Urban Roots welcomed Brian Stephens as our new executive director in December of 2023. Our farm-based youth leadership organization has been growing in Austin, Texas, for 15 years, and Stephens joins us at the beginning of a new season of growth, maturity, and opportunity.  

“Brian’s experience as chief communications officer at Andy Roddick Foundation, coupled with his proven ability to build awareness through creative strategies and his inclusive leadership style, make him a perfect fit to champion Urban Roots’ mission alongside our dedicated staff,” said Michele Freeman, Urban Roots’ board of directors chair.

Urban Roots works with youth ages 14-23 through paid opportunities to strengthen leadership skills, learn about farming and food access in a hands-on setting, and engage in community building alongside staff and volunteers. Last year, Urban Roots worked with 75 young people from 25 schools and distributed more than 88,000 servings of farm-fresh produce in the community through food access programs and partners. The produce was grown on our two farms in East and South Austin using regenerative farming practices. 

“Joining Urban Roots is a tremendous opportunity to contribute to a cause I am deeply passionate about – empowering youth, promoting food equity, and fostering community connections through sustainable agriculture,” Stephens said.

As the chief communications officer at Andy Roddick Foundation beginning in 2016, Stephens helped to raise nearly $18 million in funds for the organization which provides direct services, grants and advocacy to increase access to out-of-school learning and enrichment for children and families in vulnerable communities. In this role, he launched new initiatives such as a social and emotional learning curriculum, a family emergency fund, and the organization’s first advocacy and community engagement activities. 

With Texas roots reaching back four generations, Stephens is a second-generation high school graduate and first-generation college graduate. Growing up in a lower-income family, he diligently worked his way through college. He holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration in marketing from the University of North Texas, Denton and has three decades of service to local and national nonprofit organizations. Austin has been his home for 25 years and he resides here with his husband, Andy Miller, son, Clark, and bulldog, Lola.

“As we embark on this new season, I am excited about our growth campaign and the opportunities it will create for expansion, community building, and advancing our impactful programs in 2024 and beyond,” said Stephens. 

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Stay tuned for more exciting announcements, including a brand new look and home for this blog coming this spring! Our new executive director and the rest of the Urban Roots team look forward to seeing you at the farm and in the community.

A collage of photos of a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes smiling, standing with others, and various fruits and vegetables with the text "frances deviney" and "urban roots"

The Urban Roots team is so grateful for the time we’ve had with our executive director since 2020, Frances Deviney. Frances’ final day will be July 28, 2023. Matt Glazer has joined us as interim executive director while the search for the permanent director is led by the board of directors, which you can read more about here.

Michele Freeman, chair of the board of directors, said, “On behalf of the board, I can say it has been a true pleasure to work alongside Frances. She has shown up with a great deal of care for our community, and it is with much appreciation and high regard that we wish her all the best as she steps down to spend more time with her family.” You can read the full letter from the board regarding the transition here.

Frances would like to share this message in her final week, in her own words:

On my first day on the Urban Roots East Austin farm, I ate some okra straight off the stem. To understand the impact of this experience, you should know that I grew up in Tennessee, where okra was fried, mushy, and nothing that I was remotely interested in. But I knew that Urban Roots is all about letting go of what you think you know and awakening to the possibilities of what can be. And, wow, was that fresh okra amazing!

Now, after three wonderful years, I’ve made the bittersweet decision to move on from the role of executive director at Urban Roots. My time here has been tremendously rewarding – full of learning and growth for both myself and the organization. Together, we’ve created a new strategic plan, purchased the East Austin farm, begun growing on our South Austin farm, fully brought back programming and community engagement after pandemic shutdowns and setbacks, restarted our capital campaign, increased the amount of produce we distribute for food access from 40% to over 90%, doubled staff capacity, and many other exciting achievements. While there is still a lot of work to do, the organization is primed and ready for its next phase of evolution and leadership.

As I prepare to move on, I want to leave with a thank you note to all of the people who make Urban Roots the transformative organization that it is. 

To Urban Roots’ . . .

Staff members: I have been so honored to learn from and work with you these past three years. Each and every one of you have such passion for the mission, an unstoppable drive to support the youth on their personal journey, and a conviction to put good fresh food into the hands of people who need it most. I challenge myself every day to do better for you all and learn from the amazing work you do. Thank you for knowing in your gut that we can drive change.

