As part of the Food and Farm Initiative, Olivia provides capacity building support and technical assistance to grassroots organizations working to increase food access in rural NC. Olivia draws on her food justice, advocacy, and event planning experience to help partners strengthen their food access work through our triple-bottom-line lens. Previously, she served two AmeriCorps terms, one of which was with Resourceful Communities, before being hired in 2018. Olivia holds a BS in Community Development from the University of Vermont. She grew up on Long Island, and after spending some time on the West Coast is now elated to call North Carolina home.

As an AmeriCorp VISTA I will aim to: conduct key informant interviews with a sampling of current and former WIC participants regarding customer service at selected local agencies; meet with selected key partner agencies to assess WIC communication, information & referral; build on the previous VISTA’sassessment of local WIC agencies’ web presence to work with the WIC Outreach Coordinator andResearch Analyst to identify current modalities such as social media, texts, etc. to improve therelevance and effectiveness of WIC outreach efforts; engage local WIC agencies with their community partners to identify resources for participant outreach and education; meet with key representatives of these organizations to coordinate key messages, resource dissemination and outreach and referral efforts; identify opportunities to strengthen coordination and collaboration in providing nutrition education and resources to shared low-income families; with state staff assistance and in partnership with Oregon Child Development Coalition and the Oregon Food Bank, explore options for providing training to WIC local agency staff on hunger and food insecurity; and assist selected local agency staff to collect and compile data on existing food resources in community and create a food resource referral list for the local agency.

I assisted the farm manager in raising crops in 70 raised beds for a 20 person CSA, explored organic and intensive agricultural methods, and supported the work of the Trellis Center, an organization for adults with developmental disabilities.

I assisted with data analysis, report writing, and other consultation services for projects including a local foods economic impact assessment for a farm-to school grant, a community health resources inventory report, and a Vermont Technical College short-course programming assessment.

I worked within the province of San Martin, teaching English to 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th graders in Juan Gill, assisting with after school programs such as art and reading, water testing to determine the effectiveness of the Sawyer filters the community received to provide them with potable water, and working on my personal raised bed project to increase food availability in San Miguel.

My responsibilities included developing a marketing plan, contacting potential vendors for the event, drafting and sending university-wide emails to advertise, updating social media, and writing blogs