Jon Greendeer, is a graduate of UW-Marathon County and went on to complete his Bachelors in Political Science from UW-Stevens Point in 2004. As an MTI (Mediation Training Institute) graduate and Certified Conflict Mediator, Jon worked with employees and employers to implement effective resolution strategies. Jon serves as your Health and Wellness Coordinator focused on culturally informed diabetes and obesity prevention approaches through fitness and dietetic education models along with community-integrated indigenous and sustainable food systems.

Mandela Barnes has spent his career working for Wisconsin’s working people. He served in the Wisconsin legislature, became the state’s 45th Lt. Governor – the state’s second-ever Black statewide elected official, and ran a record-breaking U.S. Senate campaign. As Lt. Governor, Mandela worked closely with Governor Evers to help Wisconsin recover from the pandemic and served as the chair of the Governor’s Task Force on Climate Change. In his historic U.S. Senate campaign, he came one point away from unseating a two-term incumbent in Wisconsin’s closest Senate election in 100 years. His focus on issues that matter most to the middle class, working people, and family farmers earned him the Wisconsin Farmers Union’s 2022 “Friend of the Family Farmer” award. Mandela’s candidacy inspired young voters, voters of color, and women in the suburbs to exercise their political power and his work helped the Democratic ticket succeed. Determined to support other diverse and groundbreaking candidates in their runs for office across the country, Mandela founded the Long Run PAC in 2022 to ensure candidates have a fair shot.

Francesca Hong (she/her) is a mom, service industry worker, and community organizer. Elected in 2020, she serves as the first and only Asian American elected official in the Wisconsin Legislature. Her legislative priorities include the Economic Justice Bill of Rights, Healthy School Meals for All, and building a Care Economy for and by working families. Hong is the co-founder of Culinary Ladies Collective, Dane County Food Collective, and The Healthy School Meals for All WI coalition. She serves on the board of WEDC, Rooted WI, WUCMAA, Kennedy Heights Community Center, and is the co-owner of Morris Ramen restaurant. 

Francesca works to build an inclusive and accessible government the people of Wisconsin deserve- one that honors the potential of all our communities and comprehensively supports resourcing their needs to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to thrive and lead.  

Dan Cornelius, a member of the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, is the Outreach Program Manager for the University of Wisconsin Law School’s Great Lakes Indigenous Law Center and the UW-Madison College of Agriculture and Life Sciences where he works on the development of producer cooperatives, supply chain analysis, and legal and policy aspects of food and agriculture.  Mr. Cornelius is also a farmer and livestock producer with extensive experience providing technical assistance to Native American farmers and ranchers.

Mo Cheeks is the founder of Bread & Justice, a philanthropic micro-bakery based in Madison. He combines his passion for making a difference in his community with his love for baking, using his handcrafted sourdough bread as a vehicle for activism and social justice.
Bread making started out a simple hobby for Mo in January 2020. Amidst the dual pandemics of COVID and American Racism that were gripping our country the first half of that year, making sourdough bread became a form of self-care, a time for quiet prayer, and a practice of manifesting joy during a dark summer.  Bread & Justice was born when Mo joined a group of bakers across the country in a national bake sale called #BakersAgainstRacism.
Today, Bread & Justice’s loyal customers subscribe to his email newsletter to get notified when bread sales occur each month. Bread & Justice donates 100% of their profits to a different non-profit that is working to make our society more just. 
Mo is a former elected member of the Madison City Council and resides on the west side with his wife Melissa and their two children. He has been honored as one of Madison’s “40 under 40”, recognized as one of the top 28 most influential African Americans in Wisconsin, and awarded the Bread Hero of the Midwest award.

Renesha Carter is a Dietetic Specialist at Public Health of Madison and Dane County and the Community Connector of the nonprofit Rooted. Her public health journey started as a leader in peer-to-peer sexual health education programs. After witnessing the effects of noncommunicable diseases in marginalized communities, she devoted herself to understanding the intersections of community, diet, and health. This has translated to over a decade of experience in community building and developing community-based wellness programs. She has her degree in nutritional science and global health from UW- Madison and specializes in advancing food sovereignty. “I am here to create spaces where people can build their knowledge and skills to empower them to take charge of their food systems.”

Claudia Irene Calderon is an Affiliated Professor at Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala and a Teaching Faculty in the Department of Horticulture at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She conducts participatory action-research around gender, agroecology, crop evolution, and sustainable food systems as well as ethnographic work with small-holder farmers in rural areas of Mesoamerica. Calderon is actively engaged in multiple teams across campus such as:  co-chair of the Horticulture Equity and Diversity Committee, member of the  Steering  Committee  for  Latin  American,  Caribbean  and  Iberian  Studies, member of the CALS Global Committee, member of the scientific committee of the UNESCO Chair on Gender, Wellbeing and a Culture of Peace, and is a member of the Advisory Board of HEAL (Humanities Education for Anti-Racism Literacy in the Science and Medicine).

