Since 1985 Karen Washington has been a community activist, striving to make New York City a better place to live. As a community gardener and Board Member of the New York Botanical Garden, Karen Washington has worked with Bronx neighborhoods to turn empty lots into community gardens. Washington is a Just Food board member and trainer, leading workshops on food growing and food justice; a board member and former president of the New York City Community Garden Coalition; and a co-founder of Black Urban Growers (BUGS), an organization of volunteers committed to building networks and support for growers in both urban and rural settings. In 2012, Ebony magazine voted Washington one of the 100 most influential African Americans, and in 2014 she received the James Beard Leadership Award.
Help Us Support NYBG Board Member Karen Washington! (via Plant Talk)
For everything Karen’s done, it only makes sense for us to give back, and help her out in 2015 as she competes for the NationSwell AllStar Award—a $10,000 honor that will benefit her ongoing work to beautify the lives and locales of this incredible borough.
NationSwell’s competition puts Karen up against the country’s greatest innovators and builders in their respective communities, and all it takes is a vote each day to keep her in the running for this important recognition. Better yet, it’s easy to participate—just head over to the NationSwell site; have a look at the video about Karen, her background, and her work; and cast your vote at the bottom of the page. You can check in once each day to revote, which will add up to quite a swell of support if we all chip in!
A click a day can help NYBG Board Member and urban farmer Karen Washington win the recognition she deserves! Read more on Plant Talk, hear Karen’s own words in the above video, and—most importantly—vote on the NationSwell website!
Washington will join an expert panel on November 18 here at NYBG for our Urban Agriculture Symposium, Growing the Urban Farm. ~LM
