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Just Food Board - October 2008
Luis Garden Acosta
El Puente
Luis Garden Acosta is the Founder/President/CEO of El Puente in his home community of Williamsburg , Brooklyn . For the past 22 years, he has led El Puente as a beacon for holistic learning and development. Luis embodies a commitment to the arts with a passion for scientific research, peace and justice. He is a founding member of The First Poets, a principal investigator of a federally funded, environmental justice research project and an impactful pacifist who is not unfamiliar with the inside of a jail.
Spirited by a unique background as a graduate of St. Mary's Seminary, as a Harvard Medical School student and as a community development organizer for New York City's Office of the Mayor, Luis led the community medicine division of a hospital and has produced and hosted popular culture radio and television programs. In the 60's, he launched a "university of the streets" and in the 70's he directed a statewide humanities program. In the 80's he led the nation's first and largest Afro-Cuban music school. Luis has contributed his leadership to the National Science Foundation....more.
John Ameroso
Cornell Cooperative Extension – NYC
John is a County Extension Agent at Cornell University’s Cooperative
Extension. As Horticultural Specialist for Cornell's NYC Programs since
1976, John has specialized in soils, vegetable crops, and fruit production.
His efforts to promote urban agriculture have resulted in several successful
projects and market farms including: Rikers Island Farm Project, Wheatfield
Project and the Gericke Farm Project. As part of his a contribution
to extension, he has piloted a program to develop urban space to produce
food crops locally for 25 cities nationwide, thus increasing access
to fresh food for many. John has authored several articles on food,
ranging in topic from food production to topsoil preservation. John
is a founding member of Just Food, a partner in the City Farms Project,
and is the recipient of several awards for his work.
Helena Durst
Durst Organization
Helena Rose Durst is the Public Affairs Director, Corporate Liaison and Assistant Vice President for The Durst Organization, a company that owns, manages and develops real estate and is known for pioneering work in implementing environmental design. Helena studied real estate at Baruch College , and is involved in several non-profit organizations. She is a member of the Board of Voices Unbroken and Citizens Union . Voices Unbroken provides under- heard voices with the tools and opportunity for creative self- expression, through creative writing workshops. Citizens Union of the City of New York is a 100- year old nonpartisan, good government.......more.
Joan Gussow
Joan is the Mary Rose Professor Emerita of Nutrition
and Education at Teacher’s College, Columbia University (NYC),
where she formerly headed the Nutrition Education Department. She has
a B.A. from Pomona College and earned her M.Ed. and Ed.D. from Teacher’s
College. She is author, coauthor or editor of a number of articles and
several books – most recently This Organic
Life. From 1980 to
1983, Dr. Gussow served on the Diet, Nutrition and Cancer Panel of the
National Academy of Sciences followed by two terms on the NAS Food and
Nutrition Board. She has also served on the FDA's Food Advisory Panel
and most recently on the National Organic Standards Board. She is a
founding member of Just Food.
Kathy Lawrence
Former Director of Just Food and founder. Most recently Kathy server as Executive Director of the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture.
Prior to founding Just Food, she managed education and outreach for
the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (NESAWG). Kathy
holds a Master of International Affairs degree from Columbia University's
School of International and Public Affairs where she specialized in
economic and political development. She has a B.A. in East Asian Languages
and Cultures from the University of Kansas. She has also apprenticed
on an organic farm in Maine.
David Moody
The Purrington Firm, LLP
225 Varick Street – 5th Floor, New York, New York 10014
David is a partner at The Purrington Firm, where he represents
investment managers and investors in connection with the structuring
of investment funds. A highly experienced corporate legal generalist,
David was formerly General Counsel for Ziff Brothers Investments for
five years and was previously associated with Cleary, Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
in New York. David graduated magna cum laude from Cornell Law School,
where he served as Note Editor on the Cornell Law
Review. A longtime
member of a CSA farm, David has been assisting Just Food on a variety
of legal issues since he was first introduced to us by Lawyers Alliance.
Karen Washington
Karen Washington has lived in New York City all her life, and has been a
resident of the Bronx for over 22 years. Since 1985 Karen has been
a community activist, striving to make the Bronx a better place to live.
As a community gardener, Karen has worked with neighborhoods to turn empty
lots into community gardens, as an advocate, she has stood up and spoken out for
garden protection and preservation, as a City Farms Trainer, she has helped people
all over the city grow more food and build healthier neighborhoods, and as
a member of the La Familia Verde Garden Coalition, she launched a City Farms
Market, bringing garden grown and farm fresh vegetables to her neighbors.
Her motto is: you can’t say you’ve made it, if the people around
you are still struggling, I am because we are.
Karen attended NYC public schools, graduated from Hunter
College with honors in physical therapy in 1977 with BS degree magna cum laude,
and received her Masters degree from NYU in occupational biomechanics and
ergonomics in 1981. She is the mother of two children: Kendra, a principal
at a NYC public school; and Bryant, an inspector for the department of health
and a singer, and has two grandchildren, Julian and Justice.
