KEREN ALFRED (she/her)

Keren Alfred is an artist and an environmentalist. Her artwork explores aspects of her identity as a Black woman from the Caribbean learning to resist and heal from oppressive systems. She studied Environmental Studies at Brown University and received her MFA in Book Arts from University of Iowa. She has worked for an environmental non-profit that focuses on land conservation and in an affordable housing non-profit on the sustainability team. Her hope is to create art that cultivates joy, growth, and care. You can learn more about Keren’s work at https://www.kerenalfred.com/. 

LAUREN ARRINGTON (she/they)

Lauren Anita Arrington is the daughter of Karen Lawson and Clark Arrington; granddaughter of Dorothy McGill, Florence Gullins, Thomas McGill, Sr., and Clark Arrington Sr.; the great-granddaughter of Florence Arrington, Violet Baylor, Eugene Baylor, Mary McGill Charles McGill, Olivia Cooley, Ruffurd Cooley, Florence (Shaffer) Arrington, and Lott Thomas Arrington; the great-great-granddaughter of Dora Haines Sharper and Clark Lee Sharper, and the great-great-great-granddaughter of Margaret Ann Brewer Moore and Jerry Moore. She practices as a midwife in Baltimore, MD, and is an associate professor at Georgetown University. Her work focuses on implementing tactics that emerge from social justice movements to advance reproductive health equity in African communities across the globe.

MUMAT AWEYS (he/him)

I am the Co-Director of All Farmers, a nonprofit serving refugee and immigrant farming families in the Greater Springfield area with access to land, training and advocacy. I also serve on the board of Grow Food Northampton, contributing to creating a just and resilient food system. My connection to the food system comes from my parents, who are community farmers in the All Farmers and Grow Food Northampton network, giving me both a personal and professional connection to the communities I work alongside.

MEL BAISER (they/them)

Mel Baiser is the co-founder of HELM Construction Solutions, a planet- and people-first consulting firm helping construction businesses build resilience while advancing climate justice and healthier workplaces. A regular columnist for Fine Homebuilding and recognized industry thought leader, Mel writes and speaks on topics related to cultural and organizational transformation in the construction industry.

As a leadership coach and longtime community organizer and activist, Mel believes in the liberatory potential of collective action to build a more just world and get into right relationship with nature. A practicing Zen Buddhist and person in recovery, they are committed to ending suffering for all beings and deeply interested in the personal, familial, and cultural work of healing trauma. A seventh-generation Vermonter and tradesperson born in the Northeast Kingdom, Mel’s happy place is the mountains.

MARÍA T. BEAUCHAMP PAGÁN (she/ella)

María is Co-Founder and Program Director of the Luisa Capetillo Hispanic Community Leadership Program at Network Delaware and a longtime organizer and campaign strategist across Puerto Rico and Delaware. Her work spans co-founding Movimiento Victoria Ciudadana in Puerto Rico, directing historic senatorial and federal campaigns, building infrastructure to support the safety of our migrant communities, and building civic leadership infrastructure rooted in popular education and Ella Baker’s philosophy of distributed leadership.

ZAHRA A. BELYEA (she/her)

Zahra A. Belyea holds a B.A. in English from Boston University, an M.Ed. in Secondary Curriculum and Instruction from Boston College, and an M.A. in Theatre Education from Emerson College. As an educator, she has had the privilege of working with many students as she taught and tutored in both writing and literature on the collegiate, secondary, and middle school levels. Currently, she enjoys coaching educators as a Collaborative Coaching Specialist at WordPowered. As a teaching artist, movement performer, and playwright, she has had the privilege of working, performing, or writing with or for numerous venues, artists, art institutions, and theatre companies such as Open Theatre Project, We Create! Celebrating Women in the Arts Festival, Company One Theatre, Central Square Theater, ArtsEmerson, The Billie Holiday Theatre, Fort Point Theatre Channel, On With Living and Learning (OWLL), and And Still We Rise Productions, for which she was a former Assistant Director. She is striving to find renewed peace the more she leans towards God and away from her worries and fears.

