Rural AmeriCorps Program

Anna-Claire Griffin

Community Outreach Coordinator at Summit School District Pre-Collegiate Program

Anna is from Iuka, Mississippi. She earned her B.S. in Integrated Marketing Communications from the University of Mississippi (Ole Miss). During college she worked in the Campus Recreation department for intramurals as referee, supervisor, and program assistant. When she was not at school or working, she was the president of the Special Olympics College at Ole Miss.  For her service year, she looks forward to accumulating more volunteers for the Pre-Collegiate program of Summit School District and building capacity within the program. Her goal is to have all of their first-generation seniors attend college.

Ashley Kumburis

Food Security Program Coordinator at Mountain Roots Food Project

Ashley Kumburis is a recent grad from Western Colorado University with a Masters degree in Environmental Management. She loves the outdoors and spends her free time hiking, mountain biking, camping, fishing, or hunting. She’s a big animal lover and has adopted a dog, cat, and mixed flock of ducks and chickens into her family. She’s currently based in Gunnison, Colorado with Mountain Roots Food Project. There, she’s the Food Security Program Coordinator helping to fight the war on hunger in the valley. She works to teach people how to provide for their own food needs through education, aggregate donations from backyard gardeners and distributors for their free CSA styled boxes, teaching cooking classes for families on a budget, and collaborating with other organizations and working groups. She’s most excited to pilot new programs and adapt current ones to meet the never-ending demand for the services MRFP provides.

Matthew Spencer

Outreach Coordinator at Families Plus

Matt grew up in Fort Collins, Colorado. He graduated from the University of Evansville with a BA in History. He is now serving his VISTA year at Families Plus in Delta, Colorado. Matt hopes to take the skills he learns while serving and continue work to help strengthen communities. When not in the office Matt can be found climbing, hiking, or rafting in the Rockies.

Hope Mazeika

Early Childhood Systems Building VISTA at Grand Beginnings

Hope is a recent graduate of the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania where she studied Environmental Science. Since she was 15, Hope has worked with summer camps as a counselor and mentor for younger children. After graduating from Pitt, Hope decided to take her education and experiences to the other side of the country and accepted the opportunity to serve in Grand County, Colorado as an AmeriCorps VISTA member. For the next year she will be working with Grand Beginnings to help rural parents and educators make strong choices regarding their child’s early education. In her spare time Hope enjoys hiking, listening to music, and volunteering with animals.

Liza Cooney

Program Associate at Bright Futures

Liza is from Falmouth, ME. She just graduated in May from Wheaton College in Massachusetts, where she studied psychology with a minor in biology. With her psych major, she’s currently interested in pursuing nonprofit work or public health. Although there are all sorts of areas within nonprofit work that she likes, one of her top interests is early childhood education. That is why she is super excited to be to serving with Bright Futures as an AmeriCorps VISTA. Outside of work, she loves to play sports such as soccer, running, and Nordic skiing. She also enjoys music and spending time outdoors. She is grateful for this opportunity and is excited to volunteer with AmeriCorps VISTA.

Sara Novicki

San Luis Valley Great Outdoors, Development Associate

Sara Novicki is a native of Wilmington, NC where she studied Social Work at the University of North Carolina – Wilmington. During her time at UNCW she volunteered at a variety of non-profits and joined the Rape Crisis Center as a Prevention Education Intern. Her passion for supporting underserved and underrepresented populations led her to later join the AmeriCorps VISTA program. She left the beach for the mountains in January of 2017 and spent a year serving at Mountain Valley School in Saguache, CO. Here she took on the position as their Assistant Geodesic Dome Greenhouse Coordinator which allowed her to write grants and plan community engagement events to support the K-12 STEAM and Garden Initiatives. During her time in Saguache she fell in love with the San Luis Valley (SLV) and made the decision to stay in the area for a bit longer. In February of 2018, she joined San Luis Valley Great Outdoors (SLVGO) in Alamosa, CO as their Funding Coordinator VISTA. In her new position at SLVGO, Sara will be supporting the growth of outdoor recreation and trails in the SLV through fundraising, resource development, and marketing. Aside from serving, Sara can be found hiking trails with her dog, crafting, cooking, dancing, or spending time on the water.

