Mandela Marketplace Staff                  

Dana Harvey
Executive Director
dana@mandelamarketplace.org

For over a decade Ms. Harvey has guided the development and growth of an alternative, community-driven model that integrates local entrepreneurship, business incubation, nutrition education, and access to healthy, fresh and affordable foods. As Executive Director of Mandela MarketPlace, Dana Harvey led a concerted campaign resulting in the opening of the for-profit, worker-owned Mandela Foods Cooperative, and has since launched the dynamic Healthy Neighborhood Store Alliance program, and a produce distribution center that supports small family farmers. Dana cultivates the groundwork for and is on the forefront of local and national efforts to address food security, nutrition education and economic development through a systems approach that improves health, creates wealth, and builds assets in low income communities.
Ms. Harvey holds a B.S. Degree in Conservation Ecology and Natural Resource Economics, and an M.S. Degree in Soil Science/Sustainable Agriculture from UC Berkeley. She received the 2009 Women of Greatness Award from Mayor Dellums, and 2010 Robert Wood Johnson Community Health Leader Award, and was recognized by President Obama as a 2012 Champion of Change in Food Security. She attributes her systems thinking approach to her community, her education, and a lifetime connection with nature.

Judy Schlussel
Senior Manager, Operations and Business Development
judy@mandelamarketplace.org

   Judy Schlussel offers 15 years of experience in small business consulting focusing on    
   strategy and marketing for new entrants, and assessments and turn around strategy for   
   established non-profit and for-profit organizations. In 2010, refocusing her commitment to   
   her twin passions, food and community, Judy began employing her broad business   
   development experience to work with clients in the sustainable food and education sector.   
   Since September 2011, Judy has been consulting with Mandela MarketPlace as a business   
   and operations advisor and in October of 2012 she came on board to serve as Mandela
   Marketplace's Senior Manager of Operations and Business Development. Judy draws on 10
   years of high-end retail management experience, including reorganizing Macy’s Food Hall
   in Herald Square, and running Warehouse Sales for Barney’s New York. Judy has a BA in
   Creative Writing and Photography from the University of Michigan, and an MBA with distinction from the London Business School. She is also an Anusara Yoga teacher.

Mariela Cedeño
Senior Manager, Social Enterprise & Communications
mariela@mandelamarketplace.org

   Mariela holds Bachelor of Arts degrees in Economics and International Relations with honors,
   and a Master's Degree in Latin American Studies with an emphasis in Development from
   Vanderbilt University. Mariela brings to Mandela Marketplace a wide breadth of in the field
   experience in microfinance, social enterprise, community development, and farm-worker
   rights. As the Senior Manager of Social Enterprise and Communications at Mandela
   Marketplace, Mariela feels a very strong connection to the movement to support the
   entrepreneurial spirit of low-income residents and minority farmers in a way that creates
   thriving, sustainable, and healthy communities.
   Mariela was born in Venezuela, grew up in California, and has lived, worked, volunteered,
   and traveled all over the place. In her life and work, she has seen the great value of
   supporting low-income entrepreneurs that rather than lacking innovative ideas, desire to succeed, or strong work ethics, are lacking access to support and resources.

Allie Fiffer
Youth Program Manager
allie@mandelamarketplace.org

   Allie Fiffer is the Youth Team Coordinator at Mandela Marketplace, where she works to
   facilitate the leadership development of the youth team and to maximize the impact of the
   youth programs. Allie has a strong passion for community-driven social change and believes
   that young people have the necessary perspective, creativity, and resilience to bring about
   true transformation. Allie has an array of experience mentoring, coaching, and training
   young people, and has partnered with diverse populations to improve their quality of life.
   Allie holds a BA in African/African-American Studies from Washington University in St. Louis, and an MPA from the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

Leroy Musgraves
Health and Diet Educator
leroy@mandelamarketplace.org

   Leroy is a master gardener and farmer who has been working with Mandela Marketplace and
   the West Oakland community since 2004. 16 years of farming and urban gardening
   experience make Leroy an invaluable asset to Mandela Marketplace and the West Oakland
   community. Mr. Musgraves holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition and Dietetics
   from Cal-State Los Angeles. He received his Certificate in Horticulture from the Agro-Ecology
   and Sustainable Agriculture Department of UC Santa Cruz in 1997.

   Currently, Mr. Musgraves lives in West Oakland and works with Mandela Marketplace as a Health and Diet Educator. He gives classes on nutrition, physiology, and major diseases affecting African American and other low-income communities of color. He continues to utilize his extensive nutrition and produce experience to benefit the Bay Area community through community education.

Earth's Produce Distribution

Yuro Chavez
Warehouse Manager
yuro@mandelamarketplace.org

   Yuro is a San Francisco raised Guatemalan-American who has been living in the East
   Bay for over a decade. Yuro has been with Mandela Marketplace since 2007, and now he is
   the warehouse manager of one of Mandela Marketplace's food enterprises: Earth's Produce
   Distribution. Yuro also manages the Mandela Market Stands held at the North Oakland
   Senior Center and Campbell Village, and provides support to the WYSE Team's Healthy
   Neighborhood Stores Alliance which brings fresh produce, supplied by Earth's Produce
   Distribution, to food scarce Oakland communities.
    Supporting local small farmers, providing the community with healthy fruits and vegetables,
   and gaining business ownership skills are the driving forces behind Yuro's work ethic.

