​Suzanne Stephens  (she/her)

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Suzanne’s career has been dedicated to land conservation since her childhood growing up in Colorado’s Roaring Fork Valley, where she fell in love with the outdoors, ranching, and wildlife. With a background in biology, she got her start working for local nonprofits including Aspen Center for Environmental Studies, Roaring Fork Conservancy, and the Western Colorado Agricultural Heritage Fund, where she served as interim director before its merger with Aspen Valley Land Trust in 2003. She has worked for Aspen Valley Land Trust since that time as a project specialist and associate director before becoming Executive Director in 2016. She serves on the board of the Watershed Biodiversity Initiative and is the board chair of the statewide land trust coalition, Keep it Colorado. She has volunteered extensively for the Kenya-based nonprofit Space for Giants. Suzanne lives with her family in Carbondale and spends as much time as possible camping, skiing, roasting marshmallows, and enjoying mountain life.
​Email Suzanne.

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Melissa Sumera (she/her)

FINANCE & OPERATIONS DIRECTOR
Melissa has been with AVLT since 2006. She started as part-time administrative help, later scaling up to full-time and taking charge of event orchestration, fundraising support, database management, and book keeping. Melissa is currently shifting gears, instead bringing her full focus to the financial health of the organization, reporting, and compliance with industry regulation. She is committed to moving the organization forward with improved equity, diversity, and inclusive efforts, in close concert with the Relevancy Committee. This transplant came to the valley in 1999 from the rainy worn trails of the Pacific Northwest and has been drying out in Colorado ever since!
​Email Melissa.

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Carly Bolliger  (she/her)

COMMUNICATION & ENGAGEMENT DIRECTOR
Carly was raised in Kansas City, Missouri and studied public communication at Truman State University before entering the nonprofit world through grant writing. She moved to Denver in 2017 and focused on nonprofit communications and marketing. Carly now lives in Carbondale with her partner and two dogs and is excited to help protect the beautiful spaces that drew her west.
Email Carly.

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Jeff Davlyn  (he/him)

PHILANTHROPY DIRECTOR
​Jeff is a life-long outdoor enthusiast and conservationist raised in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who moved to Colorado in 2005. Before joining AVLT, Jeff studied natural resources law and agriculture policy while earning his law degree at the University of Denver. He is passionate about AVLT’s focus on protecting open spaces and dedication to building community. He lives in Carbondale with his wife and three little ones where they love small town living, getting outside, and the constant entertainment that comes along with parenting.
Email Jeff.
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Lauran Garcia (she/her)

ADMINISTRATION & OUTREACH COORDINATOR
Lauran brings broad administrative experience, educational background in sustainability, and a passion for stewardship and conservation to AVLT’s team. Her professional career began in her hometown of Houston in the restaurant and hospitality industry. A deep love for outdoor recreation and wild places called her, her husband, and their lively pack of pups to the Roaring Fork Valley in 2017. Since then, she has welcomed a son into the world, embraced a career pivot into the climate action space with work for Aspen Global Change Institute and The City of Aspen, and developed incredibly average snowboarding, climbing, and mountain biking skills. When not in the office, you will often find her and her family immersed in the great outdoors, hiking, camping, or paddle boarding near their home in Silt.
Email Lauran

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Brian Hightower (he/him)

EDUCATION COORDINATOR & RANCH MANAGER
Brian moved to the Roaring Fork Valley from Virginia for the summer of '93 and never left. ​After teaching social studies in Aspen for 12 years, he traded his indoor classroom for an outdoor one with AVLT. Since 2016, he has facilitated outdoor education opportunities for students and educators in the valley and beyond. In 2019, AVLT's efforts to protect a piece of agricultural history intersected fortuitously with Brian's passion for healthy food and local ecosystems. In anticipation of AVLT's Coffman Ranch acquisition, Brian completed a Master's in Regenerative Agriculture in 2022 and added Ranch Manager to his job description. He is consistently working to employ best practices that are focused on soil health and biodiversity and is one cattle drive away from earning his cowboy hat. He lives in Carbondale with his favorite explorers; wife, Emily; son, Oz; and dog, Eddy.
Email Brian
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Anjanette Rosas Garcia (she/her)

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT MANAGER
Anjanette has dedicated her career to creating and facilitating outdoor programs for people of diverse backgrounds.  From teaching in national parks across the country to places as far as Japan, she loves to help people build deeper connections to themselves, their community, and nature. She is especially excited to use her relationship building skills to connect new community partners to the magic of conservation. Anjanette now lives in Carbondale where she can most likely be found adventuring on the trails or doing arts and craft activities with her niece and nephew.
Email Anjanette.
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Jonathan Rose (he/him)

RESTORATION & LAND MANAGEMENT DIRECTOR
Jonathan’s enthusiasm for the outdoors evolved from exploring and chasing frogs, snakes, turtles, and other small creatures of the midwest woodlands where he born and raised. He has since progressed his career as a natural resources professional, working on a range of projects from the Northeast to the Mountainous West in both the private and public sector – with a focus in ecological restoration. Jonathan now lives in Basalt with his wife and two daughters, with whom he enjoys exploring the many trails and open spaces this valley has to offer, instilling his passion for the outdoors.
Email Jonathan.
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Bud Tymczyszyn (he/him)

STEWARDSHIP DIRECTOR
Originally from a small mountain town in California, Bud has built a career dedicated to helping communities grow more sustainably and preserving special places. He earned his Master’s Degree in Urban & Regional Planning from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, where he also worked as a GIS analyst for the county. Before joining AVLT, Bud worked as a non-profit planning consultant helping communities across the Mountain West better manage their growth. Bud is passionate about open space and agriculture, and is especially excited to help conserve working and agricultural lands here in the Roaring Fork and Colorado River Valleys. When he's not in the office, you can often find Bud pulling weeds or running a tractor for his wife Sara, Director of Highwater Farm.
Email Bud


​The pups
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EDDY
​RANCH & EDUCATION ASSISTANT

Brian is assisted in his duties by Eddy, an enthusiastic irrigation assistant that enjoys testing river depth and quality.  Eddy will leave no stick unfetched or treat uneaten.
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Email Eddy
MARTIN & KENNEDY
​COMMUNICATIONS ASSISTANT

​​Carly is supported by Communications Assistants Martin and Kennedy. Marty and Kenny are excellent personal trainers, keeping Carly busy hiking and backpacking, but mostly provide skilled begging for treats and squirrel protection.
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Email Martin & Kennedy
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POPPY
FINANCE ASSISTANT

Passionate about acing audits and tracking investments, Poppy also assists Melissa with long walks, bike rides, and most importantly, snuggles. Poppy was notably voted AVLT's Most Energetic team member last year.

Email Poppy
All of these pups love any opportunity to get out on conserved properties where dogs are allowed and are more than willing to give kisses and/or mouse hunting in trade.

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Your support makes an impact:

51,500
acres saved
103
miles of riverfront
10
public parks
​
27
​schools and nonprofit partners

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