Kendrick, owner of Golden Organic Farm, works his family’s farm which was purchased in the early 1900’s by his late great grandfather to raise livestock, and grow tobacco, fruits and vegetables. The farm is a huge component of his goal to restore the liberation of his family, community and culture as a whole. He is focused on keeping his family tradition of 90 years going, and leaving the land richer than he found it. He also has discovered his passion in youth and community programming; eventually he would like Golden Organic Farm to grow and become an agricultural incubator for young BIPOC and minority farmers. He has served as the Just Foods Collaborative char since 2021.

Susan Perry Cole is President and CEO of the NC Association of Community Development Corporations (NCACDC). Prior to working at NCACDC, Ms. Cole served as the former Assistant Secretary for Community Development in the NC Department of Commerce with oversight of an annual budget of $100 million. She is Vice President of the Advisory Board of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems. She is a founding member of the Board of Directors for the Rocky Mount/Edgecombe Community Development Corporation. She has served as a member of the Board of Trustees for the Franklinton Center at Bricks in Whitakers, NC. She is also a member of the Just Foods Collaborative, a coalition of representatives working to build healthy, viable communities through quality food. She serves on the Executive Committee of the NC NAACP State Conference, chairing its Committee on Community Coordination. In 2019 she received a Lifetime Champion of Justice award from the NC Justice Center. In 2022 she also received the Abdul SM Rasheed Economic Justice award from the National Institute of Minority Economic Development. Ms. Cole has an undergraduate and JD degree from Rutgers University.

Mary Jane Lyonnais is a Regional Planner specializing in Food Systems for the Upper Coastal Plain Council of Governments. Mary Jane received her undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and her Masters of Public Health at East Carolina University. She spent the last 5 years in Northeastern NC as a Healthy Foods Coordinator for a District Health Department working to increase access to healthy foods in rural North Carolina communities. She now coordinates a Food Systems Economic Development Project to strengthen urban-rural connectivity through food in partnership with two adjacent Councils of Governments: The Kerr-Tar and Triangle. Mary Jane is passionate about understanding the underlying causes and solutions for health and economic disparities in North Carolina and believes the food system to be a driving force to do so.

Ron has over 30 years of experience in the public and private sectors implementing governing body priorities & policies, building collaborative partnerships to meet the needs of diverse stakeholders, and working to try and serve the public. Work includes comprehensive planning, project development and implementation, as well as raising and leveraging millions in funds for organizational and community priorities. He has served on the Just Foods Collaborative Advisory Board since its inception, was Vice Chair for over 3 years, and was a lead implementer for JFC’s work in the Healthy Food Access Mapping Project (Healthy FAM).

Jessica Williams is am a Human Relations Coordinator for Pitt County. She got introduced to Just Foods through Kendrick Ransome at Golden Organic farm. Jessica started volunteering at the farm in 2021 and it was one of the best experiences she’s had. Being able to learn about the land and the agriculture business opened her eyes. Jessica is still learning and growing, and she grew a passion around food security and helping to reduce the inequities and inequalities black farmers face. Jessica is looking forward to the future ahead.

Mysha Wynn is the founder and executive director of Project Momentum, Inc. a 17-year community-based organization located in Rocky Mount, NC. Mysha is a recent alum of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Interdisciplinary Fellow program and has served as consultant/Co-PI on multiple community-engaged projects. Mysha uses her 14 years of expertise in community engagement, community-based participatory research, and program coordination to leverage assets for communities through research. Additionally, Mysha is a principal partner with the PRIME Collective, LLC, a group of community experts who provide consulting expertise to investigators on how to incorporate community engagement principles into all phases of research while providing avenues for addressing barriers that stifle community participation in academic research.