The Nominating Committee serves to recruit and nominate an annual slate of new directors willing and able to serve. The committee assesses current and anticipated needs related to board composition, including consideration of both organizational and individual diversity of expertise, skills, influence, background, and other elements deemed appropriate for the strength and success of SAFSF. The committee is responsible for communicating directly to the network about the criteria and opportunities available.

The committee is chaired by a member of the board and includes at least one additional director. Additional members of the committee must be current SAFSF members.

Meetings are convened as needed to accomplish the nomination process, approximately two to three (2-3) times a year. New directors are presented to the board at the May board meeting to start their term as of June 1, unless required on a different timetable to fill vacant seats.

j. olu baiyewu is a food systems expert that excels at resolving challenges, with a combination of innovative & time-tested solutions. while achieving measurable, sustainable results through strategic planning and capacity building, his approach is of a personable servant leader, tenacious community advocate, and well-informed professional, rooted in values such as equity, transparency, inclusivity, and accountability to name a few.

As the City of Atlanta Urban Agriculture Director, j. olu leads the strategic planning process, stakeholder and partner collaboration, and program implementation for Atlanta’s urban agriculture and fresh food access activities. Prior to joining the City of Atlanta j. olu was Director of Programs and Outreach at Atlanta nonprofit Food Well Alliance. There he led the partnership, outreach, and implementation strategy of the organization’s Resource Center program. j. olu has also founded and served as Director of Organix Matters, which designs, builds, manages, and grows initiatives across metro Atlanta in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), farmers markets, and gardens. He has also worked at two Atlanta-area non-profit urban farming organisations, Truly Living Well Center for Natural Urban Agriculture and Global Growers Network.

j. olu is a 2013 graduate of the Urban Grower Training Program at Truly Living Well, a Center for Civic Innovation Food Innovation Fellow, a member of The Wallace Center’s Food Systems Leadership Network, and a past Forum (conference) Planning Committee member of Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems Funders. Before his “official” urban agriculture journey began, j. olu worked in the restaurant and hospitality industry, and was Co-Founder of ThePopShop Natural Handcrafted Ice Pops in Chattanooga and Atlanta. He earned his BA in Business Administration with a concentration in Management, from Morehouse College.

DR. M. JAHI CHAPPELL is the Director of the Center for Regional Food Systems at Michigan State University. He is a scholar, organizer, son of social workers, and grandson of Michigan farmers. From 2020-2022, he served as the Executive Director of the Southeastern African American Farmers Organic Network, or SAAFON, which offers direct support and organizing for Black, sustainable farmers in the Southeastern United States and US Virgin Islands. Jahi holds a Bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, both from the University of Michigan.

Over the past 20 years, Jahi has researched and advocated at international, national, and local levels for participatory, socially just, and ecologically sustainable agrifood systems that center the voices of farmers, laborers, and the communities they serve. Pursuing this goal has taken him across sectors and continents, including positions as Associate Professor of Agroecology at Coventry University in the United Kingdom, and as Assistant Professor of Environmental Science and Justice at Washington State University Vancouver, where he also served as Associate Director of the Center for Social and Environmental Justice. In the nonprofit sector, Jahi has previously served as the Executive Director of the 46-year-old think tank Food First, and as Senior Scientist and Director of Agroecology and Agricultural Policy at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. Additionally, he was a Founding Board member of the Open Source Seed Initiative (OSSI), and is a former member of the Executive Committee of the Agroecology Fund.

As Senior Vice President at the Endowment, Alicia’s primary focus is program oversight and development. She began working with the Endowment first in 2015 as a volunteer member of the Board of Directors and then transitioned to become a full-time member of the leadership team in 2017. Her more than 30 years of professional experience includes roles in packaging engineering and supply chain analysis to product development positions in the forestry sector, all of which contribute to her current role.

Before joining the Endowment, Alicia worked for more than two decades for the Westervelt Company, formerly known as Gulf States Paper Corporation, located in Alabama. There she held key management positions in product development before progressing to Vice President of Business Development, an executive role which encompassed global leadership accountability for Westervelt Ecological Services, Westervelt Renewable Energy, and the company’s recreation and agricultural assets in New Zealand.

Alicia received bachelor’s degrees in Chemistry and Sociology from Thiel College in Greenville, Pennsylvania. She also completed The Fuqua School Executive program at Duke University. Most importantly, she loves to hike, fish, and spend time with her family.

TIM CROSBY leads the Thread Fund that focuses on investing multiple forms of capital to generate social and environmental returns alongside financial returns. Tim is Coordinator of the Cascadia Foodshed Financing Project, participant in the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, founding board member Partners for Rural Washington, and a partner with Social Venture Partners. Tim’s previous work includes Co-Chair for the Sustainable Agriculture and Food System Funders, Director of Slow Money Northwest, Board Chair for the Washington Sustainable Food and Farming Network, Board Chair and Interim Executive Director for NW Sustainable Energy for Economic Development, Program Officer and Trustee for the Carolyn Foundation, and fifteen years as a professional photographer and graphic designer. Tim coached club soccer for eleven years and lives in Edmonds with his wife and two daughters. He holds an MBA in Sustainable Business from Pinchot University and a BA in Anthropology from Kenyon College. Tim will talk fly fishing with anyone.

MARK MULLER serves as the executive director at the Regenerative Agriculture Foundation. He came to RAF in March 2020 after spending over 20 years working on related issues including agricultural conservation, Midwest water quality, racial equity in the food system, and effective federal food and agricultural policy.

Mark served as director of the Mississippi River program at the McKnight Foundation, and prior to that he directed the Food & Community Fellows program at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. He also spent two years teaching high school in New York City and 18 months volunteering in Honduras and Guatemala. He and his spouse and three children live in south Minneapolis.

LOLITA NUNN brings over 25 years of diversified and progressive experience in both the nonprofit and for-profit sectors to the Potlikker team. She worked in the banking industry for 14 years where she developed expertise in finance, investment banking, and management. In addition to her financial role, her work included cultivating and building relationships with community leaders and advocating for programs providing financial literacy, consulting, and mentoring. Lolita is committed to building strong and resilient communities. Her passion for philanthropy led her to the nonprofit sector where she led donor outreach, fund development, community and business engagement efforts. Lolita’s career journey led her to the ecosystem of impact investing where she combined her years of financial acumen along with her passion for philanthropy to be a further champion of positive social, racial, and environmental system change. In her most recent role, she was the Investor Relations Officer at Fair Food Fund where she helped to re-imagine their investment thesis to support BIPOC food businesses, and lead the initiative that increased their geographic reach and grew the brand recognition of the Fund nationally.