OUR PEOPLE
Our team is a reflection of our commitment to serving our community. We embrace diversity of perspectives, thoughts, experiences and lived realities.
Our Staff
Our Board
OUR PEOPLE
Our team is a reflection of our commitment to serving our community. We embrace diversity of perspectives, thoughts, experiences and lived realities.
Our Staff
Our Board
Eric Baez born and raised in the Bronx. He loves NYC and to be able to bring wholesome food at a reasonable price to his community has been a pleasure and fills him with pride and gratitude to serve his fellow New Yorkers. He love tomatoes, broccoli, and bananas. He loves to walk and interact with people and share our stories with one another.
Emma Dadzrawa, MS, is originally from Ghana, West Africa, but has spent the majority of her life in New York City. Emma’s passion for food stems from her strong attachment to the food culture of her homeland. She is committed to promoting food equality and dismantling class barriers that prevent some communities from accessing fresh, nutritious, culturally relevant, and “exclusive” foods. On a personal note, Emma’s favorite fruit is a mango.
Yadira Garcia is an NYU graduate, trained Natural-foods Chef and certified Integrative Health Coach, of Dominican descent who grew up in the South Bronx of New York City. She is now leveraging her education as a Chef, community activist, educator, and speaker under the platform she created Happy Healthy Latina, INC., helping to address food sovereignty and justice, nutrition education & health inequities in NYC.
She has an extensive list of clients and has worked with Community Based Organizations, Non profits , Private Universities, NYC Public Schools, Bronx & NYC Urban Farms, Corporate organizations over the past eight years as a culturally relevant cooking, nutrition education, food justice, educational curriculum, workforce program development, and facilitator.
She was named in the 2018 class of top 40 under 40 working in Food Justice out of Hunter Food Policy Center, sits on the NYC nutrition exchange board out of Teachers College, Columbia University is on the City’s first ever nutrition education coalition group that has ushered in significant legislation in food equity and nutrition education in NYC Schools. Chef Yadira has been invited to speak at institutions such as : New York University, Columbia University, Ithaca College, University of Albany, God’s Love We Deliver, National nutrition conferences . She has worked with several city council members, Borough presidents + diverse stakeholders in NYC to create content and public programming that educates and teaches thousands of NYC residents the art of heritage based or culturally based cooking. Rescuing ancestral gastronomical knowledge, providing access to locally grown food with dignity and sharing in community are some of her driving passions.
In 2020 Chef Yadi, became a stakeholder and partner in the company Loisa, ancestral and Caribbean spice company where she is the Head Chef Developer and released her first signature blends, Sofrito, organic Adobo and Sazon. Her marinades are award winning and can now be found across thousands of homes in the United States and abroad through Wegmans, ShopRite and several specialty stores.
Additionally with her dynamic personality and creative recipes she has been featured on The Dr. Oz Show, The Chew, ABC, BX 12, NY 1, NBC, NBC Latino, Today show, hip latina, refinery 29, Complex, The New York Times, Martha Stewart. Online she can be found as host of Healthy Cocina- an original concept produced by Zoe Saldana, Tastemade and Buzzfeed where her plant-based cooking for Picky Eaters has garnered millions of views. In 2022 her new cooking show with Discovery Digital and Food Network: Naturally Yadi where she took viewers to Urban farms and community spaces and taught how to prepare local seasonal foods aired and is available to view online.
Partial Client list of services provided includes: NYC parks department- Greenthumb, Fortune Society, NYCHA, Hostos, Columbia University. NYC DOE, Children’s Aid Society, God’s love we deliver, Bronx Botanical Gardens, Wellness In the Schools amongst many others.
She looks forward to continuing to work with aligned individuals and organizations to
create and oversee socially conscious, mission driven, impact programs that address food access, sovereignty, racial and social justice in our communities.
Norma Gonzalez, MPH, CHES ® is your friendly neighborhood community advocate. A transplant from Texas, Norma moved to the Bronx after graduating in May 2020 with her Masters in Public Health-Sociomedical Sciences- from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Before making her home in NYC, Norma was a Program Manager for the Martinez Street Women’s Center, a health non-profit in a high-need neighborhood of San Antonio, Texas where she developed wellness workshops centered on women’s health, parenting skills, nutrition and social justice. Norma joins us after working in the inaugural New York City Health and Hospitals COVID-19 Test & Trace program. She, along with a team of 3,000, were at the forefront of tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. Norma completed her BA with Honors in Human Biology from Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. Her BA and MPH degrees are currently hanging in her mother’s living room.
Louise is a personal chef instructor with a passion for educating people on how to prepare seasonal vegetables with the intent of retaining the nutritious value while not sacrificing taste.
She emigrated from the twin island of Trinidad and Tobago to America with a culinary degree. She knew she wanted to combine exquisite flavors with mindful eating, so she devised a plan to work as a private chef where she introduced the concept of eating whole foods as part of freshly cooked meals in homes in upstate New York.
