Helping You Sustain
and Grow
Over $120 MilLION RAISED
Supporting 50+ ORGS Annually
ABOUT STEPWELL
We are a network of collaborators who spend our days on farms, at universities, growing food businesses, and supporting high-impact nonprofits. Existing clients trust our ability to strategically grow their funding pipeline and create a measurable impact on the ground. We bring a real-world understanding to our work, not only helping partners secure funding but thinking through the implications that funding might have on their staff, programs, and priorities moving forward.
As a boutique firm, we customize all of our grant writing and strategic advising work for our clients as opposed to relying heavily on stock language and materials for multiple clients. We know that no two projects are the same and we ensure that from start to finish, all grant content is written with organizational and project goals in mind. While the content is original, the process is structured and builds upon a tried and true project development process that has resulted in a high degree of success.
Meet the Team
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Principal & Founder
Ben brings a decade of project development, management, and facilitation experience working with a variety of organizations. Trained as an environmental engineer, Ben works in the nonprofit sector focused on pre-development and as a strategic advisor to food and farm businesses throughout the country. In addition, Ben co-founded the Artisan Grain Collaborative and served as the first program coordinator as the organization grew. In Ben’s off hours, he runs a pre-order bagel business, Back Alley Bagel.
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Managing Director
Lauren is a fierce advocate for local farms, local food, and building a better, more equitable food system. After nearly a decade of owning and operating her own CSA vegetable operation with her husband Kyle in southern Wisconsin, Lauren now lends her expertise and experience to other farms, small businesses, and organizations. In addition to her consulting work, she is the Sales Director, Digital Manager, and recipe columnist at Edible Madison. In her time away from work, Lauren loves taking adventures near and far with her husband Kyle and daughter Lillyan.
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Senior Project Manager
Abbie is a Registered Dietitian (RD) by training, and a project manager by passion. Abbie joins Stepwell with 10+ years of experience funding and implementing farm to school, nutrition education, and food access programs. Her expertise includes strategic planning and guidance, grant portfolio management, project and contract management, and evaluation.
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Senior Specialist
Caroline is a farmer, development professional, and agricultural educator, whose interests lie at the intersection of climate change, equity, and the land. Caroline works for the Chesapeake Bay Funders Network and is a certified nutrient management consultant. Her grant writing and development experience includes awards won at the federal, state, and local and municipal level. She is especially proud of Future Harvest's "Pick Your Own Consultant" program!
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Director of Special Projects
Brianna specializes in non-commodity grain supply chains, institution and farm-to-school events and programming, grant writing, copy editing & project management. She has over a decade of farm and food systems experience ranging from vegetable row cropping to specialty grains marketing. Her work focuses on developing partnerships with institutions, researchers, businesses, and industry stakeholders to create resilient value chains critical for sustainable food systems and regional farm-to-school events that connect producers to institutional markets.
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Data Analytics Consultant
Jamal Russell Black leads data analytics and visualization projects. His broader portfolio of work focuses on analytics and impact, leveraging extensive experience in climate change and decarbonization to develop equitable solutions for underserved and divested communities. His work emphasizes creating cross-sector innovation opportunities that enhance economic, environmental, and social conditions for these populations.
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Grant Consultant
Callie is a grant writer, collaborator, and marketing consultant. With nearly a decade of experience working in multinational consumer packaged goods and specialty products, her expertise lies in people-driven strategies that support business growth. Callie excels at bringing projects to life - driving measurable results and change throughout food and farming systems. Her expertise spans brand storytelling, project management, grassroots marketing and building sustainable systems.
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Specialist
Lucia is a versatile project manager and relationship builder dedicated to building resilient, equitable, and healthy communities. She has worked across public, private, and nonprofit sectors and enjoys organizing the systems, collaboration, and funding necessary for people to scale action for positive community change. Lucia also serves as the Executive Director of POST 84, a nonprofit outdoor education organization.
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Manager, Operations and Finance
For the past ten years, MJ (they/she) has led operations, project management, and business strategy for food and farm organizations. As a diversified vegetable farmer and CSA manager, they developed a lifelong passion for regenerative agriculture advocacy and education. Outside of Stepwell, MJ serves as co-director of Miami's community farm and education center and lead organizer for their chapter of the National Young Farmers Coalition.
Tapping Into Our Trusted Network
We know that sometimes a project or grant requires special expertise. While we think we are pretty great, we know that sometimes you have to call in reinforcements. In addition to our core team. we work with a network of partners who can ensure that we can supplement our own expertise and deliver for you!