Cindy Holmes (she/her) is a queer, cisgender, white settler of Scottish and Irish ancestry who was raised in the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation in Guelph Ontario. She moved to the unceded and ancestral territories of the lək̓^wəŋən and WSÁNEĆ peoples in the city known as Victoria, British Columbia, in 2017 to take up a position as Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Victoria. Her interdisciplinary, community-engaged, and collaborative research explores connections between wellbeing, belonging, storytelling and resistance in various communities. Her research interests include: Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, queer health and wellbeing; critical race feminist theories of intersectionality; decolonization; violence; food justice; spirituality and social justice; politics of solidarity; intergenerational storytelling; participatory action research and arts-based research. For over 25 years, Cindy worked in community organizations in the areas of anti-violence organizing, community development, counseling and advocacy, social justice education and research. Cindy is happiest when baking sourdough bread, hiking, and kayaking with loved ones, and sharing food and stories with friends around the table.

Fionna Chong (she/her) is an immigrant settler of Chinese descent, originally from South East Asia. She currently resides on the unceded territories territories of the x^wməθk^wəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. An engineer by profession, a baker by trade, and with a degree in contemplative approaches and inquiry in education, she teaches at Vancouver Community College in the Community & Career Education field. While she is in front of students on the daily, her most comfortable and natural habitat is behind the scenes, making food for people and helping to move gatherings and projects forward. She is a serial curiosity hound whose guiding light is Carl Sagan’s The Pale Blue Dot. As such, she believes in worlds of connections and shared spaces, where the complexities of navigating these spaces are challenging and life-giving at the same time.

Leslie Williams (she/her) is an immigrant settler of Scottish and Irish ancestry, who grew up in coastal Georgia in the traditional territories of the Yamacraw people, and now lives on the unceded traditional territories of the x^wməθk^wəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. She has worked in many different roles, from teaching to activism to non-profit organizations. Her upbringing in the Deep South led her to write an award-winning novel exploring the history of lynching and its aftermath. She has for decades been an enthusiastic grower of food, which led to her current position as the Executive Director of the Sharing Farm Society, a non-profit community farm dedicated to advancing food security and sustainable agriculture. She is also an avid beekeeper and advocate for native pollinators, as seen in her earlier roles as Apiary Manager at Hives for Humanity, and as a founding board member of the BC Native Bee Society. She’s deeply committed to food security and habitat protection, for both humans and non-humans.

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Akki MacKay (they/them) is a white transfemme and non-binary settler with over 10 years experience being involved in grassroots and community-based initiatives seeking transformative social change in both Montréal/Tiohtià:ke and in Victoria, BC on lək̓^wəŋən and WSÁNEĆ territory. Akki’s professional work in the non-profit sector has focused primarily on supporting and building power alongside marginalized youth, and more recently on program development and health equity research within trans and non-binary communities.

Jacqueline Sookermany (they/she) is a Black mixed-race, fat, disabled, genderqueer femme of settler/arrivant ancestry. They are currently living in the unceded territories of the lək̓^wəŋən and WSÁNEĆ peoples but were born in Treaty 1 territory on the lands of the Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dene, and Dakota, as well as the homeland of the Métis Nation. They are currently a student in the Master of Social Work program at the University of Victoria. Jacqueline’s previous studies were in psychology, biochemistry, biblical theology, and English. She is currently working with children and families, but has previously worked with the disabled community in case management, advocacy, and community outreach. She is passionate about community building and webs of care. When Jacqueline isn’t working, they enjoy spending time relaxing in their yard with a good book, baking treats for others, cross-stitching witchy art, and having ridiculous conversations with friends.

Nina Ferrigno (she/they) is a queer, nonbinary, 1st generation white-Latinx settler living and learning on Treaty 1 territory in Winnipeg, MB. Nina’s professional, activist, and community-building experience over the past decade has centered on supporting access to sexual and reproductive health care within a community-health setting and has been guided by principles of harm reduction and bodily integrity and autonomy. Presently, Nina continues to work in a community-based mental health setting supporting folks navigating eating disorders through processes of collective healing and knowledge sharing. In their spare time, Nina enjoys learning from and tending to plants and deepening their knowledge and relationship to various food cultures and practices.