Community Food Systems Fellowship

2025 Community Food Systems Fellows

Vital Village Networks is thrilled to announce eleven dynamic local leaders that have been selected to participate in the 2025 Community Food Systems Fellowship program. 2025 fellows include: 

 

Jammella Anderson (they/them)
Free Food Fridge Albany
Albany, NY

Tyeena Carter (she/her)
Cultivating Culture
Slidell, LA

Dr. Truphena Choti (she/her)
AfriThrive
Silver Spring, MD

Ellie Cordero (she/her)
Everett Community Growers
Everett, MA

Heather Evoy (she/her)
Juneau, Alaska

British Griffis (she/her)
Chicago Food Policy Action Council
Chicago, IL

Chantel Kemp (she/her)
GrowNYC
New York, NY

Lauren McCalister (they/them)
People’s’ Cooperative Market
Bloomington, IN

Nekia McDonald (he/him)
The Lighthouse | Black Girls Project
Jackson, MS

Emmanuel Avila Morales (he/him)
Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona
Tucson, AZ

Jordan Smith (she/her)
Hawai’i Good Food Alliance
Honolulu, HI

 

About the Fellowship 

The Community Food Systems Fellowship is an 18-month leadership program that aims to increase opportunities for diverse local food system leaders to build their skills, capacity, and networks through a series of community design labs on participatory engagement and human centered design approaches, monthly learning sessions with other food systems leaders, and individualized technical assistance. 

Through these opportunities, the fellowship hopes to strengthen community engagement and leadership of caregivers/families, uplift strengths-based narratives, and foster collaborative leadership that scales community identified solutions and cross sector partnerships.  

Emerging leaders who are committed to food justice and equity should consider applying to the Community Food Systems Fellowship. Selected fellows will receive a stipend and can also apply for project innovation grants that can total up to $5,000.

The Fellowship is a good fit for those who are committed to:

  

Community Food Systems Fellowship Food Sovereignty Zine

How can we build a community-powered food system that centers healing, resiliency, and parent and caregiver leadership? Throughout the year, ten local food systems leaders from across the country connected through the 2023 Fellowship explored this question and engaged in a co-design process to develop a zine sharing ancestral stories of food resiliency and liberation in BIPOC communities. We’re excited to share this new resource, Stories of Food Resiliency and Liberation, that offers wisdom, resources, and reflections on their experiences advocating for food sovereignty. Click the link below to read the full zine:

Read the Zine  

 

Previous and Current Fellowship Cohorts  

Congratulations to our fellows and alumni for completing an incredible journey of learning and growth! Learn more about previous and current cohorts here:

2022 Fellows   2023 Fellows   2024 Fellows

 

Application Information

2025 Community Food Systems Fellowship Applications are now closed. Please check back in fall 2025 for the next application cycle. 
 
Selected fellows must be based in the United States or one of the US territories and have an established partnership with a nonprofit organization, coalition, network, group, cooperative, business, or institution that has a strategic focus on local food systems.

Read more about the 2025 Fellowship Application process by checking out the Request for Applications and FAQ. 

Request for Applications   View FAQ

 

Advisory Partners 

Thank you to our advisory partners for their continued guidance and support of this program:

 

For questions, please contact Jei.Laura@bmc.org. This program is supported by a grant through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.