The world isn't fair, but maybe we can help nudge it in the right direction.
That's our vision. We didn't dress it up because we feel like it doesn’t need it—it's just what we genuinely believe. Through an inherited trust, we ended up with more resources than most people ever will, and we know that's not because we worked for it or deserve it. We just got lucky. Sitting on it never felt like an option. So we're doing our best to put it to work in the town we call home.
Knowing that, our team holds the belief that we can and should share these resources and choose to make good things happen in Chico. We do this through:
- intentional partnerships
- thoughtful projects and development
- maintaining a contagious sense of wonder
Together, we're focused on economic revitalization, housing & basic needs, and arts & recreation—the stuff that all towns need to thrive and work for everyone. We’re also guided by many of the priorities and ideas listed in the Chico 2030 General Plan. This ambitious plan is full of foresight into our community’s future and we want to strategically use all the work that went into it and help make some of those plans into reality.
Our mission: Cultivating ideas and people-powered projects to enable communities to bloom in Chico and beyond.
(We know "cultivating" and "bloom" is a lot of plant metaphors for one sentence. We're named after a flower. We lean into it.)
Our Core Beliefs
We're not going to be perfect at any of these, but they're the stuff that guides everything we do—in how our team works, in the projects we take on, and in the partners we choose to work with.
Better in Community
Everyone's better in community—but building it isn't always easy. It takes showing up, staying vulnerable, and sticking with it even when things get rough. Community needs to be supportive, generous, and flexible—and also be a place to learn, grow, and make big mistakes. Hard? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely.
Cultivate Belonging
Creating belonging isn't just a box you can check. We want our community to be a place where more people feel seen, supported, and able to access the same opportunities. That means seeking to listen before we leap into action and teaming up with folks already doing the work. It's a humbling process, and honestly, we're still learning how to do it well– but we're committed to growing and taking imperfect action anyway.
Unpolished Integrity
Being genuine beats being polished every time. We value transparency and try to admit when we don't have all the answers. We strive to be open about our decisions, own our mistakes, and show up as our dorky, imperfect selves. It can feel uncomfortable—but sometimes-awkward honesty builds more trust than pretending to be perfect ever could.
Built for Progress
Change doesn't come from doing the same old thing in the same old way. We believe in tinkering and reimagining—because innovation often shows up disguised as wild ideas that just might work. They can be uncertain and even fail spectacularly, but we'll keep going anyway—learning from mistakes and adjusting our approach. Our hope is to leave the world a little fairer, a little kinder—and a little quirkier—than we found it.
Spread the Wonder
Stories are how we make sense of the world—and how we can invite others into the adventure. We aim to tell stories purposefully to spark creativity, celebrate community, and shine a light on impact. We may stumble over our words, but sharing them matters—because the best stories can inspire action, build bridges, and remind us that we're each a small part of a much larger picture.
Our Team
We're a mix of Chico locals, transplants who came and stayed, and families raising kids here. Our founders moved here in 2010, some of us have been here nearly a decade, some of us have been here our whole lives, but everyone on the team is proud to call Chico home and the place we chose and keep choosing every day.
Matt Thiede
Co-Founder · Board
Moved to Chico in 2010 to finish his civil engineering degree and never left. Worked as a civil engineer for a few years before co-founding Stoble with Lauren Thiede and Matt Johnston — they started roasting coffee in 2019 and opened Stoble Coffee and Stoble Workplace in downtown Chico in early 2021. After years of running Stoble, the community side of things kept growing — donating to local nonprofits, taking on development projects — and eventually it made sense to make it official. That's how Lupine started in 2024.
Lauren Thiede
Co-Founder · Board
Came to Chico in 2010 and it just stuck. Started in childhood development, then got deeply involved in the operations and financial side of both Stoble and Lupine — the stuff that keeps everything actually running.
