Who We Are
Our team cumulatively brings over 50 years of landscaping, urban farming, programming, and culinary expertise to Star Farm community and clients. While each team member boasts speciality skills, we all work together with the underlying mission of creating a resilient food system through growing, sharing, and celebrating food.
Interested in joining our team? Submit a resume and brief coverletter to starfarmchicagohiring@gmail.com
Created by the talented local artist Francia Garcia Hernandez, The Voices of Star Farm tells the story of the individuals who have devoted themselves to working in the food justice world through Star Farm’s programming. Read in full here or find out more at the zine’s webpage.
Meet the Team
-
Stephanie Dunn
Founder and Executive Director
Stephanie is an experienced urban farmer focused on food production and accesibility for food insecure communities. She has managed a 10,000 lb urban farm production for more than seven years, and has extensive experience in logistics, delivery, food safety, processing, and sustainable packaging.
As a licensed general contractor, she brings construction and landscaping experience and is able to design and build small and large-scale infrastructure and farm projects, while also managing all of the moving parts of coordinating materials, staff, and contractors, while meeting fast-paced programming goals .
-
Kelly Robinson, Community Food and Farm Manager
Kelly has been working in the fitness and wellness industry for the past 15 years within the city of Chicago and surrounding suburbs in such neighborhoods as Englewood, McKinley Park, Pullman, Humboldt Park and many more. She has a passion for serving her community in helping to bring light the importance of health through years of teaching fitness, nutrition, and health specifically to our black and brown people. Kelly has a B.S. in Exercise Science and M.S. in Kinesiology. Kelly has worked in various areas such as recreation, fitness, education, and more. She is very excited to bring her passion of growing and community outreach in this position. As a fellow grower she knows the impact of what empowering people to take ownership of the food they are consuming can do. She is very excited to expose the community even more to the amazing work that Star Farm has done!
In her spare time, Kelly is a wife and mother of 3 children. She is a football and soccer mom. In addition, a gym rat and certified yoga instructor, she loves to garden and cook. One of her other biggest passions outside of fitness and wellness, is birth work as a birth doula. Kelly has been a trained birth doula for the past 4 years and has a strong passion for birth rights of mothers, especially women of color. -
Guadalupe Garcia
Production Manager and Community Outreach Associate
Guadalupe Garcia is passionate about growing food and educating the next generation on what it means to be an urban farmer, especially local youth. Joining the Star Farm team 2 years ago with the necessary dedication to become the beating heart and soul of our team, she stepped into the Production Manager role this last growing season to lead the team through our most successful season yet.
Her dedication to sustainable agriculture has been with her all her life, having grown up on a farm in Mexico near the Monarch Sanctuary, the experience of which taught her the full potential a love for sustainable agriculture allows: her dedication is not just for human health, but for the health of the environment and the ecosystems that we coexist with and depend upon.
-
-
Karim Mariano
Construction Manager
-
Jasmine Cerna
Program Associate
I have a BA in Environmental Studies from Loyola University Chicago. In school, I focused on how cities like Chicago are designing new innovations using nature, like incorporating green roofs to reduce urban heat islands. Two years ago, I started working at my mom’s daycare as an Administrative Assistant/Substitute Teacher in the middle of the pandemic (hard times). Born and raised in Chicago, I love urban life but I also gained a love for nature when studying abroad in Australia. I’ve also studied abroad in China, and I further my love of traveling and trying new foods. I learned some Chinese while in and out of China, and growing up as a Mexican-American, I spoke a mix of English and Spanish. I spend my free time with my girlfriend and our dog on walks/hikes, and I enjoy reading. Also, I love trying new foods from all countries!
-
-
-
Yessenia Miramontes
Program Associate
I graduated with my Bachelors in Biology in May and wanted to extend my knowledge of nature and gardening. I enjoy working in my community and being part of community events. My favorite part about this job is getting to work at farmers markets and meeting people with similar interests.
-
Johanna Luna
Program Associate
I am from Bogota, Colombia and spent most of my life living there. Prior to moving to Chicago, I spent a year living in New York. I have two daughters, a husband, and I love cats. When I am not at work, I enjoy volleyball and biking.
-
Oscar Contreras
Driver and Landscape Associate
-
-
Intern
Meet the Board of Directors
-
Carly Herron
Board Member
Carly is the Senior Program Coordinator at the Good Food Accelerator (GFA), one of the three programs at Good Food Catalyst. She runs Good Food Accelerator's classes, assisting small food and beverage business owners through education, mentorship, networking, and events.
