Understanding and connecting STEM and social justice to solve community problems is at the core of Our Future Is Science initiatives. In an January 10th, 2024 talk, Tonya Gale, Qiana Mickie, and Domingo Morales discuss urban agriculture and climate change.
Tonya Gayle is Executive Director of Green City Force (GCF). She led GCF’s development team from July 2014 to September 2020. She is a board member of The Corps Network focused on national service, and Environmental Advocates of NY focused on environmental justice. Prior to joining GCF, Tonya served in public-
private partnerships at the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and the Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO) Career Program. She has spent most of her career in nonprofit organizations focused on economic justice for young people of color. Tonya is a member of The New York Women’s Foundation Circle of Sisters for Social Change, a graduate of Wesleyan University, serves on various environmental justice advisory boards, and is a native Brooklynite. She is an associate producer of the 2006 documentary The Perfect Life featuring young adults from Harlem. Tonya is passionate about providing young people with viable paths to create and lead a just and equitable world.
Qiana Mickie is a New York City based food systems leader and speaker that uses food as a driver of enterprise, innovation, and equity. For over 10 years, she has worked on fostering a food based solidarity economy in the New York region that increases farm viability, healthy food access, and leadership opportunities for small- mid scale regional farmers, youth, Black, Brown, mixed income, and other communities of color. Qiana also brings an equity-driven lens to her local, state, federal, and international policy work on issues such as food sovereignty, land stewardship, and health. Qiana is the former Executive Director of Just Food. During her tenure at Just Food, she advocated for equitable food/farm policy and trained community leaders to start and sustain CSAs, Farmers Markets, and also become Community Chefs. She is currently consulting on multiple policy, food enterprise, cooperative start ups, and equity driven projects locally and nationally. Qiana is the Founding Principal of QJM Multiprise.
Qiana serves as the Executive Director of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Urban Agriculture. She is on the International Council of Urgenci, Coordination Committee of the Civil Society Mechanism (CSM) for the United Nations, as well as the boards of the Farmers Market Coalition, South Bronx Farmers Market and The Point CDC. Qiana has a B.S. in Marketing from Hampton University and received her Food Hub Management Certification from the University of Vermont. Qiana was a 2019- 2020 HEAL Alliance School of Political Leadership Cohort Member. She speaks on issues of racial equity, food justice, and solidarity economy locally and internationally.
Domingo Morales is the founder of Compost Power, GCF Alumnus, and our Compost Consultant. Domingo discovered his passion for farming and composting as a member of Cohort 10 in 2015. While serving with GCF, Domingo secured a job at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden working at the very compost site where he was receiving his training. Several years later he was managing the largest human powered compost site in the country. Domingo’s vision is to build sustainable compost sites throughout NYC, with an emphasis on underserved communities and NYCHA. He is the inaugural winner of the David Prize and is developing an educational video series focused on urban composting through Compost Power.
The Community Talk Series is a platform to expose individuals to diverse careers, as well as information, insights, and perspectives on the intersections of STEM disciplines and social justice issues.
This event is organized by Our Future Is Science, an initiative of the Aspen Institute Science & Society Program.
