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Meet the Youth Advisory Board
The Boston Collaborative for Food and Fitness’ Youth Advisory Board (BCFF YAB) consists of dedicated youth from various neighborhoods in Boston and Milton that come together to carry out BCFF’s mission: to ensure that every resident of Boston can access and afford healthy, locally-grown food, and enjoy public spaces and opportunities for active living. |
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CREW LEADER:
Derrikka Gillenwater has been a YAB member since 2009. She recently graduated from Media High School and will be attending Fisher College in the Fall of 2010. She is very commited to creating a huge change in the BPS lunch menu, which is why she has continued to work with YAB for the last two years. She enjoys working to create change in her community and help others. She loves to party, hang out with friends, laugh, public speaking and traveling. She is very outgoing and loves to meet new people. SUPERSTAR! |
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CREW LEADER:
A graduate of Boston Latin School, Jeannie Do is proud to be a part of YAB to help improve healthy living in Boston. Prior to joining YAB, Jeannie was a part of FRESH, a youth group in Dorchester that promoted healthy living, and had a great time doing this kind of work. To advance to another level, Jeannie joined YAB to not only promote healthy living in the town of Dorchester, but across the city of Boston. She currently attends Boston University, majoring in Health Science and minoring in Business Administration & Management. |
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Ageena Peterson is 15 years old and a freshman at Boston Latin School. Her hobbies include playing the cello, baking, dancing, traveling, and playing tennis. Along with YAB, she enjoys working with BLS Invisible Children and YouthCan. She enjoys studying biology and hopes one day to become an obstetrician. Funny, ambitious, and glamorous are just a few words used to describe this exciting teen. |
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My name is Ajaia Browder and I am 17 years old. I was born in Augusta, Georgia and have been living in Boston since 2002. I currently go to EMK (Health Careers Academy) and I am a senior. I play basketball and tennis and I love to cook (and eat). When I go to college, I plan on majoring in nursing and becoming a nurse! HAHAHA .... BYE! (-: |
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Eva Macdonald was a student at Boston Latin Academy until this year where she decided to complete her senior year through a home based education program. Her whole life she has been an athlete. While attending Boston Latin Academy she was very active in the sports department in both soccer and track. Along with sports, Eva has worked at The Food Project continuously since 2009 in a variety of positions, in which she harnessed her interest to help the wider community by promoting a sustainable food system as well as discussing the social barriers that currently exist. Her passion for the work has carried her into many different opportunities, one of which is being on The Food Project’s Board of Trustees along with two other youth committee members. Due to her love for sports and vigor for food and social justice she understands that she has a voice in the matter of a healthy lifestyle. She wants to continue on in this direction by working with the Boston Collaborative for Food and Fitness. |
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Harvey Xie graduated from Milton High School in 2009. Currently, Harvey attends Quincy College but will be transferring to University of Massachusetts at Boston in the spring, majoring in Business Management. Some of his hobbies include hiking, reading, mountain climbing, rock climbing and playing tennis. Harvey first joined BCFF through the Boston Medical Center Fantastic Kids program in 2006. It was a program in which he taught younger children about nutrition and physical activity. After being involved with many BCFF youth projects, Harvey is now a member of YAB promoting accessibility and affordability of healthy, locally grown foods and active living. |
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Holden Pierre is a recent graduate of Boston Latin Academy and a proud
member of both Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition (Vigorous Youth) and the Boston Collaborative for Food and Fitness Get Fresh Crew. Holden has been with MFFC Vigorous Youth for the past four years and through his mendous work, he has obtained a passion for food, health and fitness. Holden joined BCFF because he loves the work that they are doing in the city of Boston. Holden is a very energetic and positive young man who dreams big. |
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My name is Jacqueline V. Coston. Three words to describe me are intelligent, hardworking, and creative. My favorite quote is “Hard work pays off” and I always give my absolute best. Basketball is my favorite sport and Boston Celtics is my favorite team. I attend Mary Lyon Pilot High-school in Brighton, MA. When I go to college I plan to study under the medical field. |
