ABOUT US
Our Story
We believe in growing a vibrant agricultural future through education, community building, and partnerships.
Guidestone’s strategies and programming are founded upon the belief that if individuals are exposed to experiences on local farms and ranches, that exposure results in a growing appreciation for where our food comes from and the commitment and resources needed to produce food locally.
As a result of that appreciation, those individuals will then make choices that support and increase the capacity of the local food system. The result of these choices will be resilient local food systems, healthier communities, and a vibrant future for local agriculture.
Guidestone Colorado is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization.
Vision, Mission and Theory of Change
Our Vision
Resilient local food systems that sustain and nourish healthy communities.
Our Mission
Guidestone Colorado is growing a vibrant agricultural future through education, community building, and partnerships.
Theory of Change
Guidestone’s strategies and programming are founded upon the belief that if individuals are exposed to experiences on local farms and ranches, that exposure results in a growing appreciation for where our food comes from and the commitment and resources needed to produce food locally. As a result of that appreciation, those individuals will then make choices that support and increase the capacity of the local food system.
Core Values
Inclusive
Diversity is cause for celebration!
We are committed to providing equitable access to our events and programs and we are intentional in our outreach, finding ways to include everyone by identifying and eliminating barriers. We are stronger together: people and projects are enriched by diverse perspectives, and everyone has something to contribute.
Collaborative
We leverage our place in the community by leading collaborations and partnerships at program, organization, coalition, and system scales.
Collective action moves efforts forward more powerfully than competition or striving in parallel or in isolation. To these ends, we engage with and facilitate connections between stakeholders to strategically elevate our local food system and community health.
Rooted
We cherish and invest in the places where we live, work, eat, and play.
Our educational programs and festive events establish connections between people, food, and land to heal gaps in the food system and create bridges between our farming and ranching heritage and the future of agriculture in our community. Recognizing that productive agricultural land in Colorado is endangered, we strive to protect this resource while helping producers thrive.
Inspiring
Opportunities to advance the awareness and appreciation of agriculture invigorate us!
We enjoy facilitating exploration and discovery in agricultural and historic settings while cultivating a welcoming atmosphere for all people to experience a sense of wonder and connection. When people feel connected to what they eat, we rejoice, because it means that they are more likely to buy, grow, and eat local food and cause ripples in local food and eating patterns.
Dynamic
With our hands in the earth, our eyes toward new approaches, and our fingers on the pulse of food system innovations,
We shape our programs to awaken a passion for the land and the bounty it provides. We continually explore new ways to foster learning and expand our local food culture. Working across the continuum of time–past, present, and future–and across the lifespan, we create programs that draw people from all generations.
Integrity
We are grateful to be a part of, and play an active role in, our community.
Our contributions include projects that catalyze positive growth in people, land, and the food system, underscored by the responsibility to ensure safety, sustainability, and best practices in all that we do. Ethical and fiscally responsible decisions ensure our organizational strength, creating a solid foundation for us to evolve and persevere in service to our community, in lean and abundant times.
Where We Work
The Hutchinson Homestead & Learning Center
8913 W. US Hwy 50 in Salida, CO 81201
Is our primary office in beautiful Chaffee County.
Tours of the historic Hutchinson Homestead are available by appointment. Please call 719-239-0955.
School & Community Gardens
Longfellow Elementary School:
425 W Seventh St., Salida, CO 81201
520 Milford St., Salida, CO 81201
Community & School Farm
1455 Holman Ave Salida, CO 81201
Community Gardens
2nd & I St. Marilyn Moore, Garden Coordinator
Sonia’s Garden at the Touber Building
Crestone Mesa Community Garden
Mill Location, Hutchison Ranch
6700 Old Corral Road, Salida, CO 81201
Our Team
Andrea Earley Coen
Executive Director
Andrea Earley Coen brings more than 30 years of experience in the experiential education nonprofit sector, with a career rooted in education, agriculture, and community development. Her work has spanned schools, nonprofits, outdoor and agricultural education centers, farms, and wilderness programs across Minnesota, Wisconsin, California, and Colorado.
Andrea joined Guidestone in 2008 and has played a central role in the organization’s growth and evolution, serving in multiple leadership capacities before becoming Executive Director in 2018. Known for her collaborative leadership style and innovative approach, Andrea is deeply committed to cultivating resilient communities through local food systems, land stewardship, and experiential learning. She is passionate about strengthening organizations, fostering partnerships, and creating opportunities that connect people to place, purpose, and one another—work she is proud to carry forward at both the local and statewide level.
