Our team is largely volunteer-led, harnessing the power of our network to drive positive change in our communities.

Kevin Ridley | Chair

Farmer Kevin is a Los Angeles native. He is a community leader driven to enhance urban agriculture and conservation. Kevin is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys gardening, fishing, skiing, hiking, boating, and camping. Gardens represent rejuvenation, peace, and community.  Additionally, he is a seed saver who focuses on culturally relevant fruits and vegetables. Kevin holds a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration from San Diego State University. 

Ellah Ronen | Secretary

As a social impact and sustainability professional, Ellah is adept at creating and managing strategic initiatives that leverage funding to create meaningful change for our most vulnerable residents. Prior to DoGoodery, Ellah was with the California Community Foundation, as Senior Program Officer, Public Policy & Strategic Partnerships, where she co-chaired the creation of the unprecedented Los Angeles County Food Equity Round Table – ratified by the LA County Board of Supervisors.  Ellah also served as Strategic Liaison to the LA County Center for Strategic Partnerships and was a Managing Funder of the Nonprofit Sustainability Initiative. As a Program Officer at the Annenberg Foundation, she led LA n Sync, a coalition of changemakers united to attract government and private funding to LA County which has resulted in over $300M of investment to Los Angeles’ most underserved areas. 

Ellah has a BA in Comparative Literature from the University of CA, Santa Barbara and an MBA from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

Clare Fox | Treasurer

Clare Fox joined Sustainable Agriculture and Food System Funders as executive director in January 2024. Clare has dedicated her life to generating powerful partnerships for an equitable and regenerative food system. She began her work journey in independent media and grassroots organizing, advocating and reporting on a broad range of issues including immigrant rights, youth development, tenant rights and community land ownership. Clare became involved in anti-racism organizing starting in 2001 and focused her efforts on training and mobilization of white communities in racial justice movements. She then found her passion for food as a human right after recovering from diet-related health challenges. As a graduate student, she researched food policy councils as an innovation in participatory democracy for the Mayor’s Food Policy Taskforce. 

Most recently she served as  vice president of strategic partnerships at Everytable, a fast-growing social enterprise with a mission to make healthy food affordable and accessible for everyone, everywhere. She has served as a board member for non-profit organizations working on community composting, urban gardens, and economic development. She is a third generation Los Angelena with a master’s of urban planning from University of California, Los Angeles.

Erika Crenshaw | Member

Erika Crenshaw is an educator, community builder, and steward of the El Sereno Community Garden. Erika believes that bringing diverse stakeholders together happens through meaningful and transformative education. Erika is a veteran of the U.S. navy. She was a public school teacher, and then became an administrator at the University of Southern California.

Since 2019, Erika has been facilitating a career change that allows her to continue excelling in the fields of education and community building. She was elected Garden Manager at the El Sereno Community Garden and began working to bring solar energy to the garden. Since then, Erika has become a certified Photovoltaic Solar Installer and is currently working with Tesla, the nation’s most innovative solar company. Under Erika’s leadership, the garden has reopened its doors to the community with programming for all ages. Along with a core team of garden leaders, she works to bring about positive social change through educational garden programming as well as coalition building with residents, community organizations, local schools, businesses, and elected representatives; and, she serves on the LA 32/El Sereno Neighborhood Council. Erika holds a BA in community studies from UC Santa Cruz and a master’s in education from the University of Southern California.

Omar Brownson | Executive Director

Omar Brownson – Executive Director

Omar Brownson is a bridge-builder between land and story, cultivating a gratitude ecosystem and regenerative economy rooted in nature and culture. As Executive Director of the Los Angeles Community Garden Council, he supports a network of 47 community gardens and over 2,000 members across the city.

Omar brings an entrepreneurial spirit to systemic challenges—whether reimagining urban infrastructure or sparking cultural transformation. His work has been featured by Simon Sinek, The Wall Street Journal, and Oprah.com.

He co-hosts the Gratitude Blooming Podcast, has led hundreds of gratitude circles, and previously co-founded a top-rated gratitude app featuring mindfulness leaders like Jack Kornfield and cultural icons like George Takei. Earlier, as the founding executive director of RiverLA, he partnered with architect Frank Gehry and local communities to revitalize the 51-mile Los Angeles River. His Greenway 2020 campaign secured $430 million in public investment and laid the groundwork for the visionary $10 million LA River Master Plan.

Omar also advises Full Spectrum Capital and the Ubuntu Climate Initiative and serves on the board of Commonweal, where the focus is on healing hearts and healing the planet. He holds a joint master’s degree from Harvard Kennedy School and the Graduate School of Design.

A poet and conceptual artist, Omar’s creative collaborations span Zen Master Norma Wong, MOCADA, and the Japanese American National Museum. No matter where he is, Omar takes time to notice beauty—and share joy.

Follow his mythical journey on Substack at Trickster's Guide to Immortality