Co-Directors
Dallas Robinson, Director of Communications & Content (pronouns: ey, em, eir / she, her)
Email [email protected] about creating content, the galaxy of communications, and building MyceliYUM connections.
Dallas is a Black farmer and land steward. Dallas is committed to healing Black life in the south through agriculture. As the Enchanter of Engagement, ey are looking forward to connecting and building cooperative power amongst young BIPOC. Dallas was one of 2019's Racial Justice Fellows at CoFED. Eir fellowship project was a mix of oral history collection and on-farm workshops [at the Harriet Tubman Freedom Farm]. Ey listened to and learned from the stories of farmers and eir rural elders, many of whom are the children of sharecroppers, to bring light to the rich history of eir region as well as inform eir context for growing in Eastern North Carolina. Dallas loves all things cats and mushrooms!
Suparna Kudesia, Education & Development Director (pronouns: she/her)
Email [email protected] about funding, partnerships, and education opportunities (all things CoFED!)
Suparna is a decolonial educator and immigrant mother. She brings with her over 15 years of experience imagining and breathing life into educational programs and leading organizational development. Suparna believes in the power of unraveled unlearning to shift narratives, heal trauma, and transform systems. She is guided by ancestral re-visioning, abolitionist and decolonial praxis, and manifesting collective dreams. Suparna responds to the call to return stolen wealth as the Choreographer of Collective Change by moving money where it can have a critical impact on building a beautiful regenerative food system - into the hands of young cooperators of color. Suparna lives on unceded Kumeyaay land with her partner, toddler, and numerous bunches of mint.
Teia Evans, Finance & Operations Director (pronouns: she/her)
Email [email protected] about financial harvests and relationships and CoFED operations.
Teia Evans is the Director of Finance and Operations at CoFED. Ms. Evans has been with the organization for 2.5 years, first serving as a board member and now as Director of The Dolla Dolla Bill. She now works with the internal operations and finance for the organization. She has been working to provide the tools for people to start their own cooperatives for the past 5 years and is passionate about cooperative development and building thriving communities. She serves on the boards of both local and national organizations that are committed to economic justice and advancement. Ms. Evans earned her Juris Doctorate and Master of Business Administration degrees at North Carolina Central University.
Racial Justice Fellows
Briana Sidney (pronouns: she, her)
Email: [email protected]
Briana Sidney is a co-owner at Mandela Grocery Cooperative (MGC). She began working at MGC in 2017 at 19 years old. She had no previous grocery store or formal cooperative experience but was intrigued by the idea of cooperative economics and the coop’s mission to be active community members. As an Oakland native, she wanted to work somewhere local that gave back directly to her community. Since then she has been a dedicated member of the coop striving to help uplift and enrich her people. Currently, she is working to create a self-sustaining farmer’s market at a local elementary school to help expose the community to a wider variety of fruits and vegetables.
Maya Marie (pronouns: she/her)
Email: [email protected]
Maya Marie is a farmer, cook, educator, writer, and budding photographer, born and raised in Baltimore, who now calls Brooklyn home. She’s interested in supporting Black and brown people in deepening their relationships to food and land, and aims to do this by creating educational spaces and mediums that center Black and brown foodways.
Yahdi (pronouns: they/yah)
Email: [email protected]
Yahdi is a Black aspiring farmer, striving for creative avenues to increase access to The Land. Through the fellowship with CoFED, yah and their community are working to increase land access through kits designed from upcycled wood and a lightbulb. Their dream is to guide people in understanding how The Land heals and provides; quite literally supporting us with every movement, waiting to welcome us back with open arms.
