Dana (she/her/hers) spent the last decade in clinical social work, supporting kids & families, and people experiencing addiction. She has a B.S. and Masters Degree in Social Work and is conversationally fluent in Spanish. She has managed multiple programs including regional mental and physical health initiatives with the Autism Society, the Boys & Girls Clubs, and most recently, MAHEC.

Dana's passion for food extends to her work outside of WNC FSC. She and her partner co-own and manage a regenerative farm in McDowell County focused on pastured chickens, hogs, sheep and cattle. She loves spending every possible moment outside, and sharing a delicious meal with pals.

Cameron Farlow is the Executive Director at the Organic Growers School. Hailing from Greensboro, NC she has made her home in WNC, and has been with OGS since 2012. With a Master's Degree in Appalachian Studies & Sustainable Development, Cameron also brings experience in the realms of farmland conservation, food security, farm to university, and land access. Outside of OGS, Cameron is a mother, dancer, baker, gardener, and avid explorer.

Diana (she/her/hers) began her career in WNC managing a multi-county youth tobacco prevention grant, then spent several years as the Youth Network Manager of Youth Empowered Solutions (YES!). With over 10 years of experience in local, statewide, and national advocacy, Diana now works as a national consultant. She supports organizations in growing their infrastructure to more effectively create policy change within their community that dismantles the root causes of inequity.

Diana, born and raised in Asheville, enjoys cooking, gardening, and being outside (or anywhere really) with her family.

Jess (they/she) is the Coordinator of the Community Gardens Strategy Area (CGSA). Jess is a white, Jewish land tender, herbalist, beekeeper, artist, grower, writer, mentor, cat mama and much more. Previous to this work, they graduated from Warren Wilson College with a Bachelors in Social Work. While in college she managed the school's CSA and free food distribution program through the on campus garden. During and after the last year in school, Jess helped with program development for a multi-organizational educational Food and Farming Apprenticeship Program, which teaches knowledge and skills within the food system from a food justice lens for low income and BIPOC community members. Jess went on to become the farm manager at Root Cause Farm, a non-profit community garden that distributes all their produce for free to the surrounding communities. In this position, Jess not only managed the land but also taught community members, students and interns how to grow food, and about the root causes of hunger. From summer of 2021 until Fall 2022, Jess co-represented the CGSA on our Leadership team.

In her work as farm manager, she found that many people were siloed in their own spaces trying to meet community member's immediate needs while trying to address food insecurity at the root cause of the problem. Feeling that she wanted to be in a slower and deeper relationship with land, and wanting to focus on uprooting the root causes of hunger and working towards a more food sovereign WNC, and nurture deeper collaboration between community members and organizations, she applied to become the CGSA coordinator when the opportunity arose.

Jess brings her grassroots experiences to this work while centering intentionality, community experiences, decolonization and sovereignty. Jess is passionate about re-learning how to be in a reciprocal relationship with land, community and herself while engaging in creative ways to collaborate to create more resilient and sovereign food systems.

Before joining the FJPI, Jenn (she/her/hers) worked as a professional chef, kitchen manager and baker at various establishments, including 4 years at The Mountain Retreat and Learning Center in Macon County. She also spent eight years working in the United Kingdom in The British Red Cross’ and other non-profits’ research departments helping to develop best practices for service access, identify gaps in publicly accessible research and advocate for future research priorities as identified by those most directly affected by issues like depression and end of life care. In 2020, she completed OGS’s Farm Beginnings course and began raising rabbits to increase self-sufficiency and explore agricultural enterprise and is proud to call herself an amateur farmer.

She accredits food for changing her life; influencing health, community and connection to the land, during a time when she needed it most. Having always been motivated to positively impact social change, she realized food was a nearly universal way to influence people’s lives and in 2016 she became dedicated to never stop learning more about preparation, production, ritual and sustainability related to food.

She is now very excited to combine her passion for food and experience in research and service development to support the FJPI in building community food sovereignty across Western North Carolina.

Gina has been working in the areas of agriculture, food policy and agriculture education for over 15 years. Before focusing on Local and Regional food council development she found a niche working with educational institutions and individuals to create educational farms, agriculture and food policy curricula, and holistic farm design. Gina has owned and operated Sparrow Hill Farm since 2016 in Candler where she currently is growing heritage breed sheep and offers coaching services for new and beginning farmers interested in regenerative and agroecological practices.

Kristin (she/her/hers) is a proud member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians. For 10 years she served as a front line paramedic for her tribe. In 2021, Kristin obtained a bachelor's degree in communications with a concentration in health from Western Carolina University. During her time at WCU, she was also a fellow in the Jones-Bowman Leadership Program through the Ray Kinsland Leadership Institute. Kristin coordinated a meal and toiletry give away, utilizing a stipend made available through the Jones-Bowman Program. It was at this time when Kristin realized she had a passion for supporting and encouraging others and wanted to find a way to carry on this work past her time as a Jones-Bowman fellow.

Kristin lives on the Qualla Boundary and has three children. Week to week you can find Kristin in her kitchen baking cheesecakes and other sweet treats. She has also worked in photography for about 10 years and has worked as a regional storyteller for Western North Carolina Health Networks MyReason and View From Here campaigns.

She is excited for the future of FJPI and hopes to become an important asset to the organization.