Annie Cheng (She/Her)

Annie Faye Cheng is a writer, student and cook based in Queens, New York City. Her creative work explores the intersection of race, food and power. Her love for restaurants—or really, restaurant people—emerges from a history of working in fast-casual, Michelin, and everyday neighborhood restaurants. She is also a volunteer with Sunnyside-Woodside Mutual Aid, and a master's student at the CUNY School of Labor and Union Studies.

Cori Volfson (she/her)

Cori Volfson is a Masters Student in Media Studies at Concordia University in Tiohtià:ke (Montreal), Canada. Her work centers on queer futures in food and proposes recipe as a creative medium. She is a passionate advocate for food sovereignty in her community. In her free time she continues to be obsessed with food and loves to cook, bake, collect cookbooks and explore the woods foraging for mushrooms.

Ashley Knight-Williams (she/her)

 Chef Ashley Knight-Williams is a restaurant professional whose love for hospitality stemmed from her childhood, where she cooked family recipes in her grandmother's kitchen. Born in Queens, New York, and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina, Chef Ashley brings her Southern and Caribbean upbringing into all of her dishes, ensuring that no one leaves hungry. Ashley also has a green thumb and loves to grow and take care of plants, foster dogs, and is passionate about all things mental health and spiritual wellbeing. She believes strongly in food advocacy and the importance of supporting local farmers, suppliers, and food purveyors. When not working at Salamander DC or running her own business, she can be found hanging out with her dogs Blaze & Jadis, hanging out with friends at the newest restaurant, or binge watching all things crime shows. Ashley shares her passion for cooking, teaching, and hospitality on her instagram @imstillhungrydc!

Elise Schloff (she/her)

Elise Schloff is a vegetarian cook, food writer, and domestic care worker from coastal Virginia currently living in Portland, Maine. She is co-creator of Nutritional Yeast Infection, a zine about lesbian food and friendship. In developing her home cooking techniques and in her public work with the local food scene, Elise draws inspiration from foraged foods, feminist traditions, and her background in art history.

Harold Fiebleman (he/him)

Harry Fiebelman is a culinary educator focused on food science and sustainable food systems. Classically trained in french pastry, Harry has been teaching for over 6 years and has worked in recipe development, small business consulting, and content creation. When he's not in the kitchen, you can find him in the garden tending to his plants and finding new ways to be eco-friendly in his own practices. Harry comes from the San Francisco Bay Area before moving to Rhode Island to attend Johnosn and Wales University. He now lives in Saint Louis Missouri with his partner and their dog and teaches at Saint Charles Community College in their Field to Table Institute. 

Gaëlle Aminata (she/her)

Gaëlle Aminata Colin is French and grew up on a French Fruit Farm. She is currently completing her PhD in Sociology at SUNY Stony Brook. She works on Black Feminism, Race and Racism in Europe and Cooking as practice for resistance. She is also passionate about baking and photography and loves to develop visual art in connection to food and agriculture.

Frankie (they/them)

Frankie is a line cook at a lunch counter. Their childhood was spent taking orders, filling the soda fridges and restocking chips at their father’s deli. Now, years later, their days are spent the same way. Frankie is most inspired by the sense of community delis provided to our neighborhoods. They believe there’s nothing better than sharing a sandwich with a friend … or a stranger. 

Tansy Huang (they/he)

Tansy Is passionate about food as a source of communal healing. They are interested in how foodways serve as an informant to our identities and how cultural mixing reshapes the way we understand food and bodies. He believes that cooking is not only a source of nourishment for the body but a living, breathing archive of ancestral knowledge. Above all, Tansy loves to cook for and with loved ones. To them, ‘I will cook for you’ is synonymous with ‘I love you,’ and he is always eager to share abundance with friends and future friends.  Tansy graduated from the University of Washington with a B.A. in Food Systems, Nutrition, and Public Health, and is now working at Seattle’s renowned Pike Place Market as their new Daystall Farm Program Specialist. Tansy hopes to help reconnect consumers with their local farmers as the pandemic redefines how we navigate farmers markets. When Tansy isn’t thinking about their next meal, you might catch him crocheting a beanie, swinging around at a bouldering gym, or obsessing over his snail terrarium.

Karla Martinez (they/them)

Moving across the country, along with their two cats and dog, marked the beginning stages of Karla’s cooking journey. Although they’ve spent more than 6 years in the food and hospitality industry, cooking initially served as a way for them to stay connected to their family back home. This passion inspired them to further explore the intersection of food, culture, and community. They are excited to collaborate with the vibrant community of the Queer Food Foundation! Fun fact: Karla is mesmerized by the process of fermentation, which they use to avoid food waste and transform discarded food scraps into nutrient-rich and holistic foods.

Danna Creager (she/they)

Danna Creager’s background is in food justice and sustainability. She received her Master of Public Administration in Environmental Science and Policy at Columbia University in 2021 and previously received two Bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Geography/Environmental Studies at UCLA. For over two years, Danna worked on the development and strategy team of service-based nonprofit Repair the World managing donor research, data, and grants processes. Danna previously worked at three tri-state area hydroponics companies, serving as a Sustainability Research Intern at Agritecture, a Brand Ambassador for AeroFarms, and a Field Operator at Farmshelf. Prior to this, Danna spent a year as a Repair the World Food Justice Fellow working alongside the Community Kitchen and Pantry of West Harlem and Hunger Free America, where she pre-screened and enrolled elderly and BIPOC communities in SNAP benefits. Currently, Danna works as Senior Development Manager for Teens for Food Justice, a nonprofit that fights food insecurity and diet-related disease through school-based, youth-led hydroponic farming, providing local, sustainably-grown produce to food desert communities and building health equity for all New Yorkers and beyond. When not working on food and sustainability, Danna can often be found dancing with Continuum Dance Co. and DanceWorks New York City Project or cooking new foods.