Youth participants: You are the heart and soul of Urban Roots. Through good days and bad, rain or shine, weeding or cooking, you all bring an infectious optimism that we can and must do better in this world. I have no fears knowing you’ll be leading Texas (and beyond) in the not-too-distant future — and I can’t wait to see the future you create! Thank you for being a part of the Urban Roots family.

Board of directors: In my 20+ years of nonprofit experience, I can say that I’ve never worked with such a supportive board. As volunteers sharing your time, knowledge, and resources, you are a tremendous asset to your community and this organization. Thank you for believing in us and what we can do together.

Volunteers: From our longer-term volunteer ambassadors to our first-time volunteers, I wish I could have met each and every one of you to say thank you personally. Thank you for devoting your time, digging in the soil with us, and helping us share over 80,000 pounds of fresh food with the Central Texas community over the last three years.

Food access and community partners: Urban Roots envisions a food system cultivated by youth and community that is sustainable, equitable, and just. That’s a really big vision! And we know we are only a small part of the courageous and unstoppable network of farms, food advocates, food distribution partners, city staff, and community leaders who are working to make that better food system. Thank you for being our partners, advisors, and friends.  

Funding partners: Nonprofit work is hard and can feel unseen at times. But you see and believe in the change we can make together for our community. Your tremendous support, both financially and through your friendship, has been essential to helping us meet our mission of working with youth leaders to grow fresh food and build a community dedicated to food equity. We literally couldn’t do it without you!

So while this is farewell for now, this is not goodbye. I’m so excited to be part of the Urban Roots extended family. I can’t wait to cheer on and support this singular organization for decades to come.

Sincerely,

Frances Deviney
Urban Roots Executive Director

We are pleased to announce that Matt Glazer will begin work with Urban Roots as interim executive director on July 20, 2023. Matt is an experienced leader specializing in executive management and change management and was part of the team that worked with Urban Roots to develop our current strategic plan. He will jump in to support our teams who are already planning a robust fall with new cohorts of youth leaders and a promising growing season on the farms.

More about Matt:

Matt has had a diverse career focused on launching new ventures, executive management, and change management. He served as the community director (regional general manager) for WeWork in Central Texas where he managed 11 buildings, two retail storefronts, and the go-to-market strategy for San Antonio. Additionally, he is a two time executive director, leading local nonprofits Austin Young Chamber of Commerce and Progress Texas. Matt was the founder of Progress Texas and created the largest multi-issue advocacy organization in Texas. He was the turnaround executive director at Austin Young Chamber of Commerce and shifted the organization from a young professional networking group to one of the largest chambers in central Texas.

Matt has led strategic planning for over 50 organizations. Working with Mission Capital, Matt has also redeveloped general audience training – Board Essentials, Strategy and Sustainability Intensive, and Revenue Generator – to include a racial equity perspective. He has consulted with Mission Capital during the organization’s racial equity journey to help redevelop the Interim-Executive Director program, Merger and Acquisition process, and reconstructing consulting engagements to integrate justice, equity, diversity and inclusion into the process and outcomes.

Matt has had a long history of working with Urban Roots. He supported the leadership team in developing organizational values and led professional development workshops with the organization’s founder/first executive director. Matt was also a part of the strategic planning team leading the process, developing the organization’s strategic priorities, and supporting the design and implementation after it was adopted by the board and staff. 

He is the two-time Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Trinity University where he continues to teach human-centered design. He volunteers his time at a number of nonprofits and serves as the chair of the Governance Committee for The Other Ones Foundation, a nonprofit that offers humanitarian aid, case management, and extremely low-barrier work opportunities to people experiencing homelessness in Central Texas.

Don’t Miss the Chance to Support Urban Roots Before The Year Ends!

Dear Friend of Urban Roots,

As 2022 is drawing to a close, we are hopeful and excited about growing our impact in the coming year. We’re committed to serving even more youth and putting more fresh produce in the hands of Central Texans than ever before. But we can’t do this without you.

We are $2,586 away from reaching our year-end goal of raising $100,000! Help us continue this important work by making a donation today!

Sincerely,
Frances Deviney
Urban Roots Executive Director

The Clock is Ticking: Help Urban Roots Grow Our Impact Before The Year Ends!

