Staff
Raesha Estep
Oakhurst Farmers Market Manager
MARTA Market Social Media Manager
Raesha is a Maryland native who found herself in Atlanta to attend college. At Spelman College she received her B.A. in Comparative Women’s Studies with a concentration in Food Studies which led her down an academic career of studying local food and urban growing. As a student Raesha participated in the Spelman Sisters of the Soil program and completed the Spelman Urban Agriculture Boot Camp facilitated by HABESHA inc. She spent many late afternoons and early mornings in the Spelman Victory garden where she realized her true passion was for local agriculture. It was through this passion that she found herself as an intern for the Grant Park Farmers Market in 2017. Since then her work and love for farmers markets has grown deeply. Raesha currently works at the Grant Park Farmers Market and Decatur Farmers Market, as well as with the Fresh Marta Market.
When Raesha is not at market, you’ll probably find her somewhere with a good book or at home with her cat, Theo.
Casey Hood
Director of Operations & Vendor Support – Interim Executive Director
Casey is a native Atlantan, deeply rooted in the community she serves. She holds a double major in Environmental Studies and International/Intercultural Studies from Pitzer College in Claremont, California. Casey first came to the Community Farmers Market family as a farm vendor. Since then she has held almost every position in the organization, giving her dynamic insight to lead. Casey is an outdoor enthusiast and has worked on farms in Chile, Greece, and Vermont. She is inspired daily by CFM’s impact as a leader in food access, equity, and small business support, and is committed to the continued growth and success of the organization.
Hilary King
Special Projects Consultant
Hilary is a native Oregonian that was transplanted to Atlanta in 2010. At CFM, Hilary works primarily on the Fresh MARTA Market, the Vendor Support Program, and on developing ways for CFM to understand and measure its impact. Hilary has worked in food systems since 2001. She has been a researcher, potluck organizer, waitress, business adviser and chief of farmer relations. She has worked with farmers and food businesses across Latin America and East Africa, testing out ways for farmers to earn more money and consumers to get to know more about what they eat. Her work has been supported by a Thomas J. Watson and a Fulbright Fellowship. When not working with CFM, Hilary works as the Sustainable Development Fellow in the Master’s in Development Practice at Emory University, where she completed her doctorate in Cultural Anthropology in 2017. She teaches courses on international and community development, qualitative methods, sustainability, and food systems. She makes a darn good latte and handmade tortillas.
Katie Kriner
East Atlanta Village Farmers Market Manager
Katie Kriner feels right at home in farmers markets! She grew up cooking, gardening, asking questions, and yes, visiting the market almost every weekend (thanks mom and dad!). Kriner arrived to Atlanta in 2016 with a BS degree from Appalachian State University in Nutrition & Dietetics, and she entered the local food scene with her position at PeachDish, a locally-sourced, nationwide meal kit delivery service. For several years, she utilized her knowledge as a budding nutrition expert while cultivating her skills in educational written and video content creation, email marketing, social media, and face-to-face customer service (usually at markets!). Honestly, there’s a big chance you’ve met Kriner elsewhere – she loves to pick up work at plant sales, local food organizations, and your favorite restaurants. In 2019, Kriner completed her Dietetic Internship at Life University and is currently studying to pass the CDR exam to become a Registered Dietitian – an expert asset as she continues to work for the local food community. Stay tuned!
In her spare time, Kriner likes to paint, thrift, cook, propagate plants, watch cartoons, and play old Nancy Drew PC games. She probably likes Garfield the cat and burnt toast a little too much. Her biggest fan is her tiny tabby cat, Panini!
Mariah Lopez
Decatur Farmers Market Manager
Mariah Lopez was born in Atlanta but raised in a small town in North Carolina. Upon graduating from high school, she decided it was time to head back to the city. Mariah attended Agnes Scott College, majored in Public Health, and soon became involved with the Sustainability Office as an Environmental Resident, where she planned and executed initiatives to reduce campus waste. It was here she connected with a former ASC alumnus who was a manager at Decatur Farmer’s Market. During her junior year, Mariah became an ambassador for the Decatur Saturday market.