Kristen Greer
Kristen Greer has worked in finance for the past eight years. As a consultant for
Arthur Andersen she advised companies and municipalities in financial distress; as an
equities analyst at Brown Brothers Harriman she conducted research and made recommendations
for institutional investment opportunities. Most recently, she served as an operations
project leader and financial reporting manager at Christie¹s Auction House.
She holds a B.S. in Finance and Management from the University of Virginia, and a M.P.A. with
a concentration in nonprofit management and public policy from New York University.
Kristen has been a food activist since she became a vegetarian at age six.
Just Food Staff
Jacquie Berger, Executive Director – Having served briefly as
a non-profit executive director early in her career, Jacquie set out to acquire the wide variety of
skills, hands-on experience, and academic expertise needed to lead and further develop a thriving
food systems-oriented organization. Over the past eight years, Jacquie has held both direct service
and senior management positions with a of number non-profit organizations focused on sustainable food
systems and environmental issues. During that time she also completed a Master of Business Administration
degree at the Yale School of Management, having previously obtained a BA in Environmental Science from
Barnard College. In addition to a well-rounded, practical understanding of food security and food justice
issues, Jacquie brings a facility and passion for organizational and project management, staff and Board
development, fundraising and financial oversight. Jacquie became Just Food’s Executive Director in
August 2006, but has been a long-time admirer of Just Food since 1996 when she volunteered with the
organization for several months. She can be reached at tel: 212.645.9880, ext. 242 or
e-mail: jacquie[at]justfood.org.
Jane Hodge, The City Farms Program Manager– Hodge began her involvement with Just Food in 2005 as an AmeriCorps*VISTA, working with La Familia Verde's and Bissel's farmers markets. Her previous experience with urban agriculture included work with a low-income community in northern England, where she produced food for their community-run café and led gardening, food security, and cooking classes for youth and adults. Hodge studied issues of global and local food production with the International Honors Program, traveling through England, India, Philippines, New Zealand, and Mexico. Hodge received a BA at University of Richmond in Leadership Studies with a concentration in Environmental Leadership and Social Movements and a minor in Women's Studies. She can be reached at tel: 212.645.9880, ext. 228 or e-mail: jane[at]justfood.org.
Paula Lukats, CSA in NYC Program Manager – Paula has ten years of experience working in community and program development in New York City. Originally from Ohio, she obtained her BS in economics and sociology in 1991 from the University of Notre Dame and her Masters in Social Work from Ohio State University. Recently she chose to pursue her long-time interest in environmental sustainability and is currently working toward a Certificate in Conservation Biology at Columbia University. Paula also brings experience having been a volunteer with Just Food and a member of the Prince George CSA in midtown. She can be reached at tel: 212.645.9880, ext. 233 or e-mail: paula[at]justfood.org.
Angela Davis, Community Food Education Program Coordinator - Angela brings more than 12 years of program management, public relations, and education experience, along with a passion for local agriculture, food and community health to her role as Just Food’s Community Food Education Program Coordinator. She recently received her certification as a Holistic Health Counselor from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition which is affiliated with Columbia University ’s Teachers College. As a volunteer at the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts, she continues to develop her love for cooking delicious and healthy food. Angela has a Master of Education degree from George Washington University and a Bachelor of Arts from Oberlin College. She can be reached at 212.645.9880, ext. 239 or email: angela[at]justfood.org.
Owen Taylor, The City Farms Training and Livestock Coordinator - Owen has been growing food since he was twelve years old in his backyard gardens, on several organic family farms, and in community gardens. He graduated from San Francisco State University in Urban Studies, where he focused on the role of urban agriculture in food security and community development. Owen has also completed the 8th International Agroecology Short Course at the University of California, Santa Cruz and was a member of the Food Project’s 2006-2007 BLAST Leadership Cadre. After a year teaching urban ecology and design in New York City public schools, and several years giving gardening and composting workshops in San Francisco and New York City (as a Just Food trainer), he is excited to help community garden and urban farm leaders learn to pass on their agricultural skills through hands-on participatory workshops and consultations. He began with Just Food in late 2005 as the Chicken Intern, and continues this work with dreams of delicious eggs, fertile soil, and delighted hens, hen-keepers, and the people who love them. He can be reached at 212.645.9880, ext. 229 or owen[at]justfood.org.
Volunteers, Interns and VISTA members
Just Food works with highly skilled
volunteers and interns. Interns have joined us from Columbia Teachers
College, Hunter College, Hampshire College, University of Vermont
and University of California-Santa Cruz.
We are also in our sixth year as an AmeriCorps*VISTA site sponsor.
Our 2008 VISTA members are:
Ben Purdon
Charlotte Simon
Danielle Seidita
Hannah Shepard
Jane Shuput
Jennifer Datka
Jennifer Griffith
Jennifer Parker
Marta Ascherio
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