Jessie Dambreville

Board Director

Jessie Damreville is a food forest steward and Board Director with Boston Food Forest Coalition. She grew up in Mattapan, beside the empty lot she would later help transform into the present-day Edgewater Food Forest. She recalls dreaming of turning this space into an urban farm or some other form of community green space, and would later collaborate with the Edgewater Neighborhood Association, BFFC, and other committed neighbors to plant the seeds for what is now a thriving community resource. This is one of her proudest accomplishments, as planting trees, building community space, and bringing people together have always been close to her heart.

For 16 years, Jessie worked at Rainbow Grocery, a vegetarian and organic food store in San Francisco, California. The largest worker owned co-op in the country, Rainbow Grocery ignited a passion in Jessie for home grown food, just as nature intended, free of pesticides and other chemicals. Her ideal world is one in which such stores are commonplace.

As the lead steward at Edgewater Food Forest, Jessie thinks of herself first and foremost as a land steward. Through serving on the BFFC Board of Directors, she hopes to build more connections with other food forest stewards and help to build a network of mutual aid across the coalition.

Jessie is passionate about her community, and believes that in a country as wealthy and powerful as ours, decent and affordable housing should be available to everyone. Some call her an activist, and she accepts this as a badge of honor. She enjoys the great outdoors, camping, hiking, and long walks. Her goal is to preserve and extend the opportunity for the next generation to enjoy these same luxuries, which is her inspiration for being involved with BFFC.