j. olu baiyewu is a food systems expert that excels at resolving challenges, with a combination of innovative & time-tested solutions. while achieving measurable, sustainable results through strategic planning and capacity building, his approach is of a personable servant leader, tenacious community advocate, and well-informed professional, rooted in values such as equity, transparency, inclusivity, and accountability to name a few.

As the City of Atlanta Urban Agriculture Director, j. olu leads the strategic planning process, stakeholder and partner collaboration, and program implementation for Atlanta’s urban agriculture and fresh food access activities. Prior to joining the City of Atlanta j. olu was Director of Programs and Outreach at Atlanta nonprofit Food Well Alliance. There he led the partnership, outreach, and implementation strategy of the organization’s Resource Center program. j. olu has also founded and served as Director of Organix Matters, which designs, builds, manages, and grows initiatives across metro Atlanta in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), farmers markets, and gardens. He has also worked at two Atlanta-area non-profit urban farming organisations, Truly Living Well Center for Natural Urban Agriculture and Global Growers Network.

j. olu is a 2013 graduate of the Urban Grower Training Program at Truly Living Well, a Center for Civic Innovation Food Innovation Fellow, a member of The Wallace Center’s Food Systems Leadership Network, and a past Forum (conference) Planning Committee member of Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems Funders. Before his “official” urban agriculture journey began, j. olu worked in the restaurant and hospitality industry, and was Co-Founder of ThePopShop Natural Handcrafted Ice Pops in Chattanooga and Atlanta. He earned his BA in Business Administration with a concentration in Management, from Morehouse College.

RICHARD ELM-HILL is a member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and is a Senior Program Officer at First Nations Development Institute. He supports First Nations’ Nourishing Native Foods & Health program by providing education, technical assistance, and grant opportunities.

Richard manages several projects dedicated to Native food sovereignty and healthy Tribal food economies. He collaborates on First Nations’ Food Sovereignty Assessment, Native Farm to School initiative, Business of Indian Agriculture, and serves on the project team for the Indigenous Food Systems Community of Practice in partnership with Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders.

As a former Operations Analyst for the Oneida Nation, Richard established the Oneida Emergency Food Pantry and continued the development of the Oneida Community Integrated Food System. He was the inaugural board present for the Oneida Youth Leadership Institute, a newly assembled 7871 tribal organization. Richard holds a graduate degree in Applied Teaching and Learning from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay.

HAVEN LEEMING is a philanthropy connoisseur, enthusiast, and skeptic. She is committed to bettering our communities to ensure that everyone can reach their full human potential. Currently, Haven is a Senior Program Officer at Builders Initiative, leading the foundation’s food systems grantmaking portfolio. She developed her philanthropic and subject-matter expertise during her previous tenures at The Chicago Community Trust, the region’s community foundation, and the IDP Foundation, a small family foundation. She sits on the Steering Committee of the Chicago Region Food System Fund, which practices participatory philanthropy, as it is majority community members and guided by a consensus-based process. Haven graduated from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota and earned a joint master’s degree in business administration and master’s degree in public policy from the Booth School of Business and Harris School of Public Policy from The University of Chicago respectively. Born and raised in Maine, she now lives in Chicago with her husband and daughter. She makes a mean grilled cheese sandwich.

ANN MILLS is the executive director of the Agua Fund where she supports work to protect the natural environment, help the disadvantaged, give voice to the underserved, and promote democratic values and full participation in civic life. Before joining Agua in 2017, Ann served in senior leadership roles that included focusing on environmental and agricultural policy and practices to protect water and land resources and support thriving communities. Between 2009 and 2017, she served as Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources & Environment at the US Department of Agriculture. Prior to serving at USDA, Ann was a senior leader at American Rivers, served as chief of staff to Senator Tom Daschle and California Lt. Governor Leo McCarthy, and was a legislative staffer to then-Representative Richard Durbin. She earned a BA in Political Science from Tufts University and a Master of Public Administration from the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin.

DAVE NEZZIE is the Food and Agriculture Policy Officer at the Thornburg Foundation. Dave is a tribal member from the Navajo Nation. He previously served as a field representative for the Office of U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich where he engaged with federal, state, and local agencies, as well as organizations, community leaders, and sovereign tribal governments. Dave is a candidate in the LL.M. Program in Agriculture & Food Law at the University of Arkansas School of Law. He received a J.D. from the University of New Mexico School of Law with program certificates in Federal Indian Law and Natural Resources & Environmental Law. Dave attended Arizona State University as an undergraduate, earning concurrent degrees in Anthropology and American Indian Studies.

LOLITA NUNN brings over 25 years of diversified and progressive experience in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors to the Potlikker team. She worked in the banking industry for 14 years where she developed expertise in finance, investment banking, and management. In addition to her financial role, her work included cultivating and building relationships with community leaders and advocating for programs providing financial literacy, consulting, and mentoring. Lolita is committed to building strong and resilient communities. Her passion for philanthropy led her to the nonprofit sector where she led donor outreach, fund development, community and business engagement efforts. Lolita’s career journey led her to the ecosystem of impact investing where she combined her years of financial acumen along with her passion for philanthropy to be a further champion of positive social, racial, and environmental system change. In her most recent role, she was the Investor Relations Officer at Fair Food Fund where she helped to re-imagine their investment thesis to support BIPOC food businesses, and lead the initiative that increased their geographic reach and grew the brand recognition of the Fund nationally.

