Phil Easley, Harrisonburg Farmer’s Market vendor and former board member, spent most of his career as a broadcast journalist. He’s worked for several statewide public television networks as well as managed a couple of radio stations. Over three decades he’s interviewed and reported on hundreds of political, business and community leaders for local, state and [...]

The Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission was created by the General Assembly in 1999 to use proceeds of the national tobacco settlement to promote economic growth, revitalization and diversification of the 40 counties and cities in Virginia's tobacco-growing region. For the past 17 years Tim has managed the Commission’s grant programs that have awarded more than [...]

Michele gained an appreciation for agriculture, home gardening, canning and baking while spending a summer on her grandparents’ family farm in Indiana. After earning three degrees and a career as a chef, Michele focused on raising her two children, who are now teenagers. In 2016, Michele started working for her sister Amy’s all natural dog [...]

Amy Jordan, Co-Founder and Market Manager at We Dig Tidewater LLC, which operates both Hampton Blvd Farmers Market and Harvest Market @ O’Connor Brewing Co. in Norfolk, VA. After earning a degree in business at James Madison University, Amy has spent most of her adult life following entrepreneurial pursuits in hospitality, food and marketing. For [...]

Jennifer Cole has been the Executive Director for Clean Fairfax since January 2009. She served as the President of the Virginia Council on Litter Prevention and Recycling, a member of the Beekeepers Association of Northern Virginia, the Virginia Recycling Association, and serves on the County’s Trash Team, a task force made up of County agencies, [...]

Diane Pride-Mays, FreshLink Ambassador Diane Pride-Mays served as a FreshLink Ambassador for the 2019 cohort. Diane is a committed community member, and through her work she promotes health equity in Cleveland.

Rachael Sommer, LISW, MSSA is the Director of Operations and Partnerships at the Mary Ann Swetland Center for Environmental Health at Case Western Reserve University. She also oversees the FreshLink Ambassador Research project at the Prevention Research Center for Healthy Neighborhoods at Case Western Reserve University. Her primary areas of focus include health equity and [...]

Roberto Martinez is currently a PhD candidate in Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) in Cleveland, OH. He was born in Managua, Nicaragua, where he attended medical school at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Nicaragua (UNAN- Managua). After graduating from medical school, he [...]

Michael Reilly is co-founder and executive director of Virginia Foodshed Capital, a non-profit whose mission is to provide financial stewardship for small-to-mid-scale organic farms and food entrepreneurs in the local foodshed, including both urban and rural areas. It does so through a 0% loans program and financial education. The organization began in 2018 as a [...]

Ms. Salatin began her work as the Agritourism Coordinator for the Fields of Gold program in early 2019. She oversees the marketing and promotion of the program through a variety of efforts and activities. Ms. Salatin has a background in marketing, event and program coordination with a passion for local, sustainable, community development from her [...]