Maureen Best, 39 / Executive Director, Local Environmental Agriculture Project (LEAP)
Maureen Best has three undergraduate degrees, a master’s in Anthropology from Colorado State University and is currently pursuing a Masters in Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, where she is also a member of the 50-member 2020 Bloomberg Fellows. As the Executive Director of LEAP for the last seven years, she has brought over $2.5 million of highly competitive federal funds into the Roanoke Valley to increase affordable access to fresh food and support farmers and food-based businesses. Best works with a variety of coalitions that address the social determinates of health at the neighborhood, city, regional and state level, as well as several local boards such as Blue Ridge Land Conservancy and as treasurer on the Virginia Food System Council. “Food connects us to each other and the world around us,” Best says. “I love being able to build community, share stories, support small businesses and keep farmers farming … Fresh, local, nutrient-dense food is for all of us, always–that is what drives me.”
- Earned MA in Anthropology, Colorado State University; earned undergraduate degrees in Agriculture Education, Spanish and Anthropology, North Carolina State University
- Currently pursuing a Masters in Public Health at Johns Hopkins University
- Selected to join the 50-member cohort of 2020 Bloomberg Fellows at Johns Hopkins University
- Transformed LEAP over seven years into an organization that employs seven people, operates eight programs, and serves more than 10,000 low-income community members, 50+ farmers, and 30+ food-based businesses
- Serves on several local and statewide Boards and Committees, including:Blue Ridge Land ConservancyHealthy Roanoke Valley Steering CommitteeVirginia Food System Council (serves as Treasurer)Virginia Farm to School Leadership TeamGovernor’s Children’s Cabinet Nutrition and Food Security WorkgroupVirginia Good Food Fund Working GroupEastern Food Hub Collaborative
- Presentations include:Virginia Food Security Summit (October 2020)Food System Financing in Virginia (October 2020)National Food System Plan Convening (2019)Weight of the State Conference (2019)Virginia Farm to Table Conference (2018)CityWorks Xpo (2017)
From the Nomination: “Maureen Best is a mother, partner, sister, thinker, community member, colleague, lifelong student and friend. She grew up in a North Carolina family of eight siblings where she learned how to work with others and how to be independent. In her free time, Best loves to hike, camp, bike, read, cook and garden with her partner and two young children. … Her work and professional experiences are wide-ranging but always come back to food. Best has taught high school agriculture in Raleigh, NC, worked with migrant farmworkers in eastern NC and in the Colorado plains, conducted food safety inspections in Boulder, CO, and studied the economic viability of the local food system in Northern Colorado. … Best and her partner moved to Roanoke in 2013, after eight years in Colorado, to be closer to family in North Carolina, to be in the Blue Ridge mountains where they grew up, and to be part of and serve the amazing communities in Roanoke. … Over the past seven years Best transformed LEAP into an organization that employs seven people, operates eight programs, and serves more than 10,000 low-income community members, 50+ farmers, and 30+ food-based businesses. … During her time at LEAP, Best has brought over $2.5 million of highly competitive federal funds into the Roanoke Valley to increase affordable access to fresh food, support farmers and food-based businesses, and to plan for a healthier and stronger community. Best has also helped make LEAP a food system leader regionally and statewide. She was instrumental in creating the Virginia Fresh Match statewide nutrition incentive network. As the co-lead of Virginia Fresh Match (since 2017) and Lead Researcher on a $1.8 million USDA Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive grant, Best has helped elevate the nutrition incentive model to the statewide level. Because of Best’s expertise, strategic thinking, community-focused work and knowledge of food systems, she has been nominated to and serves on numerous statewide, regional and local boards and committees, including Blue Ridge Land Conservancy, Healthy Roanoke Valley Steering Committee, Invest Health Roanoke and the NW Food Access Initiative, Virginia Food System Council (serves as Treasurer), Virginia Farm to School Leadership Team and the Governor’s Children’s Cabinet Nutrition and Food Security Workgroup.”
What do you love about Roanoke?
Best: “I love the sense of hope, openness and willingness to try that I see in people, businesses, organizations and leadership in Roanoke. And I love the mountains, trails, waterways, greenways, farmers, neighborhoods and small businesses that call out and ask us to nestle in and make Roanoke home.”
How does your passion impact our community?
Best: “I think about food all the time. Food connects us to each other and the world around us. I love being able to build community, share stories, support small businesses and keep farmers farming through handmade tamales, crisp apples, vine-ripened tomatoes, sweet potatoes, over easy eggs and the perfect pork chop. Fresh, local, nutrient-dense food is for all of us, always–that is what drives me.”
