Welcome Michael!

Exciting news! We have hired Michael Skillicorn as our new Director of Programs. He will be our second full-time staff member and our first fluent Spanish-speaker, a skill he is already using regularly! Here are a few words about (and from) Michael:

My career path has woven the threads of food, business, and social justice. I worked in the fair trade coffee industry for many years, first at Oro Verde, a large farmer’s cooperative in Peru, and then at Dean’s Beans Organic Coffee in Orange, MA. Shifting my focus locally, I managed the nonprofit Go Fresh! Mobile Farmers market in Springfield and Holyoke, MA for two seasons, which uses a market-based model to provide food access for underserved residents. I have also put my energy into board leadership, serving the Fair Trade Federation, the Quabbin Harvest Food Cooperative, and the Greenfield Center School, and into education, earning a masters in management from the Harvard Extension School.

As Director of Programs, I will be overseeing the many great programs that Grow Food Northampton manages. I will support our staff who run the Tuesday Market, Education, Giving Garden and Organic Community Garden, and be the hands-on manager of our Food Access work, such as the SNAP incentives and Red Bag programs. Food access is my passion and, as such, I’m deeply committed to expanding and improving our work so that everyone has access to healthy food. This is really exciting and important work. I’m also looking forward to joining a thoughtful and hard-working team, and working with them to shape the future of the organization.

We are thrilled to welcome Michael to our team!