Our Team
Diversified Vegetable Pre-Apprentice Program Coordinator
erica@pasafarming.org
814.349.9856 x744
Erica guides aspiring farmers through their first steps towards a career in sustainable vegetable production, connecting them with skills and mentorship through a guided pathway.
Erica is a lifelong Philadelphian rooted in the Strawberry Mansion area in the north, where her connection to community, land, and people first took shape. Ensuring communities impacted by food insecurity have tangible access to land, knowledge, and agricultural tools is a natural journey for her. With over a decade of experience in urban agriculture, food policy, and community organizing, she has dedicated her life to ensuring that Black and Brown communities have real access to the knowledge, resources, and power needed to grow, heal, and thrive. She joins Pasa with a full heart and wealth of hands-on experience, and is committed to walking alongside aspiring growers as they find their footing in the field. Erica deeply shares the belief that farming is more than a livelihood, but an act of healing, resistance, and collective power rooted in both plants and people.
Her reverence for Black agricultural heritage runs through everything she does. Outside of Pasa, she crafts a line of heritage cocktails that center the vibrant flavors and stories rooted in Black farming traditions. She is also an established African seed bead weaver who teaches the intricate crafts of Ndebele, peyote, and tubular stitching—honoring the artistry and continuity of ancestral practice. When she isn’t nurturing the next generation of farmers, you’ll find Erica exploring Philadelphia’s parks, line dancing, cooking for her family, hosting community art workshops, and cherishing every moment with her grandchildren.
