Urban Islanders

The Urban Islanders Pilot Episode takes place at Worcester, MA's Root Skills Conference, during which our roving reporter Zakiyyah Ali interviewed the following people:  Bart Westdijk - Director of Operations at New England Grassroots Environment FundWebsite: https://grassrootsfund.org Bart comes to the Grassroots Fund from the Netherlands. His interest in local solutions and grassroots initiatives comes from his world travels and thesis study focus on multinational corporations' potential to help alleviate poverty. The first 20 years of his life Bart spent in Zwijndrecht, a town just south of multi-cultural Rotterdam. As Director of Operations, Bart focuses on a variety of tasks ranging from strategic program development to fundraising, and from Grow grant program review to Local Food-related research and network participation. His main focus has been on the participatory process, ensuring protocols and practices throughout the organization center equity & justice. Laura Flagg - Program Manager