Team – C6 Forest to Farm

Tom McCoy

Tom came to the Methow Valley in 2008 as the Manager of the WDFW Methow Wildlife Area. Prior to that he was the Watershed Restoration Manager for the Yakama Nation where he co-founded and led the largest watershed restoration project in the Columbia Basin. Since leaving WDFW in 2014 he has worked as a consulting ecologist, and an expert witness in civil lawsuits. Tom has a B.A. in Business administration from Washington State University and an M.S. in Rangeland Ecology and Watershed Management from the University of Wyoming.

When not working with the board of C6 to protect the forest of the Methow Valley from wildfire he can be found skiing anywhere with snow and fishing the region’s rivers with a spey rod.

Tom McCoy
Executive Director, Co-Founder
Tom has 30 years of experience as a land manager for state & tribal governments, specializing in landscape-scale restoration. He has extensive experience coordinating complex projects with federal, state, tribal government, agriculture, and timber producers.

Bret Richmond

Bret joined C6 Forest to Farm in April 2022 as the Director of Engineering. He brings rich expertise in balancing engineering rigor and agility to negotiate challenging tradeoffs in projects with aggressive time to market objectives. He is focused on architecting and integrating our pilot production process from receiving biomass to shipping out finished biochar and other co-products.

Bret Richmond is a mechanical and systems engineer with 18 years of product development experience. He was on the startup team at BigBelly Solar, helping to develop one of the first major IOT products, a solar powered consumer-facing garbage compactor that helps municipalities optimize their garbage collection. He later joined Synapse Product Development, initially as a mechanical engineer, then served in roles as a project manager, mechanical technical lead, director of mechanical engineering, and finally as principal systems engineer. In these roles, he contributed to many product development projects from concept to launch, including consumer, medical, and industrial applications.

Bret lives in the Methow Valley with his family, counting himself lucky to be able to participate in the community and take advantage of the outdoor recreation opportunities. Given the extensive Nordic ski trail network in the valley, Bret favors the winter season, but he also relishes time on his bike in the shoulder seasons and time in the garden during the summer.

Bret Richmond
Director of Engineering
Bret has 18 years of experience in consumer & industrial product development. At Synapse, Bret built a strong mechanical engineering team and systems engineering capability, helping put the company in a position to be acquired.

Mark Moseley

Mark joined C6 Forest to Farm in January 2022 as the Director of Finance & Product Development. He works across the C6 team to define the specifics of our business plan, develop our product development roadmap and translate everything into financial projections. Mark also focuses on building strong partnerships with suppliers, customers & potential investors.

Mark has 20 years of experience mostly working for a few of the big PNW companies including Expedia, Amazon, Starbucks, Nike. Most of Mark’s experience is in finance & analytics but he also led teams focused on fraud prevention & product development. Mark spent the last 15+ years at Expedia where he helped launch & lead Expedia Partner Solutions (API based private lodging platform) as it grew into the largest private label travel platform globally. Mark has an B.A. in Economics from the University of Washington and an MBA from the Foster School of Business (University of Washington).

When he’s not thinking about the drivers of biochar profitability, Mark spends most of his time with his family (wife, daughter, son) getting outside as much as possible. Mark’s passions include backpacking, skiing, Husky football (Go Dawgs!) and trying to slow the impacts of climate change.

Mark Moseley
Director of Finance
Mark has 20 years of experience in finance & product development in high growth businesses (Expedia, Amazon). Mark helped launch & lead Expedia Partner Solutions (API based platform) which grew to become the largest private label travel solution globally.

Board of Directors

Shane Swanson

Shane first pursued his passion for the environment as a Peace Corp volunteer assisting with the establishment of a sustainable agriculture nonprofit in Guatemala.

Shane is now an intellectual property attorney with over 20 years of experience assisting technology-based companies with capturing, managing, and monetizing their intellectual assets. Prior to serving as a Director of C6, he served as a Director and Chair of the Design & Construction Committee for Friend of the Winthrop Library. Shane has a B.S. in Botany from the University of Washington and a J.D. from Seattle University.

He enjoys mountain biking, trail running, skiing, rowing, and brewing beer. Shane lives and plays in the Methow Valley with his partner Molly and dogs Nick and Jasper.

Shane Swanson, Esq.
Chair

Gina McCoy

Gina spent her childhood in New Zealand and was raised by amphibious wolves.

When she had to come inside to get an education, she eventually studied civil and agricultural engineering, followed by watershed hydrology, stream processes and landscape ecology. She has spent her career in the glorious watersheds of the east slope Cascade Mountains, working to reconcile human uses of natural resources with ecosystem protection.

