Piedmont Triad Regional Council, NC
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The 2024 Piedmont Triad Regional Food Council Members
Courtney Alston Wilson (Randolph County)
Bio Coming Soon!
Daniel Johnson (Guilford County)
Daniel Johnson was born and raised in Elizabeth City North Carolina. His first job in high school was in the agriculture industry. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Anthropology with a minor in Environmental Health from Western Carolina University in 2003. During his time at WCU, Daniel fell in love with sustainable agriculture while working on an organic farm in Webster, NC. Upon graduation he started working for a consulting engineering firm as an environmental technician in asbestos, lead and mold remediation. This experience led into a career as a risk management professional in the commercial construction, manufacturing, and mining industries. Inspired to follow his passion for agriculture, Daniel left his career in risk management to help start Underground Farm in Down East Carteret County from fallow ground in 2012. In 2015 Daniel graduated with a Master of Science degree in Sustainable Tourism from East Carolina University. During his time at ECU, Daniel focused his studies on agritourism and rural development. After graduation, Daniel returned to the agriculture industry and farm management. He served as the Farm and Facilities Manager at Summerfield Farms and as the Farm and Facilities Director at Connolly Ranch Education Center in Napa, California. Daniel now serves as the manager of the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ Robert G. Shaw Piedmont Triad Farmers Market located in Colfax.
David Allen (Randolph County)
After growing up on a Chatham County row crop farm and graduating from UNC – Chapel Hill with a degree in business administration, I moved to Randolph County to my grandfather’s former tobacco farm where I still live today. After helping my father tend the farm for several years, I now raise hay and Boer goats on a part-time basis. As a CPA, I serve as Chief Financial Officer for ABCO Automation, Inc. in Browns Summit. In 2014, I was elected to the Randolph County Board of Commissioners and currently serve as vice-chairman. As an agricultural advocate on the board, I strive to protect and promote local farms, farm families and local agriculture interests.
Eunice Calderón (Davidson County)
Eunice Calderón is a Community Advocate for WellCare of NC in a thirteen-county region. She grew up in the Central Coast of California and her parents were farmworkers. Because daycare was not accessible, Eunice and her siblings often joined their parents in the field to help harvest vegetables. Yet, her family often felt unwelcome in their community. These experiences led Eunice to her current work, which is data driven to address Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) for Medicaid and Medicare members across NC. Food insecurity is one of the top three needs identified through the Community Health Needs Assessments for many of the counties she serves.
Jose Abreu (Guilford County)
I have over 15 years of grocery sector experience, 8 years owning and managing a mid-size supermarket in High Point. I understand food marketing and promotion as well as phycological effects of food packaging, advertising, and branding. I also have 5+ years of farming on multiple scales from square foot gardening to working on large 600 acres eco-tourism based farm. Now I manage a 1-acre urban farm producing annual vegetables while creating green space for the community. I have been part of multiple non-profits (Growing High Point, Greater High Point Food Alliance, Homegrown Heroes) oriented in improving food security and access.
Kana Miller (Forsyth County)
2022-2024 Food Council Co-Chair
Kana is a gardener, sustainable food systems advocate, and consultant based in Forsyth County. She applies a racial equity lens to her work and believes in community-based solutions to create systems-level change. She is the co-food hub manager of Piedmont Fresh, an online food hub based in Davidson County, working to sustain farmers’ livelihoods while connecting consumers to locally and sustainably produced food. She is also the co-chair of the Piedmont Triad Regional Food Council. Kana has worked in the non-profit sector for almost ten years, focusing on food justice, relationship building, racial equity, and strengthening local farms’ and food hubs’ capacity to increase food security. She graduated from Skidmore College with a degree in environmental studies and holds a graduate certificate in food policy and sustainability leadership from Arizona State University.
LaShauna Austria (Alamance County)
2022-2024 Food Council Co-Chair
LaShauna is the owner and principal operator of Seeds of Change Consulting and Kindred Seedlings Farm. She possesses a demonstrated record of collaborating with communities, both faith-based and secular, to address race, food justice, land ownership, and equity issues. Building on her experience in leadership, management, and administrative roles with for-profit and nonprofit organizations, she has devoted her current professional life to promoting racial equity and building better food systems locally and beyond.
Born and raised in Alamance County, LaShauna is passionate about rural life, preserving farmland and natural resources, and Southern foodways. Building relationships in the community shows up in ways such as: collaborating with local organizations to elevate access to resources for all people, assuming leadership roles in community groups, and hosting community gatherings at Kindred Seedlings Farm, located in Southern Alamance County. A passion project at the farm has been the creation of a garden mandala; the first phase of this project was completed in the spring of 2023, where over 400 ft² of okra was planted, loved, and harvested.
As an ordained minister, LaShauna looks for ways to engage faith communities in anti-racism work. As of January 2024, the Rev. Austria will serve as the Minister of Becoming and Belonging with the Land of the Sky, United Church of Christ, in Asheville, NC. In her work as the Minister of Becoming and Belonging, she will preach every other month, lead book studies and small groups online, and provide leadership for our Racial Justice and Reparations subgroup. In collaboration with the Culture Mill Lab, located in Saxapahaw NC, a vision was cast to reclaim the experience of multiracial fellowship and community action. In the summer of 2022, Barn Church was born. Barn Church is a time for close community, food, lifting the voices of people of color, celebrating diversity across identities, and immersing whole selves into the beauty of creative arts.
