Ithaca’s Groundswell Center names new director

ITHACA, N.Y. — The Groundswell Center for Local Food & Farming in Ithaca has named Elizabeth Gabriel as its new director.

Gabriel will replace founding director Joanna Green, who plans to retire in mid-February, the organization said in a news release.

Green has led the organization since it launched in 2008.

Gabriel will “continue” to guide Groundswell Center’s growth and development as a regional hub for farmer training and business incubation.

She’ll also build on the organization’s “commitment to social and racial justice in the food system,” the release stated.

“We are all thrilled to have found such a capable and passionate new director for Groundswell,” Joanna Green, the organization’s founding director, said. “I’m confident that Elizabeth is going make some significant contributions to the local farming community and the regional food system. Groundswell’s future is in good hands.”

Gabriel most recently was a professional-development educator with Cornell Cooperative Extension’s garden-based learning program.

In that role, she trained and supported Cooperative Extension educators across New York, creating and delivering curriculum to help them with program development, establishing systems for evaluation, volunteer management, fundraising, and program sustainability.

She previously served five years as founding director of Common Good City Farm, a Washington, D.C.–based nonprofit organization.

Gabriel grew the organization “from the ground up,” securing grants, turning a baseball field into a “productive” urban farm, and establishing “strong,” community relationships with youth and adults, according to the Groundswell release.

In addition to her work activities, Gabriel and her husband own and manage Wellspring Forest Farm, a small agroforestry farm and homestead in Mecklenburg in Schuyler County.

The Groundswell Center for Local Food & Farming is a project of the nonprofit Center for Transformative Action (CTA). The CTA has offices at and an affiliation with Cornell University, according to its website.

Support for Groundswell comes from individuals and businesses “who believe in the importance of a strong local food system;” the Ithaca–based Park Foundation, Inc.; and a grant from the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, according to the Groundswell news release.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com