Founders
All members of the start up team are deeply committed to the communities in which they work: they have either been born and raised there, currently live there, or have established a business there. All of City Growers’ partners have proven track records in enterprise development, land acquisition and land conversion to agriculture and to public open spaces.
The City Growers Cooperative founders include three Boston residents who are passionate about improving city residents’ health, education and well-being. They share the same vision: to bring a portion of the hundreds of acres laying fallow in Boston into production as a significant source of nutritious food and green-collar jobs for local residents.
In summer 2009, the founders committed themselves to regenerating city land for sustainable agricultural enterprise, focusing on developing and supporting successful urban growers.
GLYNN LLOYD
Glynn is Founder and Chief Executive Officer of City Fresh Foods, the leading meal delivery service in the Boston area, which provides economical meals to local schools, child care centers and homebound elders. He co-founded City Growers to enable City Fresh and others to buy their fresh produce from local, sustainable farms in Boston rather than large corporate farms across the country.
Glynn Lloyd’s primary responsibilities at City Growers include land acquisition, community outreach, establishing markets, hiring key staff, establishing operating systems, and raising private and public capital.
Prior to starting City Fresh Foods in 1994, Glynn was an educator in Boston and Louisiana public schools. He has served as Board Chair of The Food Project, Lincoln MA, and Four Corners Main Streets, Dorchester, and as Board Member of Red Tomato, Canton MA. He is currently a Fellow at Boston Rising, an anti- poverty initiative of the Ethos Foundation and on the Advisory Board Lead Boston – an organization that focuses their work on social justice.
Click here to read an article by Glynn on socially responsible business practices.
MARGARET CONNORS
City Growers co-Founder Margaret Connors also serves as Wellness Coordinator at a local Boston Public School, where she actively advocates for more nutritious food in schools. Her inspiration for City Growers is to grow food within the city limits to help meet the nutritional needs of the most disadvantaged urban residents, including youth, elders, and those struggling with poverty, unemployment and obesity.
Margaret’s primary responsibilities during City Growers’ start-up phase include research, project development and public/private capital fundraising.
Margaret brings to City Growers over 20 years of experience in advocating for public health issues in diverse communities through consulting and community organizing; she also has a successful track record with implementing environmental health campaigns. She is co-Founder and Principal of Arbor Consulting Partners which helps communities, organizations and institutions achieve better social and health outcomes. She is co-Founder and Director of the Neighborhood Pesticide Action Committee (NPAC), which has successfully reduced pesticide use in Boston parks. As a natural science and wellness educator in the Boston Public Schools, Margaret co-founded the Boston Young Naturalist Explorations, which is currently developing a natural science curriculum for Boston Public Schools. She established a community-wide fruit orchard in her Boston neighborhood that has encouraged community reciprocity and facilitated local food production. Prior to her current entrepreneurial endeavors, she worked as an HIV prevention researcher among illicit drug users in Worcester and Boston.
Click here to read an article about Margaret’s community-wide fruit orchard.
