Session Leaders
Electra Jarvis
Electra Jarvis is the co-founder and Farming Director of Green Food Solutions. With an academic background in environmental systems planning, coupled with over 6 year of experience in the AgTech and vertical farming industry, she supports others to start urban and vertical farms, and expand the GFS Farm Amenity services and training.
Isa Jamira
As a video-journalist, my work is reflection based. I collect memories via videos. Reflecting on physical footage of my life helps me to learn from, accept, and forgive my past. Moving monotonously through life, I can forget my talents of the heart and that my lived experience is unique. Eventually a day comes where can I remember again– but I wish I stayed knowing I matter in a world that tells me ‘you don't.’
Marisa DeDominicis
Marisa DeDominicis is the Executive Director and co-founder of Earth Matter NY Inc. Our mission? We seek to reduce the waste misdirected into the garbage stream by encouraging neighbor participation and leadership in composting. Earth Matter is an 11 yr. old not for profit, partnering with The Trust for Governors Island to create a closed loop exportable model of sustainable practices. We compost food scraps and yard waste from Governors Island, organizations and businesses. With generous support from the NYC Dept. of Sanitation, we compost food scraps collected from NYC residential food scrap drop off locations. We process over 1,300,000 lbs of food scrap and yard waste annually. Marisa oversees the intensive on-farm composting training program that focuses on growing soil, education of our volunteers and visitors, sale of herbs to island vendors, and donations of our fresh produce and eggs, to a local soup kitchen.
Brendan Parker
Brendan is Farm Manager at Red Hook Farms. Brendan joins the farm team after a varied career in public school garden education, market farming, and community gardening. He holds a Bachelors of Arts in Environmental Studies from Stony Brook University, where he became deeply engaged in understanding our nation's broken food system. Brendan feels that urban agriculture and education are among the most important pieces to lessen the impacts that the industrial world has had on our environment and our personal health. When Brendan is not contemplating the soil food web you may find him somewhere in Queens searching for a new country's cuisine to sample.
Nick Storrs
Nick grew up on a small farm in rural New Hampshire. He worked in Brazil and Bolivia growing vegetables and coffee, and later in northern Vermont, producing vegetables for local markets. Since moving to New York City he has worked as a gardener for the Central Park Conservancy and as the farm manager at the Randall’s Island Park Alliance, offering a free edible education program to NYC school children, where students explore food production and healthy eating habits. He has contributed to the Five Borough Farm Project, as well as to research conducted by the Northeast Rice Association through the Cornell Rice Labs. He currently helps home gardeners create beautiful and flavorful kitchen gardens and raises vegetable, herb, and heirloom transplants for home and community gardens. For more information you can find him at www.homegrownnurseries.farm
Ben Flanner
Ben Flanner is co-founder and CEO of Brooklyn Grange, a rooftop farm, sustainable events venue, and landscaping design and build company based in NYC. He is recognized as a pioneer for his groundbreaking model, which adapts established green roof technology to support intensive agriculture. Ben has shared his unwavering commitment to develop the urban farming industry and focus on growing an exceptional green and community minded business with audiences and consulting clients across the globe. Prior to co-founding Brooklyn Grange in 2010, Ben had a brief prior career in management consulting and marketing. He has a BS in Industrial Engineering from the University of Wisconsin.
Astoria Pug
Astoria Pug started in March 2020, when Rocky (and his humans) started collecting food scraps in Astoria, Queens right after the city had suspended drop-off sites Due to budget cuts. Since then, Astoria Pug has collected upwards of 25 tons of food scraps and is a big advocate (albeit his 22.7 pounds) of #saveourcompost.
Renee Keitt
Renee Keitt is a member of community gardens in El Barrio and the Bronx. Renee can usually be found at Kelly Street Garden.
Jeremy Teperman
Jeremy is a native of Queens, who joined ENYF in April of 2018. He studied Geography and Earth Science at Vassar College, where he first became interested in farming and local food systems through his involvement with the Poughkeepsie Farm Project, an educational and food-justice driven non-profit farm. After a field internship with them, Jeremy became involved in the community composting world in Queens. He completed a Master Composter class in 2012 with the NYC Compost Project. Afterward, he worked as Project Coordinator for the NYC Compost Project from 2013-2016. He educated people about composting, and assisting small community compost groups at gardens, churches, and schools to set up and maintain their compost systems. In 2016, Jeremy participated in the CASFS farm apprenticeship in Santa Cruz, CA. Jeremy has a great love of the outdoors, cooking, baking, and woodworking. Jeremy is enthusiastic about urban agriculture and composting, and is eager to work in East New York.
Leanna Mulvihill
Product Manager - Customer Engagement, Farm Generations Cooperative. Before entering the tech world, she had her own business raising sheep, pigs and cows. She holds a B.S. in Forest Engineering from SUNY Environmental Science and Forestry, and an M.S in Information Systems from Cornell University.
Nathan Hunter
Nathan works as the Foodway Coordinator for the Bronx River Alliance and currently helps to lead public programming, stewardship, and community collaborations around NYC's first edible food forest within a city park. He comes to the Alliance with over 6 years experience co-leading community gardens and cooperative grow spaces in Yonkers and the Bronx. He is passionate about native plants and understanding ways our public lands can provide food for our communities.
Yolanda Gonzalez
Yolanda is an Urban Agricultural Specialist with the Harvest NY team. In this role she provides technical assistance and educational programming for urban farmers and gardeners across the five boroughs of New York City.
Raina Leora Robinson
Raina (she/her/hers) is a chef, grower, and creator from the Bronx, NY. She is co-founder of culinary non-profit Cafe Forsaken, a worker-owner at Woke Foods and Assistant Baker atAnti-Conquest Bread Co., – three organizations that offer community food relief in the wake of global pandemic and local food insecurity. She strives to share her knowledge of transformative food and agriculture with others, and is adamant that graciously digging one's hands into the soil and preparing a meal from a fresh harvest can transform lives in ways large and small.
Daniel Zauderer
Dan of Mott Haven Fridge: Founded by two Mott Haven 6th-grade teachers in response to witnessing widespread food insecurity among their students' families, Mott Haven Fridge is an outdoor, freestanding refrigerator providing community members with 24/7, no-questions-asked access to fresh produce and other basic essentials. The fridge is stocked by donations from individuals, local businesses and community partners and cleaned and maintained by a grassroots network of community volunteers. With accolades from Bronxnet, News12, NY1, ABC7, WNYC, and CNN, the Mott Haven Fridge is a lifeline and beacon of hope for a community plagued by food insecurity.
In spite of its warm community reception, Mott Haven Fridge is in desperate need of donations and volunteers to survive the winter season and expand its reach to more Mott Haven families in need. Visit www.motthavenfridge.comto volunteer, donate, and follow on social media!
Kimberly Brown
Member of the leadership team of Davidson
Avenue Community Garden in the Bronx.
Volunteer with BronxGreen-Up for over 10
years
2nd year Farm School NYC student
Apprentice at Earth Matters
Can be found at Davidson Ave. Comm. Garden
where she supports the innovative and
dynamic individuals of this garden. In their
mission to be a resource, respite and healing
center for its' community.