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Jeanai Celestin 15, is new to YAB and is a freshman at Boston Latin School. Being new to BCFF, she hopes to gain further knowledge of food and fitness and looks forward to a long a rewarding career with BCFF. Her hobbies are reading, decorating, and listening to music. Jeanai is committed to working towards a change along side other group members of the Youth Advisory Board. Since she's started, she has learned so much from the BCFF employees and YAB, and seeks to not only be employed in the Advisory Board but to keep pushing forward to EVEN higher levels of work within the lines of healthy living :) |
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Jeffrey Pierre-Paul's is a student at the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. His interests lie in the fields of health care. As a member of the YAB, Jeffrey has been successful in promoting healthier school food in the Boston Public Schools. YAB has been an excellent program for Jeffrey. He feels that through YAB “local youth have a voice in what goes on in not just their community, but also the food they eat at school on a daily basis”. He heard about the YAB through a peer leadership program known as “Fantastic Kids”, where he taught children the importance of healthy diets and adequate physical activity. While on the YAB, Jeffrey has been involved in numerous projects including concerts and workshops. All of these events have been held with the hope of improving not just school food, but also affordability/access to healthy, locally grown food and safe, playable parks, while promoting active living. |
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Jeneba Mansaray is a sophomore at Boston Latin School. In her spare time, she likes to hang out with her friends, sketch, write poetry, listen to music, and read. During her time in BLS, she has been involved in the BLS YouthCan, BLS Invisible Children, and the BLS Fashion and Talent Club. She has a passion for fashion and art. She would like to learn how to paint and one day open up her own gallery. In the future, she would like to become a doctor. She also looks forward to working with YAB. |
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As an arising senior at Boston Latin Academy, Kevin Do is proud to be a part of the Boston Collaborative for Food and Fitness. He has been with several youth groups in the past to promote a healthy way of living. But after realizing that he needed to further elevate his work, Kevin decided to join BCFF’s Youth Advisory Board to further spread the message. In his free-time, Kevin enjoys creating art and learning just about anything the world has to offer. |
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Myeisha Holman is a recent high school graduate that will be attend college in the fall of 2011 to study criminal justice. She has been working with YAB for almost a year now and has learned so much. Although food and fitness is what the YAB is aiming for she also has learned some leadership skills and her public speaking has improved so much from all the activities and workshops the YAB has done. |
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Sam DeRosa is a seventeen year old from Ipswich, MA. His mother is a part-tie professor at Boston College, his sister studies economics at Reed College in Portland, Oregon and his father owns and manages a small Environmental consulting agency out of his home. Sam grew up in that same house his whole life and went to middle school in the area. After middle school he started high school at The Newman School in Boston were he is currently studying as a senior. Throughout his life he has always enjoyed playing music and he now plays the Double-bass is a Jazz trio. Beyond jazz Sam is very interested in agriculture and social justice and has worked for the Food Project since 2009. He hopes to study Jazz and Biology while in college. |
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Thalia Valverde recently turned 17 years old on September 22. She attends Boston Latin Academy, in Roxbury MA, Thalia is currently a Junior, who will graduate with the class of 2013. She currently lives in Dorchester MA, but spends most of her time in Roslindale, MA. Thalia comes from a Hispanic family, where her mother is Dominican and her father is Puerto Rican, allowing her to be bilingual and speak both English and Spanish fluently. She enjoys having the ability and opportunity to facilitate to the community. She is an excellent leader, an independent worker who is always motivated to finish anything that is started. She enjoys the position as an intern she currently has at The Food Project, where she facilitates workshops, does agriculture work and reaches out to the community in many different aspects. Where there she learned and perfected her skills in responsibility and time management. During her free time, Thalia enjoys to read and write as well as being creative. | |
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