As part of the Corbin Hill team, Louise continues to share her knowledge through live demos, creating recipes, and imparting information during the in-person weekly farm share distributions at Riverside Church and BroSis.
Her desire to conduct detailed nutrition consultations and wellness culinary classes has led her to pursue a master’s degree in Dietetics and Nutrition.
Jenna is committed to sourcing from and building relationships with small to mid-sized QTBIPOC growers to ensure access to new markets and fair compensation. She has over ten years of experience in procurement and holds a Bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing from Roger Williams University and a Master’s degree in Food Studies from New York University. What she loves most about working at CHFP are the team, the communities, the farmers, and the opportunity to explore innovative pathways for creating a food system where everyone, including the planet, can thrive.
Ismail Samad is a native of East Cleveland, OH, a social entrepreneur, enterprise developer, and a closed-loop food systems expert. He has held key positions in both nonprofit and for-profit organizations focused on some of the underlying and systemic issues centered on economic, environmental, and spatial justice. Currently, he fills the role of Interim Executive Director at NYC-based Corbin Hill Food Project, leading the strategic direction of the community-based food justice organization during its transition.
He is a Common Future Fellow, and serves on the board of Boston Area Gleaners, and Chilmark Town Affairs Council. He served on the steering committee for both Farm to Institution New England (FINE)’s Farm & Sea to Campus Network and was a contributor to the EPA’s Web Academy Webinar Series on Sustainable Materials Management.
As an entrepreneur, Ismail opened his first business, Crust and Crumbs, at the age of 23 and later Co-Founded the Gleanery, the first-of-its-kind fine dining, farm-to-table restaurant in Putney, Vermont with a mission to encourage diners to play a role in addressing the fundamental issue of wasted food. Ismail is also Co-owner of Nubian Markets in Roxbury’s Nubian Square, a gathering place of food and conviviality that celebrates the African diaspora. The social enterprises, Wake Robin Fermented Foods, and the Cross Atlantic Chocolate Collective serve as linchpin community-owned entities that drive home Ismail’s desire to scale up enterprise-based strategies for habitually excluded communities vs the pervasive charity model.
Ismail’s past experience includes providing technical assistance and business development support to early and growth-stage BIPOC- and Women-owned enterprises at CommonWealth Kitchen and serving as culinary director and supporting the expansion of Daily Table, the nonprofit grocery stores in Massachusetts, that focuses on addressing food insecurity, nutritional health, and wasted/surplus food.
Rebecca Valdez, MS, RDN is a communications strategist and registered dietitian nutritionist. As the Communications Associate at Corbin Hill Food Project, focuses on improving the organization’s visibility, expanding its reach, and enhancing the organization’s impact through storytelling and other strategic efforts. Rebecca is committed to increasing nutrition security and food justice and working towards contributing to a more equitable, just, and sustainable food system. She earned her BS in Communications from Boston University and MS in Nutrition Education from Columbia University.
Keith Williams is a native New Yorker, born and raised in the Bronx. He enjoys being part of organizations that feed the community. It brings him much joy to bring food closer to his neighbors. Keith’s favorite vegetable is Broccoli and he is a major sport enthusiast.
Rafael Aponte was born and raised in the South Bronx, NY, and holds over fifteen years of experience working as a community activist, advocate, and educator and several as a farmer. Rocky Acres Community Farm is a 10-acre farm located in Freeville, NY that focuses on education and the sustainable production of local vegetables, eggs, and meat for low-resourced communities. The grant will help increase food production and support our community’s growing food needs during the short and long term effects of Covid-19 in our local food system.
A veteran consultant and Co-Founder of U3 Advisors, Karen serves as a strategic advisor and resource to her many clients, projects, and colleagues.With deep expertise in real estate development and strategy, Karen excels at helping clients do the thinking and analysis needed to find the right pathway forward for their institution. Having served as lead project manager to Cornell University for the planning and development of Cornell Tech on Manhattan’s Roosevelt Island, as well as to Columbia University during the planning phase of its Manhattanville campus, Karen is also experienced in helping clients execute their vision. Karen is currently advising on Princeton University’s Lake Campus graduate housing development, a new bioscience innovation project for Rice University, and a variety of campus expansion initiatives for the American Musical & Dramatic Academy.Prior to co-founding U3 Advisors in 2014, Karen launched K. Backus & Associates in 1998, developing a unique and successful real estate consulting practice focused on serving universities and nonprofits. She also served as Vice President, Retail Development, for Forest City Ratner Companies and managed a variety of major projects and transactions at the New York City Economic Development Corporation over the course of a decade. An enthusiastic traveler, Karen also loves gardening and spending time with her husband in Fire Island.Karen earned a BA in Letters and History, magna cum laude, from Wesleyan University and an MBA from Yale University. She is a licensed Real Estate Broker in New York State. Karen is also on the Board of Directors of the Corbin Hill Food Project and serves as Vice Chair for the Urban Land Institute’s University Development & Innovation Council.
