Sara Katz
Executive Director
she/her
sara@chesteragcenter.org
Sara has worked in the food and agriculture space since 2005 in both the Hudson Valley and throughout NYC. Her work has been focused on helping communities build self-reliance through food and farm access, education and training. Sara is passionate about collaborating with farmers, farmworkers and values-aligned organizations to build a stronger, more equitable regional food system. Sara has years of experience developing training programs at organizations such as the Hudson Valley Farm Hub and The New York Botanical Garden. She is a wife and mother of two young children, all of whom love to be outdoors growing food and building reciprocity for all that nature gives us. As a child, Sara also grew up playing in an old farmhouse and garden in Chester, NY, where her grandparents and mother are from.
Dave Stoddard
Farm & Property Manager
he/him
Dave comes to the Chester Ag Center having lived in Chester for most of his life. As a teenager, Dave worked with previous owners of these farmlands and is a skilled tractor operator. Before joining the Chester Ag Center, Dave worked for 30+ years for the Town of Chester’s Department of Public Works. He supervises and maintains the Cromline Creek pump which is critical to our farmers’ drainage and irrigation efforts. Dave also maintains all of our fields, cover crops, looks after our farming infrastructure, as well as supports farmers in their day-to-day operations.
Dr. Gabriela (Gaby) Pereyra
Director of Operations
(ella | she)
Over the last twenty years, Dr. Pereyra has worked alongside farmers from the Americas, Africa, and Europe, learning about the trade-offs between carbon, nitrogen, and water in the soil, plants, and atmosphere. Since 2017, she has supported the establishment of more than 34 agricultural businesses owned by beginning farmers in the Northeastern United States. At the same time, she has facilitated the transfer of 210 acres of farmland and negotiated 18 long-term leases. Gaby is a bilingual facilitator and consultant of land access, agriculturally sustainable practices, and agro-food systems. She practices sustainable agriculture on Yara Farm in Middletown, New York, which features 27 acres of forest and arable land.
She has led grant programs such as La Beca Braiding Seeds, Mutual Aid Funds during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Climate Emergencies Funds, among others, disbursing more than $1.55 million to beginning farmers in the last three years. She serves as the Director of Operations at the Chester Agricultural Center. She has a BSc in Biology with a major in Botany from Universidad Central de Venezuela, an MSc in Agricultural Sciences from the University of Hohenheim, and a PhD (cum laude) from the Max Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry and the Friedrick Schiller University of Jena.