Lily Lucero (she/her) grew up in the center of San Diego on unceded Kumeyaay land and comes from a long line of land stewards, farmers, and farm workers. She spent her childhood growing food with her family and neighbors and stewarding a plot that is now a cornerstone of their community. She watched as her mother, a public health and psychiatric nurse, leveraged small-scale gardening as a tool of empowerment for her patients. Her father approached sustainable, drought tolerant land stewardship to build up their community and to connect his family with his Mexican and Indigenous cultures that influence his love for the land. Lily spent her college years working in immigration advocacy and graduated from UC Berkeley in 2022 with a B.A. in History with a concentration in Indigenous and immigrant histories of the Americas and a B.A. in Spanish Language, Literature, and Culture. She began a farm stay traineeship at Common Roots Farm, an accessible space for farmers of all abilities, following her graduation from college and now works as the organization's Day Program Coordinator. At Common Roots she runs the accessible garden where upwards of fifty individuals living with intellectual and developmental disabilities gather weekly to grow culturally relevant and nutritious produce. Lily is committed to expanding accessibility to regenerative farming practices and community empowerment through food sovereignty.

Lily Lucero | Email