JAVIERA BENAVANTE (she/her)

Javiera is an artist, facilitator, educator, and cultural organizer whose work explores how people and places remember, repair, and reimagine together. Born in Santiago, Chile just before the 1973 coup, she traces her lifelong inquiry into collective loss, memory, displacement, belonging, and practices of collective repair to that history. She collaborates across communities, the arts, education, and land-based spaces, creating places where grief, creative practice, reciprocity, belonging, and shared stewardship become pathways toward more just futures. Recent projects include co-curating MicroCosmos, a gathering of artists whose relational and place-based practices seed tiny worlds of possibility, and cultivating practices of decolonization and reciprocity through community-based and higher education partnerships. She lives with her family on the ancestral homelands of the Pocomtuc, Nonotuck, and Nipmuc Peoples in western Massachusetts.

SHERIE BLUMENTHAL (she/her)

Sherie is a collaborator, connector, community-responder, storyteller, and grower.  She is passionate about, and committed to, re-imagining and co-creating ways of being that advance reparation and justice, and sustain and steward Life. Sherie serves as the Director of Community Impact at Gather to Grow, in Lewiston Maine, part of unceded Abenaki Territory, and the broader homelands of the Wabanaki, where she has lived and cultivated livelihood for more than 20 years. During this time, she has had the privilege of working in deep collaboration to further the food stability, resiliency, thriving, and transformation of her community, while co-creating a more just and vibrant local food system. She is a lover and facilitator of gardens, farmers’ markets, community meals and celebration.

CLOVE BULLITT (they/he)

Clove (they/he) is the Donor Engagement Manager at Slingshot, a grassroots, environmental justice organizing nonprofit. Prior to Slingshot, Clove worked in fundraising at Future Chefs, a youth development nonprofit that uses the culinary medium to teach essential job skills to young people. He also completed a service year with FoodCorps, teaching gardening and nutrition to elementary school students. They currently serve on the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition’s steering committee. Clove began practicing politicized somatics this year and enjoys being in the water, reading, and collaging.

JENNA CHANDLER-WARD (she/her)

Jenna is the Co-Author of the book, Learning and Teaching While White, and the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the popular blog ad podcast series, Teaching While White.  Jenna is also a founder and co-director of the Multicultural Teaching Institute, which produces workshops and a conference for educators on issues of equity in education. She has been an educator in non-profits, schools, and colleges for over 20 years, working with students from kindergarten to college level. She is an equity consultant, specializing in professional development for educators on issues of whiteness and its impact on teaching, curriculum, school policy and leadership. Jenna currently lives in Providence, RI on the Ancestral and Traditional land of the Nahaganset and the Wampanoag.

ANTOINETTE COOPER (she/her)

Antoinette Cooper is an author, collective trauma facilitator, student of Somatic Experiencing™, and founder of Black Exhale, a nonprofit creating sanctuary for collective Black healing. Her debut poetry collection, UNRULY (2025), examines medical racism and Black women’s bodily autonomy. She is currently writing her second collection, The Price of Flesh, examining the historical commodification of Black bodies through West African currency systems and the ongoing impact on our collective relationship to safety, resources, and belonging. Antoinette has taught Narrative Medicine at CUNY School of Medicine and Medical Humanities at Columbia University, and has facilitated trauma-informed workshops at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA, and Rikers Island. As a Better Selves Fellow, she looks forward to world-building through Black Exhale and continuing her practice of “altaring history” through poetry. Born in Jamaica, she lives and works in New York.

KEELY CURLISS (she/they/any)

Keely is a nipmuc queer farmer, organizer, and mother with more than 15 seasons of experience growing and distributing vegetables, 10 + years mentoring and working alongside folks of all ages on the land and 5+ years saving seed in the northeast.  She has served on the boards of Rooted in Community, a national network of youth food and environmental justice organizations on turtle island and NEFOC, the northeast farmers of color land trust. Keely serves on the Farmer Advisory board for Cultivemos and is treasurer for the Nipmuc Community Land Project. Currently, Keely is working with a small team to build out Pequoig Farm, a food sovereignty project by and for Nipmucs located on a 180 acre piece of land rematriated to her community.

DEJA CURTIS (she/her)

Deja is a Senior Communications Specialist at Environmental Defense Fund where she supports advocacy campaigns for safe chemical alternatives in our food and homes.

She is driven by the belief that everyone deserves a self-determined relationship with their environment – a connection that is vital to both our physical health and psychological well-being. The early seeds of this core belief were planted in urban agriculture and food justice work, where she began to recognize how systemic barriers to vital resources like food are intertwined with access to safe, healthy community spaces. There, she also witnessed the transformative power of community-centered green spaces to shape how we relate, rest and build with one another. 

