Marc Schutzbank (he/him)
Founder
“Give me a carrot, a beet, and a lime; I’ll make something so good – it should be a crime!” Marc Schutzbank is our resident poet-in-chief. Marc hails from the United States, coming to Vancouver as a Fulbright Scholar. As a graduate of the M.Sc. Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems program at the University of British Columbia,
Ilana Labow (she/her)
Founder
Ilana co-founded Fresh Roots with a passion for gardening, compost, and witnessing the awe and wonder of people pulling a carrot out of the ground for their first time. Driven by the collected wisdom and stories of the diverse neighbours and community in East Vancouver, Ilana now helps develop the vision and growth of Fresh Roots.

Alexa Pitoulis (she/her)
Executive Director
Alexa is a creative strategist with over 20 years of experience leading teams and change initiatives in public, private and non-profit spheres. A change leader with an MBA in Sustainable Systems, Alexa is skilled at moving the whole working of an organization, and its effects on systems, in ways that illuminate potential and build capacity.
Good Food Farm Team
Camille Flanjak (she/her)
Good Food Farm Manager
Camille is a farmer with experience in Urban, Community, and Homestead growing. She is known by many as ‘the mushroom girl,’ having connected people with the mycelial network for over 10 years. Her power as a connector between people and food is what brings her to Fresh Roots, where she can share her delight for growing vegetables with students, interns, volunteers, staff, CSA members, and market-goers.
Galen Taylor Jones (she/they)
Good Food Programmer
Galen takes joy in the snap-ability of harvesting garlic scapes, the jawline of snapdragons, the spines on eggplants and seeing food move from the field into community members’ meals! She joins the Fresh Roots team from a background in rural and urban farming, social support work, and restaurants. Galen trains our interns and youth to grow and share more Good Food, and she leads teams of adult volunteers during our Big Helps and Team Builds.
Youth Empowerment Team

Tathali Urueta-Ortiz (she/her)
Youth Empowerment Manager
During the last 10 years, Tathali has been working in diverse capacities at the intersection of two worlds: Food and Education! Her professional experience in these years has been shaped by her interest and passion in sustainability education, garden-based learning, science education, and food studies.
Nicole Bruce
SOYL Lead Facilitator
Nicole Bruce- Nicole started her journey with Fresh Roots in 2016 as a SOYL participant herself! It set her on a path filled with passion for local food systems and the power to make a difference. She believes that growing your own food is one of the most rewarding things you can do and wants to share that passion with youth just like her.
Experiential Learning Team
Kat Vriesema-Magnuson (she/her)
Experiential Learning Manager
Kat loves to help kids literally get their hands dirty, and seeing a kid hold their first worm is the highlight of her day. Kat has a Graduate Certificate in Education, Environment and Community from IslandWood, an M.Ed. in Teaching and Curriculum from the University of Washington, and over a decade of experience in environmental education.
Grandview/¿Uuqinak’uuhElementary
Charlotte Hewson
Experiential Learning Program Facilitator
Charlotte is passionate about sustainable food systems and the ability for food to both heal and brings community together. After many years working in the Vancouver school system as an Education Assistant, she decided to follow her heart and study culinary arts at Northwest Culinary Academy. Now she’s crafted a career that’s the perfect balance of creating food to nourish people in her communities and also working with Students in east Vancouver, to broaden their experiences of growing and sharing food.
Engagement

Caroline Manuel (she/her)
Communications and Engagement Manager
Caroline is an East Coast transplant who spent her formative years spinning yarns and attending university in Halifax where she studied ethnolinguistics and anthropology. After living abroad in Asia and Europe Caroline fianlly put down roots in Vancouver where over the years she has owned and operated a diner, produced documentary TV, and in recent years has applied her communications and fundraising skills to increasing awareness about food insecurity through her work in the non-profit sector.
caroline@freshroots.ca | 778-764-0344 ext 108
Operations
Vivian Cheung (she/her)
Operations Coordinator
Vivian gets excited by the details and systems, whether it is life or data. Her curiosity for food systems began while working at her family’s restaurant and flourished as a 2016 Fresh Roots intern. With a BSc in Biology, Vivian hopes to help inspire environmental stewardship and food sustainability in the community. ops@freshroots.ca
Accounting
Gillian Cofsky (they/them/she/her)
Accounting & Payroll Manager
Gillian is a former dancer, movement instructor, and entrepreneur who left the dance world for a career in the accounting industry. Gillian is the founder of Make It Count – bookkeeping, tax services, & financial education for creative entrepreneurs! After experiencing in the past the bewilderment that can come along with interacting with accountants and other financial professionals, Gillian was inspired to work with artists, creatives, non-profits, and small businesses to understand their finances and feel empowered in their relationship with money. https://www.letsmakeitcount.ca/ www.letsmakeitcount.ca