Growing Leaders:
Shifting Power to Young Leaders in the Food Justice Movement

Thursday April 18, 2019
12:00 – 2:00pm

North Star Fund
520 8th Ave, suite 1800
NYC

Register Here by 4/16

This event will be livestreamed
Lunch will be served

Youth programs across the country use food justice as a platform for building young people’s leadership skills, especially in communities of color. But too often, there are few opportunities and little support to transition promising youth into leadership roles when they age out of these programs. Organizational culture, program structure, position requirements, and limited funding all pose obstacles to young people who want a career in the food justice movement.

For 20 years, East New York Farms! has offered an intensive Youth Internship to build the skills, knowledge, and confidence of youth in East New York. As part of the mission, they have made intentional opportunities to hire and retain youth alumni on staff, creating pathways to positions of power.

Join us for a conversation with current staff of ENYF! to learn about how they transitioned from youth participants to program leaders. Funders will learn how they can support organizations to create these pathways and build a movement of leaders who come from the communities they serve.

REGISTER HERE

This event will feature a panel of current ENYF staff, moderated by Project Director David Vigil. Panelists will share about their pathways to their current roles and the experiences and opportunities that have guided them as young people. We will also talk about specific ways that ENYF has worked to make space for program alumni to lead in the organization and steward the work going forward. While our program has longevity on our side, we believe that the food justice movement can begin to lay the groundwork now for new leaders to emerge and thrive.

• Anita Chan is the Agriculture Coordinator at ENYF and has been on staff since 2017 when she was hired as Bay View Houses Farm Manager. She was a Youth Intern in 2010, and in 2015 she graduated from City College of New York with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration and Management. After graduation, Anita volunteered with non-profit organizations and held several leadership positions in environmental conservation.
• David Vigil  is the Project Director at ENYF. He started as the Farm Manager in 2007 and transitioned to Youth Program Director and then Project Director in 2013.  He studied at Deep Springs College and Columbia University. He will be stepping down as Project Director in June 2019.
• Iyeshima Harris is the Markets and Outreach Coordinator and the incoming Project Director at ENYF. Her food justice path started at the Bushwick Campus Farm when she was 14.  She has held many roles in the food justice movement for the last 7 years with EcoStation, Just Food, Community Food Advocates, and the Levitt Foundation.  She joined ENYF in 2016 as an organizer for the Youth Food Justice Network. Iyeshima is completing a double major in Political Science and Sociology at York College
• Kevon Hines is the Youth Program Director for ENYF. He was part of the ENYF! Youth Internship program from 2007-2009. A Brooklyn native, he was raised in and still resides in East New York. He attended Utica College for two years and graduated from SAE Institute with a degree in Audio Technology.  He joined our staff in 2017 and continues to work in the music industry as well.

East New York Farms! was the 2018 winner of the Community Food Funders Champion Award. One of the perks of the award is to host a funder briefing with CFF on content of the awardee’s choosing. This event is the CFF Champion funder briefing for this year.

More about East New York Farms!

The mission of East New York Farms! is to organize youth and adults to address food justice in the East New York community by promoting local sustainable agriculture and community-led economic development. East New York Farms! is a project of the United Community Centers in partnership with local residents, who have been working with youth, gardeners, farmers, and entrepreneurs to build a more just and sustainable community since 1998.

East New York Farms! grows fresh food for their community and provides support to help others do the same. They manage three urban farms and one community garden, and work with an ever-growing network of gardeners representing backyard gardens and many of the over 60 community gardens throughout East New York. In addition, they operate two community-run farmers markets; employ 35 youth for a 9-month internship each year; compost over 14,500 pounds of food scraps annually; and have a team of Community Educators who provide cooking demonstrations, presentations, and gardening workshops.