Our Team
Darian Artis
School Garden Partners Manager
Darian is a DC native, artist, and educator who found a love for the land through a neighbor's small garden on their block. Being able to experience the beauty and healing that comes from growing plants, Darian has committed themselves to forever being a lifelong learner while sharing their love of plants and roots with others.
They have a passion for early learning, especially through play, intentional, and nature-based experiences. Darian has worked in many facets of education from after-school programming to being a Director at a nature-focused preschool. While currently pursuing their Masters in Urban Education, Darian also loves to get lost on hikes, camp, catch fireflies, and play with their kittens Elora, Styx, and Rhea.
jillian fan
Resources and Trainings Coordinator
Jillian was born and raised in the DMV and grew up running imaginary food stands out of dirt patches in the park. After graduating from Georgetown in 2022, she was unenthused about pursuing careers in her field of study and decided, instead, to find work that felt authentic and sparked joy. She got her start in gardens as a Resources and Trainings Fellow for City Blossoms in spring of 2023 - learning and growing alongside our young gardeners and enthusiastic educators - and joined the team full-time as a Resources and Trainings Coordinator. Outside of the CB studio, you will likely find her covered in flour baking or floating around the local food system for good eats!
Hannah Harrow
Senior Operations Manager
Hannah grew up around the DMV, always valuing her time spent exploring the outdoors. She found her passion for combining environmental justice and urban gardens while working with a cooking and gardening education program in DC public elementary schools. She further developed this passion by going back to school and focusing on sustainable agriculture and food systems along with urban sustainability.
Credit: Satsun Photography
Willa Pohlman
Deputy Director
willa@cityblossoms.org
Willa started working with City Blossoms in 2012 as a rockin’ maintenance intern. After ending her internship she just wasn’t ready to go and joined the team full-time. She’s advanced through the organization as an Educator, Director of Programming, and now Deputy Director. Originally from Vermont, Willa brings to this work her experience of growing up on her family’s farm and her passion for community development.
Cara Satullo
Community Outreach Coordinator
Cara had a childhood that was shaped by outdoor experiences. From making pottery out of clay in the neighborhood creek to harvesting vegetables in her family's garden, she has always been enamored with the beauty of the natural world. As a result, Cara became dedicated to fostering similar experiences for today's youth, which she has done for over ten years as a leader at her hometown Girl Scout camp and by volunteering and interning at several education-focused nonprofits. Originally from Ohio, DC feels like a home away from home for Cara after living here during her last semester of undergrad. She graduated with degrees in public policy and Spanish and is excited to continue growing closer to the communities and green spaces in DC.
Stephanie Solis
Youth Entrepreneurship Cooperative Manager
Stephanie grew up in Louisville, Kentucky and is the daughter of Honduran and Mexican parents. Deeping her relationships with plants and their spiritual, medicinal, and healing properties is how she hopes to continue decolonizing and healing from systems of oppression. She graduated from the University of Southern California with a major in Non-Governmental Organizations and Social Change with a minor in Spanish and organized alongside immigrant Black, Indigenous and Women of Color in the labor movement. Her freedom dreams are to be a part of a farming collective with loved ones where movement leaders train in popular education, food justice, and healing justice.
tAYLOR vANDICK
Development Manager
Taylor grew up in Massachusetts, where she first developed a love of the outdoors while hiking and walking amidst the colorful leaves of New England fall. She loves finding connections to her home through the nature and food around her - from apple picking in MA to gardening and foraging in the UK. After receiving her master’s in applied theatre, Taylor co-founded Ardent Earth Collective, through which she created arts-based workshops with communities in London to engage folks in environmental education and activism through theatre and other interdisciplinary arts. She is so excited to grow her knowledge of DC’s incredible community and green spaces as a member of the City Blossoms team.
Rafael Woldeab
Executive Director
rafael@cityblossoms.org
Raf, a native Washingtonian and son of Eritrean immigrants, is no stranger to City Blossoms. He first joined the City Blossoms team in 2015 as a seasonal intern. Since then, he has remained an integral part of the team, serving on our board of directors for four years and, most recently, as our board chair. He received his bachelor's degree in Environmental Policy from Sewanee: The University of the South as a Posse Scholar, and has over eleven years of professional background in community organizing and justice-centered program development. He is also the founder of Masc-Off, a community organization committed to dismantling harmful forms of masculinity. When not getting his hands properly dirty in the garden, Raf enjoys practicing photography, discovering new music, and playing recreational soccer.
