Staff

Gavin Raders

Co-Founder + Co-Director + Leadership Council
gavin@plantingjustice.org

Gavin Raders is a co-founder and co-director of Planting Justice, a father to two amazing daughters, a social justice activist, and a permaculture demonstrator/teacher. For the past 17 years, he has dedicated his life to peoples’ movements for peace and social/economic/racial/environmental justice. Prior to Planting Justice, he studied the history, failures, and successes of social movements as a cultural anthropology student at UC Berkeley, and Read More

Salvador Mateo Escobar

Co-Director + Leadership Council
Pronouns: he/him

Sal was first introduced to Planting Justice during his senior year art class at Fremont High School in East Oakland, California, where he grew up. PJ’s education team established a garden of 8 raised beds at the school in 2010, and it was in this garden, that Sal first planted seeds, saw food grow naturally, and tasted his first fresh snap pea! Instantly grasping the importance of others having that same experience, that same year Sal and his very close friend Julio Madrigal received the opportunity to Read More

Nadia Barhoum

Operations Coordinator
Pronouns: she/her
City: El Sobrante, CA

Nadia grew up in the Bay Area and has been on the Farm Team since 2020. Her favorite part about working at PJ is getting to be in deeper relationship to the land and keeping her hands close to the earth. Read More

Andrew Chahrour

Sustainable Infrastructure Director + Leadership Council

Andrew grew up in Ohio and has devoted his work to our collective rights for healthy food & clean water for the last 18 years. Working with the Bureau of Land Management in Wyoming he documented the recession of Aspen stands, researched grazing strategies, and documented watershed impacts of federal livestock management practices. Read More

Samuel Lustig

Kitchen and Retail Manager
City: El Sobrante

Sam Lustig has been working with Planting Justice since July of 2022. He was brought on to manage Planting Justice’s kitchen and nursery retail space at our soon to be open Good Table project in El Sobrante. Sam has been intimately familiar with Planting Justice since its inception, having been dear friends with co-founder Gavin Raders since he was a teenager. Read More

Itzel Mercado

Educator
City: Oakland, CA

Itzel joined Planting Justice when she was in highschool and started as an intern in 2020. They found Planting Justice through Dewey Academy while she was a student and then turned into an intern. Itzel’s favorite part of working at PJ is when she gets to make smoothies, go to fruitvale bart station and hand it out to people. Read More

Bilal Coleman

Educator + Leadership Council

Bilal Coleman was born in Berkeley and raised in Oakland, CA. He is a parent of two and he enjoys spending time with both his children. He has a passion for health and personal fitness and giving back to the youth by sharing his personal experiences with the criminal justice system. He appreciates the way everyone at Planting Justice treats each other like family and has supported and accepted him as part of the family. Read More

Birhon Quizhpe

Media Associate + Leadership Council
Pronouns: he/him
City: Oakland, CA

Birhon’s favorite part of working at PJ is all the amazing people that he works with and all of the support that he receives. Birhon is passionate about photography,  he believes that pictures are able to tell numerous stories. He loves capturing the beautiful moments on camera, to be able to revisit them. In his free time he enjoys discovering new trails, and walkways to take in all of the beauty that nature has to offer. 

Otis Spikes

Nursery Manager + Leadership Council 

Otis grew up in Sobrante Park and has lived here in the neighborhood for the past 40 years. After hearing about the Planting Justice Nursery & Aquaponics Farm Incubation Center, he came to apply for a job, and was quickly hired for his experience and expertise in irrigation construction, a skill he honed working for the City of Oakland’s Parks & Recreation Department. He’s excited to be a part of something BIG that will benefit the community of Sobrante Park.

Cynthia Green

Nursery Office Manager
Pronouns: she/they
City: Oakland, CA

Cynthia Green is thrilled about her new role at PJ. A passionate gardener, she first learned about the organization from a fellow gardener who spoke highly of the nursery’s mission and its diverse plant offerings.

