A time to celebrate all that brings us together.

Carolyn Mugar

When Willie raised close to $7 million during the first Farm Aid concert in 1985, he knew he had to find an Executive Director who could handle the task of distributing all that money. He handpicked Carolyn Mugar, an activist for many social issues, including labor, environment, toxics, literacy, and community empowerment. Being half Armenian, Carolyn started a reforestation project in Armenia. In her “spare” time, Carolyn serves on a variety of non-profit boards, and is constantly finding new hobbies. We’re all convinced that Carolyn doesn’t sleep at night – that’s the only way we figure she could manage to do all that she does!

Glenda Yoder

Glenda grew up on a farm in Ohio. As a child, she helped her mother garden and put food by for the winter. Her chores included heading out to the pasture to find “Jerz” when milking time came around, and spinning the cream separator. Today in her backyard in Jamaica Plain, a Boston neighborhood, she’s still growing food and freezing vegetables and fruits for the winter. She visits farms as often as possible, walking the fields and asking questions. From rural to urban life, good food and music still feeds her soul. Glenda is grateful for the privilege to work on behalf of family farmers, humbled by the extraordinary, creative team at Farm Aid. She’s feeling very lucky!

Email Glenda at glenda@farmaid.org.

“If your life’s work can be accomplished in your lifetime, you’re not thinking big enough.” — Wes Jackson

Shorlette Ammons

Shorlette, Farm Aid’s Program Director, is a native of Beautancus, North Carolina, where she grew up in a large family of farmworkers, cooks and storytellers. She was recently appointed to the Biden Administration’s inaugural USDA Equity Commission and serves on the board of Land Loss Prevention Project, an organization based in Durham, North Carolina, that works to save and preserve Black family farmland. She also is a former children’s librarian. In her work and daily life, Ammons seeks to lift up and be informed by familial ancestors like her grandparents, Grandma Adell and Grandaddy Rasper, daddy June, aunts Annette and Lou, uncles Buck, Ross and L.J., cousin Brandon, as well as freedom fighters like Fannie Lou Hamer and educators like George Washington Carver. Ammons, her daughter and schnoodle still call North Carolina their home. (Photo © Bliss Floccare)

Caroline Campbell McCormick

Caroline is Farm Aid’s Operations Director, responsible for enhancing Farm Aid’s internal organization processes and infrastructure so it can thrive and fulfill its mission. She leads and manages organizational planning and budgeting, financial management, human resources, and administrative operations. She joined Farm Aid in 2012 after having spent over a decade in leadership roles for service-oriented, nature-based, and educational non-profit organizations. Caroline earned a master’s degree in public policy with a concentration on sustainable community development from Tufts University’s Department of Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning. Outside of work, she enjoys exploring and appreciating the outdoors with her family, playing and listening to music, and tinkering with craft and design projects.

Jennifer Fahy

Jennifer, Farm Aid’s Communications Director, has been with Farm Aid since 2002. She loves to spread the word about good food from family farms and the important work of Farm Aid. According to Jennifer, the best part of her job is the intersection of people she gets to work with, from fellow staff and the Farm Aid board of directors, to farmers, artists, activists, policymakers and members of the media. Outside of the office, Jennifer is an avid cyclist, community gardener and dedicated dog-mom.

Michael Stewart Foley

Michael is Farm Aid’s Cultural Impact Director, responsible for advancing Farm Aid’s mission by analyzing, communicating and deepening the cultural impact of the organization’s – and the greater farm movement’s – work. A native New Englander, Michael grew up obsessed with politics and popular music. Later, as an historian, writer, and organizer, he produced eight books on a range of social movements and on the intersection of politics and popular music; he also served as an advisor on a number of exhibition, film and television projects, including Mad Men. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, The Washington Post, The Boston Sunday Globe, The Daily Beast, and other news and public affairs outlets. (Photo © Suzanne Porter)

Anna Mulè

Anna Mulè (she/her) is Farm Aid’s Business & Marketing Director, focused on all things HOMEGROWN, brand stewardship, earned revenue, and food + culture programming. She joined the team in 2024 after serving as executive director of Slow Food USA and working over a decade in multimedia storytelling and communications. Anna grew up in rural upstate New York, where her family raised turkeys and made their own sausage; has a master’s degree in ethnomusicology and journalism from Indiana University; and now lives in Brooklyn, NY with her husband and two young sons.