ESPERANZA PALLANA is a culture change leader working with people, data, strategy, capital and storytelling. Her passions are community centered economic development, equitable and sustainable food systems and racial justice. She has worked with nonprofits for over 20 years with an emphasis in leadership, systemic change, and policy advocacy. She has led several successful campaigns that resulted in institutional change and innovative policy as well as capital and grantmaking programs advancing economic and racial equity. For the past ten years, she has worked to support social justice entrepreneurs and movement leaders in removing policy barriers, consolidating resources and accessing grant and lending capital for transformative food system change. She has recently joined the Food & Farm Communications Fund as Executive Director.

KATHERINE PEASE is a Managing Director at Pathstone. Before joining Pathstone, she served as the Chief Impact Strategist at Cornerstone Capital Group (acquired by Pathstone in 2021). Katherine led Cornerstone’s thematic research team and co-managed the firm’s impact measurement effort, while also working directly with clients and providing strategic guidance to the integration of impact strategies across the firm.

Before Cornerstone, Katherine served as the Principal of KP Advisors, Inc. The firm’s mission was to help foundations, nonprofits, and investors develop thoughtful, innovative approaches to address the challenges they care most about by using various types of capital and other resources to make the world more just, fair, and equitable. Previously she served as Senior Vice President for Philanthropic Investment and Public Policy at Gary Community Investments and as Executive Director of the Gill Foundation.

Katherine is a board member of Global Greengrants Fund and the Colorado Nonprofit Association, and she serves on numerous corporate and nonprofit advisory boards. Katherine is a graduate of Colorado College and holds an MPA from the University of Colorado Denver.

EDNA RODRIGUEZ became RAFI’s Executive Director in 2017 following six years as Come to the Table program Director, Development Director, and Director of Operations. Edna has grown the organization’s capacity by overhauling financial systems, diversifying income, and organizing cross-programmatic teams for greater collaboration and impact. In her current role, Edna led RAFI through a strategic planning process centered around equity, launched and grew the Farmers of Color Network, and extended programs to the U.S. Caribbean territories. Edna is a strategic thinker with the consistent goal of funding the movement more equitably, a value which most recently resulted — in partnership with the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (NSAC) — in a pool of granting funds devoted specifically to BIPOC-led organizations for climate and equity-centered policy work.  In addition to serving on NSAC’s Organizational Council, Edna serves as Treasurer of the National Family Farm Coalition’s Executive Committee. Born in Puerto Rico to Dominican parents, Edna was raised between The Hague, Netherlands, and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Before RAFI, Edna served as Senior Program Officer at the Atlanta Women’s Foundation and Director of Educational and Career Services at the Latin American Association in Atlanta, GA. Edna holds a B.A. in Economics with a concentration in Latin American Studies from Haverford College. Edna lives in Chapel Hill, NC, with her husband, three children, and their growing puppy.

OLIVIA WATKINS is a social entrepreneur and impact investor. For the past seven years, she has financed, developed, and operated environmental and social projects across the US. She currently serves as a co-founder and President of Black Farmer Fund, a non-profit impact investing organization creating sustainable and equitable food systems by investing in black farmers and food businesses of NY. She also serves as a board member for Soul Fire Farm Institute and just participated in the 2020 SAFSF Cohort. Prior to founding Black Farmer Fund in 2017, Olivia worked in several production roles at Soul Fire Farm Institute and Kahumana Organic Farms, leveraging her environmental biology background to manage and grow environmentally regenerative and socially impactful business operations. Olivia has an MBA from North Carolina State University in Financial Management, and a BA from Barnard College, Columbia University in Environmental Biology. She was also recognized on the 2021 Forbes 30 under 30 Social Impact list and The Grist 50.

AMANDA ZAKHAROV joined Dirt Capital Partners in 2022 and is responsible for sourcing, evaluating, and closing new investments. She has a background in commercial real estate acquisitions and a passion for impact investing in sustainable agriculture. In roles at Strategic Office Partners (a platform of TPG Real Estate), Angelo Gordon, and W. P. Carey, Amanda acquired ~$2B in predominately single tenant real estate, including office, industrial, and retail properties. Additionally, she worked on social impact investments in the food and agricultural sphere as an angel investor, consultant, and entrepreneur, with groups such as Slow Money NYC, Blue Marble Ice Cream, and Local Farms Fund.

Amanda received a B.S. in Finance and Accounting and a M.A. in Food Studies from New York University. She is also a CFA® charterholder and serves on the board of Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems Funders (SAFSF). Previously, she served as a board member of the CFA Society of Phoenix and the Orange County Land Trust.