Dear Urban Roots Friends,

Did you know that 18 zip codes in Travis County do not have a grocery store? 14% of our Travis County neighbors experience food insecurity, and the percentage of food insecurity is slightly higher among children, amounting to 15% of all children. Food insecure means to be without reliable access to nutritious, affordable food. To further complicate the matter, 16.8 acres of farmland are lost every day in Travis County.* There is so much work to be done.

This holiday season, we’re asking you to give the gift that keeps on giving so Urban Roots can continue our important work! There’s still time for you to help us reach our year-end fundraising goal of $100,000, allowing Urban Roots to serve more youth and put more fresh produce in the hands of Central Texans!

Please consider making a gift before the end of the year. Every donation–from $5 to $1,000–will help, so please give what you can and spread the word!

Sincerely,
Frances Deviney
Executive Director

*The data provided in this post is from the City of Austin’s Office of Sustainability’s State of the Food System Report.

Urban Roots wants to thank each and every one of you who supported us this #GivingTuesday! We are so grateful to share that we raised $4,321! Thanks to your support, we’re able to grow our impact in 2023 and continue working with youth leaders to grow fresh food and build a community dedicated to achieving food equity.

It’s Farm Fact Friday once again, everyone! This week we’re talking about something you may find often growing on the outskirts of the farm, the very fragrant garlic chive! It’s delicious, requires less preparation in meals than garlic, and easy to regrow. They’re great in stir fry, stews, and with meat, eggs, seafood, and even specialty butter. They’ve been a part of Chinese cuisine for over 3,000 years, and it’s easy to see why they’re so loved.

Garlic chives actually have a history of being used for herbal medical purposes as well as in Chinese cuisine, having once been used on bug bites and small cuts, as an antidote to some poisons, a remedy for internal parasites, and for helping with digestive problems. They’re also chock full of vitamin A and C, as well as fiber, iron, calcium, and potassium, so they can be a healthy addition to your diet (especially as a replacement for garlic for those who struggle with acid reflux).

Garlic chives can handle sun well, and can deter some pests which make them an easy-to-care-for and tasty addition to gardens. They do have a limited shelf life after being cut from the plant, but with proper storage or allowing them to regrow, they can last longer.

Additional sources here, here, and here.

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Happy Farm Fact Friday, folks! This week we’re discussing the marigold flower, something you may see us plant on the farm sometimes. Marigolds are drought resistant and do well under the Texas sun, and can be a useful companion flower. Some varieties of the flower ward off tiny, parasitic worms just by certain compounds in their roots, and though many hybrids nowadays are scentless, some use scent to ward off beetles and bugs (smelling like wet hay).

Marigolds have a rich history as a flower used to decorate ofrendas for Dia de los Muertos, with the prominent scent and bright colors displayed to help spirits find their way home. Paper marigolds are also used to decorate sometimes.

People sometimes confuse marigolds are with calendula, which can be called pot marigold or common marigold and have somewhat similar appearances. However, calendula are edible flowers and have a different flower family they are a part of, whereas marigolds are generally not edible and some varieties are potentially toxic if eaten.

Additional sources on marigolds here, here, and here.

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Happy Farm Fact Friday, everyone! This week’s topic is a tasty, green and small fruit (botanically) and vegetable (culinary-wise). Some find it slimy, but others find it perfect for thickening stir fries, stews and gumbos; we’re talking about okra! Okra is fibrous, has protein, and is full of antioxidants. They’re delicious and grassy raw, and delicious pickled with a more interesting texture to offer than the traditional pickled cucumber!

Okra does better in sunny, warmer climates across the world (though it’s known in many parts of the world as lady fingers or bhindi) and can grow up to six feet tall. Did you know that they also have beautiful flowers, since they’re a part of the hibiscus family? The more you pick (when the pods are ready for harvesting), the more flowers they produce, and okra can go from flower to fruit in just a few days!

It likely originated in north east Africa, along the White Nile River, near current day Ethiopia, with it showing up in records around the 12th century. The word okra itself is derived from the Ashanti word “nkruma.” One of our staff members enjoyed this recipe; do you make any okra recipes? Feel free to show them off and tag us on social media @urbanrootsatx if you’d like!

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