Eric DeBode — Executive Director
Eric DeBode was born and raised in Los Ángeles. After high school, he joined the Jesuits and studied to be a Catholic priest for 9 years, which included going to Santa Clara University for undergraduate studies in Politics, where he received the Riordan Award for Service upon graduation. He then attended Gonzaga University for graduate studies in Philosophy. He left the Jesuits in 1992 and continued working in social work projects for the homeless and prisoners for several years. He co-founded the Center for Restorative Justice Works in 2003; supporting prisoner’s children and families with general visitation and special programs on Mother’s and Father’s Days. In 2007, he founded and directed the Chowchilla Family Express; an innovative family reunification project in concert with the CDCR’s Female Offenders Services. In 2011, he moved to Half Moon Bay and founded the Abundant Grace Coastside Worker in 2015. He lives in Half Moon Bay with his wife, Alice Linsmeier, who is a farm worker leadership team trainer for the Equitable Food Initiative, and two children, Liliana (21) and Javier (16).
Laura Fajardo — Program Manager; Latino Outreach Coordinator
Laura Fajardo holds a degree in Political Science and Government from the Universidad del Rosario in Bogota, Colombia. She has 15 years of experience working with vulnerable communities: homeless, people with disabilities, and LGBTI community. Laura is passionate about cooking and, since joining our organization, has implemented a strategy called Food for the Heart, highlighting the value of nutrition to improve everyone's quality of life. She is passionate about the outdoors and has been responsible for translating all our programs into Spanish, managing our Workforce Development Center and serving as the point of contact for all our Spanish-speaking participants.
Jay Trexler — Farm Manager
Jay holds a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology and has previously worked as both a wilderness therapist and a social worker. He met his now wife Suzie at UCSC’s Center for Agroecology in 2008, and eventually followed her to Potrero Nuevo Farm where he began serving the local homeless population with farm programming in 2011. Along with Suzie, Jay is Director of Farm and Environmental Programs. Jay’s background prepared him for meaningful conversations with Abundant Grace participants that challenge them to seek a brighter future. He also enjoys designing curriculum for the Farm Apprenticeship program and the Conservation Crew as well as overseeing two annual farm fundraisers for Abundant Grace: The Bike Hut Classic and the Farm-to-Table Dinner & Silent Auction.
Lexi Hamilton — Program Manager; Director of Housing Resources
Lexi is the Program Manager for Farm Programs and the Director of Housing Resources at Abundant Grace. Lexi has worked with Abundant Grace since 2021 and has supported homeless housing programs since 2018 in San Francisco and the greater Bay Area. She draws on this background to help navigate participants through the often complex and challenging subsidized housing process in San Mateo County. Her time in the urban shelter environment sparked a passion to develop more creative and supportive approaches to serving this population. At Abundant Grace, Lexi facilitates the full circle food justice program where participants plant, grow and harvest food that is then set up at the farm stand at our Workforce Development Center for our local community to enjoy. She also leads several enrichment outings and activities that often involve hiking, nature and cooking. Originally from San Diego, Lexi moved to the Bay Area to attend school where she got a degree in Liberal Studies from SF State. In her free time, Lexi can be found hiking, traveling, cooking or DJ-ing.
Sam Lopez — Bookkeeper
Samuel has been a Half Moon Bay native his entire life. He is the bookkeeper at Abundant Grace Coastside Worker with an Associate’s Degree in Accounting and is currently enrolled at California State University East Bay to earn a Bachelor’s in Accounting and Finance. Not only is he receiving great accounting experience, but he feels fulfilled working at a nonprofit with such a noble mission—to serve the unhoused on the Coastside.
Sarah Buller — Director of Operations
Sarah was born and raised in Los Angeles, has lived in Northern California and Seattle, and moved to the Bay Area in 2003. She has spent the last 13 years living in Half Moon Bay with her family. Sarah holds a B.A. in Behavioral & Social Science with emphasis in Social Work, Ethnic Studies, and Psychology. She is the Director of Operations at AGCW, as well as a group therapy practice in town. She has worked in elder care management, early childhood development, event production, and project management for digital and experiential marketing agencies. Working at Abundant Grace allows Sarah to leverage her diverse skills at the intersection of humanity, creativity, and action—which are a few of her favorite things. In her free time, Sarah enjoys creative pursuits, travel, and spending time with her kids and husband exploring the Coast and beyond.