Raven Hall, who was born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, graduated this December 2022 with a bachelor’s degree in nutritional sciences, with certificates in food systems and global health. In this Q&A, Hall describes her interest in the intersection of food and health, her student org experiences (including co-founding two orgs), her future plans, and embracing self-compassion.

Ursula Ballard is the Registered Dietitian with the Madison Metropolitan School District. She is responsible for providing nutrition-related training and technical assistance for USDA foods programs and making data-driven program improvements. 

Ursula has extensive experience administering federal nutrition programs, including USDA child nutrition and food distribution programs. Before joining MMSD, Ursula was the Wellness Manager of Sodexo MAGIC Washington DC School Food Program. She holds a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and a master’s in public health.

Alfonso Morales is originally from New Mexico and his family has farmed and ranched for more than 100 years. He is interested in applying science to support society and to help produce social goods. His research interests include social science theory and methods, organizations, food systems, public marketplaces, and street vendors. His applied research supports non-profit organizations and he co-created the farm2facts.org toolkit for farmers market managers.

He has been part of more than $10m of research grant activity with units around campus including the School of Medicine, the College of Ag and Life Sciences, the School of Human Ecology, the Nelson Institute and the College of Letters and Science.

He writes for a variety of audiences, has published in the top journals of six disciplinary associations, and his work is discussed in numerous national and international media outlets

Marlon Skenandore is the Manager of the Oneida Nation Emergency Food Pantry (OEFP). He has been in his role for 5 ½ years and has grown an expansive network of partnerships throughout the State of Wisconsin and the Midwest. OEFP has grown tremendously since opening its doors in January of 2017 to becoming a hub food for the Oneida community, locally, and regionally. Serving and partnering with hunger organizations, clients, distributors, grocery stores, internal Oneida programs, other food pantries, farmers, etc.  Growing up with in lived hunger experience, attending, the Oneida Nation School System, and growing up on the Oneida Reservation has brought passion into OEFP that has grown beyond just passing out food but fighting for hunger related issues, advocacy, and creating equity of Indigenous/traditional foods to the Oneida community. 

Jen Falck (Oneida Nation) works for the Menominee Tribe’s Department of Agriculture & Food Systems as a program coordinator. She has professional experience in environmental health, food safety, tribal administration, and tribal legislation. Her current projects include the Wisconsin Tribal Elder Food Box Program, developing a Menominee Food Code, and helping to rebuild Menominee foodways. Jen and her family are also founding  members of Ohelaku- a grassroots group of 15 families that grow approximately six acres annually of  traditional Tuscarora White Corn on the Oneida Reservation. The group is currently in its eighth growing season. Today, Jen is married and has a nineteen year old daughter in college, a few dogs, and a menagerie of farm animals. Jen and her husband manage Kahulahele Farmstead, an eight acre farmstead which focuses on food sovereignty, restorative agriculture, conscious animal husbandry, building community, and resilience through bartering.

Lea Zeise (Oneida Nation descendant) grew up on the Oneida Reservation where she farms ancestral varieties of corn as a member of Ohe·láku (oh-hey-LAH-goo, “Among the Cornstalks”). She also cultivates her passion for Indigenous foods through volunteering for Braiding the Sacred, a grassroots movement to protect Indigenous corn and cultures, and as Secretary/Treasurer on the board of Indian Land Tenure Foundation. Lea also serves as the Office of Environmental Resource Management Assistant Director at United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc. where she works with 33 Tribal Nations to further their natural resources and agriculture programs.  

Shellie Meier following in the Legacy of her father Local, national and international Black Farmer. Robert Pierce. Shellie helped developed Badger Rock Middle School. Wisconsin’s first Charter school centered around Agriculture, Biodiversity, Environmental studies, and more. Shellie has over 25 years of experience as a Agriculture Developer. Shellie is also the former Administrator for Essence Magazine and personal assistant of Mikki Taylor former Beauty Director and cover editor of Essence Magazine.
Shellie is a trail blazer and pioneer when it comes to agriculture, community engagement and bridging the gap between food justice, real estate development and partnerships. As the Agriculture and Urban Ag Developer with BT Farms. Shellie plans to help develop what it means to be a Black Idenginous farmer. While restoring and telling the history of Urban Agriculture, Community and More.!