Additionally, she interned with Wholesome Wave Georgia, and with the help of both of these roles, she realized her passion for sustainable and accessible food systems. After graduating, she worked as a Foodcorps Service Member, took a break during the pandemic, and rejoined CFM as a Grant Park ambassador. She has since been promised to the manager of the Decatur Farmers Market and runs the Treat Yo Shelf General Store.
Taylor Mead
Educational Chef
While Taylor was in college at Georgia State University, she discovered a desire to get her hands in the dirt. Downtown Atlanta was fun to explore but she needed more nature and started her first garden on the windowsill of her 14th floor apartment. Shortly after graduating with an English degree in 2014, she leaned into her educational background and found a job as Naturalist and Farm to School Coordinator for a non-profit preschool. For five years she worked to feed children and form their palates with healthy, sustainably-sourced vegetarian lunches and managed a seed-to-plate cooperative school garden. These roles propelled her deeply into the local good food movement, from which she drew inspiration and found her people before branching off and doing her own meal prep/catering company, Better Off Fed ATL.
Taylor’s small windowsill garden is now a half acre homestead where she and her partner keep chickens, an annual veggie garden, and numerous fruit trees. She works with CFM as the manager of Ponce City Farmers Market and one of our Educational Chefs, where she still gets people excited about local food.
Jenna Mobley
Director of Education & Programs
Jenna is an educator at heart, having taught garden and kitchen classes in Atlanta Public Schools and throughout the Atlanta community. An alumna of the University of Georgia, Jenna began her career in education in 2008 and since then has become one of the leading proponents (and providers) of increasing educational resources in the areas of social justice, food access, and environmental education, earning her the Presidential Innovation Award for Educators, received at the White House in Washington, DC in 2015. Jenna brings that experience to Community Farmers Markets as the Director of Programs.
Ana María Pármo
Creative Director
Ana María is a visual artist and designer specializing in creative strategy, branding, and marketing. She holds a deep connection to nature and is passionate about sustainable agriculture. Her main objective is to help build healthy communities with a strong ecological culture. She uses her education in visual arts and storytelling to create engaging materials and experiences that promote this message. Ana María studied Media Arts at the Art Institute of Atlanta and began working with businesses and organizations in the good food economy in 2013. She joined the CFM in 2014 as a marketing intern and has grown to develop many initiatives within the organization.
Daijah Suggs
MARTA Market Program Manager
Daijah manages the Five Points and Bankhead MARTA Markets.
“I love seeing regulars at the markets, educating people on the produce we have available, and giving tips on how to use it.”
Jennifer Thompson
Grant Park Farmers Market Manager
Jennifer has been working with CFM since 2020. She managed the West End MARTA Market for two seasons and has now transitioned to manage the Grant Park Farmers Market.
Judith Winfrey
Consultant
Judith is one of the founding members of CFM and has over 20 years of accrued experience in the nonprofit sector and local food economy. Judith is a serial entrepreneur who has created and led a variety of organizations from farms, to e-commerce food businesses, to not-for-profit service organizations. Throughout her career, Judith has fused her passions for good food and radical transformational leadership to develop organizations that empower, nourish and enrich people and communities. She has been recognized as one of Atlanta’s 500 Most Powerful Leaders by Atlanta Magazine and by the New York Times as a woman who is changing the landscape of leadership. She is a founding worker-owner at Love is Love Cooperative Farm, a 70 acre organic vegetable farm serving the metro Atlanta population and beyond with vegetables, flowers, and plants.
Lauren Wood
Director of Food Systems Innovation
Lauren Wood is the Director of the MARTA Markets (MM). Lauren’s commitment to local food promotion, high-quality customer service, beneficial farmer relationships, and systems development have immeasurably strengthened MM this year. She returned to the project, of which she was the Assistant Manager from 2016-2018, following a year of managing state-wide programming for the Food Oasis program at Georgia Organics.
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