She looks forward to joining the Better Selves Fellowship and using her time at Knoll Farm to revisit a writing project that will explore pathways to reconnecting with our (human and non-human) environment.

GAIL DANA

MAGGIE DANA (she/her)

Elizabeth “Maggie” Dana is a Passamaquoddy leader, former Tribal Chief, and traditional basketmaker from Sipayik (Pleasant Point), Maine. With more than 20 years of experience in tribal government, she served as Passamaquoddy Chief (2020–2022), Vice Chief (2017–2020), Tribal Council member (2012), and led community-wide COVID-19 response efforts while previously managing Tribal revenue and federal grants as Chief Financial Officer. Maggie currently serves as Program Coordinator with the American Friends Service Committee, where she leads a Waponahki-wide initiative dedicated to the rematriation of Waponahki languages, ceremonies, and healing practices. Her work is rooted in strengthening Waponahki communities through land stewardship, language revitalization, cultural renewal, and self-determination. Maggie comes from a renowned family of Passamaquoddy basketmakers, including her father, Peter Neptune, Sr., and aunts Clara Keezer, Theresa Gardner, Angela Barnes, and Edith Pond, whose teachings continue to inspire her leadership and commitment to her people.

MATT DANA II (he/him)

Matt Dana is a Passamaquoddy leader dedicated to strengthening communities through Indigenous knowledge, youth development, and systems change. He serves as the Working Communities Challenge Partnership Director for Washington County and the Passamaquoddy Tribe at Sunrise County Economic Council and founded Mecimi-te Nihtawehtunen (“We Have Always Remembered”), a program reconnecting Passamaquoddy youth to land, language, and traditional harvests through intergenerational mentorship. His work centers on building opportunities for future generations while honoring Passamaquoddy culture, community, and self-determination.

COCO DE MARNEFFE (she/her)

I grew up in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona and have lived in New York State for the past eight years. I’m currently thinking a lot about god, gathering, facilitation, and how to connect the young people I organize alongside with each other and the earth. I have been a part of the youth climate movement for the past few years and am thinking about moving in to pro-democracy work and centering live music. I have lived in a commune and try to practice and explore alternative ways of living. I trust this fellowship will be what it needs to be.

ANDREA FRANCIS (she/her)

Andrea (she/her) is a citizen of the Mi’kmaq Nation and the Elsipogtog First Nation. She also serves as the Executive Director of the Bomazeen Land Trust. Andrea hopes that her work with Bomazeen will promote connections that are inherent in Wabanaki health, land, and food sovereignty.

ZORAYA HIGHTOWER (she/her)

Zoraya has worked on environmental and social justice issues across the globe and in her local communities for over 10 years. Her experience covers diverse issues and geographies from renewable energy finance in Kosovo and water access in Tanzania to fishery sustainability in the Philippines. Zoraya is currently the Senior Director of Finance and Operations at Outright Vermont. Previous roles include U.S. Managing Director for Nature For Justice, Executive Director at the Peace & Justice Center, and Innovation Manager at Resonance Global. Zoraya also served on the Burlington City Council (Vermont) for four years after winning a seat as the first woman of color elected in 2020.

IRENE HONGPING SHEN (she/her)

Irene has been working on issues of climate and environmental justice for decades as an organizer, program manager, farmer, educator and strategist. Over the last ten years, she worked on energy policy with trade unions internationally, particularly in the Global South, to build support for the public ownership and democratic control of the energy sector. Most recently, Irene has returned to her practices as a healer and is focused on her work as an animal communicator and a Reiki energy practitioner (for humans and animals). She lives in Brooklyn, NY, with her dog and partner.

BITHYAH ISRAEL (she/her)

Bithyah Israel is a multicultural artist, composer, educator, and video producer whose work centers on celebrating the strength of community connection. She is President & CEO of City Strings United (www.citystrings.org), a nonprofit with a mission to promote youth development in historically excluded communities through access to high-quality, student-centered music education and ensemble performance.

Often described as a visionary, Bithyah fulfills leadership, operational, and teaching responsibilities at City Strings United as current President & CEO and board member. Her work has been recognized by The Boston Globe, New England Cable News, Urban Update on Boston’s WHDH Channel 7, Baystate Banner and Chronicle and CityLine on Boston’s WCVB Channel 5. She is a recipient of the Women of Courage and Conviction Award, presented by the Boston Chapter of the National Council of Negro Women, and the Boston Unsung Award, given by The Titus Foundation.

