Expert Resource Directory - W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Search returned 11 results

Photo	Name	Organization	Title	Region	Expertise
	Anim Steel	The Food Project	director of national programs	Northeast, National	Community Food Systems, Community/Grassroots Organizing, Food Justice, Youth Engagement
Biography: Anim Steel is the Director of National Programs at The Food Project in Boston, ( ... ) MA, founded twenty years ago to create personal and social change through sustainable agriculture. It currently employs over 100 Boston-area teenagers from diverse backgrounds who annually grow, sell, and donate over 250,000 pounds of organic produce. Nationally, the Food Project is helping to build a strong youth movement for just and sustainable food systems. Since 2003, Anim has provided leadership training for over 700 young people and forged a network of 5,000+ young activists and farmers. In 2008, he co-founded the Real Food Challenge, a campaign to re-direct $1 billion of college food purchases away from industrial agriculture towards local, fair, sustainable, and humane sources. Born in Ghana and growing up in West Africa and Washington, DC, Anim holds a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School and a B.A. in Astrophysics and History from Williams College. expand+
	Ann Mansfield	NE Iowa Food & Fitness Initiative	co-convener of initiative	Midwest	Community Food Systems, Health, Food and Fitness, Community/Grassroots Organizing
Biography: Ann Mansfield is co-convener of the Northeast Iowa Food & Fitness Initiative. ( ... ) She works with grassroots leaders to create healthier communities by integrating organizational learning and systems thinking principles. Mansfield has 30 years of experience in healthcare and facilitation utilizing process improvement, multidisciplinary teams, and systems thinking to achieve desired outcomes. Mansfield has a B.A. in nursing from Luther College and an M.S.N. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. expand+
	Ben Burkett	Mississippi Association of Cooperatives	director	Southeast	Agriculture, Food Justice, Community/Grassroots Organizing
Biography: For the past 25 years, farmer and grassroots organizer Ben Burkett has worked ( ... ) throughout the South to champion the rights of small farmers and ensure their livelihoods through a movement known as food sovereignty. Even after his own farm was devastated by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, Ben worked with local farmers to develop a rebuilding plan and minimize the disruption. On a broader level, by influencing federal, state, and local policy, Ben is building the framework to sustain a new generation of small farmers, especially farmers of color. Ben, currently the director of the Mississippi Association of Cooperatives, has been a farmer since 1973. He is a board member of the Crescent City Farmer’s Market in New Orleans; secretary/manager of Indian Springs Cooperative located in Petal, Mississippi; vice president of the National Family Farmers Coalition; Vice President of Community Food Security Coalition; and a board member of the Southern Sustainable Agriculture Working Group. He has traveled extensively to Africa, South America, and Europe to learn more about sustainable agricultural practices. expand+
	Daniel Ross	MIT Sloan Fellows for Innovation and Global Leadership	vice president of business development	National	Community Food Systems, Food Value Chains, Community/Grassroots Organizing
Biography: Daniel Ross is recognized as a leading social entrepreneur with a lifetime ( ... ) fellowship from Ashoka – Innovators for the Public Good. As VP of Business Development of Wholesome Wave, Ross is supporting the development of healthy food hubs and enterprises throughout the country with technical assistance and access to innovative financing. He is also acting CFO of Wholesome Wave, ensuring that financial systems are in step with this fast growing organization dedicated to national healthy food systems change. He holds an MBA from MIT Sloan, and has been an MIT Sloan Fellow for Innovation and Global Leadership, MIT Legatum Fellow for Development and Entrepreneurship, founder and principal of DAISA Enterprises LLC conducting business planning and consulting. He spent 16 years as Executive Director of Nuestras Raíces, a grass-roots organization that promotes economic, human and community development in Holyoke, Massachusetts through projects relating to food, agriculture and the environment, nationally recognized for innovation. He has helped community members start over a dozen small food and agriculture businesses, launched Energía for-profit social enterprise energy-efficiency services company. Founding leader of various local and state-wide food systems and environmental policy coalitions. expand+
	Diane-Louise (D-L) Wormley	Philadelphia Urban Food & Fitness Alliance	program director	Northeast	Community Food Systems, Food and Fitness, Community/Grassroots Organizing, Youth Engagement
Biography: D-L Wormley is the project director for the Philadelphia Urban Food and Fitness ( ... ) Alliance which centers on developing a grassroots collaborative devoted to bringing about systems change through education and advocacy by community residents and youth in partnership with experts. Her experience includes direct work with community residents, civic engagement and outreach, project management and community development, higher education administration, financial oversight and grant-making. expand+
	Jenga Mwendo	Backyard Gardeners Network	organizer	Southeast	Community Food Systems, Food Justice, Community/Grassroots Organizing
Biography: Jenga Mwendo is an urban agriculture community organizer in New Orleans' Lower ( ... ) Ninth Ward and founder of the Backyard Gardeners Network – a burgeoning not-for-profit organization whose mission is community building, neighborhood revitalization and cultural preservation through urban agriculture. A Lower Ninth Ward native, Mwendo left New Orleans after high school in 1995 to pursue a career in computer animation. She is the graduate of the School of Visual Arts/New York and has years of experience in the animation industry, where she worked on multiple films, including the Oscar-nominated film “Ice Age.” Mwendo decided to permanently return to her hometown of New Orleans with her young daughter to help rebuild the city after Hurricane Katrina. Since 2007, Mwendo has worked to strengthen the Lower Ninth Ward community – organizing neighbors to revitalize and create gardens, planting trees, and developing support systems to encourage and support the culture of growing in the neighborhood. She is the winner of the 2010 Cox Conserves Heroes award for her work developing community outdoor spaces. She was also awarded a 2010 TogetherGreen Fellowship (www.togethergreen.org) to focus on community-building around the two gardens. She currently works with the Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development on food security research and planning for the Lower Ninth Ward community. Mwendo also serves on the board of the Holy Cross Neighborhood Association. She works very closely with New Orleans Food and Farm Network, Parkway Partners, the Lower Ninth Ward Village Community Center and HandsOn New Orleans. Mwendo lives in the Lower Ninth Ward with her 7-year-old daughter and their dog. She also runs a personal catering business, providing delicious raw vegan cuisine to clients throughout New Orleans. She is a member of the 2011-2013 class of IATP Food and Community Fellows. expand+
