Grace Sliwoski

Eliza Lawrence is the School Gardens Manager for REC, where she has worked since 2015. She holds a BA in Geography from Clark University, and she has completed over 400 hours of professional development training in the field of youth work. She earned certification from the BEST Initiative (Building Exemplary Systems of Training) from Health Resources in Action, and she is a graduate of the Sowing Solutions Permaculture certification program.

Grace Sliwoski is the Director of Programs for REC. She is committed to her community’s youth and especially to increasing access to healthy, local food. She served as the program coordinator for the YouthGROW program from 2012–2017, which employs 40+ low-income teens to work on urban farms. She also cofounded the Central Mass Youth Jobs Coalition, a network of organizations providing education and advocating for quality youth employment. She has served on the boards of the Worcester nonprofits Stone Soup, the Community Center for Nonviolent Solutions, the Youth Jobs Task Force, and the Youth Worker’s Alliance. She is currently on the board for Central Mass Grown, the Worcester Food Policy Council, and is a member of the Community Health Improvement Plan.

Annika Ramona is an AmeriCorps Development VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America). She has been at the REC since August 2020 and is originally from Washington state. She coordinates the REC grant calendar, and she is working to improve the REC fundraising capacity. After her VISTA service, she is planning on starting graduate school at UC Berkeley. She hopes to continue working in environmental justice.