In 2025, Bithyah delivered the keynote address for the New Bedford Economic Development Council’s annual meeting following a live performance of her original composition for strings entitled “You Know,” performed by a quintet of the New Bedford Symphony.

In 2026, Bithyah performed in Nat Zegree’s Cape Playhouse production, “Mozart to Pop Chart,” and currently serves as Board Chair at the Arts & Business Council of Boston and member of the Vivo Performing Arts community engagement committee.

BESSIE KING (she/her)

Bessie King is a first-generation Mexican-American. Pre-COVID, she worked as a reporter, communications manager, and general manager for her family’s restaurant, Villa México Café. Through the pandemic, she helped create Massachusetts Restaurants United, a nonprofit that advocates for the survival of local independent restaurants. Bessie returned to the office world and currently handles Strategic Communications for the Equity and Inclusion Cabinet at the City of Boston. Bessie earned a B.A. from Northeastern University and an M.S. from Columbia University. You can read more at www.bessieking.com.

KATAYOUN LAM (she/her)

Katayoun is an artist, activist, organizer and community member. She got started in organizing through unionizing a Starbucks store that she worked at in 2022, and continued her organizer journey as a founding member of 50501VT after the 2024 election. Currently, she is using her organizing skills as an Organizing Co-Director of 350VT, a grassroots climate justice non-profit. Born and raised in Vermont, she lives in Essex Junction with her cat Cassie, and when not working on organizing can be found making all sorts of art, cooking, line dancing, or wandering around trying to make use of her photography degree by taking photos of birds.

DIONNE LATRICE (she/her)

I was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts. I am an instinctual organizer and detailed coordinator who naturally creates order out of chaos. I’ve spent over 25 years building systems, holding details, and supporting the flow of people and ideas as an administrative professional, and I currently work at a local nonprofit.

Additionally, I work in local theater as a deviser, collaborator, and performer, where I get to step into imagination, storytelling, and collective creation with my castmates and work behind the scenes as a member.

I enjoy life through daydreaming, writing, restoring furniture, authentic conversations, caring for plants, singing, thrifting, and staying close to family, friends, and my guy.

TOLU LAWAL (she/her)

Tasleemah Tolulope Lawal (“Tolu”) is an organizer and attorney, serving as a co-leader in the People’s Campaign for Parole Justice with currently and formerly incarcerated elders in New York. She is the co-founder and co-lead organizer of Unlock the Bar (UTB) advocating for a democratized legal profession. She represents bar applicants that struggle to obtain law licensure due to engagement in liberative causes. She worked with the New York City human rights commission and a prison abolitionist organization. While a student at NYU Law, Tolu served as one of the lead organizers of the Racism Lives Here Too campaign. She received her J.D. from New York University Law School in 2019 and received her B.A. from Duke University in 2014.

STEPHEN LIN ( he/他)

Stephen Lin (he/他) is science educator, teacher naturalist, & musician born in Taiwan, raised in Massachusetts. He worked for five years in Boston Public Schools teaching students and coaching teachers as well as coordinating youth employment programs. During his time at Mass Audubon, Stephen also created Foundations of Belonging, a monthly webinar/community of practice for Mass Audubon staff committed to allyship. In his current role as Director of Early Career Programs, Stephen oversees the Environmental Fellowship Program, a 14-month Fellowship for young professionals entering the conservation field as well as the Massachusetts Climate Corps, an 8-week summer internship for college students interested in pursuing a career in ecological restoration. In his spare time, Stephen enjoys cooking for his friends and family, gigging as a pianist, and watching the WNBA with his wife. 

