Photo by Michael Isabell
Sember Weinman, EXECUTIVE Director
Sember began her time at Common Ground as Education Director, where she oversaw and grew all aspects of educational programming, notably growing Farm Camp to a seven-week program that supports 48 children per week. She built Common Ground's Farm to School programming from its inception, reaching 4,000 children in the Beacon School District each year. Prior to her work at the farm, she was the education coordinator at Lehman College Art Gallery, and oversaw educational programming that totaled 17,000 visits a year. She holds an MFA in painting from Pratt Institute and a B.A. double major in environmental studies and studio art from Oberlin College, and is K-12 art teacher certified for New York State. She is proud to lead Common Ground as Executive Director and is honored by the opportunity and responsibility.
Rhys Bethke, Farm manager
Rhys is a queer trans farmer and agricultural educator with roots in Baltimore, MD and Northern Virginia. They moved to NYC during the height of the pandemic. They first started farming in 2018 when they grew hydroponic veggies as a college student for the dining halls on campus, and they have been farming ever since. They bring a passion for food sovereignty, mutual aid, and community resilience to their work. Prior to joining the team at Common Ground Farm, Rhys spent two years at the New York Restoration Project, working closely with urban farms and community gardens across NYC and providing resources + workshops to city growers. When they're not farming, Rhys enjoys geeking out about mycology, cooking with friends, hiking at a forager's pace, reading fantasy, and hanging out with their cat, Rue.
Lydia Zhou, assistant farm Manager
Lydia found her way to farming through a deep seated love for food and culture. Growing up in an immigrant family-owned restaurant in a small town near Albany, NY, she found identity with self and connection with others through food. She has also farmed in Queens, NYC and has a particular affinity for small-scale urban farming that promotes food justice and sovereignty, emphasizes the power of people, and demonstrates that community-scale solutions can be enough in localizing our food systems. With a professional past that includes healthcare and systems engineering, she also strongly believes that food is a matter of public health. Off the farm, Lydia enjoys yoga, bikes, and kitchen shenanigans.
Ilyana Campos, NEWBURGH Farmers' Market Manager
Ilyana is a Newburgh native and loves to support all aspects of her community. She is passionate about the importance of local and sustainable food that is accessible to everyone. Prior to working at Common Ground she spent the last ten years as a mediator and restorative practitioner in alternative dispute resolution for the Westchester and Rockland Mediation Centers. Being a mediator and helping people resolve conflict has been one of Ilyana’s greatest joys.
Amy Bandolik, BEACON FARMERS’ MarkeT Manager
Amy Bandolik is a culinary curator, a coffee adorer, a community organizer, a natural connector and an unconventional counselor. Amy has a masters degree in Counseling Psychology and spent 12 years working at New York University helping people pursue passions. And after her own career transition out of education, Amy served as Creative Director, for a culinary tour company (Foods of NY Tours) in NYC. She also developed and owns the highly regarded Hudson Valley Food & Farm Tours where she shares the region’s amazing food & history, mountains & monuments, stories & sights with locals and visitors via an expertly curated culinary tour. Like the Farmers’ Market, her tours bring commerce to the family-owned farms and food purveyors that make this part of New York State so special. And while Amy didn't initially dream of a career in the culinary industry, she considers her career to be a dream come true.
Liz Craig, Operations Manager
Liz Craig spent the first decade of her career dancing, grant writing, and teacher yoga in New York City. After a life-changing training at Kripalu and just as she was beginning to grow her own family, she transitioned to supporting new parents as an Ayurvedic Postpartum doula. During that time, she witnessed firsthand how access to fresh food, connection to land, and robust systems of community care are the roots of both individual and societal health. Liz is thrilled to join the team at Common Ground and do her small part to advance food justice in the Hudson Valley. Liz lives on the unseated lands of the Lenape people in Beacon, NY with her husband and two kids. She is a lifelong student, multi-passioned and ever-changing.
Angelica Erianne, Market day Assistant
Angelica Erianne is a Registered Dietitian with a strong interest in supporting health from farm-to-table through local sustainable food systems, intuitive practices, and integrative medicine. She has always been enthusiastic about food and developed a greater appreciation of how it impacts the health of individuals, communities, and the planet through her undergraduate degree in Human Ecology at College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine. This sparked her desire to promote environmentally responsible practices that contribute to a thriving and sustainable food system which nourishes people. She graduated from Bastyr University’s Master of Science in Nutrition and Didactic Program in Dietetics in Seattle, Washington and completed a dietetic internship at Delicious Living Nutrition in Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
HAILEE SALVESEN, BACKPACK COORDINATOR
Hailee began their career as an educator focused on building comprehensive, responsive, and resilient communities of support for children. After being lucky enough to work with a fledgling program connecting farms and schools, Hailee found a passion for food justice that led them to work on a variety farms throughout Vermont and the Hudson Valley. They come to Common Ground Farm eager to provide fresh, local, and nutritious food to children and families and work with their community as we support each other in growing stronger together. Hailee loves growing tomatoes, dancing to live music, and being in the sun with their cat, Artemis.