Our Team

Ash's Picutre

Ash Richards

Urban Agriculture Director
(they/them)

Ash Richards is the Urban Agriculture Director at Philadelphia Parks and Recreation, managing the Farm Philly Program and the City’s first Urban Agriculture Plan, Growing from the Root. As a third generation farmer, their work supports the interdependence and collective determination of residents to grow and produce their own food. In 2008, beginning their career in sustainability and food justice, Ash joined More Gardens! in Bronx, NY as a community organizer, collaborating with local growers to develop an urban farm cooperative led by Black and Latine residents (La Finca del Sur). Prior to their role at Parks and Recreation, Ash worked for the Philadelphia City Planning Commission doing comprehensive and place-based planning and the Philadelphia Water Department’s Office of Watersheds doing green stormwater infrastructure projects.

Ash earned a Master’s Degree from the University of Pennsylvania in City and Regional Planning and has an educational background in geography and agroecology. They have been an ex-officio member of the Philadelphia Food Policy Advisory Council (FPAC) since 2012 and served as Co-chair of the Urban Agriculture Subcommittee from 2016-2021.

Outside of work, Ash enjoys outdoor adventures, food experiments, sci-fi and action films and photography, and can be spotted rummaging through local comic book shops.

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David Crutchfield

Farm Philly Garden Educator
(he/his)

David Crutchfield, is the Farm Philly Garden Educator for the Junior Farmer program. David is a naturalist, horticulturist, a student and steward of Mother Nature. From NYC to Philadelphia David has been building and maintaining playgrounds, gardens and open spaces for over 30 years.

Andrew

Andrew Kirkpatrick

Urban Greening Coordinator
(he/him)

Andrew’s past work experience and education in conservation, ecological restoration, and social impact strategy combined with his passion for community and urban agriculture made the Urban Greening Coordinator position a natural fit. He brings this experience to Farm Philly where he is managing the Community Compost Network, Community Agriculture Network and Land Access Program. Andrew enjoys the opportunity to engage local community gardeners and urban farmers as they gain access to resources needed to support their work.

Originally from Harrisburg, Andrew moved to Philly in 2010 for graduate school in Landscape Architecture at Temple University and never left. He most recently worked at a local land trust where he came to understand the power of land sovereignty for disadvantaged and disinvested communities. This in turn led him to the Executive Leadership program in Social Impact Strategy at the University of Pennsylvania. Andrew is excited to bring the tools and frameworks he learned at Penn to his work at Farm Philly.

He lives in Germantown with his family and their numerous pets. He loves riding his bike in the Wissahickon and along the Schuylkill River, listening to WXPN, reading comic books, and gardening with native plants.

Jose

Jose Santiago

Urban Greening Coordinator
(he/him)

Jose joined the team in January 2024.   A North Philadelphia native and graduate of the College of the Holy Cross (Class of 2017), Jose began his work in conservation with AmeriCorps where he was stationed in central California for about a year. He moved back to Philadelphia in 2018 where he joined the Audubon Mid-Atlantic team as a Fund II Apprentice. The Fund II Foundation Apprenticeship Program at Audubon was a year-long, full-time apprenticeship for diverse young leaders entering the conservation field. During his time as an Apprentice, Jose worked tirelessly to increase community awareness and involvement with The Discovery Center.
 
After his apprentice position, he was offered a full-time position with Audubon Mid-Atlantic.  In his role as Center Coordinator, Jose continued his work with community involvement, enhancing the trail system and further developing the high school internship program at The Discovery Center. While he worked for Audubon he simultaneously worked at the Philadelphia Zoo teaching conservation education on the weekends. His favorite Philly Zoo animals are the vampire bats and goats. The most rewarding part of his work has been helping people find that spark that gets them excited about greenspaces and conservation. 

His hobbies include birding, exploring Philadelphia trails, and gardening. Jose recently completed his master’s degree in Resource and Park Management from Slippery Rock University. 
 

Erica Mines

Agriculture Resource Specialist 
(she/they)

As a lifelong Philadelphian from Strawberry Mansion, Erica brings extensive community organizing experience and a transformative vision to environmental and community gardening initiatives. Her work, spanning from the Hunting Park Community Garden & Orchard to managing the Hunting Park Farmer’s Market, has illuminated the dual role of food systems as both sources of harm and avenues for healing. 

For Erica, community gardens are vital sanctuaries that foster health, resilience, and collective healing, where the interplay of grief and joy manifests through shared efforts to dismantle systemic inequities. Raised in a working-class family, she is acutely aware of the barriers to fresh food access created by discriminatory policies and strives to combat redlining within food systems. Erica advocates for food access as a fundamental human right, stressing the necessity of redistributing power and resources to empower Black and Brown communities. 

Drawing from her experience with the Philadelphia Food Policy Advisory Council, she prioritizes collective well-being over corporate profit, ensuring that communities most affected by food injustice are central to decision-making processes. Erica’s personal time is usually spent exploring Philadelphia’s parks, line dancing, cooking for her family, and hosting engaging community art workshops, with the most joy being the moments shared with her grandchildren.

Dolores Guernica

Agriculture Resource Specialist 
(they/them)

Dolores’ passion lies in creating strategies that work toward building regenerative systems that redistribute power and foster belonging. Although Dolores grew up in the D.C. area, they spent the majority of their adult life in Philadelphia where their work in public service and community organizing took root.

They then moved to the Deep South for the past 4 years to continue to work on environmental justice initiatives in a frontline community. This recent experience in a part of the country where inequalities are hyper-concentrated deepened their commitment to building liberatory infrastructures rooted in community knowledge, ecological respect, and collective power. They’re excited to be back home and carry those tough lessons here. In their spare time, you can find Dolores drawing plants and people, cooking for their friends, and obsessively playing video games.

 

Uma Franceschini

Lead Farmer, Carousel House Farm
(she/her)

Uma is super thrilled to be back in the urban agriculture space! Uma is a Drexel graduate, where she developed a passion for community-led development and food justice that led her to a position with FNC at the 8th and Poplar Community Learning Farm in the spring of 2022. There she assisted with running the farm and its youth and community programming.

Currently residing in South Philly, Uma loves tending to her backyard garden, hanging out with her new kitty, and cooking (sourdough is her current fixation). This summer you will most likely find her at a flea market or catching some live music when she’s not taking care of CHF!