DOMINIC LOUNDS (she/her)

Dominic (she/her) is an award-winning multimedia creative who builds community by crafting visually compelling stories. When she’s not profiling a local organization or animating for a friend, you can find her dancing, singing, or cycling up far too many hills. You can learn more about her at https://dominiclounds.carrd.co/

OLIVIA (she/her)

Olivia is the communications director for a national frontline climate justice organization. She became involved with the global climate justice movement while assisting in the organization of the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Bolivia in 2010. For more than three decades, she has worked in grassroots organizing, coalition building, and advocacy to support progressive social movements and community-based organizing within the United States and abroad. From 2014-2018 she served as Director of Advocacy for the National Head Start Association. Prior to that, she led an Information Office in Washington, D.C. to support accurate reporting on peoples social movements of the Global South. Olivia’s organizing roots are grounded in her high school and college experiences in suburban Maryland and Boston, MA where she was politicized around institutionalized racism and white supremacy, intersectional and third world feminism, and organized around police brutality, control-units, and freedom for political prisoners. She is currently very interested in exploring and curating mind-body-energy health practices that support movement leadership, protect against burnout, and enable the next generation of social justice organizers to turn inward earlier; learning how to love themselves along with the movement.

ADRI MIELE (she/her)

Adri Miele is a Peruvian-American writer and communications worker at a labor union in Massachusetts, SEIU Local 509. With a professional background in strategic communications, fundraising, and digital tech, Adri has spent her career helping political organizations use digital tools to build grassroots movements. Raised by a low-income, single parent, Adri is deeply passionate about wealth inequality and ensuring that all families have the resources they need to be healthy and to thrive. She brings over a decade of experience in organizing work for racial justice and advocacy for survivors of sexual violence. She is currently writing a memoir and a coming of age novel.

RAY MILLS (she/they)

Ray Mills is primarily of Franco-American and Wabanaki ancestry, currently residing within her ancestral homelands of the Androscoggin River watershed in Western Maine. Her work lies at the intersection of Indigenous and youth engagement with the climate movement, focusing on relationships to rivers and other waterways. After successfully completing a two-year residency with the Maine Environmental Education Association and The Nature Conservancy in Maine, they have now launched their own consulting business, which you can find at www.sprucemountainconsulting.com. She endeavors to help small nonprofits and underresourced towns identify and access funding to build local resilience. In her spare time, she enjoys all mediums of art, spending time in the lake near her house, and volunteering with the local historical society.

DARYA MINOVI (she/her)

Darya is a Fair Access Research Manager for the Center for Science and Democracy. In her role, she conducts research on pollution, public health, and participation in government decision-making, and works to advance environmental justice and science-based policymaking.

Prior to joining UCS, Darya worked as a senior policy analyst at the Center for Progressive Reform, where she researched water pollution and chemical disaster issues, and advocated for stronger regulations at the state and federal levels. She has also worked on food policy at the Center for Science in the Public Interest and on international rainforest conservation.

Darya earned an MPH in environmental health from Harvard University, and a BS in public health and environmental policy from the College of William & Mary. She has been quoted in Grist and The Washington Post and has authored op-eds published in the Baltimore Sun and on CNN.com.

JOSI OCRAN (she/her)

Josi Ocran believes that good health is the foundation of a life well lived. She has dedicated her career to supporting people and cultivating spaces where they can leave better than they arrived.

She has worked as both a community and clinical social worker throughout the Southeast before stepping into a Project Coordinator role at BlackCotton Club while pursuing her MPH in Healthcare Management at Boston University.

Through her work, Josi has come to embrace the idea that she can be multifaceted. Inspired by the experiences and community she found at BlackCotton Club, she is using that momentum to step fully into her artistry as a poet, singer, and songwriter.

NGOZI OKARO (she/her)

Ngozi advocates for environmental and social justice, and founded Custom Collaborative to support immigrant and no/low-income women starting sustainable fashion careers. Goldman Sachs, Vogue, InStyle, Marie Claire, Fashion Impact Fund, AARP, New York Women’s Foundation, NYC Fair Trade Coalition, Conscious Company, and others have recognized and awarded her achievements. Ngozi graduated from Georgetown University Law Center and Morgan State University. Personally, her favorite things include watching tennis, reading, and thinking. She is an amateur baker and wine enthusiast. Photo credit Mei Tao.

HANK OLIVER (he/him)

From the SF Bay Area, and have been in NYC for nearly two decades. Life is split between my passion for social justice (abolition, fat liberation, and LGBTQ rights) and the creative arts (music), and I am exploring plants and herbalism as a hobby.

SOFIA OWEN

SARADINE PIERRE (she/her)

Saradine Pierre (she/her) is an urban planner based in New York City. She is passionate about cities and the communities and cultures that bring them to life. Through her work, she aims to bring more visibility and equity to public planning processes as a way of restoring justice to the built environment.  In her free time, she loves going on walks, taking pictures on her film camera, and analyzing reality tv.

