Mezzacello Advisory Board
Mezzacello is proud to Introduce our Newest Mezzacello Advisory Board Members. We welcome back Ashley Price of The PAST Foundation, Adam Sauer of AEP, and we welcome Dr. Christopher Atchison from University of Cincinnati, Karen Hewitt, ED from Leadership Columbus, and JuliaLynne Walker, JD from Bronzeville Growers Market.
We are proud of the diversity, skills, and wisdom of this board. Ashley Price of the The PAST Foundation and Adam Sauer of AEP and Richard Riley of Ohio Department of Taxation are Mezzacello's original Advisory Board Members.
Now that Mezzacello Urban Farm is moving into a Full-Time production mode, It was time to expand our board and our mission moving forward. There are lots of good changes coming, so this team of visionaries is most welcome.
Diversity, Applied STEM, Automation, and Urban Ag Experience
Dr. Christopher Atchison
Dr. Atchison is an extraordinary leader and founder of the International Association for Geoscience Diversity. At IAGD his focus as Executive Director was building out programs of diversity and inclusion in the geosciences. We are excited to have Chris join our team and help us maximize our mission across as many marginalized and needs based learners.
Karen Hewitt, ED
Karen Hewitt is an accomplished leader and poet and a fellow cohort of Columbus CEO’s Future 50 in 2022. Karen is a brilliant community-builder and her insight on diversity and inclusion are very welcome. Karen has an innate ability to inspire, lead, and problem-solve that we are sure will be helpful and much-needed.
Ashley Price
Ashley Price is the Director of Student Experiences at PAST Foundation. Ashley is a gifted educator and administrator. She works tirelessly to build fun, diverse, engaging, and exciting applied STEM student programs – including those we run at Mezzacello Urban Farm.
Richard Riley
Richard Riley is the president and a co-founder of Mezzacello Urban Farm. His passion is education, fine gardens, fine cooking, and mentorship. Rick is also the kindness and grace that Mezzacello has to offer and the main influence on the aspect of beauty and proportion.
Adam Sauer
Adam Sauer is a technologist, VR developer and drone pilot extraordinaire. Adam brings his knowledge, experience and insight in all three of these fields to the programming at Mezzacello Urban Farm. Adam also advises us on energy integration strategies.
JuliaLynne Walker, JD
JuliaLynne Walker is founder and Executive Director of Bronzeville Growers Market here in Columbus, Ohio. JuliaLynne has started countless community gardens on two continents and runs innovative programming and workshops on food security and cultural and ecological justice. Dr. Walker also brings the Bronzeville Growers Market to the population of diverse neighbors here in Olde Towne East and in the Bronzeville neighborhoods.
Jim Bruner
Jim Bruner is the futurist farmer and alpha animal at Mezzacello Urban Farm. Jim is a former industrial designer, computer and data scientist, designer, and project manager with the PAST Foundation. Jim co-founded Mezzacello Urban Farm with Rick Riley in 2016.