Attila Agoston
Farm & Food system Director
Attila is passionate about growing food for the community and all things farm-related. Before joining Guidestone as the Farm and Food Systems Director, he operated a Certified Organic vegetable operation in Virginia near the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah Rivers for 15 years.
In some intervening years he also had a fun side career doing science support in Antarctica and Greenland.
Emma Lietz Bilecky
Colorado Land Link Director
Emma Lietz Bilecky joined the Guidestone team in 2022 as the Farm to School Director and transitioned to her current role as the Colorado Land Link Director in 2024. During and after earning degrees in religion and environmental management, Emma spent eight years learning from, teaching on, and managing farms in the Southeast, Northeast, Midwest, and Mountain West.
As the Colorado Land Link Director, Emma works to address the crisis of land access and affordability while increasing equity, supporting agricultural communities, and building climate resilience.
Tracy Green
Education and Homestead Director
Tracy moved here a year and half ago to help manage a local ranch. She is passionate about the community, the outdoors, nature, animals, gardening, teaching and learning. Tracy has a background in Montessori and early childhood development, and has experience working with both children and adults.
She has raised and cared for horses, donkeys, llamas, goats, chickens, guineas, dogs and cats. You might have seen her driving the tractor last year at the Pumpkin Patch! You may see her out hiking with her dog Max most weekends – if you do, please say hello!
Maytal Agasi
Garden Educator
Maytal has a deep love and admiration for all things earth; whether it’s farm fresh veggies, mountain tops, rich soil, or a delicate flower, she is all in.
You’ll find her running the school gardens, coordinating the community garden spaces, teaching camps, and digging her hands in the soil at the Guidestone Community and School Farm. Maytal has been working and volunteering on farms around the world for the past 9 years and is excited to have found her home in Salida.
Photo Credit: Codi Rae Creative
Our Board of Directors
Steve O’Neill
Board Chair
Arriving in Chaffee County in 2001, Steve soon opened The Pilates Studio to continue the help that Pilates gave to him in rehabbing a back injury. As the business grew he helped many of his clients in their physical wellbeing, overcoming injuries, allowing clients to enjoy physical activities that were enjoyable to them. Prior to coming to Salida
Steve was involved in Non-profit organizations covering areas of Environmental Education for kids to Mentoring programs to support childhood development.
Brianne Allen
Vice Chair
Brianne Allen is a North Carolina native with an agricultural upbringing who re-rooted herself to Colorado over a decade ago. She spends her working days as a strategic HR leader at a global marketing technology company, and maximizes the rest of her time exploring and enjoying the great state of Colorado on bikes, skis, and rafts with her husband and dog.
Brianne became a Salida community member in 2020, and with an eagerness to contribute, she quickly found Guidestone.
Cammeron Larson
Treasurer
Cam is a Salida native with deep roots in Central Colorado, seeing firsthand the vital role that agriculture plays in our area. He believes that Guidestone’s mission is crucial to a balanced, resilient, and healthy community. Cam holds a BA in Business Administration from Western Colorado University. He works as a commercial lender at Collegiate Peaks Bank and has used his financial background while serving on several nonprofit boards in the area.
Cam enjoys living in Salida with his wife and their rescue mutt. He enjoys skiing, rafting, fly-fishing, and hunting.
Barb Tidd
Secretary
Barb made Salida her home in 2020, following 17 years in the San Luis Valley living off-grid, drinking mountain spring water, and growing most of her own produce year-round. Barb’s career as a certified paralegal spans 30+ years, and she continues to find it challenging and fun.
Over the years, she has been involved with and served on non-profit organizations and other community boards in various capacities, including Chair and Secretary of a neighboring land trust. Knowing our food’s source, growing it, participating in the local food chain, and educating others are important to Barb.
Becky Cassel
Board member
Becky hails from rural Pennsylvania and a career in the aerospace industry with a focus in operations, program management, and systems engineering. After living in Conifer for 13 years, she and her husband, Andy, now call Chaffee County home and enjoy exploring the mountains on foot, bikes, and skis.
Becky currently works for Kiss the Ground, a regenerative agriculture non-profit, and on a ranch in Nathrop. Her enthusiasm for regenerative agriculture principles and practices blossomed from her interests in functional medicine and systems thinking.
Elizabeth Little
Past Board Chair
Elizabeth relocated to Louisiana from Illinois as a volunteer RN and found a home with her husband, Patrick, and raised 3 children in the rural south.