Matt Johnston
Board
He and his wife Natalie have been best friends with the Thiedes since college. Spent years in tech—at Netflix, leading design at Zoom—then traded it for a coffee shop in Chico. They started Stoble Coffee and Stoble Workplace in downtown—roasting by 2019, doors open in early 2021—and it's become a little neighborhood hub. A few years in, three kids, and they're not going anywhere.
Andrew Little
Creative Director
Leads Tandem Creative, our internal creative team. Passionate about empowering local organizations, he brings expertise from a design career spanning industries including action sports, nonprofits, education, recruiting, technology, and media. He moved to Chico in 2020 to raise his family in his wife's hometown. His favorite thing about Chico is running into friends all over town and out on the trails. When he's not wrangling his 3 kids, he loves to make music with friends and will never say no to karaoke.
Nicole Hill
Communications Manager
Born and raised in Chico and proud to still call this community home. She's always seen what's so special about Chico and where there are opportunities to build more community meaningfully, so she's incredibly grateful and excited to work with this team. After a few years of heading up Stoble's marketing and workplace management, she's now working with the Lupine & Tandem Creative teams to handle communications for Lupine and its projects & partnerships, while helping out some of our partners with marketing strategy.
Kaia Soeth
Designer
In 2020, she moved to Chico to work for Stoble and to live closer to some friends. What started as a temporary season turned into making great friends, meeting her husband, and developing a deep love for the area and the people who make up this community. With a lifelong love for creating things of all sorts, getting to use that passion to help nonprofits and businesses find their look, feel, and voice through branding and websites has been a growing, rewarding, and joyful process!
Adam Nixon
Director of Real Estate & Development
Heads up the rent-to-own program and all things real estate and development. Focused on making sure more people in Chico can actually afford to stay in Chico. Outside of work you can find him hanging out with his wife and four kids—yes, two of them being twins (send coffee and prayers), mountain biking with friends, drinking cappuccinos, or eating tacos.
Emily Cockrell
Workplace Manager & Facilities Director
A third-generation local, Emily was raised among the almond orchards and on the ski slopes of Lassen. She started keeping things cute at Stoble in 2021, and is excited to make the transition to the Lupine team. Emily understands that community and connection require spaces to gather, and is responsible for keeping the physical spaces running smoothly—the kind of behind-the-scenes work that makes everything else possible.
Elisa Quintero
Workplace Assistant
Up at the front desk checking the community into the Workplace with a smile. Originally from Southern California, she moved to Chico for college and fell in love with the creativity and connection that makes this town so special. She is thrilled to be a part of a team that pours energy and resources into organizations that help Chico thrive. While on the Lupine team she wants to make sure the Chico community feels welcome at the Workplace, whether they're here daily or just for a visit.
Our Project Pillars
We can't do everything (believe us, we've tried to figure out how), so we picked three areas that we care about and where we think we can actually help.
Arts & Recreation
Everybody deserves cool places to ride bikes, see a show, go for a hike, or just mess around outside. We're building and restoring those places — from mountain bike trails at Wilder to bringing back Collier's Theatre downtown. The common thread is access: these spaces should be for everyone, not just people who can afford them.
Economic Revitalization
We'd rather have a block full of local shops and restaurants than another strip mall. So we invest in mixed-use development, support local entrepreneurs, and try creative models — like rent-to-own arrangements — that help small business owners build real equity. Our work at Humboldt & Willow is a good example: a bunch of local food and retail spots, all run by people from Chico, in a space that feels like Chico.
Housing & Basic Needs
Housing is the foundation everything else is built on. If you don't have a stable place to live, nothing else really works. Our Rent to Own program tries to rethink how renting works — giving people a real path to owning their home. We also support community partners like NVHRC, Safe Space, and CHAT through grants, because they're doing critical, on-the-ground work that we couldn't do ourselves even if we tried.
Want to get in touch?
Have an idea, want to collaborate, or just want to say hi? We'd love to hear from you.