JAMILLA JONES

Vice Principal Holyoke Middle School, chef, and aspiring farmer, creator of Generational Seeds, an agricultural curriculum to bring black and brown children to the land and create edible food gardens and food sovereignty. Jamilla joined the board in 2023 and plans to bring a regenerative permaculture lens to the organization.

She has a long-time love affair with black gold. She would often run around Big Mom and Mom Mom’s garden, plucking greens and tomatoes to be fried later. But she didn’t know about her ancestor’s long love affair with the land. Agriculture was always taught as slavery. So, when she began researching, she was shocked that so many voices had been left out.  Being a social justice English teacher for so many years, she wants to reclaim that loss by exposing brown and black youth to sustainable agriculture, land respect and exploration, and heritage food.  Jamilla lives in Springfield, MA.