Ashley Gripper was born and raised in Philadelphia. Her work focuses on Black folks’ connection and re-connection to the Creator, to our ancestors, to each other, and to the land. She is the Founder of Land Based Jawns, a spiritually rooted organization that provides education and training primarily to Black women on food sovereignty, building, land based living, and safety with a focus on self and community healing.
Ashley is a farmer at Sankofa Community Farm and working with Soil Generation to design Philly’s first Urban Agriculture Plan.
Ashley also studies environmental health at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health. Her research looks at the impact of urban agriculture on mental health, spirituality, and collective agency for Black people, and is supported by the Health Policy Research Scholars program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Learn more about Ashley’s work here.
