Meet the Staff

Matt Russell is a fifth-generation Iowa farmer who grew up on a commodity and livestock farm in Cass County. He now co-owns and operates Coyote Run Farm, near Lacona, Iowa with his spouse Patrick Standley. Russell is the former State Executive Director of the USDA Farm Service Agency in Iowa for the Biden Administration. In 2018, he became the Executive Director of Iowa Interfaith Power and Light, a statewide faith-based climate action organization. Prior to that, he spent 12 years on staff at the Drake University Agricultural Law Center. He’s been an active member of Iowa Farmers Union for over 20 years. [email protected]

Deborah comes to Iowa via Canada where she worked for various non-profits including serving as Executive Director of the Tamarack Foundation for learning disabled children in Saskatchewan, and editing an arts newspaper in Hamilton, Ontario. Relocating to Ames in 1996 with her family, she wrote a monthly column on food history and availability of seasonal local foods for the Ames Tribune, while also writing a regular food column for the regional ‘Facets’ magazine.  For five years, Deborah ran a farmers market in Ames, opening Iowa’s first year-round, indoor market and launching a CSA. Coinciding with her life-long interest in social, political and economic justice,  she travelled Iowa for several months, talking with people about clean water issues and volunteered for two years with Iowa CCI as a citizen-lobbyist. These experiences have made Deborah a good fit for her work with Iowa Farmers Union. [email protected]

[email protected]

Tommy moved to Iowa after growing up on a 2-acre vegetable and egg farm in the mountains of Central Virginia. Since then, he has started his own semi-urban vegetable garden in Grinnell, become a commissioner of the Poweshiek County Soil and Water Conservation District, and owns an Iowa food market called Grinnell FarmToTable that sources products from 15-20 local farmers. Tommy understands the issues farmers face around conservation, markets, insurance, and more, and is passionate about farmers being leaders in political change. After being a member of the Iowa Farmers Union Board of Directors for 6 months, he is now the Union’s Rural Organizer and Educator. He loves to explore the small towns and backroads of Iowa with his 18-month old German Shepherd named Echo, and he goes gravel bike-riding in his free time.  [email protected]

Jonathan was born and raised in Lansing, MI where he graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in Business Management. Looking to build upon this business degree, Jonathan sought out a degree from Maharishi International University to learn more about the emerging field of Sustainability. He soon found out how interrelated agriculture is when it comes to the quality of our water, soil, air and overall environment and decided to get a degree in Regenerative Organic Agriculture & Sustainable Living. The knowledge he received from this degree fed his growing interest in local food system work and eventually led to receiving an offer to be a Value Chain Coordinator for the non-profit organization, Eat Greater Des Moines. Jonathan’s experience now as a Senior Value Chain Coordinator has involved working extensively with aiding in food security for SE Iowa rural communities and local food programs aimed at benefitting Iowan producers, as well as connecting them with various opportunities to reach more people/markets. This work has been pivotal but Jonathan recognizes the importance of helping educate our communities on why supporting our local farmer is so important to the health and vitality of our communities. Becoming the Education Program Director for Iowa’s Farmer Union will allow Jonathan to do that as well as bring more focus on farmer issues. [email protected]