ANGIE RENDON (she/her)

Angie Rendon is a passionate community advocate, Community Health Worker, and proud leader who has dedicated her life to helping others and making a difference in the community she calls home. Her passion for this work comes from the belief that everyone deserves to feel heard, supported, and connected to the resources they need to thrive.

Through her work with PT Partners, Angie empowers residents and families by connecting them to resources, helping navigate housing, SNAP, healthcare, and other essential services, and advocating for greater health equity and opportunities within the community. She also works with Bridgeport Prospers through the Parents Connecting Parents initiative, where she helps create connections between parents and families, builds supportive networks, and works to ensure that parents know they are not alone.

For Angie, community work is more than a role—it is a purpose. Her lived experiences, compassion, and deep love for her community fuel her commitment to lifting others up. She believes that sometimes the smallest act of kindness, one conversation, or one connection can change someone’s life. Through advocacy, education, and empowerment, Angie continues to be a voice for her community and a reminder that when we come together, we can create a healthier, stronger, and more connected future for everyone.

FRANCES (FREEDOM) ROBERTS-GREGORY (she/they)

Dr. Frances Roberts-Gregory is a feminist political ecologist, international environmental educator, and ecowomanist performance artist (dancer, storyteller, and cosplayer). She leads environmental education, climate advocacy, and youth engagement projects for BIPOC, queer, abolitionist, and feminist organizations committed to grassroots community solutions, translocal philanthropic organizing, and intersectional environmental, energy, and climate justice. Trained as an environmental scientist, climate anthropologist, and community geographer, Dr. Roberts-Gregory researches pan-African and feminist climate policy advocacy at United Nations climate negotiations as well as Black and Indigenous women’s everyday resistance to environmental violence and state-corporate crime. She formerly served on the board of the Hive Fund for Climate & Gender Justice and currently serves on the boards of Climate Critical, One Square World, and the HBCU Green Fund.

NOHEMI RODRIGUEZ (she/they)

Tejane Artist | Altar Builder | Environmental Portrait Photographer

Nohemi is a Chicane artist that utilizes environmental portraiture, altar building and relational infrastructure to explore human connectivity. They work across museums, small businesses, and public spaces to spark co-imagination, build community, and support teams in bringing shared visions to life.

ANABEL SANTIAGO GIBSON (she/her)

Anabel Santiago Gibson (she/her) is an Afro-Indígena Latina immigrant from the Dominican Republic and a long-time Massachusetts resident. She is a community organizer and Co-Executive Director of the Coalition for Social Justice Education Fund. Over the past ten years, she has organized economic justice campaigns across community, faith-based, coalition, and labor spaces. When life allows, she loves embracing the Sun and returning to center with the Moon.

VAL SCHULL (elle/they/them)

Val Z. Schull is the Water and Ocean Program Director at GreenLatinos. Their interest in water justice stemmed from growing up in a farmworker comunidad near the San Joaquín River. They hold a Ph.D. and M.S. in agricultural engineering from Purdue University and a B.S. double majoring in Biological Engineering and Natural Resources from Cornell University. During their free time, they enjoy gardening, powerlifting, and playing rugby.

DORIAN SHORTS (he/him)

Dorian is a yoga teacher and yoga continuing education provider who has been working in the NYC area for over a decade.  As a teacher Dorian has worked in many spaces to help students grow their practice of balance, self reflection, awareness and connectivity.  He has shifted his practice from teaching to therapeutics and is currently a candidate for certification in Yoga Therapy.  Dorian believes that active participation in the healing, or growing process can help people expand the awareness of their own capabilities, and that yoga is one of the best tools we have to create positive lasting changes in the direction of wellness.