Susie Mahoney — Program Manager
Susie has been with our team for almost 4 years. She came to California from her Canadian homeland on a road trip in 2019 and never left! Susie’s schooling and work background is based in Therapeutic Recreation and Agricultural Science. She has lived and traveled all over the world and has seen how poverty affects communities everywhere. Her love of working with people and farming made finding Abundant Grace a perfect fit. For example, Susie has contributed to our Value Added programming by using her flower know-how from years of working at a flower farm in Pescadero. She also used to work for the CDCR, doing recreational therapy for high-risk offenders. It has been great to see participants connect with Susie and these new programs on this learning and creative journey. Susie Mahoney hails from Nova Scotia, Canada, and has travelled extensively throughout her life, finally landing in Northern California in 2019. She has a degree in Therapeutic Recreation and Agricultural Business, and it has been wonderful for Abundant Grace to have her skillful work in both fields. She is one of our Program Managers and runs the Coastside Clean Team and our Value-Added and Flower Apprenticeship programs.
Suzie Trexler
Suzie graduated from UCSC’s Center for Agroecology in 2008 and brought her life-long exploration of food to Potrero Nuevo Farm that same year. Shortly after, the farm partnered with Eric Debode and what would become Abundant Grace. Suzie has served the local homeless population with farm programming since 2011 and is Director of Farm and Environmental Programs (along with her husband Jay). She loves connecting with participants while empowering them with farm skills, foraging, or cooking together. In addition to launching the Farm Apprenticeship and the Conservation Crew with Jay, they oversee two annual farm fundraisers for Abundant Grace: The Bike Hut Classic and the Farm-to-Table Dinner & Silent Auction.
Board Members
Nancy Nadler
Nancy Nadler retired from Leadership Coaching and Consulting having over 30 years of Human Resources experience in various high-tech environments. She joined the Abundant Grace Board in 2022 and uses her knowledge of people and organizations to help guide Abundant Grace. She began her career in education and has non-profit experience in the areas of crisis intervention and conflict resolution. Nancy is the Chair of Village of the Coastside and serves on the Villages of San Mateo County Board. In addition, she coaches in a volunteer coaching program for young leaders. Nancy and her husband have lived full-time in Montara since 2011 in the home they bought in 1986.
Bryan Bodas
Bryan is a long-term Half Moon Bay resident and a licensed General Contractor with over 35 years of experience in commercial and residential remodeling. He is the owner of Bodas Construction, a Coastside construction company with over 20 employees and hundreds of successful projects. Bryan has long held a belief that more could be done to help the homeless and joined the Board of Abundant Grace in 2019. He successfully coordinated the construction and remodel of the Abundant Grace Workforce Center which provides an array of services for our local homeless community. He especially appreciates the Abundant Grace value of providing meaningful work and the opportunity to move forward in life. Bryan lives in Miramar with his wife Patricia and their three children. When not working you can find Bryan cooking, gardening, and enjoying the Coastside trails and mountains.
Krystlyn Geidt
Krystlyn’s journey to becoming the Chief Executive Optimist of the Coastside Chamber is as diverse as it is inspiring. Her career began in the world of traditional photography, where she honed her skills in darkrooms, working with negatives and chemicals to capture and develop images. This foundation in the art of photography naturally evolved into a passion for digital photo restoration, and soon, Krystlyn found herself transitioning into the world of graphic design and web development. As her career progressed, Krystlyn’s ability to blend creativity with technology led her to marketing, event planning, and ultimately to chamber operations. With a natural flair for leadership and community engagement, she moved into chamber development and eventually became the CEO of the Coastside Chamber of Commerce in 2018, a role she’s profoundly proud of. A resident of the Coastside, Krystlyn considers her current position the realization of a long-held dream. Yet, she is not one to rest on her laurels—she’s also fulfilling another bucket-list goal as the co-host of Coastal Windage, an exciting live Coastside radio show. Driven by a passion for our community, innovation, and helping others realize their potential, Krystlyn continues to actively contribute to the vibrant future of the Coastside in as many ways as she can.