When she is not working to help C6 achieve its goal of forest protection she is likely to be gardening, riding her horse, hiking, skiing, or reading. Also, she thinks libraries are the pinnacle of civilization and has been a library volunteer since 2016. Other volunteer activities include Okanogan County Watch, 2015-2017, and Okanogan County Planning Commission, 2017-2021.

Gina McCoy
Vice Chair, Cofounder

Rachel Brombaugh

Rachel considers herself fortunate that she’s been able to experience a career path that aligns with her personal commitment to sustainability and environmental issues. She is the Washington State Managing Director for PACE Equity, LLC, a national leader in commercial financing for energy efficiency and renewable energy in the built environment. Before joining PACE Equity, Rachel was the Director of Climate and Energy Initiatives for King County Executive Dow Constantine, leading a broad suite of policies and programs to reduce emissions, lead with climate justice, and prepare communities for the impacts of climate change.

A long-time advocate for a low-carbon economy in the Pacific Northwest, Rachel has been active in policy at the state and local level, and was a board member for Spark Northwest and the Seattle 2030 District. She holds a BA from Stanford University, and a MBA from the University of Washington Foster School of Business. In her free time, Rachel enjoys cross country skiing, hiking, and kayaking with her husband and daughter.

Rachel Brombaugh
Treasurer

Andrew Buhayar

Through graduate studies Andrew first rolled-up his sleeves on climate change efforts for the Rocky Mountain Institute and also for the City of Chicago.

Andrew is an global health delivery consultant and trusted programmatic leader, most recently with The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation vaccine and primary care delivery programs. He completed MDes at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in addition to earning a MBA through IIT’s Stuart School. His prior board experience includes Launch, a pre-school and after-care organization operating 14 sites across the pacific northwest, and Green Dot Public Schools, one of Washington State’s first charter programs.

In his spare time, Andrew enjoys hiking, skiing, travel, and spending time with his family in the North Cascades.

Andrew Buhayar
Director

Jana Fischback

While studying at Washington State University, Jana learned about the severity of the climate crisis and became passionate about environmental issues. She now works on a variety of sustainability topics, but discovering how to most effectively address climate change at the local level is her favorite.

Jana is co-founder and Executive Director of Sustainable NCW, a nonprofit that promotes a culture of environmental stewardship and social sustainability in North Central Washington. She has a bachelors in Communication with an emphasis in public relations from WSU and a masters in Environmental Studies from The Evergreen State College.

Jana lives in her hometown of Wenatchee with her husband and two kids. She enjoys camping with her family in their pop up tent trailer, live music, especially at the Gorge Amphitheatre, and is an avid reader.

Jana Fischback
Director

Mia Bretz

Mia has been a life long lover of nature, from recreating and simply being to outdoors as a child, to becoming an environmentalist in college, and finally to putting those interests and skills to action in her career. Nothing is currently more motivating and pressing than the forest health of her home town.

Mia is currently a land use planner with the City of Wenatchee, with degrees from the University of Washington in Planning and in Natural Resource Economics. She has also worked in the non-profit world, running an outdoor education program for kids 3 to 8, and served on the Leavenworth City Council. With a diverse background, Mia has always focused her work on improving the way humans interact with the natural world.

Mia lives with her family in Leavenworth, where hiking, climbing, snowboarding, biking and camping is part of every day. She also takes frequent trips to the coast to surf and sail. As much as she enjoys adventuring, nothing beats a cozy morning with the kids, a coffee and a book, working in her garden, or volunteering with local environmental orgs.

Mia Bretz
Director

Nicole Capizzi

After two decades working on climate issues in agriculture and a lifetime recreating in Northwest forests, Nicole had a biochar epiphany. Better forest management protects these wild places for all creatures, and conversion of woody biomass into biochar puts “waste” materials to use for healthier soil, plants, and atmosphere.

Nicole studies soil carbon at Washington State University. Previously, she managed protocols at the agricultural carbon marketplace, Ecosystem Services Market Consortium (ESMC), to align with 3rd party verification standards. In 2022, Nicole was a Climate Cohort fellow with the Aspen Institute’s Tech Policy Hub, where she focused on policy, market incentives and financing to accelerate the transition to regenerative land management. Before leading carbon market and policy efforts, she audited farms and processing facilities for the Washington State Department of Agriculture and raised crops and small livestock in the Midwest and Washington State.

Nicole lives on a hill among some sturdy scots pines in Seattle and gets out into the woods on foot, skis, or bike as often as possible. She loves beautiful little rocks, well-kept interstate rest areas, ice cream, and her family.

Nicole Capizzi
Director