Staff & Board

Steve Munno is the Farm Manager at Massaro Community Farm in Woodbridge, a certified organic, non-profit, which operates a CSA, sell to local markets, offers on-farm educational programs and events, and donates a portion of its harvest to local hunger relief organizations. Prior to coming to Massaro, Steve farmed in both Massachusetts and California.  Steve was a co-founding member of the New CT Farmer Alliance and joined the CT NOFA board in 2012.

Rachel Gilroy’s range of work includes construction management, sustainable and urban design, land planning, park and recreation planning, art and design, landscape architecture and teaching positions from Pre-K through University level. The complexity of the work environment that she has experienced strengthens her capacity to work within a team as well as cross-team. The common theme throughout her experiences has been engaging systemic transformation through the approach of creating opportunities to engage individuals/communities through creative and vibrant sustainable community development, site design, and programming.  As a lifelong learner, Gilroy’s passion lies in exploring through experiential learning, research, and design the concept of sustainability through a social lens, using mixed-methods and transdisciplinarity research models. She values supporting all people in their own learning and skill development in sustainable practices just as she values bio-diversity, she recognizes and respect the diverse backgrounds, interests, aesthetic tastes, and situations that people represent, and will work diligently to shape services to their needs, rather than adopting a “one size fits all” approach.

Patrick has been at Waldingfield Farm full time since 2006. Prior to that (he was part-time at Waldingfield from 1996-2006) he worked in finance at R.G. Niederhoffer Capital Management, a New York City hedge fund, while also pursuing acting. He is a graduate of Union College (B.A. English) and The Stella Adler Conservatory (MFA program). Patrick is responsible for marketing, sales, farmers markets, and operations, as well as day to day farming duties. He and his wife and son, Suzie and Griffin, divide their time between Brooklyn, NY, and the farm in Washington, CT.

Howard retired after a career as CFO/COO for large law firms to start a small USDA processing business focused on purchasing whole animals from local farmers to create delicious charcuterie and contribute to the creation of a more sustainable food system.  In June of 2021, Howard joined forces with Sub Edge Farm where he now works as a butcher. Howard has a BS in Statistics from the University of Michigan; an MBA with a concentration in Non-Profit Management from Boston University; a Grand Diplôme from the French Culinary Institute.

Dana Jackson is editor and publisher of Edible Nutmeg, a regional magazine focusing exclusively on western Connecticut’s food community, including farmers, chefs, and locally produced food of all kinds. He is a graduate of UCLA (B.A. English) and San Diego State University (M.A. English). A former Connecticut farmer, himself, Dana believes that community begins at the food level and that local food production is the key to building stronger communities in our state. Although he enthusiastically supports all of our state’s food growers and producers, he admits to having a particular affection for our breweries.

Farah is a homesteader, farmer, and food forager in Wilton, CT. Originally from India, she moved to Texas and earned degrees in economics, social work, and therapy, and integrated the concept of “farming therapy” into her jobs at schools in Vermont and New Hampshire, rolling out farm-based curriculums and small workable gardens. Eventually, Farah moved to Connecticut with the goal of becoming a full-time farmer. She runs Farah’s Farm, a three-acre homestead in Wilton, teeming with heirloom ducks, chickens, and bees, and also oversees a few local satellite farms. For her day job, Farah holds down an enviable post as the chief food purchaser for Barteca (owner of Bar Taco and Barcelona restaurants).

Hailing from Los Angeles, her 16 years working in agriculture began on the West Coast bringing her to Connecticut first in 2004. Shannon has extensive experience aligning urban agriculture, food justice, and environmental education. After graduating from San Francisco State University with a degree in Geography and Natural Resource Management, she found her way from working in outdoor education to farming and agricultural education. As a farmer, she has worked all manner of farms from 20-acre certified organic CSA to 450 acre Christmas tree farms, to community gardens and urban agriculture. Shannon has developed farmers markets in Hartford, mobile markets in New Haven and hustled her own farm products everywhere she could. She is a certified Master Composter and a founding member of the New Connecticut Farmers Alliance. In 2011 she left her own farm business, Four Fields Farm, to be the Farm Director at Common Ground High School. She recently left that position after 6 seasons and is exploring a new relationship to agriculture not as a producer, but as an advocate and strategist.

Diane Litwin is the farm manager at The New Haven Ecology Project, an urban farm nestled in West Rock park at a high school in the city of New Haven.

Yasemin has been a fan of real food and agriculture since her childhood in Austria where she grew up across the street from a farm.  She has traveled and lived in many different countries, always paying attention to the eating and growing habits of the various cultures. Since her return to the US in 2012, Yasemin has put her background in hospitality and event planning to good use by creating opportunities to support local small businesses and farmers through farmers markets, collaborations, and fundraisers. Yasemin is always seeking out new opportunities to share her administrative talents and organizational skills to support local, organic farms, which are a crucial part of healthy, natural lifestyles and protecting and preserving the earth.

Freedom Gerardo is co-founder of SEAmarron Farmstead and E&G Community Builders. He built these two businesses with one thing in mind: building people power in BIPOC communities. Freedom has dedicated his life to organizing youth, teaching them about power, the power they have individually and as a collective – and the power and potential of their communities.

Throughout his career, food insecurity has been the preeminent issue to tackle. Freedom is now building a multi-layered, long-term agenda to end food insecurity by farming and organizing communities to build power and reimagining a new food system centered around justice and equity.

Having worked with nonprofits and unions throughout the country in several different capacities, Freedom has gathered the knowledge necessary to help lead organizations to identify their strength and create lasting change. Freedom created numerous multi-generational coalitions that were used successfully to win campaigns, and continued to use said coalitions to advance other political, legislative, and social objectives. Lastly, Freedom has a proven record of creating and implementing multi-year strategic plans that have supported the vision of organizations while also ensuring that the plan was tangible and transparent for all.