PALLAVI SHRESTHA

DRAKE SSEMPIJJA (he/him)

Drake is a fisheries scientist, educator, and conservation researcher with over 15 years of experience working at the intersection of fisheries science, technology, and sustainable resource management. Originally from Uganda and deeply connected to the communities around Lake Victoria, he is driven by a commitment to protecting aquatic ecosystems while supporting the livelihoods of the people who depend on them. He is currently a PhD Candidate at the School for Marine Science and Technology (SMAST), University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, where his research focuses on Abandoned, Lost, and Otherwise Discarded Fishing Gear (ALDFG), also known as ghost gear, and its environmental and socioeconomic impacts in inland fisheries. His work combines predictive modelling, field research, and policy analysis to develop practical solutions for reducing fisheries-related plastic pollution. His research has been published in international scientific journals and presented at global fisheries conferences, contributing to growing efforts to address ghost gear and strengthen sustainable fisheries governance worldwide. At the heart of his work is a belief that science should not only generate knowledge but also create meaningful change for ecosystems and communities. A recipient of numerous prestigious fellowships and awards, including the Mandela Washington Fellowship, United Nations University Fisheries Training Fellowship, VLIR-UOS Scholarship, and the Brian Rothschild Scholarship, Drake’s career reflects a strong commitment to advancing sustainable fisheries through science, education, and policy innovation. His work continues to shape conversations on fisheries sustainability, ghost gear management, and conservation engineering across Africa and beyond.

KARINA VÁSQUEZ (she/her)

Karina Vásquez (she/her) is a mother, educator, and director of communications for a food justice nonprofit in Queens, New York, where she grew up and lives with her family. She was recently part of the inaugural cohort of Cornell’s Community Garden Leadership Program. As a city kid whose love of nature didn’t blossom until adulthood, Karina is passionate about helping children discover that they don’t need to leave the city to experience nature. She built a multi-season gardening program at a nearby elementary school and is currently developing nature-based curriculum for a local after-school program.

During her Better Selves Fellowship, Karina will work on Gandules in the Garden, a children’s zine that tells the multigenerational story of a beloved crop, exploring the ties between her mother’s beloved island of Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rican diaspora in New York City, and the enduring traditions carried through food, gardens, and family.

Outside of her work, you can find Karina behind her treasured Fuji camera, on long runs, cooking for her loved ones, working on her plant and bird ID skills, and getting way too excited about the ability to reserve books at her local library.

BRENDA WATSON (she/her)

Brenda Watson is Executive Director of the North Hartford Partnership, a Connecticut nonprofit anchored at the historic Swift Factory in Hartford’s North End. Since 2023, she has led the organization’s work to transform North Hartford into a Net Zero community through clean energy deployment and climate resilience planning.

Under her leadership, NHP serves as the lead organization and fiscal agent for the Climate and Community Resilience Hubs of Connecticut, a multi-city initiative with Neighborhood Housing Services of New Haven and Greater Bridgeport Community Enterprises. She secured the organization’s first fee-for-service contract with the United Way and the Office of Workforce Strategy to develop a Clean Energy and Green Jobs Career Network, which informs a statewide workforce strategy. She also built the Grounds for Change youth barista-training social enterprise into an earned-revenue vehicle for the organization and is bringing a 7,000-square-foot Workforce Hub to Swift Factory.

Before joining NHP, Brenda served as Director of Community Programs, and later as Chief Executive Officer of Operation Fuel from 2010 to 2023. During that time, she scaled the organization from $2 million to $10 million. Brenda is an appointed member of the Governor’s Council on Climate Change and the CT Green Bank Board of Directors, and a co-founder of the Bridgeport Regional Energy Partnership. She holds a Master of Arts in Policy Studies from Trinity College, a Clean and Equitable Energy Development certification from Yale University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Public Administration from Florida Memorial University.

FARAI WILLIAMS (she/her)

Farai Williams is a certified somatic coach and teacher at the Strozzi Institute, and founder of Songa Somatics—an emerging methodology that centers nervous system resilience, ancestral memory, and expressive embodiment as pathways to transformation. She is committed to helping individuals and communities reconnect to the body as a sacred site of healing, power, and creative knowing.

Farai offers a warm, grounded, and trauma-responsive space for clients navigating creative exhaustion, self-doubt, complex family dynamics including third-generation identity politics, internalized racism, and the desire to reclaim voice, dignity, and embodied presence. Her 1:1 coaching integrates **somatic storywork**—a body-first practice for exploring the emotional narratives held in breath, posture, and sensation. These stories, shaped by personal and collective histories, are met with curiosity and care to support new ways of being and belonging.

Farai also works with artists, creatives, and culture makers, guiding them in transforming internalized narratives through expressive somatic practice—without performance pressure, only presence. Her ability to support these clients is grounded in over two decades of experience as a Broadway performer, cultural organizer, and equity strategist. Through her coaching, clients reconnect with the body as sacred ground for self-trust, clarity, and conscious action.