Freddy Gutierrez
Produce Delivery Driver
freddy@mandelamarketplace.org

   Freddy is a papa, poet, and friendly neighborhood produce pusher. He lives in East Oakland
   with his gorgeous wife and brilliant daughter. Freddy brings experience in Arts Education and
   Urban Agriculture, having apprenticed with City Slicker Farms and managed
   Service-Learning projects with the Quesada Gardens Initiative.




Youth Team - West Oakland Standing Empowered
WYSE@mandelamarketplace.org

Sean Jordan
Team Leader

   Sean joined the WYSE team in April of 2011 to be part of its mission to make Oakland a
   stronger and healthier place for people to live. He grew up in West Oakland and has seen
   some growth as well as some things that have remained the same. Sean decided to join
   WYSE because he admired that there was a team of youth, close to his own age, that chose
   to take responsibility to make more change happen and he wanted to be involved.The main
   thing he enjoys about being a WYSE team member is interacting with the people in his
   community. He likes biking and walking around the neighborhood for any reason (outreach,
   delivery, etc) because it makes him feel connected to the neighborhood he came from. Just
   as important, he's part of a team that's helping people eat healthy!


Alshea Mitchell
Team Leader

   Alshea Mitchell is 19 years old and from Oakland, CA. She is enrolled at CSU Long Beach and
   is also taking classes at Laney Community College. She has been working for Mandela
   MarketPlace as a WYSE Team Leader since September of 2009 and has enjoyed every
   minute of it. As a WYSE Team leader, Alshea has excelled at planning WYSE Team events,
   and enjoys learning about healthy living and food access and sharing that knowledge with
   her community. Alshea's favorite part about working at Mandela Marketplace is spending
   time with the people she works with and seeing the look on our community members' faces
   when they win WYSE raffle prizes.


Christian Sola
Team Leader

    Christian is 19 years old and from West Oakland where she says there is never a dull
   moment. Though West Oakland vibrates with music, dancing, and food, as well as well as
   drugs and violence, what stands out the most to Christian is her community's strength;
   West Oakland has been through many, many things, but it continues to stand strong.

   Christian recently graduated from a dental assistant program, and has a 2 year-old son,
   Kasani, who is her world. Christian joined the WYSE team in September of 2011. Though she
   has been a WYSE member for a little over a year, she already feels that the work she does is
   very empowering to both herself and her community. Her favorite part about being on the
   WYSE Team is being outdoors and delivering to their Healthy Neighborhood Store Alliance
   partners because she likes that the community knows her, people get to see what WYSE is
   about, and they all learn together. Christian is proud to say that she is a WYSE member and
   is making a big change in her community.

James Wells
Team Leader

   James 'Boogie' Wells has lived in Oakland for 5 years and in California his whole life. He has
   been a member of WYSE for over 2 years now and in that time he has developed positive
   relationships with everyone that he works with. James became connected to WYSE through
   Ennis, a WYSE Team leader, who he has been friends with for several years. In addition to  
   making produce deliveries as part of the HNSA project, James is now working in the Mandela
   Foods Cooperative kitchen. James loves food! After spending a summer in Germany learning
   culinary arts, thanks o Ashoka Youth Ventures, James now plans to go back to culinary
   school to open a café or restaurant. In his free time he likes to ride his bike and play World
   of Warcraft.

James Carroll
Team Leader

In my youth I've worked with various nonprofits in the Bay Area which have allowed me to take action and promote change in myself and the community. I was able to help develop youth leadership and nutrition programs, and be a part of numerous community projects. With my fellow youth leaders and help from our mentors we were able to form the West Oakland Youth Standing Empowered team (WYSE). When I finished High School I left Oakland to attend college at California State University Los Angeles where I attained my BA in Political Science and minor in Philosophy. I have now returned to my Oakland roots where I continue to serve the community with the skills I have learned.




Consultants

Marie Beichert, Professional and Organizational Development
Development Services

   Thirty years of service in nonprofit, educational and governmental administration provides a
   broad base of expertise available to the clientele of Development Services. Marie is
   credentialed as a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) and has extensive experience in
   grantswriting, donor database management, prospect ID, project management, and systems
   development for growing organizations. Her clients range from hospitals and universities to
   neighborhood groups. She specializes in service to mission-driven community benefit organizations and has a special interest in evidence-based prison reentry programming.

Volunteers!!!

Meredith Dodge, Graphic Design and Web Development
Design and Web Development Services

   Meredith brings a passion for beauty, functionality, and simplicity to her work as an
   interactive designer/developer. She was attracted to Mandela Marketplace by its worthy
   mission and inspired by the dedication of its team members. In her free time Meredith
   enjoys playing guitar, being active in the outdoors, and having adventures both near and
   far-flung.