Matt Glidden

Matt (he/him) is Farm Aid’s Online Marketing Director. He spends his time making sure everything on our website is updated, sharing Farm Aid videos, and updating our fans on social media platforms with details on Farm Aid’s latest efforts to get good food from family farms to plates across America. In his spare time, he loves walking his dog, skiing, biking, digging around for new music, and traveling the world through his cookbooks.

Steve Snyder

Steve is the Development and Brand Director here at Farm Aid. He joined the staff full-time in 2018 after volunteering to help coordinate all but one Farm Aid since 1997. Steve attended college in the heart of Ohio’s farm country and has spent nearly three decades working on development and branding initiatives for a variety of non-profit organizations both professionally, as well as in his spare time. Outside of work, you’ll find him making the rounds of his local family farms for the perfect ear of silver corn or whatever else is in season, but it’s the day-to-day soul nourishment he gets by hearing from Farm Aid supporters – and witnessing the impact their collective efforts have – that keeps him singing in the shower, and fortunately not in the office.

Caitlin Arnold Stephano

Caitlin Arnold Stephano (she/her) joined Farm Aid in the fall of 2021 as the Hotline Program Manager. Caitlin grew up riding the tractor at her Grandfather’s cherry and apple farm in Eastern Washington state, and has been working in agriculture, farmer organizing, and advocacy since 2006. Caitlin holds a Masters in Sustainable Food Systems with a focus on farmer mental health. She currently lives in Southern Maine with her family, and loves exploring the coastal nooks and crannies, walking in the woods, and growing her garden.

Ashley Garfias

Ashley is a Hotline Operator with the Farmer Services team. She runs a small produce farm in her home state of Colorado, where she grows vegetables and herbs for a CSA and farm stand. In addition to several years of experience working on urban farms, Ashley also comes to Farm Aid with a background in animal sheltering, veterinary medicine, and emergency response. She is thrilled to be able to help America’s small farmers with their most pressing challenges, so they can continue to care for their land, animals, and themselves. In her free time, Ashley can usually be found outside, doing anything from working on amateur carpentry projects to hiking with her dog, Barney.

Tony Glover

Tony is a Farm Aid Hotline Operator, answering calls and emails from farmers across the country and working one-on-one to address their needs. He comes to Farm Aid after a career with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System as a farm advisor. Tony holds a Bachelors and Masters of Horticulture and an Education Specialist Graduate degree in Adult Education from Auburn University. Growing up on a farm and working closely with small fruit and vegetable farms in Alabama has given him a passion to help farmers succeed. Currently he is in the process of starting a small blackberry farm with his son.

Claire Kozower

Claire is Farm Aid’s Operations Manager. She joined the staff in 2020 to assist with HR and day-to-day office functions and provide overall support for Farm Aid’s many initiatives. Her passion for Farm Aid’s mission developed in her late teens when she began to recognize the linkages between our most pressing social and environmental issues and our food production systems and policies. Wanting to be part of solutions, Claire’s career before Farm Aid includes farming, coordinating farm-to-school programs, directing a nonprofit farm focused on food access and education, and working for an international nonprofit providing loans and advisory services to agricultural cooperatives around the globe. Her favorite days are ones that include her hands in the soil, ample sleep and time with loved ones.

Jessica Kurn

Jessica is Farm Aid’s Online Communications and Marketing Manager. She’s been on staff since 2013 working on our newsletter, web and social media platforms to amplify Farm Aid’s work and expand its online engagement. She studied agriculture and food policy at Tufts University, and has reported on these topics for public radio and well as for various written publications. Jessica lives in Cleveland, Ohio with her family and loves to drink coffee, garden, cook and host themed dinner parties.

