilitated the development of Michigan’s first county-wide CWPP. Mike continues to volunteer as a firefighter, EMT, and wildland firefighter.
Rebecca Samulski
As Director of Fire Adapted Colorado since 2018, Rebecca fosters collaboration among Fire Adapted Communities
leaders. Before FACO, she pioneered wildfire mitigation programs for seven years with Wildfire Adapted Partnership including the Dolores Watersheds Collaborative. A nonprofit manager with anthropology and political science degrees, she preaches the human dimensions of fire-resilient communities and landscapes. She enjoys wildfire response with the Dolores Volunteer FPD and being outdoors with her family near Dolores, Colorado.
Tanya Pappa
My work is similar to a bridge; connecting people, places, and resources. There is a bit of alchemy present, where abundance can be found in scarcity, opportunity in deficits, and so on. I i am also guided by love – from my ancestors, from the words of bell hooks, and the synchronicities I witness in nature.
I thrive in collaborative spaces and I enjoy facilitating groups towards common goals and language via systems change. I am rooted in the idea that we are all teachers and we are all students where reciprocity can always be present.
Johnny Chavez
Chavez is the Conservation Program Manager for the Valencia Soil and Water Conservation District (DIstrict). He has been with the district for a little over 8 years now and has enjoyed every minute of it. Chavez worked as a field worker and worked himself up the latter. Today, Chavez works with many different individuals, patterns, NGOs and government agencies to help the local community better understand their lands, soils, nature, gardening and more. Chavez wants to help those that need it so
Julie Klett
Julie Klett is the Development Director at Fire Adapted Colorado. With nearly two decades spearheading fundraising and communications initiatives for nonprofits, she has worked in conservation, land protection, wildlife preservation, and more She helped secure more than $7 million for Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) and adjacent National Forests. Her skills include writing, editing, design, and grant development and management.
Julie lives in Estes Park, Colorado, and is a Rocky Mountain National Park guide.
Breana Winters
Randolph “RADAR” Harrison
Radar started his career as a US Forest Service Cooperative Education Student working in the Allegheny National Forest in Pennsylvania. Subsequent assignments included Survey Technician, Wildland Firefighter, and Soil Scientist. He has extensive exposure to working across the nation in various National Forests. Upon retirement, he started a new career as the Assistant County Ranger with the North Carolina Forest Service but moved on during COVID to work with Conservation Legacy (Conservation Corp NC) as the Director of Fire Operations.
RADAR has an extensive background in Watershed Management, Soil Mapping and Classification, and Burn Area Emergency Response (BAER). He has served on numerous Incident Management Teams in various positions including Aviation, Plans, Operations, and Command Staff. He currently serves on the NC Natural Heritage Advisory Committee for the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, Outreach with Black Family Land Trust Inc., Outreach for Virginia State University College of Agriculture, and is a member of NC Conservationist of Color.
Steve Markason
Steve is a consultant with Teton Wildfire Mitigation Team LLC, based in Jackson, Wyoming. He retired from the US Forest Service as a Fire Management Officer in 2020. Steve collaborates with homeowners, HOAs, Guest Ranches, and Fire Departments to better prepare for wildfires. He is an independent contractor with Coalitions & Collaborates, teaching Wildfire Mitigation Best Practices courses nationwide. Steve values his relationships with homeowners, community stakeholders, and government cooperators at all levels.
Ann Walker
Ann specializes in working with challenging grant and government processes to meet the increasing need for collaborative community wildfire preparedness and post-fire recovery. After a career with the Oregon Department of Forestry and while working for the non-partisan Western Governors’ Assn, she worked on many national policy efforts including co-authoring the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Mgmt. Strategy and the Community Guide to Preparing And Implementing A CWPP. Ann is the CEO of her woman-owned small business since 2013.
Her expertise is utilized by multiple tribal nations, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and corporations that offer cutting-edge technologies to focus on improving firefighter and community safety.
Sydney Jackson-Clockston
Sydney is armed with an array of certifications, including Trauma-Informed Care, Mental Health First Aid – Youth, Harassment Prevention, and Crisis Prevention and Intervention. Sydney is not only an advocate for accessibility but also a champion of destigmatizing mental health, earning recognition as the esteemed recipient of the 2022 Good Business Colorado Award. She has further extended her impact through the publication of “My Own Worst Enemy: Understanding and Overcoming Imposter Syndrome,” an affordable and accessible resource that enriches our community’s well-being and self-belief.
She is the founder of Citrine Unlimited LLC, a dynamic catalyst for transformation and empowerment, crafting training experiences across a spectrum of crucial subjects, including thought leadership, courageous conversations, fostering inclusive and sustainable cultures, DEIJA (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Justice, and Accessibility), well-being, and nurturing empathy. Sydney is a proud member of Good Business Colorado, Woman in Sustainability, and the Colorado Neurodiversity Chamber of Commerce,
Juliana Rodríguez
Juliana is from Bogotá, Colombia where she studied Chemical Engineering. Juliana completed her first master’s degree in environmental management. After living in Hawai’i for two years, she moved to Colorado and served her communities through STEM education as an AmeriCorps Member and developed a deep passion for community-based projects. In 2020 Juliana’s Op-Ed was published in a Colombian newspaper; here she wrote about the detrimental effects Colombian colloquialisms have towards Indigenous peoples as a result of colonial influences. In 2021 she completed a master’s degree of science in Conservation Leadership from Colorado State University. In 2022 Juliana’s research collaboration work with invasive Lionfish in the Western Atlantic was published in the scientific journal “Diversity.” She is currently working on publishing her research on the multilevel gendered challenges impacting women’s leadership in Latin American protected areas. Juliana works for Conservation Legacy as a Grants Manager where she collaborates in providing oversight to 12 AmeriCorps grants.