Kent Anderson
Managing Director/Executive Director
Kent has worked in the non-profit realm for nearly 25 years, including organizations in Sacramento, Reno, Redding, Chico, San Francisco and the greater Bay Area. He has been a director with organizations including the Effie Yeaw Nature Center/American River Natural History Association, the San Francisco LGBT Pride, Putah Creek Council and others, including a parks foundation, several museums and education focused organizations. With degrees from California State University, Chico and California State University, Sacramento, along with numerous certifications including Project Wet, Project Wild, Project Learning Tree, California Naturalist, Nonprofit Management, Kent also received his Emergency medical Technician license in 2001.
As part of his early professional career, Kent served for over five years with the (then) California Department of Fish and Game, including in fisheries and reservoir research, special hunts, wildlife nuisance, fish pathology, inland fisheries and reservoir research, interpretive services, multiple hatchery programs, and assisted with several unique and innovative projects including floy tag retention studies, salmon tracking and recapture study, electrofishing studies at Folsom Lake, Truckee River and Tayler Creek, a garter snake pesticide study, Chronic Wasting Disease check stations, and the Concord Naval Weapons Station Tule Elk Capture and Relocation project. As part of Interpretive Services, Kent coordinated the Sandhill Crane Festival and American River Salmon Festival, managed the Nature Bowl student competition and oversaw information distribution regarding the Lake Davis Northern Pike elimination project.
Kent has served on several non-profit Boards, including the Wildlife Care Association, and has supported the development and inception of several non-profit organizations as well as professionally consulting for a variety of others, in addition to supporting several LGBT Pride organizations. Kent served with the Boy Scouts of America including as staff, a Program Director and as the Conservation and Ecology Chair.
With diverse experience and expertise in fund development, organizational leadership, program development, grant writing and more, Kent brings a wealth of knowledge to Urban Sprouts and a passion for the outdoors, volunteer work and service to the community. Kent is an avid outdoorsman and enjoys kayaking, hiking, backpacking, camping, fishing and nature photography. He also has a passion for museums and cultural centers, botanical gardens and other public education venues and he takes every opportunity to visit similar places with his partner, when not working, caring for his three rescued dachshunds and menagerie of other rescued critters.
Tyler Tiffin
Operations and Administrative Manager
Tyler, a California native who grew up in Modesto and Navy veteran, joined Urban Sprouts in February 2024 as the Operations and Administrative Manager. Before joining Urban Sprouts, Tyler was the Operations Manager at Sierra 2 Center for the Arts and Community, a non-profit based in Sacramento. He has over 5 years of operations and administrative experience and has been an administrative assistant in both small businesses and large corporations, where he honed his skills in project management, office administration, and customer relations. Tyler has served in a variety of roles for several environmental and community non-profits throughout northern California, and in his free time he enjoys painting art, gardening, traveling, hiking, and spending time with friends and his dog.
Dakota Hafalia-Yackel
Program Manager
Dakota Hafalia-Yackel was born and raised in the Excelsior District, an environmental justice community, and brings his lived experience to his work in urban agroecology, promoting both ecological and social well-being. For the past 10 years, he’s focused on farm education, emphasizing experiential hands-on learning, storytelling, and ancestral connections through culturally rooted curriculum. He holds two bachelor’s degrees, one in Economics and another in Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems, and a certificate in Ecological Horticulture from UC Santa Cruz. Recently, he received his Master’s in Geography from University of Hawaii at Manoa, where his research explored diasporic Filipino foodways in Honolulu. Now in the Education Manager position, Dakota continues his commitment to promoting student empowerment through our urban agriculture programs.
Violeta Sandoval
Community Health Program Manager
Violeta Sandoval is a Community Health & Nutrition Education Program Manager at Urban Sprouts. She promotes adequate nutrition habits , Food justice and Healthy food practices by using seasonal and Food Bank ingredients.
Violeta demonstrates through interactive in-person and virtual classes that healthy eating is tasteful , interesting, inexpensive and beneficial. She encourages using seasonal and Food Bank ingredients such as vegetables, grains, herbs, veggie proteins and sometimes meats. She believes that food is attached to culture and family values.
With over 17 years of experience working with the Latino community, Violeta has received training about the immigrant mental health, emotional nutrition, Ayurveda medicine, aromatherapy, promoter of Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, training related to the care and treatment of Child Development and management of chronic and acute diseases in the Latino community , among others. She has participated in the development of curricula to train promoters in community health and nutrition, food decolonization, participation in the book “Nuestras raices Saludables”, food recycling, soda tax projects with the San Francisco Department of Public Health, round table of the climate change with the California Environmental Protection Agency, development projects with the California Air Resources Board, coordinator of the Bay Area Vision and Compromiso committee.
Violeta has been interviewed by the Edible magazine in San Francisco “Kitchen Wisdom”, she received “the heart of the community” award, nomination for the “community love award”, interviews in post cats, radio and television. She also wrote the Book of recipes “ El Sabor de la Inspiracion, Recetas del Corazon”. Violeta graduated from The School of Culinary Arts in San Francisco.
Her hobbies include walking and enjoying the sea, the forest, read books on psychology and personal improvement , make jewelry by hand and plan family and community events.
Alex Aguilar
Farm Manager
Alex, a native of West Palm Beach, Florida, became part of the Urban Sprouts community in his first year of high school and now he’s a recent college graduate. Drawn to the experiential learning and friendly environment, he kept coming back, learning how to grow his own food, cook fresh meals, and take advantage of every internship offered after school and during the summer. He loved the program so much that he began sharing it with friends and family, ultimately introducing siblings, cousins, and friends to the Urban Sprouts community as well.
Alex started developing his farming experience at the beginning of his time with Urban Sprouts and kept expanding his experience through a year-long internship with Alemany Farm. These experiences provided him with a solid background in urban agriculture, food justice, and community work.
Now a college graduate with a Marketing degree and an Accounting minor from San Francisco State University, Alex serves as the Farm Manager. He oversees seasonal crop planning, manages daily farm operations, and leads projects like building a new greenhouse and compost systems. The food grown on-site is donated to local food banks, helping provide fresh, healthy produce to low-income communities. He also works to transform the space into a fully functioning food production garden that serves the community in both practical and meaningful ways.
Alex's work and life were featured in the documentary San Francisco Rising, which follows his life and journey in the city.
Outside of farming, Alex loves being outside running, hiking, taking his dogs out for a walk, and testing out new eating places throughout the Bay Area. He also loves to spend time with family.