Our Team

Rashida Ferdinand
Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Institutional Advancement

Michelle Wilkerson
Development Coordinator

Operations

Administrative Operations

Devin Theobold
Director of Operations

Millicent Baker
Office Manager

Finance

Simon Hightower
Director of Finance

Alex Rothenberg | Carlos Alegria
Accounting and Finance | BDO FMA

Grounds and Facilities

Brian Carter
Groundskeeper

Marcus Campbell
Groundskeeper

Neighborhood Development

Environmental Justice and Education

Cheryl Brickley
Food Pantry Supervisor, Community Health Ambassador

Chris Flug
Food Pantry Associate

Freddie Lesli
Wetland Park Ambassador

Community and Economic Development

Alexandra Miller
Urban Planning Manager | Consultant

Chief Science Advisors

John Day, PhD
Comite Resources and Master Naturalist

Daphne Ferdinand, PhD
Healthy Heart Community Prevention Project

Morewell Gasseler, PhD
Xavier University Department of Physics

Robert Lane, PhD
Comite Resources

Gary Shaffer, PhD
Wetland Resources

Board of Directors

Adonis Expose
DBE SBE Liaison Officer III, Regional Transit Authority

Rashida Ferdinand, ex-officio
Founder and CEO, Sankofa Community Development Corporation

Marlin Ford, PhD
Urban Ag Specialist/Assistant Professor, Southern University Agriculture, Research, and Extension Center

Molly Hegarty, Interim Board Chair
Founder and CEO, RDnote

Melissa Lee
Director of Planning and Community Engagement, Concordia

Daniela Rivero, Treasurer

Bernard Singleton, PhD
Professor of Biology

Marcia St. Martin

Terrance Taylor, President and Acting Secretary
Business Consultant, Taylor Glenn Consulting

Community Advisory Action Board (CAAB)

Andrea Sanchez-Reese
Errol Joseph
Freddie Leslie, Sr.
Linda Rhodes
Minister Keith Craft
Reverend Byron Johnson
Reverend Charles Duplessis
Reverend Darrell Turner
Rosana Seymour
Venessa Parker