All board members of the Eco Village Project of Fresno are unpaid volunteers and longtime homeless advocates.

Board Members

Gerry Bill – President

Gerry Bill is Professor Emeritus of Sociology & American Studies at Fresno City College.  He is a board member of the Fresno Free College Foundation, Peace Fresno and the Fresno Center for Nonviolence.  Additionally, he serves as co-chair of the Central California Criminal Justice Committee and is a longtime social justice activist in Fresno.  In 2011, he helped establish the Eco Village Project of Fresno, where he serves as President.

Roland Geiger – Vice President

Roland’s career includes over three decades of business development & management, operations management and account management. In addition to starting and managing four small businesses, he managed and developed the business of a natural food form minerals biotech company that manufactures vital human & animal nutrients – some with disease prevention or management qualities.  Similarly, since 2022, he has been developing business for a post-harvest fumigation company that protects stored foods with the most effective, environmentally-friendly technology while leaving no residue on food commodities.  The common thread of Roland’s business development career has been communicating scientific & technical information to executive & operational level business decision makers in markets throughout the world.  He believes sustainability is a partnership with nature, and that the long-term health of people and the planet depends upon businesses and individuals aligning with nature.  Roland received his bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in organizational leadership from Fresno Pacific University.  He seeks to utilize his experience, skills, and education to help advance the vision & mission of the Eco Village Project of Fresno.

Jill Lankford – Treasurer

Jill Lankford teaches at CSU Fresno in the Department of Recreation Administration.  She previously taught at the University of Northern Iowa and the University of Hawaii.  Jill has a background in urban planning and landscape architecture, which led her to coordinate the Sustainable Parks and Recreation Initiative (SPARCI) at Fresno State.  Throughout her career, she has worked with many neighborhood and community groups – typically on recreation development projects.  Jill is currently active with UC Master Gardeners of Fresno County and is interested in helping with the growing issue of the unhoused in California.

Caroline V. Jackson – Secretary

Caroline Jackson is a retired attorney.  Although retired from full time practice, she maintains an active law license as there are times she needs to assist others.  Caroline serves on the board of the Eco Village Project of Fresno as secretary.  She also serves on the oversight board of the Dakota EcoGarden, where she works directly with homeless residents.  Caroline is a photo artist that maintains membership in a local gallery.  She also plays the flute in a community band and loves hiking in the Sierras.

Caryn Kochergen – Volunteer Coordinator

Caryn Kochergen proudly calls Fresno her home.  Her family has been in the area for 5 generations.  She attended Fresno City College for her undergraduate studies.  At Fresno State University, she obtained a bachelor’s & master’s degree in mass communication and journalism with an emphasis in broadcast journalism. 

While at Fresno City College, she was a reporter for The Rampage.  At Fresno State, she wrote for The Collegian. 

She went on to teach journalism at Reedley College and oversaw The Chant, the student-run newspaper. 

In 1993, she started working in television at KMPH 26 and was the main producer of the Ten O’Clock News.  Later, she became a news producer at both KSEE 24 and KGPE 47.  She was also in charge of all social media for both stations.  In 2016, she stopped working full time to raise her 3 kids.

While growing up in Fresno, she remembers seeing only one homeless person in her area – he sat by the grocery store and begged for money.  After COVID, she was overwhelmed by the incredible increase in the number of homeless people on Fresno’s streets.  As a journalist, she is always seeking the truth, so she and her kids went out to the streets to talk to homeless people directly.  Once they began talking to and trying to help the homeless, they haven’t stopped since.  Caryn eventually learned about the Dakota EcoGarden as a way to help get the homeless back on track.  Currently, she’s a board member and volunteer coordinator for the Dakota EcoGarden.  Caryn and her kids can be found on the second Saturday of every month at the Dakota EcoGarden flipping blueberry pancakes and working out in the garden with its residents.

Architect Arthur Dyson – Board Member

World-Renowned architect, Arthur Dyson, is a native Californian who discovered early in life that his attraction to architecture didn’t come from what he saw and liked, but from what was missing.  Many buildings he encountered lacked something critically important.  When he came across a design that pleased, people usually said it looked like one by Frank Lloyd Wright.  In 1953, someone gave Dyson a copy of House Beautiful magazine that illustrated Wright’s work.  By age 18, Dyson managed to become a Taliesin Apprentice.

Once, while reviewing his work, Wright told Dyson that his style was “Goffian.”  Dyson was later relieved to understand that Wright meant Bruce Goff, not some form of medieval architecture.  With that casual comment, Wright directed Dyson toward the next phase of his apprenticeship.  Following the death of Frank Lloyd Wright in 1959, Dyson sought out Goff and obtained a position with his office.  With the creative compositional technique gained at Taliesin, Dyson applied Goff’s experimental, highly-creative style to his own designs.  Along the way, Goff handed Dyson a catalog from an exhibition of work by Purcell & Elmslie, Architects.  The publication noted that William Gray Purcell was living in Pasadena, CA at the time.