Kevin Stadmeyer
Kevin Stadmeyer has 20 years of Security and Software Engineering experience. He consulted for the early part of his career first for Ernst & Young and then Trustwave. In 2011 he moved to the Bay Area to work at Google in their Security Organization. He currently leads Security Program Management for Cloud Services at Apple. He moved to HMB with his wife Sidnie and children (Vivienne, 5 and Wyatt, 2) in 2021 and joined the board of AGCW in May 2023. He is honored to work with AGCW and is passionate about the cause of helping his neighbors.
John Ediger
John Ediger is a transformation leader and distinguished technologist with more than 25 years of experience leading technology teams at Hewlett Packard and helping organizations deliver business value sooner through modern ways of working. He has led large-scale strategy and technology transformations for Fortune 500 companies, serving in senior leadership roles including Vice President of Strategy and Transformation at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts and Managing Partner at DXC Technology.
A long-time Half Moon Bay resident, John co-founded the Cabrillo Education Foundation Endowment, serving as Board President and co-led the creation and growth of a $3M+ endowment to support local schools. His work brought computer science courses to the district and improved reading and science programs across elementary schools.
John joined the Board of Abundant Grace to further his commitment to community impact, valuing the organization’s focus on meaningful work and pathways forward. He enjoys music, constantly learning, traveling the world with his wife Eileen, hiking the Coastside trails with friends, and spending time with family.
Nancy Steiger
Nancy is a visionary, mission-driven leader with a deeply held passion for helping others achieve outstanding outcomes through high-performing teams. With more than 25 years running public and private hospitals and networks, developing programs, services, and integrated delivery networks, Nancy is described as a leader who drives extraordinary results by selecting and developing individuals and teams who are highly aligned. Based on her deeply held passion for helping others achieve extraordinary outcomes, Nancy is highly skilled at collaborating with all stakeholders—from board members to community members—and has a true talent for helping others see the “big picture” by solving systemic, process, and resource issues. Nancy has served as CEO of PeaceHealth’s Northwest Network as well as for Washington and Alaska. Prior to that, she ran a public hospital in the Bay Area. Currently, she is a partner in CEO Advisory Network and coaches and consults governing boards.
Rebecca Jackson
Rebecca has lived on the Coast since 2018 and joined the Board in 2021. With an MBA and experience in corporate finance, she serves as the Board Treasurer to oversee budget management. She is passionate about the mission of Abundant Grace and grateful to work with an organization that is making a significant impact in the lives of her unhoused Coastside neighbors. These days she spends her time as a full-time mom of four, so she also appreciates the chance to trade story books for spreadsheets in support of another vulnerable group in her community.
Stacy Griffith
Stacy Griffith is a long-term resident of Half Moon Bay. She is the owner of a tie-dye business in El Granada. She has 25 years of experience as an accountant for several companies on the Peninsula. Stacy joined the board in 2022. As a former participant in the Food Justice and Apprenticeship programs that Abundant Grace provides to our unhoused community, she brings the voice of the participants to the table. Stacy lives in El Granada; when she is not tie-dyeing you can find her enjoying the beach and trails with her two dogs.
Jane Taylor
Jane Taylor is a Partner at Hanson Crawford Crum Family Law Group. She has been a practicing lawyer for 15 years. Jane began her career in Colorado and moved to Half Moon Bay in 2015 to be nearer family, the coast and part of this nurturing community. While living in Boston in early 2000s, Jane volunteered for the Samaritans Suicide Helpline for many years where she assisted with community outreach programs and trained new Helpline volunteers. Jane joined the board of Abundant Grace in 2025 and is passionate about working with the community to support our unhoused friends as they work to transform their lives.