Caroline Malcolm Fiore

Caroline is Farm Aid’s Development Manager. She’s been a part of the Farm Aid staff since 2010, serving in various roles, and is currently enjoying the opportunity to connect with Farm Aid’s donors around the country and collaborate with staff on ways to engage with supporters year-round. She finds inspiration in learning why folks feel Farm Aid’s mission is so important and loves to share updates about our work. Away from her desk, Caroline enjoys exploring the outdoors, discovering new music, traveling as often as possible and eating her way through Boston’s restaurant and farmers’ market scenes!

Lori Mercer

Lori joined the Farm Aid staff in 2021 as Hotline Operator. After a three-decade career in private practice audiology, the urgency of climate change prompted a need to change vocations in order to participate more directly in contributing to a solution. She returned to graduate school via Washington State University and emerged in 2019 with an MS in Agriculture with a focus in food systems and agroecology. Since then, she’s worked directly with local family farmers in the agriculturally rich valleys surrounding the Seattle area. Directly supporting farmers and ranchers, especially in this era of great upheaval, is an honor and responsibility she embraces. In her spare time, Lori plays the bagpipes, participates in her church’s regenerative garden and travels whenever possible.

Cristina Sandolo

Cristina Sandolo is Farm Aid’s Grant Program Manager, working to support organizations on the frontlines of the food and farm movement and farmers in crisis, while elevating and amplifying the voices of farmers to create systems change. Previously, Cristina worked in food justice and community food systems for 14 years. She’s led organizations committed to food justice and antiracism through phases of growth and change, most recently transitioning an organization into a Workers Self-Directed Model of leadership. She has a Professional Science Master’s degree in Ocean Food Systems from the University of New England; her research linked barriers to oyster aquaculture in the Mid-Atlantic to historic systems of oppression and racism, resulting in equity-based recommendations for industry managers to use to grow a more diverse population of aquaculture entrepreneurs. Cristina lives in Philadelphia with her girlfriend and loves exploring the bike trails on the Schuylkill River, Philly’s many parks, and delicious eateries throughout the city.

Hannah Tremblay

Hannah is Farm Aid’s Policy and Advocacy Manager. Hannah has worked as an agricultural technical specialist and a farmer throughout the Northeast and MidAtlantic since 2014. A self-described “policy geek,” Hannah is excited about the potential for policy to be used as a tool to improve our agricultural system and how grassroots advocacy efforts can affect change. They hold an M.S. from Tufts University in Agricultural Science and Food Policy. Outside of work, they enjoy spending time in the wilder parts of New England and growing and cooking good food.

Rachel Van Boven

Rachel is a Hotline Operator and comes from a long line of family farmers in both North Dakota and Washington. After many years as a teacher, she decided to reconnect with her family’s farming roots. She has worked on a handful of small farms and completed a farmer training with Viva Farms. Along with training to be a farmer, she has trained to be a chaplain and completed a Masters in Theology with a focus on food and farming. She is passionate about supporting diverse family farms and connecting communities with their local food producers. In her free time she enjoys backpacking, making music with friends, and growing food in her local community garden.

Alexandria Ward

Alexandria is Farm Aid’s Farmer Services Network Manager, where she is excited to carry on and support Farm Aid’s work, developing and connecting a robust network of Farmer Services organizations and individuals. Alexandria comes to the Farm Aid team from a varied background in food systems. Most recently Alexandria worked in the farmers market world where she supported a large network of farmers and producers in the Mid-Atlantic. Her work has also included academic research, policy, and advocacy. Alexandria is constantly inspired by the farmers in this country, and the individuals and organizations that have worked tirelessly to support small scale agriculture, and sustainable and equitable food systems. In her free time Alexandria enjoys biking, reading, listening to music, and sharing good food with friends.