Carly is also the Founder and Director of a community dinner project called Next Door Dinners. Through pay-what-you-can dinners, she is working to build community across the city and raise money for various Chicago-based nonprofits. Outside of work stuff, Carly loves to camp in Wisconsin, cook with friends, and play the piano.
-
Anthony Isherwood
Board Member
Anthony Isherwood is a Manager at Deloitte & Touche who helps clients transform Internal Audit aligning to key risks and strategies of their organization. He provides advice on process efficiency, operational quality, internal control, and regulatory compliance to improve operations and decision making. Anthony's vision is to bring his passion for fresh, locally sourced, and sustainable foods into immersive experiences that bring the local community together. He is an idea generator that enjoys opportunities to connect the dots and ways to fully leverage teams while enjoying the journey. In his free time, he loves exploring the local coffee scene and finding the best places to eat.
-
-
Johari Cole-Kweli
Board Member
Johari is a sustainability professional and educator mentored by nature and years of multi-disciplinary engagement. She is passionately driven by youth, stewardship, environmental education, and innovation; as well as, a proven visionary and contributor of higher-level, circular-designed strategies and creative solutions to learning institutions, organizations, and community partners Johari currently serves as President and Managing Director of the Community Development Corporation of PHP [The CDC], a volunteer-led community development organization in Pembroke-Hopkins Park, IL; and is the owner and operator of Iyabo Farms, an organic farm and family homestead in Pembroke Township, IL, with proven devotion to local food access and education for nearly 30 years.
-
Jocelyn Velazquez
Board Member
Jocelyn is a passionate, solutions-oriented community development professional. She is deeply committed to a profession and life that centers advancing racial equity and in her spare time enjoys volunteering on various boards. She currently serves as a Finance Co-Chair for Young Nonprofit Professionals Network (YNPN) of Chicago, Treasurer for Star Farm Chicago, a nonprofit urban farm in Back of the Yards, is a member of Elevated Chicago’s Capital and Programs Working Group and City of Chicago’s Food Equity Council Working Group, and recently joined development advisory boards for Bright Star Community Development Corporation and Turning Red Lines Green (this is in North Lawndale). In addition, she is a member of Chicago Foundation for Women’s Southside Giving Circle. Her hobbies/interest outside of work include anything in the realm of health and wellness, spending time with her brothers, and lending her financial expertise to her dad who operates a small business.
-
Caroline Pearson
Board Member
Caroline Pearson is the Executive Director of the Peterson Center on Healthcare and a nationally-recognized expert in healthcare. With over 20 years experience in research and consulting, her work seeks to increase access to insurance, improve care for aging individuals, and make healthcare more affordable. Much of her research has focused on the social determinants of health, including how food insecurity impacts health outcomes. Caroline loves living on the South Side of Chicago and is an avid cook, foodie, and parent to two hungry boys with adventurous palates.
-
Kala Cuerington-Seller
Board Member
Kala has spent the last 10 years building a career in food and environmental justice. She has worked for the Edible Schoolyard Berkeley, Education Outside, Careers Through Culinary Arts Program, and the Urban Growers Collective. She is currently Manager of Foundation Partnerships at FoodCorps. Kala has her Masters in Social Sector Leadership from the University of Chicago. She enjoys seeing live music, spending time with her husband and son, thrifting, floral arranging, decorating, cooking, and entertaining here.
-
-
Maggie Dohr
Board Member
Maggie is the Local Buyer at Midwest Foods, a produce distributer on the southwest side of Chicago. As a former farm owner, Maggie uses her experience in small urban agriculture to support local and urban farms seeking to diversify their markets. Maggie has been a part of the local food system for almost 10 years through education, growing, outreach and purchasing. When she is not tending to her backyard flowers and herbs, you can find her exploring Chicago parks with her farmer husband and dog, Lisa.
A Message from our Founder, Farmer, and Director
At Star Farm, we're trying to make it easy for you to be more sustainable--whether that's supporting local urban ag or letting us help you grow your own food and raise your own chickens right here in the city. Our goal is to grow more farmers, and then next generation of local food advocates and entrepreneurs.
Please enjoy our intentionally curated selection of vegetables, fruit, and flowers from our farm and partner farms within 300 miles of Chicago! Our farm family is an inclusive and beautiful mix of children, mothers, youth, adults, caregivers--learning and eating and applying artisanal knowledge of crop care and cultivation, never applying chemicals or pesticides on the soil.
Our regenerative growing practices reflect the nurturing environment we've created for our clients to learn and heal.
Thank you for supporting your local, non-profit urban farm, and we look forward to seeing you in the garden soon!
Stephanie
Get in touch.
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.