Margaret Morgan-Hubbard, ECO City Farm’s founder and CEO: Margaret Morgan-Hubbard is an organizer, educator, and activist who has called Prince George’s County home for more than two decades. Prior to founding ECO, she launched and ran the Engaged University, bringing more than 3,000 residents and university members together to jointly consider the needs of the community surrounding the U of Maryland, assess existing partnerships, and carry out strategic interventions and collaborations, including a community farm and recycled bike shop. Morgan–Hubbard’s professional and grassroots organizing experience includes running the Office of Communications at the US Environmental Protection Agency; directing a national environmental organization; managing the District of Columbia’s Low Income Weatherization and related Block Grant programs; building membership for the National Immigration Forum; directing Jobs in Energy in DC and the Energy Task Force in NYC, and operating alternative energy investment programs for the National Council of Churches. She is a member of the Executive Committee of M-NCPPC’s Envision Prince George’s and a Board Member of Future Harvest CASA.
Dr. Amir Abtahi: A world expert in the design of renewable energy systems, Dr. Abtahi is the Director of the Energy Laboratory at Florida Atlantic University and President and CEO of GeoSolar Energy Systems, Inc. in Boca Raton, Florida. Abtahi is pioneer and innovator in the field of solar energy. Abtahi developed and installed the first photovoltaic system in the Amazon region of Venezuela to support a major farming operation and an eco-tourist hotel, and designs alternative energy solutions for emergency situations and refugee camps.
Renee Catacalos, Newest Board Member: Renee Catacalos’ int
ernational, diplomatic and public relations experiences come together with her love food in her mission of sharing information about local farms, producers and artisans in the greater Chesapeake Bay region in ways that help grow our local food community and economy. Now a communications and strategic planning consultant, she formerly was editor and publisher of Edible Chesapeake, the only print publication devoted to help consumers connect with the sources of their food. Catacalos was a key organizer of ECO’s first major conference, Sowing Seeds Here and Now! A Chesapeake Urban Farming Summit in June 2010. She provides her consulting expertise to such organizations as Future Harvest and Maryland Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (MD H2E), amongst others.
Jim Coleman, Board Treasurer: Market Coordinator of Riverdale Park Farmers Market and Economic Development Consultant for Town of Riverdale Park, Maryland, Coleman earned an MBA and MS in Technology Management from UMUC.
Coleman lives with his extended family in Riverdale Park. He believes in the power of now rather than what’s happened in the past, and is hopeful about the future of our neighborhood, country, and planet.
Senator David Harrington: The founder and leaders of the Community First Network and the Wellness Opportunity Zone in Prince George’s County and Former Maryland State Senator, Prince George’s County Councilman and Mayor of Bladensburg, Harrington graduated from Howard University and was a senior fellow and faculty member of the James Macgregor Burns Academy of Leadership at the University of Maryland. Some of his affiliations include: Board of Directors, Community Legal Services of Prince George’s County, Inc., Board of Directors, Maryland Association of Counties, Eastern Regional Representative and National Association of Black County Officials. Harrington also served as director of education of the Close Up Foundation and presided over the Maryland Municipal League and the Port Towns Community Development Corporation. He now is a Senior Policy Advisor with CommonHealth ACTION.
Gül Güleryüz joined ECO City Farm’s Board of Directors in 2011. She is a passionate and tireless advocate of healthy communities and local food production and access. She is an urban planner with special interest in agriculture, community and economic development, and neighborhood revitalization. During her 20-year tenure at the M-NCPPC Prince George’s County Planning Department, Güleryüz has worked very closely with inner-Beltway communities in developing community action plans and prepared successful grant applications for them. As a researcher, in addition to various publications, she produced two reports on agriculture in Prince George’s County and is currently preparing a report for publication on urban agriculture.
Winston Hoy: ECO Board Secretary: Creative Director, Curiouser Creative Studio, LLC; Video Producer/Post-Producer, Founding Co-Director, Brave New Bus, Los Angeles and Expert Blogger, Hoy produces visual media for socially conscious organizations. He seeks opportunities to work with all kinds of people in different forms of human interaction: community-building, progressive politics, government accountability and transparency efforts, positive uses of science and technology. He creates music, stories, web sites and video to spark curiosity and incite action.
Lindsay Smith, joined ECO City Farm’s Board of Directors in 2011. Her professional work is with the Prince George’s County Planning Department (M-NCPPC) where she is a senior community planner for the Southern Division. Her passion is preservation of agricultural land and creating equity through the production of and access to healthy food.
Dr. Eric Wood: ECO Board Chair, Wood is the former Principal of Charles Carroll Middle School and now works with Principals throughout the County to strengthen their connections with the community. Born and educated in Prince George’s County with a doctorate in Education from Bowie State and considerable hands-on business experience, Wood understands the area’s needs, the potential and the assets, and marshals this knowledge to develop Engaged Community Offshoots into a major community-serving enterprise.
Isaac Williams: Assistant Professor, University of Maryland, College Park School of Architecture, Isaac Williams is an architectural educator and practitioner focused on the design of great learning environments. As an assistant professor at the University of Maryland, Williams teaches undergraduate and graduate design studios, including a topical studio on the design of schools. His graduate seminar “Learning Places” explores the potential of architecture as a form of pedagogy in places of learning such as schools, museums, and memorials. Prior to his academic appointment, Williams led the design of school projects in New York and New Jersey. In 2007, Williams was awarded a Henry C. Welcome Fellowship and a 3-year grant by the Maryland Higher Education commission to continue his research and creative work focused on the relationship between space and learning.
