Organization: Southeastern African American Farmers Organic Network (SAAFON)

Whitney Jaye (she/her) is a farmer- organizer, land steward, and mother whose love for the land and sea stem back deep into her life and lineage.

As a native of Wilmington, North Carolina, Whitney Jaye sees her work through the lens of Black Southern lifeways that (re)center agrarianism, and through the ancestral memories and practices of coastal Carolinian culture. She has done a variety of food systems work and organizing, from farming and youth agricultural education, to farmers market management, and cooperative development. She has designed and implemented a variety of projects and programs with diverse partners, including with The Conservation Fund, Atlanta Botanical Garden, Morehouse School of Medicine, Ashoka Changemakers, and West Atlanta Watershed Alliance.

Whitney Jaye currently serves as the Director of Strategic and Programmatic Development at the Southeastern African American Farmers Organic Network (SAAFON), a sixteen year old network of farmers committed to ecologically sustainable land practices. In her work with SAAFON, she anchors the development of SAAFON’s programs and projects, and works to ensure that the organization’s strategies, offerings, and partnerships reflect the needs of its members, and aligns with the organization’s mission.

In addition to her work with SAAFON, Whitney Jaye is a founding member of the Black Agrarian Workers of the South Collective (BAWS), has served on the Leadership Team of the National Black Food and Justice Alliance (NBFJA), the Host Committee for the Black Farmers and Urban Gardeners Conference (BUGS), and the Steering Committee of the Southwest Atlanta Growers Cooperative (SWAG). She deeply values the brilliance, spirit, and abundance of Black Southern agrarian magic, and has been a witness to its power to transform and heal.