Bio coming soon

As the founder and Executive Director of Farm Commons, Rachel Armstrong creates the organization’s innovative approach to farm law education and risk reduction. Her vision for changing the way consumers experience business law has been awarded with two prestigious fellowships: a 2012 Echoing Green Global Fellowship and a 2018 Ashoka Fellowship. As leading authority on direct to consumer farm law she has authored dozens of publications on farm law matters for farmers, alongside several academic and trade publications for attorneys. Rachel instructs continuing legal education classes for the American Bar Association, teaches farm law for the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and is a co-author of “Farmers’ Guide to Business Structures,” published by Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education. A graduate of the University of Denver Sturm College of Law and the University of Wisconsin Madison, she lives in Northern Minnesota with her family.

A dedicated food activist on many fronts, Art believes food unites us across all cultures and backgrounds. He sees his passion for healthy food as a spiritual matter as well as a basic human right and need. He builds coalitions with diverse groups that show dedication to improving our health landscape. He recognizes the privilege and opportunity provided his race and gender as well as the responsibility to use that to create a more just system for all.

Art has run small food businesses, and has helped run sustainable farms with his mother in New Hampshire and his sisters in Massachusetts. He met founder Melissa Contreras (now Markham) in 2009 and helped launch her idea into a full fledged grassroots organization.

Art also owns and manages Greenthumb Popcorn, an organic vegan supersnack, previously sold throughout the Whole Foods Florida region and in many independent retailers nationwide.

Maisah Khan joined the Regenerative Agriculture Foundation as the SHOT Fund Partnerships Manager in December 2024. Maisah came to RAF with over a decade of experience in grassroots nonprofit work and federal policy advocacy. She was the Policy Director for the Mississippi River Network and before that the Water Policy Director for the Missouri Coalition for the Environment. Prior to that, she served as an appointee in the Obama Administration for the U.S. Department of Energy, focusing on international climate change policy and clean energy deployment. Maisah holds a Masters of Environmental Management from the Yale School of Environment. Her family ties to Bangladesh keep her grounded in our shared movement for climate change solutions.

Sophia (she/her) leads NSAC’s cross-team policy coordination and strategy efforts. She returned to NSAC after 4 years leading the Food and Agriculture Clinic at Vermont Law School, where she directed a team providing law and policy services to farmers, food entrepreneurs, and food system organizations. During that time, Sophia led the launch of the Vermont Legal Food Hub, a program that connects farmers and local food businesses with free legal assistance. Sophia previously served as a Senior Policy Specialist at NSAC; her DC experience also includes the Center for Food Safety, the White House Council on Environmental Quality, and the federal district court. She holds a BS in Environmental Science from the University of Michigan and a JD from Vermont Law School.

David is the Managing Director for Litigation at FarmSTAND. He oversees our docket of consumer, worker, environmental, and constitutional claims taking on industrial animal agriculture’s abusive practices. He has been a leading advocate against “Ag-Gag” laws, increasing safety for meatpacking and agricultural workers, and taking on false advertisements that cover up the reality of BigAg.

He previously worked at Public Justice and Public Citizen and in private practice as a qui tam attorney. He currently teaches agriculture and environmental law at George Washington University Law School, and has previously taught at Georgetown and Vermont law schools.