Jacquelyn Lendsey, Interim Executive Director
Jacquelyn has been an interim nonprofit executive director for 15 years nationally and locally. Prior to that, she ran national and local nonprofits. Jacquelyn loves serving as interim nonprofit executive director because it allows her to use the skills she has honed over her professional career to assist organizations in transition. Her expertise includes broad-based experience managing operations, internal and external communications and government relations, community relations, Board governance and education, grants management, program development, and advocacy/public policy. Jacquelyn is a lifelong Washingtonian and, in her free time, frequents the FRESHFARM’s farmers market in Downtown Silver Spring.
Beth Bacon, Director of Education
Beth leads FRESHFARM’s food education programs with two decades of experience in communications strategy, program administration, data-driven decision-making, and team leadership. Eight years ago, as a then-parent of two FoodPrints students (and frequent volunteer in their FoodPrints classes), she brought her communications and grant writing skills to FRESHFARM. Since then, she has been instrumental in FoodPrints’ growth and success by leading the program’s evaluation, advocacy, development, and communications. She now helms our large team that brings joyful, evidence-based food and garden education for children and families in schools, Early Childhood Education centers, and the community across Washington, DC and beyond.
Renee Catacalos, Director of Strategic Investments
Renee brings extensive management, communications, and fundraising experience to her role as FRESHFARM Director of Strategic Investments. Most recently, she spent five years working in national food systems philanthropy with Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders, where she was Vice President for Strategy and Impact. She has previously worked for or served on the boards of several local food/agriculture organizations, including twice serving on the FRESHFARM board. Renee has been a champion of Chesapeake regional farms and food since her days as publisher and editor of Edible Chesapeake magazine and is the author of the book The Chesapeake Table: Your Guide to Eating Local. She is committed to developing strategic partnerships with philanthropy to build FRESHFARM’s capacity to address the most pressing regional food system challenges.
Rebecca Chávez, Director of Agricultural Programs
Rebecca is a food systems expert with over ten years of experience leveraging community-based change within local and global agricultural supply chains. She is passionate about food sovereignty and about using the joy of mealtimes to influence community engagement, local economies, public health, and our natural environment. A Mexican-American native of Washington, DC, Rebecca is motivated to collaborate with our region’s diverse and intersectional communities in co-creating a more equitable food system. She holds a Master of Public Health degree in Health Behavior from the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the UNC-Chapel Hill.
Juliet Glass, Director of Communications
Juliet leads communications and marketing efforts for FRESHFARM. Although trained as a historian, her passion for food and cooking led her to work as a freelance food writer for over a decade. Then, driven by a desire for more real-world experience in food system work, in 2009, Juliet joined FRESHFARM, where she managed markets, programs, and led communications efforts. After seven years with the organization, Juliet shifted her focus to the Maryland nonprofit food space, where she spearheaded communication efforts for a statewide farmers market food access program. She is delighted to be back at FRESHFARM and is excited to connect shoppers, farmers, and funders with the mission of supporting sustainable and equitable foodways that work for everyone.
Caron Gremont, Director of Food System Resiliency & Innovation
Caron Gremont is the Director, Food System Resiliency & Innovation at FRESHFARM. Most recently, she served as the Director of Early Childhood Nutrition Security at Share Our Strength No Kid Hungry, where she launched their first-ever national strategy to address food security across the U.S. in children under the age of five. Under her leadership, she secured a national partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) that will ensure every pediatrician across the US is trained on how to screen for food security at wellness visits, and is part of the White House transformational vision for ending hunger and reducing diet-related disease by 2030. Prior to that, she was the Director of Healthy Eating at Martha’s Table, where she launched and scaled the Joyful Food Markets program, providing healthy food access and education each month to thousands of children and their families in Washington, D.C. She started her career in the private sector at the global PR firm Porter Novelli, where she served as a Vice President in the Food & Nutrition practice in Washington, DC. Caron loves to cook and throws pottery in her free time.
Sara Hjelstrom, Director of Finance & Operations
Sara has worked in nonprofit accounting for 25 years with 45+ different organizations. She is continually inspired by the people, ideas, and energy she finds in this industry.
Julie Margolies, Director of People and Culture
Julie manages various administrative and financial processes for all FRESHFARM programs as well as human resources. She loves that food brings people together and allows us to learn about each other and create memories. Julie enjoys working on the admin and finance team because it allows her to lean into her detail-oriented nature and support the entire array of programs that FRESHFARM runs.
Nick Stavely, Director of Incentive Programs
Nick leads food access programming across the FRESHFARM network of farmers markets and partners, leveraging regional partnerships, collective action, and data to improve the local food system. With more than seven years of experience working with local farmers and food producers, social service organizations, and government partners, Nick has created and implemented program strategy to increase food access points for SNAP shoppers across the region, grow direct-to-consumer agricultural sales, and bolster organizational program impact. Nick previously oversaw the day-to-day implementation of 15 farmers markets and staff for Community Foodworks. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural and Resource Economics from the University of Maryland, College Park and loves sourdough from market.