	Kandace Vallejo	Proyecto Defenso Laboral/Workers Defense Project	membership programs coordinator	Southwest	Labor, Community/Grassroots Organizing, Youth Engagement
Biography: Kandace Vallejo is from Tampa, Florida and comes to the table with over six ( ... ) years of experience organizing for economic and social justice. Over the years she has worked with and held leadership positions within such diverse organizations as the Coalition of Immokalee Workers and the Student/Farmworker Alliance, the Energy Action Coalition, the Brazilian MST (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Sem Terra, or Landless Worker’s Movement), and Student Environmental Action Coalition. Kandace recognizes the important role that leadership development and education play in building social movements, and her varied organizing experiences lend her a number of transferable skills and much knowledge to bring to the table in her current position as Membership Programs Coordinator at Workers Defense Project. Kandace holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Southern Illinois University and a master’s degree in education from the University of Texas at Austin, and she has co-published works featured in the recent AK Press release “Uses of a Whirlwind” and in “Be the Change: Teacher, Activist, Global Citizen.” She is a member of the 2011-2013 class of IATP Food and Community Fellows. expand+
	Lisa Kivirist	Inn Serendipity	innkeeper	Midwest	Community Food Systems, Agriculture, Communications, Community/Grassroots Organizing
Biography: ( ... ) font-size: 13.333333969116211px; background-color: #ffffff;">Farmer, author, women in sustainable agriculture advocate, innkeeper, parent, passionate food preserver and zucchini enthusiast. Lisa Kivirist thrives on wearing multiple hats under the sustainable agriculture umbrella, deeply rooted and based on her family’s farm in southwestern Wisconsin. Lisa is co-author, with her husband, John Ivanko, of the new cookbook, Farmstead Chef, transforming traditional farmstead cooking skills for the modern kitchen gardener, urban homesteader and homestead cook in all of us. The duo also authored the award-winning book ECOpreneuring, a fresh approach to entrepreneurial thinking that blends protecting the planet with small business pragmatics and Rural Renaissance, capturing the American dream of farm living for contemporary times. A leading national advocate for championing the inspiring story of women farmers, Lisa’s fellowship work led to founding and directing the Rural Women’s Project, a venture of the Midwest Organic & Sustainable Education Service (MOSES) providing outreach and resources for women farmers and food-based business owners. Lisa also spearheads a new initiative called Plate to Politics, designed to help support more women to take on leadership roles in advocating for food system change. Lisa writes a column spotlighting national policy issues for the Women, Food & Agriculture Network (WFAN) and is a lead writer forRenewing the Countryside, a non-profit organization showcasing rural entrepreneurial and agricultural success stories. She also regularly writes for publications ranging from Hobby Farm Home to Edible Madison, showcasing stories and resources for sustainable living and rural revitalization. A pioneer in green travel, Lisa and her family run the award-winning Inn Serendipity Bed and Breakfast in southwest Wisconsin, considered among the “Top Ten Eco-Destinations in North America,” and featured in USA Today, MSNBC, ABC news, Newsweek and numerous other media. Powered by 100 percent renewable energy, the Inn was the recipient of the Energy Star Small Business Network Award from the EPA and is an example of a "carbon negative" business, sequestering more carbon dioxide annually than emitted from its carbon-free operations. She and her family raise diversified produce for local sale with a specialty in leeks and garlic. Lisa shares her farm with her husband, their young son, a 10kw wind turbine and a flock of ladybugs. She was a member of the 2008-2009 class of IATP Food and Society Fellows. expand+
	Maggie Anderson	King County Food & Fitness Initiative	kc food & fitness coordinator	West	Food and Fitness, School Food, Community/Grassroots Organizing
Biography: expand+
	Michelle Mascarenhas-Swan	Movement Generation	acting director	West	Food Justice, Community/Grassroots Organizing, School Food
Biography: Michelle Mascarenhas-Swan brings a love of soil, a passion for strategic ( ... ) thinking, (and sometimes her two lively little ones) to her work for long-term systemic change. Over the last 15 years, Michelle Mascarenhas-Swan has played multiple leadership roles in the social justice movement in California. Most recently, she was Co-Director of the School of Unity and Liberation, a movement-building training center based in Oakland, California. Prior to that, she worked for more than a decade towards food justice in working-class communities of color. Michelle co-founded and served as director of the Center for Food and Justice in Los Angeles from 1997 through 2001, helping to develop farm-to-school programs nationally and organizing campaigns for food justice in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Michelle was also a Kellogg Food & Society Policy Fellow. Michelle became active in social justice work through anti-war and labor/community organizing in greater Los Angeles where she was born and raised. She graduated from UCLA with a B.A. in History, specializing in Women’s Studies in 1994 and an M.A. in Urban Planning in 1997. During her time at UCLA, she helped organize the campaign for union recognition of graduate student workers. expand+

Annual Report	America Healing
Food & Community	Mission-Driven Investing