Marcus D. Carson (he/him) is the founder and executive director of Growing Kings, a nonprofit that provides innovative mentoring programs to young men in Birmingham, Alabama. For the National Equity Atlas Fellowship project, he partnered with Mae Whiting, the research director of Growing Kings, to create an educational fact sheet that builds awareness of local policing budgets, highlights effective community-based alternatives to youth incarceration, and empowers local groups to call for investment in community-centered resources and initiatives. They also created data visuals focused on local data to integrate data walks into their ongoing community meetings, supporting community access to data and increasing data equity.

Treshika Melvin (she/her) serves as the advocacy, training, and power-building director at Springboard to Opportunities. For the National Equity Atlas Fellowship project, she created an infographic for Springboard to Opportunities fellows to use in their advocacy, highlighting the issues of wage inequity and economic insecurity in Mississippi.

Jesus Montalvo (he/him/el) serves as a data management specialist at La Union del Pueblo Entero (LUPE). For the National Equity Atlas Fellowship project, he built a digital hub featuring information about local government meetings (i.e., dates, agendas, maps, calendars, and data) to inform and encourage civic engagement in San Benito, Texas.

FoodLab Detroit is a community of food entrepreneurs committed to making the possibility of good food in Detroit a sustainable reality by designing, building, and maintaintaining systems to grow a diverse ecosystem of triple-bottom-line food businesses as part of a good food movement that is accountable to all Detroiters.

This photo essay documents FoodLab's Annual Network Gathering, where invited designers, policy experts, food justice activists, FoodLab member businesses and community leaders worked to address the problem of economic inequality and the rise of the working poor in Detroit by ensuring that good food and good jobs are accessible to all people.

View other photo essays in this series:

• Establishing Principles for Good Food, Good Jobs: FoodLab Detroit Strategy Council Co-Lab #1
• Redefining Good Food + Good Jobs: FoodLab Detroit Strategy Council Co-Lab #2
• Building a Model for Good Food + Good Jobs: FoodLab Detroit Strategy Council Co-Lab #3

FoodLab Detroit is a community of food entrepreneurs committed to making the possibility of good food in Detroit a sustainable reality by designing, building, and maintaintaining systems to grow a diverse ecosystem of triple-bottom-line food businesses as part of a good food movement that is accountable to all Detroiters.

In partnership with the Work Department, a women-led social innovation design firm, the FoodLab Detroit Strategy Council members participated in a series of three interactive working sessions over the course of six weeks to define the core principles that enable the creation of Good Food and Good Jobs. This photo essay documents this engaging process.

View other photo essays in this series:

• Redefining Good Food + Good Jobs: FoodLab Detroit Strategy Council Co-Lab #2
• Building a Model for Good Food + Good Jobs: FoodLab Detroit Strategy Council Co-Lab #3
• Food as a Catalyst for Community Change: FoodLab Detroit's Annual Network Gathering

FoodLab Detroit is a community of food entrepreneurs committed to making the possibility of good food in Detroit a sustainable reality by designing, building, and maintaintaining systems to grow a diverse ecosystem of triple-bottom-line food businesses as part of a good food movement that is accountable to all Detroiters.

Throughout the second of three co-labs, the FoodLab Detroit Strategy Council members worked to further refine what it means to be a provider of good food and good jobs. This photo essay captures this process, where members worked to edit those definitions to ensure that those definitions articulated the core values of FoodLab Detroit, and painted a clear picture of the vibrant, local food economy that we envision.

View other photo essays in this series:

• Establishing Principles for Good Food, Good Jobs: FoodLab Detroit Strategy Council Co-Lab #1
• Building a Model for Good Food + Good Jobs: FoodLab Detroit Strategy Council Co-Lab #3
• Food as a Catalyst for Community Change: FoodLab Detroit's Annual Network Gathering

FoodLab Detroit is a community of food entrepreneurs committed to making the possibility of good food in Detroit a sustainable reality by designing, building, and maintaintaining systems to grow a diverse ecosystem of triple-bottom-line food businesses as part of a good food movement that is accountable to all Detroiters.

Throughout the first two collaborative work sessions, FoodLab Detroit's community of good food entrepreneurs, with the help of The Work Department, was able to develop a set of guiding principles and expectations for food businesses who wish to contribute to the creation of good food and good jobs. This photo essay captures this process, including the final co-lab whereby members reviewed these principles and ensured that this tool truly reflected their community's values prior to publication.

View other photo essays in this series:

• Establishing Principles for Good Food, Good Jobs: FoodLab Detroit Strategy Council Co-Lab #1
• Redefining Good Food + Good Jobs: FoodLab Detroit Strategy Council Co-Lab #2
• Food as a Catalyst for Community Change: FoodLab Detroit's Annual Network Gathering

Based on market analysis and research provided by Reinvestment Fund, Florida Community Loan Fund developed a strategy described as a “supermarket plus” model of fresh food financing where food retail is a piece of a larger strategy focused on food security and healthy eating. This brief profile is an example of this FCLF strategy in action through a partnership with Treasure Coast Food Bank to expand its ability to distribute and process fresh fruits and vegetables.