Expert Resource Directory

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.

health consulting firm based in Alabama. She works with corporate, philanthropic and advocacy organizations on resource management, communications, strategic planning and cultural competence issues. Dr. Harris is a former National Spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association and an American Marshall Memorial Fellow of the German Marshall Fund. She is an alumnus of Iowa State University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She has held teaching appointments at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the School of Public Health and in the Journalism School at the University of Missouri. She has been recognized as Young Dietitian of the Year for the American Dietetic Association and received the Helen LeBaron Hilton Award from Iowa State University. She serves on the advisory board for Girls Inc.’s Body + Mind initiative and other national committees focused on wellness. Dr. Harris was recognized by the Birmingham Business Journal as one of its 2010 Top 40 Under 40. She was a member of the 2001-2003 class of Food and Society Fellows.

Graddick noticed the inequalities that exist in local food systems and related economic opportunities. Kelvin's family is a lifetime member of the West Georgia Farmers Cooperative, founded around 1968. It's a community member-based cooperative with a goal of bringing African Americans and low income whites together under a cooperative structure to grow and sell fruits and vegetables. WGFC thrived for almost 30 years under the leadership of Kelvin's family, but participation has dwindled in recent years. Through news articles, church discussions, and community events, Kelvin and others have revived interest in the WGFC food system work. Kelvin intends to manage the co-op in a manner that will build a sustainable food system, promote healthy living, and build cultural and economic knowledge. Kelvin will use the princicples of economic, cultural, and ecological cooperation to prepare people to take advantage of expanded opportunities in food production and distribution. He is a member of the 2011-2013 class of IATP Food and Community Fellows.

Director of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS). CEFS is a 2000 acre facility whose mission is to develop and promote food and farming systems that protect the environment, strengthen local communities, and provide economic opportunities in North Carolina and beyond. CEFS won Organization of the Year Award from Carolina Farm Stewardships Association in 2006. Creamer’s area of specialization includes farming systems research, organic production systems, and community-based sustainable local food systems. She is involved with several ongoing local food projects including NC Choices, a CEFS initiative which is developing local and sustainable pork production in North Carolina, funded by the WK Kellogg Foundation. Dr. Creamer received the Earthwise Award at the 2006 Earth Day celebration at NC State University for outstanding faculty commitment to campus environmental sustainability. She is a member of the USDA Specialty Crops Advisory Committee to the US Secretary of Agriculture, and a member of the Advisory Council for the Food Systems Leadership Institute, a project of the National Association of State Universities and Land Grant Colleges. She was a member of a multi-state Organic Agriculture Consortium, and the Scientific Committee on Organic Agriculture Research. She has served as a consultant to the European Commission on funding and evaluation on organic research activities in Europe.

vegetables, cut flowers and herbs, which are sold through a 75-member Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, three local farmers markets and to wholesale accounts. Her farm was one of the first CSAs in Florida. Rosalie has traveled her state to learn about the challenges of developing a thriving CSA movement in Florida. She developed two farmers markets in the Gainesville area with three other growers. She currently assists in managing one of the markets. Rosalie is co-founder and president of the Community Green Markets of North Florida, Inc., and has developed two farmers markets in her home state. Rosalie is a member of the National Organic Standards Board. She also co-directs the Center for Organic Agriculture at the University of Florida. She was a member of the 2003-2005 class of Food and Society Policy Fellows.

fields, fighting discrimination and exploitation, building the power of farmworker communities, and advocating for farmworkers’ rights. He is proud of who he is, and is proud of his people. Tirso also helped to organize the Farmworker Association of Central Florida. Since FACF's inception, Tirso has been General Coordinator. The FACF, which expanded statewide in 1992, now has four offices throughout Florida, a staff of 25, and a membership of more than 4,000 Latino, Haitian, and black families. The Association provides educational programs, legal assistance, a worker-owned credit union, and a food cooperative.