Board of Directors
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.... more info on us soon (ish... we all have full time jobs outside of volunteering our time here ! )
Meet the Board of Directors
Baily Rose
Chair
Siciliana-Americana-Colorada garment worker, upcycler, mender, zero waste pattern designer, creative waste manager, teacher, & sartorial social justice nerd & consultant practicing for over 18 years.
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Rose grew up in Eagle County on Ute land, learning how to knit and crochet at a young age from her Mother, who led 4-H Knitting and Crochet clubs. Her maternal side of the family had been farmers (Greeley) and ranchers (San Luis Valley) in the Colorado settled areas for over 150+ years. Her paternal side of the famiglia are Siciliana-Calabrese that settled in Pueblo, Colorado around 1900 after the Risorgimento, who have long lineages of spinning, crochet, and needlework.
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While studying Psychology at the University of Colorado at Boulder, Rose started designing upcycled fashions and producing shows with friends as a way to subjectify her experience after feeling objectified on the college campus. She didn’t have money to buy new fabric to create with, so she upcycled old clothes and linens that were readily available - even though she didn’t know what upcycling was at the time! Local journalists pegged her as an eco-fashion designer, which opened her eyes to the can of worms that the present day fashion industry is.
She continued to design and produce slow fashion events and continued her studies through natural dye apprentices in the Bay Area, obtaining her Sewing Certificate from the Emily Griffith Opportunity School (when they still had a sewing program!), workshops at the Denver Design Incubator, and sewing bootcamps at the Albuquerque Fashion Design Incubator.
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While working as a production seamstress at a local outdoor clothing manufacturer, she saw how much scrap fabric waste was created from common industry pattern cutting techniques. This prompted her to create zero-waste patterns in her own work. A few months at the same job sewing recycled polyester fleece, she started breaking out all over, learning that micro-plastic shedding polyester carries hormone and endocrine disrupting chemicals that seep into our skin, and should never be worn next to our body! This was the start of her journey to seek out only biodegradable and healthy fibers to create with and wear.
She went on to tailor for high-end ski wear companies and clients in the Vail area, saving money to further explore sustainability in fashion in Europe, where education and living was cheaper, and sustainable fashion had European Union policy to lean on. She received her Master’s in Sustainability in Fashion and Creative Industries from the Akademie of Mode & Design in Berlin, Germany after writing her thesis on the importance of collectives in garment work.
Rose has taught as Adjunct Faculty at Rocky Mountain College of Art & Design, Directed & co-wrote curriculum for a local Fashion Academy for Elementary to High Schoolers, practiced as a Production Assistant in an Aurora based clothing manufacturing facility, and taught Fashion in Siena, Italia.
She has experienced wage theft as a garment worker in Denver as a contract garment worker, which has deepened her commitment to garment worker rights, and creating an ethical and regenerative fashion industry for all.
Rose created a capsule collection of Mountains and Plains Fibershed goods during COVID lockdowns, and was a bit disappointed when she didn’t hear back from M & P ! After contacting the main Fibershed and offering to help organize since it seemed like M & P had fallen apart, she was put in touch with Erin Miller, who had also done the same thing! Rose is SEW excited to be helping organize this community.
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Erin Miller
Vice Chair
Erin grew up on the family farm in rural Massachusetts right next door to her grandmother who taught her the knit stitch at a young age. Fast forward 10 years, and Erin picked up knitting again, and this time started soaking up everything she could possibly learn about fiber arts. Since then Erin has become a knitter, spinner, weaver, amateur sewist, natural dyer, and an ASI certified sheep shearer. She is also co-owner of Nerdy Sheep Fiber Works, with the eventual goal to open a full service fiber mill on the Front Range, supporting local farms and artisans.
Erin never considered where her clothing had come from until she read Rebecca Burgess’s book Fibershed. She was always interested in where her food came from, how it was grown, who grew it– but never thought to extend this to her clothing. Erin started to make changes, not only to the materials that her clothes were made from, but where the fabric was grown, how it was produced, where the clothing was sewn, and who sewed it - changed her entire outlook. She also started producing more of her own clothing, using local materials. All of this led her to Fibershed, wanting to build a local fiber community/economy that works collaboratively.
Erin lives in Westminster with her husband Greg, dog Bowie, and 6 chickens. She can’t wait to buy a larger property and raise sheep, alpaca, yak (if Greg will let her), donkeys, chickens, and turkeys. She spends her “free” time backpacking, hiking, ice climbing, and rock climbing. Other non-fiber hobbies include gardening and baking.
Jessica Shaver
Secretary
(she/her) has been passionate about textiles and clothes since she was old enough to wobble around in her grandmother's immaculate and stylish closet trying on high heels, fur stoles and whatever else she could reach. After receiving her BFA in Fashion Design from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY she worked for a decade as an apparel and textile designer in NYC for major US retail brands. It was during this time that the excessive waste, and environmental and social harms of the fashion industry were revealed to her. Wanting to have a positive impact on the fashion industry, she followed the guiding question “what is sustainable fashion?” to Colorado State University (CSU) and received a M.S. in Apparel and Merchandising. While at CSU, she discovered the Fibershed movement–the concept of a regionally based textile eco-system had been stirring in her mind for close to a decade, so she was enamored by the success of Rebecca Burgess’ regional textile eco-system. Based in Longmont, CO, Jessica is thrilled to join Mountains & Plains Fibershed. Jessica is the co-founder of Vulture Collective–their mission is to help folks extend the life of the clothes they already own. When not working on Vulture Collective or Fibershed, Jessica enjoys spending time outdoors with her family (whether it be a hiking trail, beer garden, or her own backyard). She also serves on the Board of Sustainable Resilient Longmont, and is a volunteer-member of the City of Longmont's Equitable Climate Action Team (ECAT).
DJ Lynch
Treasurer
My love of fiber started in high school when I learned to knit and crochet. About 25 years ago I discovered spinning and dove in deep – eventually acquiring 7 spinning wheels. With so much yarn I decided to take several weaving classes. Fifteen years ago I bought an acreage, went to the source, and got my own sheep and alpacas. With all these “hobby” expenses it was good I still had my “day” job in accounting. Now I mix both by handling the money and accounting tasks for Mountains & Plains Fibershed.
Noelle Schreiber
Officer
Noelle is the co-owner of Big Ash Farms. She is originally from Idaho but a Coloradan for the last 20+ (yikes, time flies). I love growing yummy things to eat and will never cease to be amazed watching seeds sprout and grow into something exponentially larger. DIY is my middle name - while it can save money (uhm, at times, right folks?), learning how to do something new and seeing it through to completion is incredibly rewarding for me! I love a good get together with friends and family and hanging with my livestock peeps, learning each of their individual personalities. And I simply adore BBQ. I love eating it and even more so I love making it for others to enjoy. Some ladies collect shoes - I, on the other hand, collect BBQs! Why? It's tasty of course.... but it also forces me to slow down. Ya can't rush good BBQ. And slowing down in today's world can be a challenge!
Kallie Friesen
Officer
Kallie has been a fiber nerd most of her life. Her love of fiber arts started as a kid at her public library, where she poured over every book on textiles she could find. Reading these books would become a bit of a theme in her life. Upon reading Clara Parkes book Vanishing Fleece, she knew she needed to devote her life to the sheep. Kallie currently runs a needle felting business where she incorporates local and plant dyed fibers to her own work as well as makes available to other felting enthusiasts. She also raises angora rabbits and a Rambouillet sheep named Tulip.