Yolande Cadore is the director of movement strategy at the Vera Institute of Justice, where she connects Vera’s internal advocacy strategy to broader movement goals to end criminalization and mass incarceration in the United States. In her role, she supports teams and initiatives by ensuring that their advocacy goals are strategically aligned with the vision of community partners and allies working to end mass incarceration and overcriminalization and that Vera’s work with community partners is guided by the organization’s core values—respect, equity, collaboration, and commitment. Prior to joining Vera, Yolande served as the director of strategic partnerships at the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), where she connected local drug policy reform partners to DPA’s national and broader drug policy reform movement goals. Yolande was also the interim director for reinvestment at Community Change, where she worked with Black-led organizations to address issues of marginalization and disinvestment and partnered with formerly incarcerated women of color to innovate local policy initiatives to end overcriminalization in their communities. She was also previously the acting executive director of New York State Tenants & Neighbors. Yolande began her career as a community organizer with ACORN and later served as director of organizing for WE ACT for Environmental Justice in West Harlem. She researches and writes on advocacy, mass incarceration, and the Black church.
Mark Reed of New York City is a community development investor and real estate developer. In 2005 he founded the Contact Fund, a private debt investment fund focused on expanding high-impact community-based organizations in New York City. Since 2006 he has acted as an investor and co-general partner in the development of over 2,100 units of affordable housing across 20 projects. Prior to this work he was a vice president of corporate credit risk management at Bank of New York. He is a director of a fourth-generation, family-owned timber company, Green Diamond Resource Company based in Seattle, Washington. Prior to moving to New York, Mark managed an after-school program for public housing residents in San Francisco’s Mission District and managed a community youth center. He currently serves on the board of the US Endowment for Forests & Communities, SeaChange Capital Partners, Corbin Hill Food Project and is former as Chair of the Board of the Rudolf Steiner School in Manhattan. He holds an AB in Cultural Anthropology from Stanford University and an MBA in Finance from the Stern School of Management at NYU.
Recognized on Crain’s 40 Under 40 List, and named one of the 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs by the Builders and Innovators Summit, Rhys is frequently asked to speak or comment on the social justice movement happening in the country today. The New York Times, Black Enterprise Magazine and Crain’s New York Business have all asked for his expert insight on the state of school food and the entrepreneurial drive behind Red Rabbit. Rhys has spoken in front of many groups such as the B-Corp Summit, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Small Business Summit, Aspen Leaders Business Action Forum, Columbia University, and Harvard University.
Under Rhys’ leadership, Red Rabbit has developed a scalable for-profit model that addresses both childhood nutrition and inequity in urban schools. Rhys has raised multiple investment rounds led by impact investors Kapor Capital and Serious Change LP and has built a diverse leadership team with 75% women executives, and a Board that is 65% POC. Red Rabbit became an early B-Corp and maintains memberships in the Social Venture Network and the School Nutrition Association. Prior to launching Red Rabbit, Rhys was an equity trader at Carlin Financial Group (acquired by Royal Bank of Canada). He is a graduate of MIT, with a B.S. in Computer Science and Engineering.
Rhys is proud to be a part of the grand tradition of Black Americans that have pledged their lives and careers to help America form itself into a better, more just society. He is a Bahamian American and lives in Harlem with his wife and two children.
Savi Horne is the Executive Director of the North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers Land Loss Prevention Project. Savi completed six years of service on the National Environmental Justice Advisory Council of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. She serves on the boards of the National Family Farm Coalition and the Rural Coalition. Savi is a member of the Coordinating Council of Black Land and Power Coalition and the Leadership Team of the National Black Food and Justice Alliance. She is a recipient of the 2020 American Bar Association Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources (SEER) Award for Excellence in Environmental, Energy, and Resources Stewardship. As a state, regional, and national non-governmental organization leader, she is instrumental in addressing the needs of Black, Indigenous, People of Color and limited resource farmers and ranchers. Savi is a graduate of the Rutgers University School of Law- Newark (JD) and the City College of New York (BA).
Rick Wessler was an initial investor in the Corbin Hill Farm in 2009 and helped in the creation of the Corbin Hill Food Project. He is also an active board member of MEND – a hunger relief network of 40 pantries and community partners in Essex County, New Jersey. He is passionate about social justice, health equity and creating economic opportunities for those in marginalized communities.
Rick holds an MBA from the University of Michigan Graduate Business School and a BA in economics from SUNY Stony Brook. He was a long-time executive at Citibank, a Municipal Bond Analyst with Moody’s, and a management consultant to some of the largest firms in the financial services industry. He has also provided pro-bono consulting to community groups in Harlem. Rick was born and raised in The Bronx, New York.