Con Muchos Manos

El Trabajo Es Menos

Our Staff

Ru Stempien

Growing up in Albuquerque, Ru loved being outdoors as a kid & always felt the most happy in the mountains. As a young adult, she moved north to attend the Institute of American Indian Arts, eventually earning a BA in Indigenous Liberal Studies. Ru found their way to NYP in Spring of 2023 as the Garden Program Director, becoming the Executive Director that Fall. She is honored to continue to tend land, water, & seeds alongside the awesome youth & staff of NYP. Ru additionally manages the Food 4 Kids Pantry at the McCurdy Ministries Family Resource Center and farms at home with her Partner and 2 dogs.

Co-Executive Director; Finance & Administration

Veronica Ramirez

Co-Executive Director; Operations & Community Engagement

Veronica, born and raised in Ohkay Owingeh Pueblo, New Mexico, is a community advocate and leader, dedicated to empowering lives through education, cultural preservation, and sustainable living. Driven by her role as a mother and her deep community roots, she focuses on holistic culturally-grounded practices that foster long term wellbeing. She brings hands-on experience in community organizing, reproductive justice, youth leadership program development & facilitation, while integrating agriculture, herbalism, and wellness into everyday life. Outside her work, she enjoys gardening, cooking, and spending time outdoors with her children.

Emilio grew up in Northern NM, helping his family tend to the land and spending time in nature. After graduating from McCurdy and NMSU, he traveled, and later returned home where he began to reconnect with land based practices in his home community. Since returning, he has been stewarding his family’s land along the Rio Quemado and practicing specialized skills in orchard management. In this time Emilio began a career toward land based education and working with youth, eventually landing at NYP where all of his interests and experiences could weave together. 

Programs Director

Emilio Borrego

Jenn

As Grants and Finance Manager, Jenn keeps the organization’s finance & behind-the-scenes systems running smoothly. She first became involved with NYP when her son joined the program, and what began as helping out with administrative tasks has grown into a long-term role supporting the organization’s work. Jenn is especially proud to be part of a program that connects youth to agriculture, creativity, and leadership while providing meaningful, paid opportunities for teens. She values both the impact on rural youth and the organization’s support of her own professional growth along the way.

Grants & Finance Manager

Born and raised in Santa Fe, Elias is currently pursuing his undergrad degree in sociology, at UNM. With an extensive background in outdoor education, he hopes to combine his appreciation for nature with his academic work in ways that support and strengthen his community.

Youth Programs & Media Coordinator

Elias Trujillo

Our Board of Directors

Emily Arasim-Beltrán

Emily Arasim Beltrán is a farmer and community organizer raised in Tesuque, and living and working in the Pojoaque and Española Valleys. Emily has spent the past decade working with coalitions of local farmers and land/water advocates, and as a staff member of nonprofits including the New Mexico Acequia Association, the Northern Youth Project, and Communities for Clean Water. In 2025 she launched her own small business, Rooted Strategies NM LLC, which offers strategic planning, facilitation, grant writing and other services. She holds a Masters Degree in Community and Regional Planning from UNM, as a part of which she spent three years writing a handbook on the history and importance of rural grocery stores across Northern NM, and practical strategies for their protection and revitalization

President

Matias Coronado

Born and raised in Northern NM, Matias Coronado is a trained culinarian and avid outdoorsman. A Northern Youth project alumni, Matias studied culinary arts and sustainable plant systems. Now working in conservation, he serves as a wilderness ranger for NM Wild.

Vice President
Secretary

Willow Grace

Willow has recently joined the team at the Santa Fe Children’s Museum as the Development and Membership Coordinator and is excited to be working for a beloved local institution that serves children and families around Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico. She is also working on developing a line of cards featuring her photography. In her spare time Willow enjoys rock hounding, hiking and skiing with her family and is a proud board member of the Northern Youth Project.

Patrick Jaramillo

Patrick Jaramillo was born and raised in Espanola. He grew up helping his father and grandfather grow fruits, vegetables, and alfalfa, irrigating off the Rio Santa Cruz in Rio Arriba County. He lives in Albuquerque where he is the Co-Director of the American Friends Service Committee’s New Mexico Program. For the last fourteen years he has taught people different aspects of farming, built high tunnels, cold storage units, installed drip irrigation systems, organized farmer owned cooperatives, implemented a farm to school program, advocates for acequia policies, and works to ensure land and water will be available for future generations to raise crops and families in our beloved New Mexico.

Treasurer

Brandi Huerta

Brandy Huerta born and raised in the plains of Colorado. She moved to New Mexico looking for a new land to love in 2020 with her wonderful husband, dog and cat. Brandy has a passion for all living things and community. Currently a firefighter EMT for the last 6 years. Serving her community and those in it. She is committed to keeping her chicana roots nourished and grounded. Teaching the youth to hold on tight to traditions and ceremonies. Brandy firmly believes in the youth propelling us forward into the future and creating a better place for all.

Member
Member

Marcos Valdez

Marcos Valdez currently serves as the District Manager for the East Rio Arriba Soil and Water Conservation District, bringing over 15 years of dedicated service to the organization. Beginning his career as a technical service provider, Marcos partnered closely with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, leading contract management and conservation planning efforts—including field surveys and irrigation system designs. Residing in Petaca, New Mexico, Marcos is deeply involved in his community and has served as mayodomo for two acequias for the past 15 years.

Luis Peña

Luis Peña was raised in the Manito community of Servilleta Plaza. Luis is happily married to his high school sweetheart and is a father to three young leaders. As a youth, Luis bore witness to the struggles of his gente against erasure and the continued occupation of the commons. Through civic engagement and spiritual devotion he has managed to navigate an ever-changing world and is committed to justice for all living things.

Professional memberships include: Concilio member, New Mexico Acequia Association. Vice President, La Asociacion de las Acequias del Rio Tusas, Vallecitos and Ojo Caliente, Treasurer for Acequia de las Canovas & Acequia de la Plaza.

Member