Maddie Interdonato

Outreach and Marketing Associate

Maddie is originally from the east coast, finally making her way to the mountains after receiving her B.S. in Anthropology from Virginia Commonwealth University. In the pursuit of a career that is outdoor-oriented, she found Alpine Achievers Initiative, and is now serving her second year with them, this time as a VISTA. This program has such a great impact on children in the San Luis Valley and Maddie can’t wait to help develop this amazing program further.

Amanda Falkner

Community Engagement Coordinator

My name is Amanda Falkner and I am a recent graduate of the University of Vermont. I graduated with a degree in Community and International Development, and a double minor in Food Systems and Nutrition and Food Sciences. I am originally from Rochester, NY, but am serving in Alamosa, CO, working as the Community Engagement Coordinator VISTA for the Rio Grande Farm Park. A few fun facts about me: I love dogs and love the outdoors!

Lexis Reid

Domestic Violence Services Community Outreach and Volunteer Coordinator

Hello, I’m Lexis Serving at Hilltop Resource Center working within a department working with domestic and sexual violence in Grand Junction, Colorado. I recently graduated college with a BA in Family Studies and join AmeriCorps to take some time off and explore before starting to work on my Social Work degree.

Halle Leganza

Community Engagement Coordinator

Halle is originally from Indianapolis, Indiana. She received her B.A. in Philosophy with a minor in American Sign Language Interpreting from Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis. There, she became the first recipient of the Adam Hayden Philosophy Scholarship (a community created and funded award) which allowed her to continue to be involved in the academics she values most. With the scholarship’s aid she was able to continue a language-based education that sparked a deep interest in creating access for communities that may typically be overlooked. As an AmeriCorps VISTA she hopes to create similar opportunities for all students to receive enriching and quality educational experiences. During her downtime she can be found tearing through a good book, or enjoying anything the outdoors has to offer.

Kyle Tijerina

Program Associate

Aleticia Kyle Tijerina began her service year with La Plata Youth Services in beautiful Durango, Colorado, a mountain town over 7600 feet above sea level in the San Juan mountain range. As a Program Associate, Kyle will be focusing her attention on development and volunteer recruitment. Besides a career in public service, Kyle is a spoken word artist and hopes to find ways to make her art therapeutic for youth and community members who need a means to express grief in healthy ways and overcome obstacles in their lives. Kyle is proud of her mixed race identity. “On my maternal side, I am affiliated with the Odawa/Potawatomi and Wyandotte nations and on my paternal side, I am Coahuiltecan, my family living in the San Antonio, Texas area for centuries.”

Laura Baker

Communication and Development Assistant

Helping others was modeled to Laura throughout her upbringing. She has volunteered domestically with emergency response providers including the American Red Cross, the Trauma Intervention Program, and as a victim advocate for those affected by domestic violence, human trafficking, and sexual assault. She has travelled abroad to support community building initiatives and to participate in conflict analysis and resolution programming. These experiences, in addition to her formal education in Psychology and Cultural Studies, have helped cultivate the unique skill set that Laura brings to the Hispanic Affairs Project. In this role, Laura endeavors to understand new perspectives, fortify partnerships, and contribute to the neighborly spirit of Montrose

Molly Mello

Youth Engagement Coordinator

Molly’s VISTA year will be spent as the Youth Engagement Coordinator for Mesa County Public Health. She’s originally from Silt, CO and eventually attended Arizona State University for two years and then transferred to Colorado State University, where she graduated in May of 2019. Her degree is in Microbiology with a minor in Environmental Health. Shehas worked in a food science R&D lab and then worked in mosquito surveillance in Larimer County. In her free time, she enjoys snowboarding and hiking, especially with her dog, Frank.

Alice Chesley

Agriculture Education AmeriCorps VISTA

Alice is from Brunswick, Maine and recently graduated from the University of Maine with a Bachelor’s of Science in Biology.  During her time at college, Alice worked as an undergraduate researcher, studying potato disease in northern Maine, in addition to serving terms as secretary and vice president for the University of Maine’s International Student Association to promote cultural exchange in rural Maine.  As an Americorps VISTA, Alice is using her experience in STEM to create an agriculture-based curriculum for Colorado’s 4H program.  In her free time you can find her running different trails in Fort Collins, hanging out with her roommate (and her roommate’s two cats), or cooking up a storm in the kitchen!