When Dyson returned to California in 1960, he visited with Purcell and eventually became his personal assistant & draftsman.  Studying the records of Purcell’s firm and spending long hours in discussion about the practice of architecture, Dyson increased his training with an important, yet largely intangible ability to translate the active meanings of human relationships into his designs.  By 1969, Dyson opened his own office in Fresno, CA, where he has operated his architectural practice ever since.

In 1999, Dyson became Dean of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture (FLLWSA).  He continued to maintain his office in California while traveling regularly to the Taliesin West campus in Arizona and the Taliesin campus in Wisconsin.  Arthur Dyson is now Dean Emeritus of the FLLWSA.  He was previously the president of the Eco Village Project of Fresno, where he currently serves as a board member.

Dixie Salazar – Board Member

Dixie Salazar is an artist, writer and activist who has published 4 books of poetry and a novel.  She has taught writing and art at both of the women’s prisons in Chowchilla (CCWF & VSP) and has taught writing at Corcoran State Prison.  Previously, she taught a parenting class in the Fresno County Jail and art at Juvenile Hall.  In 2009, after 16 years of teaching, she retired from the CSUF English Department.  Aside from being a board member of the Eco Village Project of Fresno, Dixie is currently involved with a homeless advocacy group and is also a board member of Fresno Filmworks.  In 2004, Dixie received a Horizon Award for Arts Education.  In 2008, she received a Power of Expression Award from the National Women’s Political Caucus.

Matthew Gillian – Board Member

Born and raised in Fresno to two hard-working parents, Matthew attended college in New York City and Los Angeles County.  After completing his education in business at Cal State University, Northridge, Matthew ventured into the music industry in Los Angeles while immersing himself in the diverse and fast-paced culture of the city.  He soon felt a strong pull back to his roots, realizing that the values instilled in him were deeply rooted in Fresno.  Returning to his hometown, Matthew reconnected with the community that had always held a special place in his heart.  He supported his father through the difficult ordeal of dialysis and a kidney transplant.  This experience strengthened Matthew’s resolve, pushing him to advocate for improved healthcare access.  The experience of transporting his father to dialysis appointments while witnessing the birth of his son were pivotal moments in his life.

It was through these personal experiences that he recognized the need to establish a non-profit organization that leverages electric vehicles for social service transportation.  Matthew’s love for his family has fueled his drive to advocate for comprehensive healthcare policies that prioritize the needs of every individual in the Fresno community.  Matthew Gillian’s story is one of personal growth and unwavering commitment to Fresno.  His profound experiences, from childhood to adulthood, have shaped his perspective and molded him into someone who truly understands the needs and aspirations of his community. With a focus on compassionate leadership and effective advocacy, Matthew is poised to make a significant and positive impact on the lives of Fresno’s unhoused residents. He is working tirelessly to create needed change for the place he proudly calls home.

Anne Cehrs – Board Member

Anne is a retired middle school science teacher who now keeps busy with gardening and managing the family farm in Sanger.  She is a volunteer with the Fresno County 4-H youth program and a former board member and treasurer of the Kings River Land Trust.  She is also involved with Hope Sanger – a homeless advocate program in Sanger.

Marvin Armstrong – Board Member

Marvin Armstrong was born and raised in the San Joaquin Valley.  He attended College of the Sequoias, Visalia with a major in architecture.  He completed his education at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a Bachelor of Architecture degree. Marvin trained at various architecture firms before opening and running his own business for 35 years.  He recently partnered with Arthur Dyson, forming a new firm, Dyson Architects, where he is a principal architect.

Marvin has been active in the American Institute of Architects (AIA) for forty years and is currently the president of the AIA San Joaquin.  From 1985 until the present, Marvin has been involved in making sculptures with wood and clay.  He is a founding member of Clay Hand Studios and a member of the Fig Tree Gallery in downtown Fresno.

Nancy Waidtlow – Emeritus Board Member &
Founder, Dakota EcoGarden

Nancy Waidtlow, a mother of two, is originally from Salinas, CA. She later attended Fresno State and is a retired elementary school teacher in Fresno. As a board member of the Eco Village Project of Fresno and founder of Fresno’s Dakota EcoGarden, her goal is to provide a path, with dignity and hope, toward a better future for some of Fresno’s homeless.  It’s also her goal to bring about political and societal changes to solve the problem of homelessness.  Nancy used to have time for tennis and the Fresno Folklore Society, but is now more oftenly found singing with the Raging Grannies or working on peace, justice and environmental issues with organizations such as Peace Fresno and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.

Dakota EcoGarden Oversight Board

Gerry Bill

Caroline V. Jackson

Mary Ann Quann

Dixie Salazar

Special Projects

Mariano Marquez III – Webmaster

Bill Geissert – Garden Consultant

Joan Levie – Communications Correspondent