Meet Our Team
Elizabeth Atwell
all pronouns | Durham, NC
Elizabeth’s love for food is rooted in her upbringing in the Blue Ridge mountains of North Carolina. There she developed a deep sense of awe for the transformations that happen through gardening, cooking and the passing of the seasons. They spent their career following this fascination, exploring how food and agriculture can be used to transform health, economies, communities and ecosystems. This took her from a mobile farmers market, to WWOOFing on farms abroad in and in the United States. They worked for Wholesome Wave, supporting the growth of what is today the GusNIP Nutrition Incentive Program. She spent the last seven years working for the Wallace Center, where she helped to grow the Food Systems Leadership Network into what it is today, developing and leading numerous national projects.
What superpowers do you bring to this work?
I see myself as a connector - connecting people through facilitation and connecting ideas through strategy and program development. I ask good questions and can help make sense out of complexity. Most of all, I really try and show up as my whole, authentic self, enjoying this precious journey of life - and I think that helps others do the same. It’s so important we can bring that into our work - that living fully isn’t just something we reserve for weekends and vacation.
And I make the best biscuits. If you hang around long enough, I’ll probably make you some too.
What brings you joy?
I’ve always been happiest playing outside - hiking, trail running, mountain biking, snowboarding, rock climbing, or just reading a good book in the hammock out back. Anything that let’s me feel immersed in the beauty of nature. Music, particularly when it’s live. Taking my time to cook a really special meal for someone I love. Sitting around a fire with friends and a couple of good dogs.
Ellie Bomstein
she/her | Washington, D.C.
Ellie is a lifelong food lover who managed to make a career out of talking and thinking about food - and how to use it to make the world a more resilient, more equitable place. She has worked in supporting local and regional food systems for 10 years, starting out at a local food distributor coordinating deliveries, logistics, and sometimes parallel parking a box truck on DC streets. She then worked in state level policy advocacy in South Carolina supporting small farmers and sustainable water access. Between 2016 and 2023, Ellie worked at the Wallace Center, proudly serving on the backbone team of the Food Systems Leadership Network. At Wallace Center, she led and supported dozens of projects focused on building connection and capacity for people creating vibrant food systems in their communities, with a focus on value chain coordination, facilitation, and making USDA programs more accessible. She loves cooking, running, skiing, backpacking, and exploring the restaurant scene in familiar and new places. She just learned how to embroider and is actually pretty good at it!
What superpowers do you bring to this work? Knowing when to zoom out and think about the big picture, breaking down complex ideas into usable pieces, seeing and drawing connections, copy editing, adding a little humor to tough conversations, remembering obscure details, playlist creation, making salad dressing (it’s all about the grated garlic).
What brings you ease? I feel most at ease when I am following my gut, and collaborating with people who have a clear, grounded vision. I love doing work that is complex and important, but not frustrating because it’s the right work for me to do at that moment. That usually comes with a combination of purpose, challenge, trust, support, and optimism. (Check out this idea of “flow!”). Outside of work, being in nature with people I love is my favorite way to be at ease.
Will Gray
he/him | Richmond, Virginia
Will Gray has been working as a local food system practitioner and advocate for over 13 years. Since beginning his food career in restaurant kitchens, he has been driven by two passions: his love of eating (it’s what he’s best at), and his love of asking questions. He is an entrepreneur and experienced small business leader, a trained proposal and project manager, and contributes on-the-ground practitioner perspective in regional food production, food service, processing, and logistics. He is the founder and CEO of Back Pocket Provisions in Richmond, VA, where his team works with a network of local farms to turn ugly-but-delicious vegetables into a line of award-winning craft cocktail mixes. Since 2022, Will has served as Managing Director of the Eastern Food Hub Collaboration, a network of local food hubs creating trade routes and market opportunities throughout the Eastern United States to improve livelihoods for farmers and increase equitable access to good food for all.
He lives in Richmond, VA with his wife Jen, their daughter Phoebe, and their two monstrous dogs, Smitty and Sully. He is a compulsive meal planner and tracks his fridge inventory in a spreadsheet like a total weirdo.
What superpowers do you bring to this work? I’m a good listener, and I take good notes. I communicate clearly and proactively, and I read emails all the way to the end. I use frameworks and structured approaches to make complicated problems more manageable, and I can teach you how to do it, too.
What brings you connectedness? Hearing other people’s stories, or making them laugh, and getting those glimpses into what brought them to the same work that I’m passionate about. Bonus points if we can do it while we eat together and drink a little wine.