Food Equity & Events Coordinator

I have been working for Cunningham Township for just over a year now (in April). I was drawn to the description of “Food Equity and Events Coordinator” because it is so relevant to the intersections of my interests and experience: some farming agriculture experience at Blue Moon and Sola Gratia Farm, my connections to local community building and mutual aid projects, and my innate tendency to want to be the one to put on community gatherings. After graduating from UIUC with a degree in computer science, burnt out and not happy with the tech industry, I took a total 180 degree turn to focus on the community around me and improving local sustainability. But don’t worry – even though I am not working in a computer-science-focused job, my tech background still comes plenty in handy with the digital side of coordinating gardens and events!

Before working for Solidarity Gardens, I had also spent a season volunteering for the gardens mostly over at the Douglas Park Community Garden where I found myself wanting to improve garden accessibility and use my farming experience to create educational materials to help more people feel confident in gardening. Getting engaged with our local gardens for just one season provided so much motivation to think about local food systems. I also joined a housing cooperative, COUCH, where other coop members are really involved in a lot of our garden spaces, including the Come and Eat Garden, Wood Street Garden, and the Greenhouse Coop Garden. Co-opers love gardening and trying to increase our local sustainability, so it really goes hand in hand. I have also gained experience in foraging from my housemates over the years, and you can catch me outside walking around town eating the different edible plants and telling you what is edible too throughout the year. In my free time, I’m quite musical, and you can find me hosting a folk jam circle with my mountain dulcimer or dancing and calling at a contra dance!

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

• COUCH Board
• NASCO Properties Board and NASCO Board
• Urbana Country Dancers Board
• volunteer host for trainings through Dispute Resolution Institute