About Us

 Director of Operations

Lilgeberg is constantly learning and experimenting in the garden and in the kitchen. Quick to explore new hobbies, she is currently working on some basic carpentry projects, fermentation, and watercolor painting. When she is not at the farm, you can find her hanging out with her two dogs, 3 cats, and her partner at home or checking out local breweries and restaurants.

At the farm, Regina works closely with Amyrose to develop new projects in the communities we serve and helps to recruit, coordinate, and works beside volunteers in the gardens. She also loves to come up with new content for our blog.

In addition to feeding people, Regina loves feeding the chickens. Whenever possible, she is delivering treats to the flock at Spotted Pig Holler.

Executive Director & Founder

 Amyrose Foll is actively seeking to dismantle the systemic racism in our food system, and transform the regional foodshed to create community-driven systems based on collectivism, and respect for nature. Before becoming the Director of Future Harvest’s Beginner Farmer Training Program in 2021, and Program Director for the Urban Agriculture Collective in 2022 Amyrose founded The Virginia Free Farm, which works to provide free nutrient dense food assistance to those in need, and plants and seeds (free of charge) to community gardens, schools, tribes, and community-based organizations. It is a hub for educating young people in the Richmond metro area about indigenous agriculture, ethnobotanical knowledge, & lifeways in order to cultivate the next generation of land and water protectors. 

Amyrose’s strong background in healthcare and her native heritage (Penobscot/Abenaki) is what prompted her to begin advocating for food sovereignty, security, and preservation of indigenous food culture through seed saving & distribution. She has served the Virginia State Commissioner of Agriculture on the EFOD Taskforce, advocated to the Maryland General Assembly for more inclusive language surrounding urban agriculture operations for state grant making, and completed climate training with the American Indian Higher Education Consortium.

Amyrose is also a U.S. Army veteran, former firefighter-paramedic, and nurse. She has a background in Biology & Healthcare, and Sustainable Agriculture, in addition to Master’s in Health Information Management, and Digital Marketing. She also holds certificates in viticulture & fruit tree production, poultry production, and woodlot management from Cornell University, and Master Cattleman through Virginia Tech.

RVA Community Fridges

Founder 

Taylor Scott is a 23 year old VCU Alumna from New Orleans, Louisiana. She has seen many people in need of food, shelter, services, and basic needs in her hometown that have been ignored or simply do not have access to such things. Having been in Richmond for some years now herself, she has seen a similar trend and need here in Virginia. This has pushed her to establish RVA Community Fridges to get more involved with the community and find a way she can assist while promoting equal access to healthy food options and fresh produce, reduce food waste and insecurity, and foster a sense of mutual aid amongst our communities. 

A lifelong resident of central Virginia, Chris Hawks has a passion for restoring the soil and helping people find their connection to the earth that feeds us and the water that connects us. He believes healing comes through biodiversity and connection and is always looking for ways to create healthier ecosystems. He is a carpenter by trade and loves to create useful farm structures out of reclaimed materials. Chris spends every possible moment outdoors and enjoys gardening, foraging, camping, hiking, canoeing, kayaking, and yoga.  

Dr. Mae (Christina) Hey is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology.

Hey’s undergraduate education focused on geology and geography, human-Nature relationships. Her two graduate degrees are in curriculum and instruction. Her Ph.D. research focused on the confluence of Indigenous worldview/ knowledge and science education, a natural blending of traditional local knowledge and practices—practices that support creative problem-solving, human empowerment, community capacity building, and a more sustainable future. Additionally, her dissertation work allowed her to explore strategies for effectively working with Native populations as well as maintaining the integrity of authentic Indigenous voice through the process of research and reporting. 

Hey completed a two-year InclusiveVT postdoctoral fellowship under the Office of Inclusion and Diversity with the American Indian and Indigenous Alliance. In that position, she nurtured relationships with tribal communities in Virginia to aid in experiential learning and applied research programs at Virginia Tech. She also created bonds with Virginia tribes and continues to work with them on a number of grants for community viability projects related to Land-centered learning.

She is now an InclusiveVT Faculty Fellow for the Office for Inclusion and Diversity, assistant professor of American Indian Studies, Faculty Fellow for the Leadership and Social Change Residential College at Virginia Tech, and Faculty Fellow for the Virginia Tech Center for Food Systems and Community Transformation. She is a Sequoyah Fellow and serves on the Curriculum Committee for the American Indian Science and Engineering Society. She is an active member of the Native American Food Sovereignty Alliance’s Indigenous culinary mentorship program.