The FSLN Community Food Systems Mentorship program is thrilled to begin its 7th year, supporting 36 mentees from diverse regions nationwide!
The Food Systems Leadership Network (FSLN) is thrilled to announce the 2024 Cohort of our Community Food Systems Mentorship Program! Now in its 7th year, the Mentorship Program provides burgeoning food systems leaders with the opportunity to receive valuable guidance and nourish relationships with mentors offering decades of lived experience. By investing in these relationships, FSLN is facilitating the flow of intergenerational knowledge, ideas, and resources necessary to support local communities in building more equitable and resilient food ecologies.
This year we have expanded our program by increasing both our Mentor and Mentee cohort by 50% – making this the largest cohort to date (thanks to new funding from USDA Center for Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnerships)! We are welcoming 36 Mentees from 22 states across the U.S., to build relationships with our 12 respected Mentors. Over half of these Mentees identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), and represent a broad spectrum of food systems work and roles. Over the next four months, Mentees will be working on everything from building food policy councils, to exploring how land and soil teach us about justice, to developing strategic plans that sustain creativity in the face of climate crisis and uncertainty. Learn more about the 2024 mentorship cohort below!
Mentor
Angel Mendez
Executive Director, Red Tomato
Check out the three mentees working with Angel this year.
Jonathan Lawrence
Eat Greater Des Moines
Fairfield, IA
P. Wade Ross
Texas Small Farmers & Ranchers-CBO
College Station, TX
Matthew Martin
Freshlist
Charlotte, NC
Mentor
Karen Washington
Farmer, Advocate, Rise and Root Farm
Below are the mentees working with Karen this year.
Janett Lewis
Rustic Roots Sanctuary
Saint Louis, MO
Sheila Kjellberg
Community Resilience Hub Kansas Wesleyan University
Salina, KS
Stef Funk
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
Chicago, IL
Mentor
Kukui Maunakea-Forth
Executive and Programs Director, Wai’anae Community Re-Development Corporation and the MA’O Community Food Systems Initiative
Below are the mentees working with Kukui.
‘Amelia Leafaitulagi ‘Aikona Niumeitolu
Wasatch Community Gardens
Salt Lake City, UT
Anna Mines
Hui Mala ‘Ai
Honolulu, HI
Roxana Pardo Garcia
Alimentando al Pueblo
Burien, WA
Mentor
Lydia Villanueva
Director/Founder of CASA del Llano, INC
Lydia will be mentoring the following mentees.
Valeria Rojas
CommuniCare+OLE
Sacramento, CA
Kristina Rose Ortiz
Care and Share Food BANK
Colorado Springs, CO
Jessica Burtt Fogarty
Field to Family
Iowa City, IA
Mentor
Kamyar Enshayan
Director, Center for Energy & Environmental Education at University of Northern Iowa
Kamyar will work with the mentees below.
Aliza McHugh
Health Care without Harm/ Oregon Farm to Institution Collaborative
Hood River, OR
Annarose Kennedy
Manna Food Center
Silver Spring, MD
Nena Hammer
Spring Creek Food Hub
Springdale, AR
Mentor
Miles Gordon
Principal, Kitchen Table Consulting
See the mentees that will be working with Miles below!
John Redhawk Gutierrez
Farmshare Austin, City of Austin Office Food Plan
Austin, TX
Tia Mitsinikos
Wasatch Community Gardens
Salt Lake City, UT
Megan Kenney
North Coast Growers’ Association
Arcata, CA
Mentor
Nancy Creamer
Blue Cross and Blue Shield/WK Kellogg Distinguished Professor Emerita, NC State University and former CEFS Director, NC State University.
Check out who Nancy will be mentoring.
Tania Schusler
Loyola University Chicago
Chicago, IL
Charlie Robinette
Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments
Henderson, NC
Lindsey Bellefeuille
The Beet Food System
Bandon, OR
Mentor
Rich Pirog
Former Director for the Center for Regional Food Systems at Michigan State University (MSU) through spring 2022 – currently enjoying life while doing a bit of food systems consulting
Rich will work with the following leaders.
Cristal Franco
International Sonoran Desert Alliance
Ajo, AZ
Tommy Hexter
Iowa Food System Coalition
Grinnell, IA
Lucia Leone, PhD
University at Buffalo
Buffalo, NY
Mentor
Rev Dele
Grandmother Elder, Earthkeeper, Mystic
Dele will work with the following leaders.
Jessica Lofton-Williams
Fair Food Network
Detroit, MI
Porchea McGuire
Northwest Indiana Food Council
Gary, IN
Serena Milne
Another Spring Farm
Portland, OR
Mentor
Rowen White
Sierra Seeds and Indigenous Seedkeepers Network
Rowen will work with the following leaders.
Jordan Mapel-Roach
Farmer
Springfield, OH
Eloísa Trinidad
Chilis on Wheels
New York, NY
Iman Labanieh
Baylasan Botanicals
Portland, OR
Mentor
Bevelyn Afor Ukah
Director of the Committee on Racial Equity at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems, Artist, Justice Educator
Bevelyn will work with the following leaders.
Danielle Presume
Blossom’s Healing
Hephzibah, GA
Lola Gibson-Berg
Keep Growing Detroit
Detroit, MI
Avalon Gupta VerWiebe
Syracuse-Onondaga Food Systems Alliance (SOFSA)
Syracuse, NY
Mentor
Karen Lehman
Principal, Adaptive Leadership, LLC., Former director of Fresh Taste, Strategic advisor to Potlikker Capital
Karen will work with the following leaders.
Jayme Chester
Rio Grande Community Development Corporation
Albuquerque, NM
Trish Bellmore
Greater Wabash Food Council
Bridgeport, IL
Redding Jackson
Grow Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA
I am so thankful for this program and so excited to work with Angel! It has been great say far and I cannot wait to continue to connect with other peers/mentees here.