Get To Know Our Team!
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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Eiswerth, a resident of Tucson since 1992, worked as a research geologist specializing in GeoSpatial Information Technologies with the US Geological Survey. After ten years working extensively with technology transfer in Latin America, she pursued a career as an environmental scientist working at the Office of Arid Lands, Arizona Remote Sensing Center. Her work included projects in East and West Africa. In 2003, after receiving her Ph.D. from the University of Arizona, Eiswerth founded a community based organization, which soon focused on UN refugees. The programs have evolved from harvesting a few thousand pounds of fruit to an annual harvest of over 50 tons of fruit, nuts, and vegetables from backyards, local farms and orchards. Barbara serves on the state Linking Edible Arizona Forests (LEAF) steering committee, heads the UALEAF project, and is an adjunct at the University of Arizona in the School of Natural Resources and the Environment.
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REFUGEE OUTREACH COORDINATOR
Jenica Bosko joins Iskashitaa Refugee Network as a Refugee Outreach Coordinator, bringing a deep personal connection to the organization's mission and a fresh perspective shaped by her Tucson roots and studies at the University of Arizona.
Raised in Tucson by refugee parents from Kurmuk, Sudan, Jenica grew up learning firsthand the importance of family, food, sovereignty, and community care. She graduated from the University of Arizona with a degree in Anthropology and a minor in Sociology, grounding her work in understanding of culture, migration, and belonging. Jenica is eager to build trust and connection with newly arrived refugee families, drawing on her lived experience and skills to support outreach, resource navigation, and community integration. She sees her work as an extension of the welcome and resilience her own family received, and is committed to ensuring that every family she meets feels seen, supported, and at home in the Southern Desert.
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GRANTS AND DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
Amelia Natoli currently serves on the staff of Iskashitaa Refugee Network as the principal grant writer and development manager. She knew immediately that she wanted to be part of the organization after meeting Barbara sometime around 2012. Amelia took on various roles over the past seven years as a volunteer, lead harvester, intern through the AZ Dept of Forestry Edible Tree Fellowship, and then as a grant writing consultant. Her first chance to help with a grant proposal was interrupted by the arrival of a shipment of live chickens that needed to be distributed. In a pandemic-induced life change, she earned her Master's in Public Health in 2021 after a 24-year career as a field archaeologist in the Southwest. She loves using her background in global health in a local setting, and promoting Tucson as an example of community integration and food justice.
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OPERATIONS DIRECTOR
Jason DeVincentis serves as the Operations Director at Iskashitaa Refugee Network, where he brings decades of leadership experience, a systems-thinking mindset, and a lifelong commitment to sustainability. A longtime Tucsonan with deep roots in the Sonoran Desert, Jason combines his passion for ecological resilience with a hands-on approach to community building.
With a professional background in organizational development and adult learning, Jason is known for bridging operational challenges with thoughtful, people-centered strategies.
Whether managing gleaning logistics, mentoring staff, or tending his own permaculture-inspired backyard food forest, Jason is driven by a belief that sustainability is as much about people as it is about the environment.
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VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR
Zotero Amavizca joins Iskashitaa Refugee Network as a Volunteer Coordinator bringing over a decade of experience of volunteer management within educational institutions, non-profit organizations, and community based organizations. His passion is working with people to build a more sustainable future by harvesting rainwater, growing food, and protecting our natural environment. He is an Arizona native who has been living in Tucson since 2003. In 2011 he received a Permaculture Design Certification from the Sonoran Permaculture Guild and has worked on various community projects like installing chicken coops, aquaponic systems, rainwater harvesting cisterns, greywater systems, composting systems, food production gardens, native edible gardens, and facilitating educational workshops on many topics.
When not working he helps coach Tucson youth in the art of American folkstyle, international freestyle, and Greco-Roman wrestling. He can be found in gyms across the state on the weekends coaching youth at wrestling tournaments during the wrestling season. In high school Zotero was a varsity wrestler all four years, which made a huge impact in his life. He volunteers his free time to the local wrestling community, to give back what wrestling gave to him, when he was growing up.
He is a loving husband and father of two children. His kids are 7th generation Tucsonan through his wife's familial roots. He is passionate about building a better future for all Tucsonans and is extremely proud to be working with Iskashitaa Refugee Network.
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RESIDENT ARTIST AT WORK
Katrina Kerstetter was born in Louisiana and raised in Tucson, Arizona. She later spent 20 years teaching in South Korea, teaching English through mindful-learning skills and exposure to cultures and art from around the world. Kerstetter is a mixed-media artist who worked with refugees in Korea, helping them adjust to a new culture and environment, while encouraging and preserving their own culture through the arts. When Kerstetter returned to Tucson, she began a nonprofit library, Koru Multicultural and Diverse Library, with the same focus. At the same time, she began volunteering at Iskashitaa Refugee Network, which combines artistic expression, education, and community building to encourage refugees and asylum-seekers to maintain their heritable pride and courage while adapting to new environments, challenges, and cultures. Kerstetter enjoys bringing people together to share stories and experiences, giving voice to their communities through artwork. This has developed into becoming a resident artisan with Iskashitaa’s Refugee Garden Art Program (RGAP).
Lead Volunteers
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REDISTRIBUTION
Came to Tucson in 1953 at 13 years old. Worked at UCLA and University of Arizona for 30 years in cancer biology as a research specialist where I worked with many foreign students and post docs. Using early DNA Engineering techniques as tools, I studied oncogenes, authored technical papers, managed and taught others. With my husband, we raised three children, now scattered. I have been working with Iskashitaa for about 10 years.
It gives me great satisfaction to see food and produce in large quantities going to good use. I enjoy working with folks from all backgrounds. I like the idea of using my volunteering so that others can volunteer. Iskashitaa offers variety in people to know and work to do.
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LEAD HARVESTER
Russell was born & raised in northern New Jersey (NJ) until his family moved to Iran in the mid-late 70's where he attended his middle years of high school at Teheran American School (TAS). He returned to NJ for his senior year of HS and then on to the University of Maryland where he earned a BS in Civil Engineering. After working in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as a contractor for a telecommunications company, he returned to the Maryland suburbs of D.C. where he worked at the National Weather Service (NWS), met his wife Donna and raised their two children. After retiring from the NWS in August 2020, he moved to Tucson where he volunteers and enjoys working at the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona, picking up trash & removing invasive species from the Santa Cruz River with his fellow volunteers, and of course helping out harvesting citrus with Iskashitaa Refugee Network. Russell spends his leisure time travelling the USA & internationally, biking The Loop, hiking various trails around Tucson, and of course eating out at the wonderful restaurants & food trucks around the city.