Board Members

  • Advocacy, Communications, & Finance & Fundraising Committees.

    As the board chair of the New Mexico Cheese Guild, Lissa Knudsen brings a wealth of experience in board leadership and governance, advocacy and public relations, and education and outreach. With a strong background in public health, education, and communication, she is dedicated to promoting the growth of healthy, local commercial artisan cheese options.
    Lissa currently serves as a cheesemonger at Mouse Hole Cheese Shop in Albuquerque and is a communication instructor at Central New Mexico Community College. Lissa is also working on a Ph.D. in health communication from the University of New Mexico and brings decades of non-profit leadership experience to the board.

  • Communications Committee

    Casey Holland has their roots deeply planted in New Mexico and has been farming in the Middle Rio Grande Valley for 12 seasons. They are currently operating Chispas Farm, a community-minded 4 acre small scale regenerative vegetable + integrated animal operation in the heart of Albuquerque.

  • Finance and Fundraising & Speakers and Events Committees

    Amanda Brown is the treasurer of the New Mexico Cheese Guild and owner of Brown’s Micro Creamery. Raised in Albuquerque and currently living in Corrales with her family, Amanda makes soaps, ice cream, and cheeses after almost a decade of experience raising goats.

  • Speakers and Events, Board Recruitment Committees

    As the owner of Tiny Grocer ABQ, a local farms micro grocer and cafe, and Old Town Herbal, a full-service apothecary, in Old Town Albuquerque, New Mexico, Liz is a true community liaison. They also worked for a raw milk dairy and cheese maker in Northern Colorado for almost a decade prior to starting their herbal practice. As a 5th generation New Mexican, they bring a commitment to community well-being, as well as a passion for supporting local food and farms to the NMCG board.

  • Communications Committee

    Nina is the board secretary and she grew up on a small farm in rural Vermont where her family raised a menagerie of animals from chickens to pigs to horses. As a teenager, Nina found her passion for small ruminants and began raising her own dairy goats for milk and cheese. She continued to follow her passion of further honing skills in livestock management and land stewardship through on-farm apprenticeships while earning a degree in Journalism from the University of Rochester in Upstate New York. Upon graduation, Nina ventured out west to California where she spent multiple years working on her friends’ grass-fed goat and sheep dairy and teaching environmental science in Yosemite National Park. Now, she works for the Quivira Coalition where she helps farmers and ranchers create circular economies and become more climate resilient. When not working on all things Quivira or NMCG-related, you can find Nina tending to her farm in the San Pedro Mountains of New Mexico or off skiing, backpacking, mountain biking, & rock climbing with her two pups in tow.

Meet the Cheese Board

We are a group of local business owners, community members, and cheese enthusiasts creating community around good cheese in our neighborhoods!