Press Release
Poughkeepsie Farm Project Grows its Leadership
Team to Increase Community Food Security
POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – Poughkeepsie Farm Project (PFP) recently promoted staff to leadership roles and brought on new board members to expand upon its mission to ensure food security for thousands of Poughkeepsie area residents. To support its increased efforts to emphasize sustainability and food justice in its programming, PFP created several new leadership positions, diversified its board, and developed a strategic plan to better serve its constituents.
PFP’s impact has grown substantially since 1999 when it began serving 70 Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shareholders from three acres of leased farmland on the Vassar College campus.Today, the project functions as a member-supported 15-acre farm in the City of Poughkeepsie that annuallyserves 7,000 children and adults through in-school and farm-based educational programming. PFP also donates up to 40,000 pounds of food each year to Hudson Valley residents through its Food Share program and provides fresh produce to more than 500 households participating in the farm’s CSA.
Newly-appointed Executive Director, Madeline Henriquez, stated: "I look forward to helping Poughkeepsie Farm Project build a more just and sustainable food system here in the Hudson Valley.” Henriquez brings 17 years of experience working in the nonprofit sector addressing gender-based violence, healthcare reform, infant and maternal health, community, and economic development. In 2016, Henriquez helped launch and manage Earth, Wind & Fuego LLC, a social enterprise cafe and catering company with a mission to train and hire Poughkeepsie residents who face societal, mental, and physical barriers to employment. PFP believes that Henriquez’s expansive experience and community connections will help the organization better serve Poughkeepsie’s food insecure families. According to the US Census Bureau's 2019 American Community Survey, Poughkeepsie has a poverty rate of more than double the rate found in Dutchess County and more than 23 percent of the city’s households receive food stamps/SNAP benefits compared to 8 percent in the rest of the county.
In addition to Henriquez’s appointment, PFP created new staff positions to uphold its organizational vision. Assuming the new role of Executive Assistant is Lydia Hatfield, longtime farm volunteer and workshare member replacing Kate Dayton, former Office Manager who retired in early 2021. Lauren Kaplan has been appointed to the newly-shaped Farm Communications and CSA Director position. Over her tenure, Kaplan worked her way from Farm Crew Leader to Assistant Farm Manager then to interim Farm Director to assist the organization’s leadership transition. Pat Lang now serves as PFP’s Farm Production Director, replacing Leon Vehaba, who served in that role for last several years. Lang formerly served as Farm Crew Leader for PFP in 2017 before moving temporarily to Wisconsin to start Hexagon Projects Farm. Three new members will be joining Kelsey Ponesse onPFP’s Executive Board: Vice Chair, Evelina Knodel, Treasurer, Jennifer Creedon, and current Board member, Jennifer Killian, who has taken the position of Board Chair. In addition, two new Board members, Willa Zhen and Estafany Umbach have joined PFP. Poughkeepsie Farm Project believes that its growing staff leaders and Board will support its new direction and vision to expand its reach and ensure food security for thousands of people in and around Poughkeepsie.
For more information on Poughkeepsie Farm Project or to inquire about serving on a Committee or the Board, contact Madeline Henriquez, Executive Director at (845) 516-1100 or madeline@farmproject.org.
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SIDEBAR
New Appointees’ Profiles:
Lydia Hatfield, Executive Assistant
I am thrilled to be moving from volunteer and workshare member with Poughkeepsie Farm Project to employee! I'm coming into this work with a background in design, community wealth building and housing justice, and it feels very right to be integrating that journey with a focus on land and food justice. I am so looking forward to learning from and alongside my amazing colleagues as we grapple with what equity truly looks like in our field and how to advance that in our community. -Lydia Hatfield, Executive Assistant
Madeline Henriquez, Executive Director
In leading Poughkeepsie Farm Project, I bring my experience not just in nonprofit and social entrepreneurship, but also from growing up in public housing with food insecurity. All of this experience informs my leadership: compassionate, inclusive, and efficient. I'm thankful to my known and unknown ancestors who’ve guided me to do this work at PFP, situated on Delaware Nation, Delaware Lenape Tribe and Stockbridge-Munsee Mohican ancestral land. I look forward to continuing the depth and breadth of our impact, increasing access to education and farm fresh food, and towards building a more just and sustainable food system here in the Hudson Valley. -Madeline Henriquez, Executive Director
Lauren Kaplan, Farm Communications & CSA Director
I look forward to combining my seven years farming with an earlier career in communications. It is a privilege and a joy to be part of such a dedicated, heart-forward team that shares my passion for inspiring and cultivating a more environmentally sustainable, inclusive, and just food system -Lauren Kaplan, Farm Communications & CSA Director
Pat Lang, Farm Production Director
I am ultimately responsible for the process that begins with preparation of the land and infrastructure and ends, in part, with hundreds to thousands of people nourished by our Poughkeepsie-grown vegetables. This activity, along with farm-based education and connections with our community, is at the heart of our work -Pat Lang, Farm Production Director
Jennifer Creedon, Board Treasurer
I am excited to leverage my finance and accounting background to help PFP meet its mission, and grateful for the opportunity to work with all the great staff. - Jennifer Creedon, Board Treasurer
Jennifer Killian, Board Chair
I’m thankful for the opportunity to lead PFP’s board and excited to work in partnership with our incredible board, staff, and community members and organizations to meaningfully expand PFP’s work in addressing food access and justice. The COVID pandemic has further exposed and exacerbated food insecurity and we welcome the support of our community as we increase access to PFP’s resources.
Evelina Knodel, Board Vice Chair
Food is a way to share love and communicate meaning with one another. PFP has become a critical part of my life as a source of fresh, local food, community interaction, and connection to the land. It is an honor to be a part of PFP's bright future and to help ensure that it continually expands its role as a valuable Poughkeepsie resource and oasis for the local community. -Evelina Knodel, Board Vice-Chair
Kelsey Ponesse, Board Secretary
I have been involved with the PFP since 2013, where I first started as a CSA member. I now am the Secretary of the Board, Executive Committee member, as well as a long-standing Finance Committee member. What amazes me about the PFP is the reach our farm has across the community - from students in local schools, to City of Poughkeepsie families in need, to our wonderful CSA membership base. There is something for everyone, and what better way to bring our community together than nourishing, sustainable, and local food. -Kelsey Ponesse, Board Secretary
Estefany Umbach, Board Member
Food brings joy and also it is an excellent tool to learn about different cultures and life experiences. I believe through food traditions we can all learn more about immigrants and newcomers in our communities. I represent a Latina woman who believes in a more inclusive and welcoming society! -Estefany Umbach, Board Member
Willa Zhen, Board Member
Poughkeepsie Farm Project is a special place. It's not simply another place to buy fresh food. PFP is a working, sustainable farm. It's a CSA. It's a community hub. PFP provides food education to community members from the young to the young-at-heart. It's a place for local residents to see where their food comes from. PFP is a good neighbor. It partners with community food relief organizations to ensure that the most vulnerable in our community have fresh food as part of their diets. PFP fights for a more just and equitable food system in Poughkeepsie. PFP does so much in so many ways for the people of Poughkeepsie. I'm excited to join PFP as a board member to help continue the work that others before me have started. I care about creating a more inclusive food system so all -- regardless of income, race, gender, sexual orientation, or nationality -- can have access to good locally grown food.-Willa Zhen, Board Member