Thank you, Denver

Joining Us

Paula Thomas

Chef & Sustainability Educator

Paula Co-founder of Grappolo Food & Wine School, is a Denver-based food anthropologist, sustainability educator, and longtime food professional who has spent years exploring the connections between food, culture, and the land. Her work includes collaborating with farmers and food communities across countries and cultures around the world. Paula currently serves as Director of Sustainability at Restaurant Olivia, where she helps shape thoughtful, responsible food practices within the restaurant industry. Paula brings a rich perspective on food traditions, biodiversity, and the stories behind what we eat.

Karla Baltazar

Chef at SSA Group

Karla Baltazar is the Chef for the SSA Group, Denver-based food creator and community partner whose work helps bring people together around shared food traditions and meaningful culinary experiences. A graduate of Johnson & Wales University, she has over a decade of experience in the culinary industry, with a strong foundation in both baking and pastry as well as savory cuisine. She is deeply intentional in her approach to each dish, thoughtful about ingredients, minimizing waste, and honoring the full life cycle of the food she prepares. Her work is rooted in connection, culture, and creating spaces where community can gather and feel at home.

Sarah Koch

Executive Director

In 2006, while serving in the US Peace Corps in Senegal, West Africa, Sarah co-founded DIG. Her Peace Corps experience emphasized community-centered development which conflicted with more traditional Western development models she saw being implemented. Both offered important perspectives and fueled her determination to establish a different approach as a global development organization. Prioritizing trust and collaboration, Sarah's passion lies in empowering communities to lead their own solutions, while striving to connect our local and global stories and understand our collaborative role in generating positive change.

Twenty Years & Still Growing

2026 is a celebration of where DIG began, the people who believed in us early, and the farmers who continue to lead the way.

We want to take a moment to remember the early days. To honor the farmers who opened their fields to us. To recognize the supporters who said yes when the vision was still untested.

What grew from the very first garden at Hospital Fann, Senegal, became DIG. From the beginning, this work has been shaped by the farmers. Not as beneficiaries but as teachers: grandmothers pressing seeds into dry soil; mothers ensuring their families can eat vegetables year-round; daughters and sons reclaiming their land. These are the leaders, rarely making headlines, but steadily strengthening communities.

Over time, DIG’s work has grown into something larger. Stronger harvests and healthier families. Regenerative practices that restore soil. Local markets that keep food and income close to home.

And here we are, twenty years later.

Still learning.
Still growing.
Still building food systems that last.

Twenty years, still working.

Partnership with the National Western Center

DIG and the National Western Center are excited to come together around a shared commitment to food innovation, sustainability, and community resilience. Just as DIG partners with marginalized communities in Kenya, Uganda, and Senegal to strengthen food sovereignty, the National Western Center convenes leaders committed to building a regenerative food future.

Your support helps DIG protect and expand farmer-led programs that build climate resilient gardens and lasting local food systems. Every dollar strengthens families and communities across Kenya, Uganda, and Senegal.