Nature has always held a special place in Cynthia’s heart. From hiking and camping in her younger days to inheriting the gardening passion from her parents, she finds solace in the ever-changing beauty of gardens. Read More

Arturo Solano

Nursery Technician
Pronouns: he/him
City: Oakland, CA

Arturo Solano has been on the Technician Team since June 2021. Arturo was introduced to Planting Justice by his good friend Jose Isordil. Arturo’s favorite part about working at Planting Justice is the people and the work that Planting Justice does for the community. He would love to stay around to see how far Planting Justice will go in the future. Arturo is passionate about plants and nature – he loves the outdoors and working with plants.

Adela Flores

Nursery Propagation Team
City: Oakland, CA

Adela Flores joined Planting Justice on September 20th, 2017. She was introduced to the organization through a friend. Adela enjoys working with plants at Planting Justice because she understands the importance of plants for her health. She is a happy person and in her free time, she likes to listen to music, sing, and dance. Adela also loves that Planting Justice is growing medicinal plants and offering them to the community.

Jose Isordia

Nursery Field Team Lead

Bio coming soon!

Luis Ortega

Nursery Field Team Technician
Pronouns: he/him
City: Oakland, CA

Luis Ortega joined Planting Justice in August 2017. He was introduced to the organization by his own curiosity when he approached the nursery when it first opened. Luis enjoys working with plants and has been working in gardening since he arrived in the US. In his free time, he enjoys focusing on his family. Luis believes in Planting Justice because, just as he was able to get a job with a livable wage, other people in the community could also have the same opportunity.

Rogelio Rizo

Nursery Shipping Team

Rogelio joined Planting Justice in winter of 2019. He was first introduced to Planting Justice as an intern through a partner organization and later transitioned to the nursery crew as a nursery technician. Planting Justice’s work matters to Rogelio because it supports the community, helps people find jobs, get education, growing their food, and teaches sustainable living.

Gordon Limbrick

Nursery Shipping Team

Gordon “G-Lean”  Limbrick is a musician, entrepreneur, and community activist. A vital member of the Planting Justice team, Gordon supports ongoing operations of a 2-acre Nursery site and the development of a 3-acre Aquaponics site. Read More

Mason Moore Jr.

Nursery Technician
City: Oakland, CA

Mason Moore Jr. has been on the Nursery Technician Team since July 2021. He was introduced to planting justice through reentry. Mason believes in the work that planting justice is doing his community. Mason had gardening jobs before, so he has a lot of experience working with plants. He is passionate about the outdoors and loves going fishing.

Joseph Urias

Nursery Team

Bio coming soon!

Cesar Fragoso

Nursery Propagation Team
Pronouns: they/them
City: Oakland, CA

Cesar joined Planting Justice in the fall of 2018. They are a neighbor who has experience in community organizing from previously working with the statewide environmental justice nonprofit CBE (Communities for a Better Environment) and the GSA (Gay Straight Alliance). They are also a member of the Sobrante Park RAC.

Simone Robinson

Nursery Mother Team
Pronouns: she/her
City: Oakland, CA

Simone Robinson has been on the Nursery Mother Team since July 2021. She found herself walking down the street one day when she came across the nursery. She then started volunteering and soon got hired. Simone’s favorite part of working at PJ is the plants. She is passionate about growing her food and working on the land. Simone is also a fantastic artist and painted a mural for PJ.

Julio Madrigal

Farm Manager

Julio Madrigal grew up in Oakland, he has witnessed the struggles people have around food along with the health issues of malnutrition. Julio has had the opportunity to learn from people in his community and this has rooted his love for the Planting Justice community. Read More

NneJ Ke

Farm Steward + Leadership Council
Pronouns: the/ke
Huchiun Unceded Ohlone Land

NneJ started volunteering for PJ in 2015, primarily at the nursery, then transitioned to the farm team in December 2020. NneJ first discovered PJ from friends, then reconnected with PJ from a fundraising campaign to raise money for building the nursery. Read More

Damian Villa

Farm Steward

Jie Wang

Accountant

Jie Wang is a Certified Public Accountant who specializes in non-profit billing for mental health, foster care, adoption, Title IV and more. Jie supports the Planting Justice Financial Committee with financial reporting, reconciliation, audit preparation, and annual tax preparation.

Lesbhia Morones

Spanish Interpretation

Bio coming soon!