JEDI Community of Practice February Meeting

JEDI Community of Practice (CoP)

Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

In February, we'll be joined by a special guest speaker, Co-Executive Director of FoodChain, Leandra Foreman. FoodChain is a unique nonprofit organization that has grown, changed, adapted, and pivoted since its inception in 2011. Much of the growth was planned from the beginning, but many of the ways that it has come about have been in direct response to needs from the community and from a changing food landscape. Leandra will talk with our community about building in flexibility in order to respond to the changing needs of our community as part of a justice-minded approach to nonprofit work. 

Leandra Forman has been at FoodChain since May of 2015. For the first two years she worked as the farm manager, however she transitioned to overseeing the Processing Kitchen and Food Sector Job Training Program in 2017. When the pandemic shut down began in March of 2020, she coordinated with restaurant partners, farmers, food pantries, and meal recipients to help found Nourish Lexington, ensuring emergency food access was available in every corner of Fayette Co. Since 2020, that program has grown to encompass direct home delivery, local produce, meat, dairy, and egg meal kit boxes, and an array of meal options for youth programs, recovery communities, and anyone experiencing food insecurity. She is the daughter of a chef, grew up utilizing food assistance programs, and dedicated her early twenties to being a caretaker for her father. As a child, she learned to speak the language of food and is committed to sharing that with others, especially in a way that centers equity, justice, quality, love, and food exploration! She is a graduate of Berea College and a Kentucky native, who can usually be seen cycling every street of downtown Lexington.

This is a learning community of individuals working to foster and support practices of racial justice, equity, inclusion, and diversity in the outdoors and environmental work. Every other month, we gather to learn, dive into different topics of interest, hear from guest speakers, and grow as a community. There are no prerequisites for joining a session.

If you want to stay in touch with more people looking to grow together, join the JEDI CoP listserv. You can learn more about our JEDI Initiatives and opportunities at kaee.org/jedi.

Questions? Contact the CoP Co-Facilitators

Roberta Burnes, roberta.burnes@ky.gov | Jackie Lomore, jlomore@sayreschool.org | Brittany Wray, brittany@kaee.org