Staff

Nessa leads the Council in achieving its mission to promote a more accessible, equitable, and sustainable food system in Rhode Island. Externally, she represents the network in a variety of settings. Internally, she cultivates leadership within each of the organization’s staff. She works closely with Rhode Island’s Director of Food Strategy and other state leaders to advance good food policy and implement the Rhode Island food strategy, Relish Rhody, which is a comprehensive five-year plan unveiled in May 2017 to grow and sustain markets for locally grown food for the good of communities, the environment, and the economy. Nessa is a native Rhode Islander who returned to her hometown of South Kingstown ten years ago after living and working in Austin, Texas and the Washington D.C. metropolitan area. Nessa has earned a self-designed degree in Political Economic of Natural Resources from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and a Master of Public Policy from the Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government.

 Isaac Bearg, Program Director – Food, Climate and Environment: Isaac is excited to join the RIFPC to focus on the myriad of ways we can make our food systems more sustainable from seed to soil. Prior to joining RIFPC Isaac was a founding member and Vice President of the NJCC. He received an MBA in 2017 from Boston University Questrom School of Business in Energy and Environmental Sustainability. After receiving his degree, he completed a research project for Impact Venture Capitalists Mission Point Partners on investments supporting the anaerobic digestion and composting industry understanding the challenges and opportunities to supporting the industry. 

Moving back home to NJ with a new understanding of the organics space he helped form and serves as the VP of the NJCC and chair of the advocacy committee. He traveled frequently to the state capital to advocate for better policy and served as a compost and organics diversion educator across the state. Isaac was also instrumental in the NJCC being awarded federal USDA, statewide Department of Environmental Protection, as well as private foundation grants. Serving on the project team for these grants he helped teach backyard composting, completed university-wide waste audits, wrote official progress and final grant reports, and worked collaboratively on university-wide educational programs designed to increase food scrap diversion. To further his education in the field he has taken and is certified by the NJ Compost Operators Training Course and the USCC Principles of Manufacturing Course. 

Isaac is working to form the Waste Food Solutions Action Network and Plan as well as promote municipal composting and advocate for better food waste reduction and recycling policy in RI. 

For nearly two decades, Rachel has been working with policymakers, community-based organizations, and under-represented communities to increase equitable access to and control of the resources we need to live healthy lives. Food policy and food equity have been strong threads throughout Rachel’s career, from developing and managing community gardens in Boston and Providence, serving as the founding staff member of Sankofa World Market in Providence’s West End, and most recently driving health policy and programs as Acting Director of the City of Providence’s Healthy Communities Office. Rachel earned her MA in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University and lives with her family on the South Side of Providence.

Isaac Reid, Program Associate – Food, Climate, & Environment: Isaac has been passionately involved in local food systems since they were a child through an interest in local produce and culinary science and is thrilled to be growing that passion at the RIFPC! While in undergrad at Indiana University, Isaac worked at FARM Bloomington as a cook and pastry chef. Isaac also received their 200-hour yoga teaching certification. This led them to take a postgrad internship in Ayurvedic medicine with Banyan Botanicals at their regenerative herbal farm in Williams, Oregon. They spent days tending to the farm, nights learning, and weekends exploring the natural beauty of the Applegate Valley. Isaac couldn’t leave the West Coast just yet, they did a year of service with FoodCorps in Klamath Falls, Oregon teaching kids to cook. For Isaac’s second year of service with FoodCorps, they journeyed across the country to Providence, RI, serving in Providence Public Schools. There, Isaac and their counterpart teamed up with the RI School Recycling Project to empower kids to compost in school cafeterias district-wide. While at FoodCorps, I was selected to be a member of the Service Member Action Committee (SMAC). As the senior member of SMAC, Isaac led the committee in presenting to the executive team at FoodCorps for their Regional Equity Project. Isaac then went on to administer the Child and Adult Food Program (CACFP) and Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) at the Rhode Island Department of Education.

Isaac is excited to be joining the RIFPC as the Food, Climate, and Environment Program Associate! Isaac is working to expand municipal outreach, empowering local communities to build and expand compost infrastructure statewide. Provide educational resources and proven compost infrastructure frameworks to municipal leaders. Educate community members on foodways that prevent wasted food from making it to our landfill. Isaac is also thrilled to be helping grow the Annual Rhode Island Compost Conference!

Abbey has long been drawn to the power of food to build connection and community. She first discovered her passion for this work as a volunteer at a local food pantry while an undergraduate at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Since relocating to Rhode Island, she has closely followed the work of the Rhode Island Food Policy Council and is excited to contribute to a more equitable and resilient local food system.

Abbey brings a background in nonprofit and higher education administration, most recently serving at Brown University, where she supported historically underrepresented alumni communities and led cross-functional initiatives. Previously, she managed large-scale events and fundraising efforts at a Massachusetts-based food recovery organization, generating significant support for hunger relief work. She is passionate about building strong systems that help mission-driven organizations thrive and is energized to return to her food justice roots at RIFPC.

Phoenix (they/them) holds twenty years of experience in policy, advocacy, and government. Their professional portfolio includes supporting marriage equality, trans rights, housing, reparations, police accountability, broadband access, and environmental advocacy.

They were most recently a communications consultant, working with labor unions, local writers and performance artists, and advocacy nonprofits. They found a great deal of meaning and purpose hosting workshops to strengthen the connection back to one’s own story and collective narratives.

Phoenix also hosts a local LGBTQIA+ Artist Community Care Open Mic and lives in Providence with their cat and son.

Susie (she/her) is a PhD Candidate in Sociology at the University of Connecticut, where she studies higher education and the experiences of the people who study and work within it. Her dissertation explores why people leave social science PhD programs and how leaving can be understood as an institutional process rather than simply an individual decision. After completing her PhD, Susie is interested in pursuing a career in applied policy that addresses systemic disparities and expands access to resources needed in people’s everyday lives, including food access and justice. She is particularly interested in approaches that center lived experiences and build coalitions between academic research, public policy, and community organizing.

When she’s not working, you can find Susie hiking or taking a long walk with her dog Cooper.

Wykendrick C. Jones is a Master of Public Health student at Brown University School of Public Health, where his interests center on health policy, health economics, food systems, and the social conditions that shape health outcomes. A graduate of Tougaloo College with a Bachelor of Science in Biology and a minor in Public Policy and Administration, Wykendrick has developed a strong interest in advancing equitable approaches to public health and community development.

His work in Food is Medicine has included serving as a Delta GREENS Food is Medicine Research Fellow and leading Farm2Wellness, a campus-based initiative developed through the E Pluribus Unum Cohort V. Farm2Wellness connected Tougaloo students with fresh, locally sourced food, nutrition education, and community resources while highlighting the relationship between food access and health.

Through his experiences with E Pluribus Unum, Tougaloo College, and community-based public health initiatives, Wykendrick has worked at the intersection of research, policy, advocacy, and food access. At Brown and through his work with the Rhode Island Food Policy Council, he hopes to continue exploring how policy and community partnerships can strengthen food systems, reduce health disparities, and improve access to nutritious food.