Meet Xochitl, Quivira's new Executive Director

Xochitl Torres Small grew up in Las Cruces, NM, and started her career as an attorney who has working in water and natural resources law. She served as U.S. Representative for New Mexico's 2nd congressional district (2019-20); she was Under Secretary for Rural Development (2021-23); and she served as United States deputy secretary of agriculture (2023-25). She brings her wide-ranging experience Executive Director of Quivira Coalition, and in our conversation she talks about her background, government service, and visions for regeneration and collaboration across the food system.

TIMELINE
2'32 how Xochitl got into agriculture
4'11 the decision to go into politics
5'55 the difference between serving in Congress and in an agency
9'00 working in rural development
10'29 figuring out how to actually get money to rural communities
11'59 finding solutions that were energy efficient in rural areas
13'48 are agencies working together on common problems?
17'47 understanding the practicality of nature based solutions within government
22'46 soil health and why it's so important, and how Quivira does the work.
27'37 succession issues
30'26 vision for large scale transition of agriculture from industrial to regenerative
33'29 recognizing that solutions are all land-specific
35'06 how do you create local and regional food systems when a state like NM is exporting over 90% of its agriculture and importing over 90% of its food
36'11 systems that maximize only for efficiency tend not to be resilient in times of disaster
40'28 spectrum from regenerative to big ag but with lots of adoption all along the way
43'30 we need to stop "othering"
44'11 the challenges of scaling
45'59 going from government to grassroots, hopes and goals