Kristina Cash is the Founder and Chief Connector of Fortified Collaborations, our current sponsor for our digital publication From the Field. We recently had a chance to catch Kristina, which is hard because she is involved in so many things, in order to get to know her a bit more. Which is in line with what she does as a community connector, building relationships.
Kristina was born and raised in Southwestern Colorado, in a small, rural community. She grew up with daily chores and the sort of strict lifestyle of a farm and ranching family. That upbringing had a huge influence on her as far as recognizing the importance of family and community support and knowing intimately where food comes from. Kristina is a farm girl at heart. After earning her Bachelor’s in Language Arts and Cultural Anthropology, Kristina then hit the road. She worked for an Alaskan fishery, spent time on the West Coast and backpacked through Europe before landing in Fort Collins. With aspirations of becoming an educator, she got her Teaching Certificate and Masters in Education Administration, but set teaching aside for an opportunity with a new company in town called New Belgium Brewing. As “Resourceress” she wore many hats during her seven years with the company and was instrumental in helping to build the New Belgium brand and tie it to Fort Collins culture.
After taking a break to focus on being a mom, Kristina was asked to helm the Rocky Mountain Sustainability Fair. In three years she built the event into the premiere sustainability fair in the West, drawing celebrity speakers from around the country. Kristina’s work as a community advocate and leader takes many forms. She’s served on the boards of the Fort Collins Food Coop, Bike Fort Collins, Global Visionaries and The Growing Project. Before founding Fortified she served as Outreach and Fundraising Coordinator at Be Local Northern Colorado and worked closely with the national Local Living Economies initiative. For Kristina, Fortified Collaborations is the manifestation of a lifelong vision and an intrinsic desire to learn, connect, build and nurture.
Through her work experiences at New Belgium, the Sustainable Living Association and Be Local, Kristina realized that relationships were key to building community and successful business. “I saw an opportunity for a for-profit business to intentionally focus on community improvement and to engage with other businesses and help them be a force for good through meaningful events, storytelling and place-based marketing. I think it’s important to point out the “for-profit” aspect of Fortified Collaborations so as to make it clear that we are not competing with the non-profit organizations we partner with. There are so many worthy non-profits in town and I think there is a space for a for-profit company to do good for both non-profits and other for-profits alike. Our work is about creating shared prosperity and protecting shared assets and inspiring others in the community to get on board. It’s a “we” thing for sure.”
Curious about where her inspiration for Fortified came from, Kristina credited one of her many relationships. She met Susanne Hackett in Asheville who had started a business called Pollinate Collaborations. She helped New Belgium connect with the community in Asheville through her business as they were making plans for their new brewery there. Susanne is now working for New Belgium, but her business mission was a huge inspiration. “I’m also inspired by the generosity and spirit of community that so many of our local businesses bring.”
Fortified Collaborations has evolved a lot since its inception. They’re in their fourth year, so she’s still learning a lot about being an entrepreneur and about developing clear ways to spread the love and word about the company and its mission. With each event and program and connection they make, more people understand and want to be part of what they are doing. It’s wonderful to have a full team working with her and being able to share their creativity and ideas for ever more collaborations and connections. Some of you may know of Fortified because of their farm dinner series, but they are so much more than that. They offer a large variety of ways to partner, bring your ideas to fruition, and build micro and macro communities. Check out their website here to learn more.
Kristina’s primary objective now is to grow relationships with other businesses and use their expertise to help build a stronger business-for-good community. The hardest part so far, monetizing their work (which many social entrepreneurs can relate with). But, the universe makes room for “happy accidents”. When we asked Kristina if she has experienced any “happy accidents” or good things that were unintended, she quickly responded that everything could fall into those categories. “I truly trust in the universe to present the right things at the right time when I am doing good work. I put myself out there like that. I remain open to what I see happening around me, for examples and to gut-level inspirations and ideas, to letting the heart lead. For the most part, it’s working out. Even when it doesn’t work out, or when something I was working on falls apart, or someone that I’m attached to leaves a project, I trust that it’s for good reason in the end and that the next thing will also be right. I only intend for good things to come from the work of Fortified. I hope that’s what’s happening. It feels like it is.”
As for dream collaborations, in looking at her big vision of a connected and thriving local economy, Kristina dreams about some high-impact collaborations that could achieve that, such as with the City of Fort Collins Social Sustainability department, CSU and Visit Fort Collins. They’re incredibly fortunate to have already started conversations and some work with all of these groups. Continuing those relationships and being open to what presents itself is a key part of how they work. On a bigger scope, she would like to do some collaborations with Sister Cities like Austin or Asheville.
When talking to dreamers and visionaries, it’s easy to see that this motivation comes from seeing potential. Or a lack of something that would compliment what’s already there. Kristina’s enthusiasm for a sustainable and resilient food system is evident in where she would like to see infrastructure to keep growing in this area. “We need a Food Hall and Public Marketplace. We need to have more space and resources available for our food based entrepreneurs. We’re working on it. Stay posted.” Don’t worry, we here at the Pig and the Plow will help to keep you in the loop!
With that I had just one last question:
Is there a word or phrase that epitomizes your motivation with Fortified?
LOVE
Agreed.
Watch the video below for a peek into one of their amazing community dinners!