Meet the Team

Jacqueline Dwyer, Toronto Black Farmers, completed her Masters in Environmental Studies at York University. She works toward a different model of food distribution that advances urban farming in the Neighbourhood Improvement Areas where she lives and delivers equitable access to healthy food.

Noel Livingston, Toronto Black Farmers, reggae artist and urban farmer. He stands against food injustices, food insecurity, food poverty and works to develop an alternative model that provides access to quality, affordable, healthy and culturally relevant “clean food.”

Ruben "Beny" Esguerra, PhD (ABD) candidate in Musicology/Ethnomusicology at York University specializing in traditional and urban music. He is a musician, poet, educator, activist and JUNO Awards Nominee using the arts as a vehicle of transformation.

Honor Ford-Smith, Principal Investigator is Associate Professor in Cultural and Artistic Practices for Environmental and Social Justice in the Faculty of Environmental Studies at York University. Her research focuses on community-based performance and politics in the context of the Caribbean and its diaspora. She has held fellowships at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, Amherst College and the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center. She emerged as a theatre director and scholar committed to community-based collaborative performances that stressed oral testimony, social history, autobiography and ritual forms in search of intersecting forms of social justice.

Krystle Skeete, is an academic, currently undergoing her PhD journey at the School of Social Work. Her research interests include racism, anti-black racism, human rights, mental health, and youth. She is an Ontario Certified Teacher (OCT), with a specialization in teaching from an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion lens, and has spent most of her career working with youth and adult residents across the City of Toronto, including Jane and Finch, Lawrence Heights, Rexdale, and the Downtown core in various capacities.

Lord-Emmanuel Achidago is a master's student and Physical Geography Teaching Assistant at York University. His studies are aimed at assessing the impact of climate stresses on plant communities on the Bruce Peninsula. He is from an agricultural town in Ghana and has expertise in growing vegetables in his garden. He is also a musician who enjoys producing and working with others.

Marvin Veloso, Toronto-based artist and researcher interested in visual cultures of social and environmental justice. He graduated from York University with an Hons BA in Culture and Expression (Summa Cum Laude) and a certificate in Cultural and Artistic Practices. He holds an advanced diploma in Graphic Design and has designed communication materials for the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change at York University, artists and arts collectives.

Nasra Mohamed is a research assistant on the Oral History and Food Justice Project. She is a resident of the Jane Finch and takes interest in challenging Urban issues that impact communities such as access to programming , quality food and housing. She graduated from York University’s Urban Studies and Sociology program. Nasra is currently enrolled in York University’s MES program with a focus on community planning and social policy.