Erika has been building things for as long as she can remember -- first with Crystal Climbers and now through technology or a good old- fashioned handshake. She has spent the last 20+years in positions ranging from Santa' s Helper to pink- slip wielding acquisition manager to corporate spy.In 2003 she created Plate &Pitchfork Farm dinners to reconnect diners with the people and places that grow and craft their food. The business required that she hone her funky blend of culinary, technology and marketing expertise, while developing a keen awareness and understanding of the issues facing both the culinary & agricultural communities.
Quite by accident she has cultivated a keen understanding of the land use, regulatory and economic issues that often challenge the agricultural and culinary producers. She is committed to developing pathways, partnerships and policies to overcome these obstacles and support the continued development of responsible agritourism in Oregon.
Erika’ s developed her marketing, product development and competitive intelligence experience in positions at citysearch.com, Ecotrust, Eleven, the Oregon Multimedia Alliance and J.K. Carriere Wines. She holds a Bachelor of Arts with a degree in Communication from St. Louis University. She has received recognition as the Top 40 under 40 from the Portland Business Journal and Plate & Pitchfork has been recognized as one of the top 50 dining experiences in the United States by Time Magazine, Food &Wine Magazine and Travel & Leisure.
She’ s enthusiastically working to end hunger in Oregon in partnership with Farmers Ending Hunger, and spends her time off in the woods with her loyal Labrador.
Expertise
Project & Event Management: Erika creates events that captivate audiences and compel them to action. She created and manages all aspects of Plate &Pitchfork Farm Dinners, a mission- driven series that serves more than 1500 guests dinner in a field annually while raising funds to eradicate hunger in Oregon. She’ s organized and produced media tours, press conferences and public celebrations for clients including Ore- Ida, US Bank, Americold, NIKE, Multnomah County CASA and Fishtrap.
Marketing & Business Development:Erika is keen meeting an audience where they are and in doing so brings her clients sales increases that far exceed their expectations. She understands the need to utilize a full- suite of marketing tools and has often coordinated the production of advertisements, brochures, social media, email campaigns and websites for clients as varied as wineries and wireless companies in local, national and international markets. She’ s built brand awareness by negotiating strategic partnerships with social service organizations, business associations, civic leaders and government agencies.
Agritourism: Plate &Pitchfork began as a three dinner series and grew to become both an industry leader and lightening rod. As a result Erika has had the opportunity to contribute to the development of legislative policies that provide farmers with opportunities to earn incremental revenue on their land, thus preserving resource lands. She’ s cultivated relationships to build a collaborative environment for the responsible development of agritourism. As a result of that work, she joined the stable of Travel Oregon contractors and continues to support the development of educational programs to empower agricultural producers.