Justin Conway, President
Justin Conway is a board certified Family Medicine and Sports Medicine physician practicing in Newburgh, NY with Crystal Run Healthcare. After earning his undergraduate degree at Princeton University and M.D. from the University of Michigan Medical School, he completed his residency at the Mount Sinai-Beth Israel Family Practice Residency Program in New York City. He then finished his training in Primary Care Sports Medicine at Rutgers-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the Hospital for Special Surgery, during which he assisted in providing medical care to the Division I athletics programs of Rutgers and Princeton University along with the New York Mets and New York Giants.
He currently serves as head team physician for Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, NY and is an assistant team physician for the Hudson Valley Renegades (High-A New York Yankees Minor League Affiliate). He is also a member of the Medical Pool for the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team. As a family doctor, Dr. Conway is committed to the comprehensive care of active people and athletes at all levels of competition. He lives in Beacon, NY with his partner Jess and two children, Louise and Trevor, who love getting their hands dirty in the rich soil of Common Ground Farm. As a family, they are drawn to CGF for their dedication to promote equitable food access and education. In particular, they have found joy and connection with the land and food through the weekly U-Pick program at the farm during the summer and the incredible class offerings for both kids and adults.
Erin Dotson, VICE PRESIDENT
Erin Dotson has worked in philanthropy and fundraising for almost 20 years. Since launching her consulting practice in 2018, she has collaborated with organizations fighting for equity, racial justice, and human rights. She is currently the treasurer of Common Ground Farm and previously served on the board of the Compass Arts Creativity Project.
Erin began her career with the American Museum of Natural History, and has worked in prospect research and pipeline management at New York University, Teach For America, and Marist College. Recently, Erin served as a fundraising strategist with the Poses Family Foundation, providing advisory support to a cohort of grantees working in education, advocacy, workforce development, mental health, and the arts.
Erin earned a bachelor's degree in gender studies from Purchase College and a certificate in philanthropy and fundraising from the George H. Heyman, Jr. Program for Philanthropy and Fundraising at New York University. She lives in the Hudson Valley with her wife and their two children.
Greg Zalewski, TREASURER
Greg Zalewski is the owner of a small woodworking business in Beacon, where he lives with his wife and three children. Greg is a former CPA who worked in public accounting and for various nonprofit organizations for almost 20 years. He is a returned Peace Corps Volunteer from Uzbekistan, where he witnessed and lived among the effects of misguided industrial agriculture. Originally hailing from Rosendale, NY, Greg is committed to the understanding and promotion of healthy and sustainable local agriculture.
ADONIA LARSON
Adonia is a Montessori trained educator, with a special interested in nature-based learning. She has worked with children at the preschool and elementary school level. As a teacher, she loves exploring wild places, as well as learning to cultivate the land alongside her students.
Originally from a small agricultural community in Northern California, Adonia is passionate about healthy land-use practices, as well as supporting small farms and farm workers. She is also invested in addressing food insecurity and inequity in our community. Adonia received her B.A. in Anthropology from Saint Mary’s College of California. She now lives in Beacon with her husband and three young children.
ANA CAROLINA BRITTEN
Ana Britten is a Managing Director and Co-Head of Real Estate for the Americas at Sonder, a tech-driven hospitality company which she joined in 2018. Prior to joining Sonder, Ana was a Director of Development & Acquisitions at MCR. Prior to that, she was a Director at Hines in Washington DC, where she worked on the development of a large mixed-use project, CityCenterDC. She began her career at Morgan Stanley in New York. Ana holds a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School.
Cassandra Jackson
Always delighted when a seed pressed into the earth emerges as a plant and the alchemy of food preparation, Cassandra has long been fascinated by foodways in the United States and abroad. Her relationship with Common Ground Farm has evolved from a place of recreation and learning, to a source of locally grown food, to a place for community engagement and growth.
An artist and MBA, with experience in DEAI (diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion) consulting and non-profit grant writing/management she is currently working for a bespoke non-profit development strategy firm. Cassandra lives in the Hudson Valley with her family and can be found pushing seeds into the soil to see what comes up.
Evelyn Garcia
Evelyn is a first-generation Mexican American, born and raised in Newburgh, New York. Her interest in cooking began when she was six years old and prepared “home cooked” meals to feed her siblings while her parents worked. Evelyn went on to complete a BA in Culinary Arts and Culinary Arts Management from the esteemed Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park.
Her experience includes work at restaurants such as the 21 Club, resorts in Florida and Japan, as a Food Stylist for the Food Network, Martha Stewart Living, and the Cooking Channel, and high-end catering at Abigail Kirsch. At the same time, it has always been her priority to work with communities that faced the same food and health challenges she did.
Evelyn is proud to have served as a culinary educator for several organizations in the Hudson Valley, including The Green Teen Program, Hudson Valley Farm to School, and Common Ground Farm, where she is now a proud Board Member.
Her mission to educate the most vulnerable to cook healthier, fresher meals continue as a bi-lingual Teaching Kitchen Chef at The Lenox Hill Neighborhood House. Their goal is to help other nonprofit food providers assess their current menus and implement fresh, scratch-made, culturally appropriate plant-based meals, ideally using local ingredients and diverse grains; and to do all of this incrementally, sustainably, and most importantly, without raising costs through free in-person training and an innovative bi-lingual online program.
KAte Flanagan
Kate Flanagan is a nonprofit fundraiser with expertise in individual giving and fundraising operations. Currently, she is the Associate Director of Individual Giving at MSI United States, the US-based supporting organization of MSI Reproductive Choices. She has previously worked with Hudson Valley nonprofits like the Garrison Institute and the Hastings Center, and has a background in organizing for racial and economic justice in the Hudson Valley. She graduated with a BA in History and Comparative Literature from Williams College, and has called the City of Newburgh home for nearly a decade.
THAD SIMERLY
Together with his partner Kimberley, Thad operates Starling Yards, a farm project producing specialty crops in the Hudson Valley. Thad and Kimberley collaborate with chefs, fellow growers, local producers and regional food system partners to explore the production of unique crops in the Hudson Valley. These relationships support, inspire and challenge us to innovate and take risks as we experiment with creative growing solutions. Integral to these endeavors is the design of sustainable, economical and replicable systems that we can share with other producers. Starling Yards has been a vendor at the Beacon Farmers' Market for many years. Thad is proud to offer his unique perspective on both farm and market programs as a member of Common Ground's board.