Isa Zambrano
Community Green Spaces Manager
Isa is from Maryland, where she grew up making arepas every Sunday. Connecting to her Venezuelan culture in this way made food an essential focal point in her life. Further exploring every aspect of food has brought her to many community gardens in the DC area and expanded her understanding of how food gets on a plate. Prior to City Blossoms she combined her public health knowledge and bilingualism to serve at Lynbrook ES and DC Bilingual PCS as a culinary and garden educator, assisting in school food, and emergency food distributions. Isa is excited to dig deeper into the DC community through City Blossoms.
Miya Nixon
Early Growers Manager
Miya was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in the DMV, Miya has always felt a deep connection to her community. She earned her Bachelor's degree in Biology from Salisbury University and discovered her passion for gardening and cooking with children when she returned to the city as a FoodCorps service member in 2014.
Since then, Miya has taught hands-on lessons in cooking and gardening, hosted school garden markets, and developed engaging curricula to inspire young learners and their families. Before joining City Blossoms, she worked as a lead preschool teacher with children ages 2-5, nurturing curiosity and creativity in early childhood education.
As the Early Growers Manager, Miya is thrilled to combine her love for gardening, nutrition, and early childhood education to serve the very communities that shaped her. When she’s not tending to young sprouts in the garden, she enjoys trying new recipes, exploring farmers markets, and treasure hunting while thrift shopping.
Chris Herrera
Community Green Spaces Coordinator
Chris is an artist, facilitator, and advocate from Silver Spring, MD who is passionate about environmental and food justice, storytelling, youth advocacy, and community healing. He studied Environmental Science at American University as Frederick Douglass Distinguished Scholar. Chris has many years of experience as a youth facilitator, having taught hundreds of cooking, gardening, nutrition, leadership, and art classes to youth across DC during his time at the Latin American Youth Center. Chris is driven to co-create a future where community, justice, love, and the Earth are pillars in society, believing that it starts with accessible green space, community care, art, holistic health, and popular education.
In his free time, Chris likes to hike, cook, garden, travel, create art, and nap!
Aaliyah Dorsey
Communications and Development Coordinator
Aaliyah is a Native Washingtonian and aims to continue to uphold and appreciate DC's dynamic history and culture. She began her journey with nature gardening with her mother in the backyard of her childhood home on Ingraham street. From growing snow peas to peaches she was taught the importance of community dependence and food equity. Healthy and accessible food is a human right not a privilege! Aaliyah has received her bachelor's at the University of Rochester in Psychology as a POSSE scholar, researching external factors that affect POC romantic relationships. When not doing her research, you can find Aaliyah sculpting or in the stacks of Lost City Books store in Adams Morgan. She is super excited to work closely with her DC community as City Blossoms Comms and Development Coordinator.
Our Board
“We believe deeply that every kid in this city has a super power just waiting to be discovered in the garden – be it a panache for seeing possibility in everything, a fierce desire to nourish family and community, or an insatiable sense of wonder – and it is our job to give them a safe and beautiful place to explore their super powers. In the process, we discover our own.”
Beverlié Lord, Board Chair
Beverlié joined the City Blossoms board in 2016, where she served as co-chair of the Events Committee. Beverlié Lord is a multi-genre photographer based in Washington, D.C. She has established herself as a sought-after photographer with a distinctive style and an unrelenting devotion to capturing the essence of her subjects. Prior to launching her photography business, Satsun Photography, Beverlié served for over a decade as an early childhood educator in DC. When she's not behind the camera, she enjoys traveling with the love of her life, Chris, and their two remarkable sons, Noam and Solomon, as well as spending time with friends who feel like family.
Pamela Larmee, Vice Chair
Pam has been a board member since 2015, serving as the Co-Chair of the Development Committee since 2017. She is the Principal of Strategic Philanthropy Services, a fundraising consulting firm founded in 2007. Pam and her family live in Arlington, VA.
Adrienne stay, treasurer
Bio coming soon!
Joseph Yarbough, secretary
Joe has been a DC resident since 2010 and a board member with City Blossoms since 2019. Currently, he is employed as a staff attorney with the D.C. Public Defender Service where he represents lower income people accused of serious crimes in D.C.
