Thank you for joining our Aug 29th Summer Celebration!
The Pittsburgh Food Policy Council (PFPC), Pittsburgh Food Equity Ambassadors and partners gathered on August 29th for an end of the summer celebration to recognize our second cohort of Ambassadors.
Big thanks to our fabulous vendors for the evening: Royally Fit LLC on beverages, Soul Food Connection provided dinner, andphotography was provided by Blessed Hands by Latonya. Check out these gorgeous pics of the evening!
Among family and friends, Ambassadors received heart-felt shout outs and Certificates of Achievement signed by Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey and presented by Josiah Gilliam of the Mayor’s office on his behalf. THANK YOU to all who braved the weather and shared this evening with us!
Through this program, the first cohort of Ambassadors who convened in 2021-22 developed and presented their Recommendations Report to Mayor Gainey’s team and City Councilwoman Deb Gross. The second cohort of Ambassadors who convened between April and September of this year met over 10 sessions to share, learn , share and call for the city’s first public hearing on urban agriculture and food equity since the pandemic. On Aug 29th, Ambassadors reported back on their community work–having launched businesses, nonprofits and projects that take on training hospitality workforce, developing a food cooperative, growing food in communities impacted by food apartheid and more!
Pictured from left to right (City Council District or org): Dawn Plummer (PFPC), Lateresa Blackwell (1), Talaina Peterson (3), Shelly Danko+Day (Pittsburgh City Planning), Teaira Collins (6), Aquene Watkins-Wise of Royally Fit LLC (Ambassador Program Cohort 2 Co-facilitator), Abdulkadir Chirambo (1), Lisa Reihl (4), Carol Gerner (1), Cynthia Kenderson (6), Brandi O Allen (5), Zinna Scott (9), Joy Dore (5), Desiree Reddix (2). (Not pictured: Dontae Gordon (4), Manuel Michaca (8), Jack Stewart (7) and Sean Russell, Jr (9).
As our Ambassador program pilot comes to a close, keep your eyes peeled for these next steps!
Ambassador-initiated Pittsburgh City Council Public Hearing on urban agriculture and food equity called for by Councilwoman Deb Gross. Details forthcoming!
Updates from Ambassador Dontae Gordon and PFPC partner Alex Wash of the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank on their work to launch Free Farmers Markets this fall!
PFPC Welcomes Raneem Karboji, Emerson Hunger Fellow placed via the DC-based Congressional Hunger Center with the PFPC from September through February to lead a review, evaluation and planning effort to explore the future of the Ambassador program. More soon!
Learn More About the Ambassador Program
The PghFoodTeam was selected as one of 20 local teams nationwide to participate from 2020 through 2022 in the Healthiest Cities & Counties Challenge (HCCC), a peer network and program funded by the Aetna Foundation, together with the American Public Health Association (APHA) and the National Association of Counties (NACo). The Challenge seeks to significantly expand and deepen grassroots leadership and participation in policymaking on urgent matters of healthy food access and preventable chronic disease.
The PghFoodTeam, led by the Pittsburgh Food Policy Council, teamed up with leaders at the City of Pittsburgh, Allegheny County Health Department, and American Heart Association-Greater Pittsburgh to pursue two goals.
A big thanks to our PghFoodTeam partners at Pittsburgh City Planning (Shelly Danko+Day and interns Emily Hwang and Chris Hsu, and Americorps VISTA Lou Duplantier); Pittsburgh Mayor’s Office (Josiah Gilliam, Lindsay Powell, Jordan Fields); Allegheny County Health Department (Hannah Hardy) and American Heart Association-Greater Pittsburgh (Lauren Rauscher). PFPC staff Dawn Plummer, Sam Applefield, Sarah Buranskas, Qiyam Ansari and Americorps VISTA Olivia Carter also contributed to this collaborative effort.
The first goal of our Pittsburgh HCCC Challenge project was to identify healthy food priority areas in Pittsburgh for policy action and focused collective impact (see City Planning’s Healthy Food Priority Areas HFPAs identified in the FeedPGH report). The second goal was to pilot the Ambassador program as a consistent mechanism to meaningfully engage residents with local government to co-design policy that positively impacts food and health equity in priority communities.
From dozens of applications, two cohorts of resident-leaders were selected to represent their communities as Ambassadors. Both cohorts included Ambassadors living in all nine Pittsburgh City Council Districts. Selection criteria prioritized participants with lived experience with food insecurity and deep community rootedness. Through a series of virtual (and in-person when possible) facilitated sessions, Cohort 1 (co-facilitated by NaTisha Washington of Washington Green Solutions and PFPC’s Sam Applefield) met 9 times between June and December 2021. Cohort 2 (co-facilitated by Aquene Watkins-Wise and Sam) met 10 times between May and September 2022.
Pittsburgh Food Equity Ambassador Program, Cohort 1 pictured from upper left to right (City Council District # or org): Giavanna Gibson (5), Sam Applefield (PFPC staff & Co-faciltiator), Teaira Collins (6), NaTisha Washington of Washington Green Solutions (Ambassador Program Cohort 2 Co-facilitator), Zinna Scott (9), Dawn Plummer (PFPC, Manuel Michaca (8), Anne Sekine (9), Nathaniel Palmer (3), Tacumba Turner (2), Lou Plantier (City Planning Americorps VISTA), Olivia Carter (PFPC Americorps VISTA), Shello Danko+Day (City Planning), Lisa Reihl (4), Carol Gerner (1),Chris Hsu (City Planning intern). Not pictured: Marcia Scott (6)
