Dr. Kaia Shivers | Founder | Black Farmers Index
Dr. Kaia Niambi Shivers started Black Farmers Index as a media project in 2020 that connected the public directly to farmers based in the U.S. Since, the Index has been recognized as the largest, free directory listing Black growers. Today, Black Farmers Index works within several key areas that bolster its commitment to bringing more business to Black farmers through marketing campaigns, workshops and other initiatives and collaborative works.
Jessica Wright | VP of Product Intelligence | SPINS
Jessica Wright serves as the Vice President of Product Intelligence at SPINS. Her role includes guiding the strategic vision and operations for their robust product database. With a background spanning eight years in data analysis and consumer packaged goods, she excels in crafting data strategies, conducting incisive research, and developing products that deliver meaningful insights. Jessica's dedication lies in transforming complex data into actionable knowledge, propelling businesses toward more informed, insightful, and sustainable decision-making.
Jennifer Bryant | Program Manager, Black Employee Ownership Initiative | Project Equity
Jennifer has worked for several years to grow the employee ownership ecosystem in the Washington, DC area. She led the development of the Greater Washington Center for Employee Ownership and has provided technical assistance and support to employee-owned businesses at all stages of development. As the Program Manager for the Black Employee Ownership Initiative at Project Equity she’s committed to working alongside local ecosystem partners to advance employee ownership as a wealth-building strategy for Black business owners and Black workers. Over the last 10 years, Project Equity has demonstrated the power of employee ownership conversions to preserve legacy businesses and build wealth for both selling owners and employees. In 2023, Project Equity launched the Black Employee Ownership Initiative by releasing two groundbreaking reports in partnership with Morehouse College. These reports explore the racial wealth gap and the opportunities for employee ownership to build wealth and economic equity. Jennifer is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Culture of Health Leader as well as a 2019 fellow of the Democracy at Work Institute and National League of Cities Shared Equity in Economic Development (SEED) Fellowship. She holds a BA from Howard University and a MA from St. John’s University.
Vanessa Garcia Polanco MS | Government Relations Director | National Young Farmers Coalition
Vanessa Garcia Polanco co-designs the strategy and implementation of the National Young Farmers Coalition government relations campaigns, ensuring equity-driven, farmer-centric research, policy, and programmatic interventions for a more just food system. She also serves as the organizational council member of the US National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. She has previously worked with the US Department of Agriculture, and the Michigan State University Center for Regional Food Systems. She is an alumna of Michigan State University and the University of Rhode Island. She is a James Beard Foundation Scholar, an Agriculture, Food, Human Values Society Innovation Leader, and a 2021 Emerging Leader in Food and Ag. As an Afro-Dominican immigrant, she brings her experiences and identities to her policy and advocacy activities. She leads a #DominicanFoodStudies project and funnels financial and agricultural resources to Dominican food sovereignty projects.