Focus areas: food systems, strategies for supporting the growth of farmers of color, organizational and leadership development, research, evaluation, feasibility studies, facilitation, and a range of services to individuals and organizations seeking to deepen and apply a racial equity analysis to their work and missions.
All of her work is done through the lens of achieving liberation for all people.
Michael Banner (Forsyth County)
I am Michael Banner, also known as Magneto in my community, in regards for my works that have been instrumental in pushing Urban Agriculture to the forefront as we vie for upward mobility for the ones who feel it most, primarily for the Black and Brown community. I am currently working with Island CultureZ, an organization that states it's mission as: Nurturing Community Self-Reliance Through Working In Unison To Overcome Poverty & Oppression. I was included in the task force, responsible for creating the Piedmont Triad Regional Food Council. I offer a strong lived experience with respects to the struggle of growing up poor, as a young gifted black boy in a city that is hyper-racial along lines of food apartheid and chronic poverty where the generational wealth and privilege of access to resources and opportunity. In my most relevant accomplishments, I count: 1) successfully advocating for Winston-Salem's Urban Agricultural Ordinance, 2) pioneering the NC Cooperative Extension's Urban Farm School, and 3) serving as the inaugural chair of Winston-Salem's Urban Food Policy Council. My children ages 16, 10, 7, and 6 months are my greatest inspiration. They represent the change I wish to see in this world, as I trust we all share common bonds of affection and goodwill.
Samira Dahdah (Guilford County)
Bio Coming Soon!
Savannah Meyers (Stokes County)
As a Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) Agent and Local Food Coordinator for Stokes County Cooperative Extension I work to bring research-based knowledge to Stokes County residents on the topics of nutrition, food safety, food preservation, environmental sustainability, and home health.
Cooperative Extension follows a holistic approach to serving communities by combining educating young people through 4-H, working with the farmers that are the backbone of our food system, and providing knowledge of how to prepare and preserve foods that are nutritious to our body through FCS.
I have a B.S. in Nutrition and Food Science from Georgia Southern University and a Master of Agricultural and Environmental Education from the University of Georgia. I am a previous educator for the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) where I taught healthy cooking on a budget classes to residents on food assistance programs and living in food deserts.
Sheneka Foskey (Guilford County)
Bio Coming Soon!
Sheri Cordell (Forsyth County)
Sheri Cordell is the Policy, Systems, and Environmental Change (PSE) Project Manager with Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina. In that role, she manages programs that help improve nutrition quality within the food assistance system to address the link between food insecurity and chronic disease. Prior to becoming the PSE Project Manager, she was the Nutrition Educator for the western counties within Second Harvest’s 18-county region.
Sheri is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist with a Master of Arts in Dietetics from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. She also holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Indiana Wesleyan University and spent 18 years in corporate accounting before making the mid-life career change to nutrition. Originally from the Illinois/Indiana area, she and her husband settled in Kernersville in 2021 with their pug, Bear Bear, to enjoy the warmer weather and cheer on the Carolina Hurricanes (Go Canes!).
Sheri believes that all foods can be included in a nutritious diet using a combination of mindful eating, portion management, and regular physical activity. Food systems can do their part by encouraging healthy eating and physical activity habits and by making the nutritious choice the easy choice for people.
Sophie Farlow (Randolph County)
Sophie Farlow was born and raised in Sophia, North Carolina. She graduated from North Carolina State University with a Bachelor of Science in Extension Education and a Master of Science in Agricultural and Extension Education. Growing up with strong agricultural roots, Sophie knew that she wanted to pursue a career where she could share her love of agriculture and support local community members. In July of 2022, Sophie started her current position with N.C. Cooperative Extension, Randolph County Center where she serves as the Local Food Systems Agent. She works to address food system needs in the community, support local producers, and increase equitable access to healthy and affordable food for all Randolph County residents.
Tonya Pennix (Caswell County)
Bio Coming Soon!
Dr. Unique Hale (Rockingham County)
Dr. Unique Hale is a native of Rockingham County, NC, she is the first born of 4 children. Dr. Hale is a Pastor that holds a Doctorate in Ministry whereby she sees serving others in any capacity a ministry.
Besides Dr. Hale being the CEO of CORMII CDC (a food pantry, resources and more) she is also a training facilitator for various classes. Dr. Hale's childhood dream was to become a teacher and that dream has come true. For many that know Dr. Hale well knows her as a Pastor, Teacher, Life Coach, Spiritual Mother, Godmother, Community advertiser, Role Model and an Event Planner. She carries floral, interior and exterior designing under her belt. She is an individual that has always overflowed with joyfulness from a very young age and she always carries a smile everywhere she goes. If you ever find her not smiling it's perhaps, she's carefully pondering on something very important.
Dr. Hale loves being around others with the same passion of giving back to the community/mission aligned.
In Dr. Hale's own words: When I meet someone in need, I believe that the famine is finally over for that person or family, and there will be no more drought or lack especially in the area of food. As the owner/consultant of "The Purpose Teacher, LLC" I believe that I am here on purpose, with a purpose to help you with your purpose.