Danielle H. Guggenheim started Storytime with the James Baldwin Outdoor Learning Center (JBOLC) in the summer of 2020, during the height of the Covid Pandemic. "Communities are powerful when they come together, and each person plays a role and/or contributes. My role is to care and nurture The New Ones (our children)."

Danielle is most passionate about public education. In her own words, "My driving force both personally and professionally is to meet the challenge of "What does high quality, academically rigorous education look like, feel like, and sound like in classrooms, irrespective of class, ethnicity, or zip code"

With over twenty years' experience in education, that includes middle school administrator, graduate school adjunct professor, elementary school teacher and teacher of children with disabilities, Danielle Guggenheim is on a mission to work and collaborate with leading experts to bring best practices in education, environmentalism, and sustainability to youth of The Bronx.

Sung Kim feels blessed to be involved in the work of JBOLC. She loves to share her love for plants and wildlife and enjoys working together with our amazing community members to help build a more beautiful village where we learn Mother nature's way and respect all beings including "weeds".

She is a certified permaculture designer, gardener and master composter.

Sharon Lungrin is an experienced finance and operation not for profit professional and entrepreneur.

As a JBOLC Board Member, Sharon focuses on strategic planning and working to deepen JBOLC relationships with local organizations, elected officials and community members in order to create and sustain a thriving network of good information about resources and opportunities in the Bronx and beyond.

Ray Pultinas(he/him) is responsible for organization's recognition and realization of its mission, maintaining relationships and expanding networks and capacities.

Raised on the Caribbean shores of Barbados, the granddaughter of two agricultural families, Dana gardened from a young age. Therefore, stumbling upon Meg's Garden and JBOLC in 2019 was simply kismet. What was once just a walk to garden with community members, has now transitioned into what feels like familial duty.

As a board member of JBOLC she has served on the Marketing Committee, Finance Committee and Restorative Justice Committee in previous years and hopes to spearhead a Plant Education Series this year. As the garden grows more towards herbalism, it provides the opportunity to learn more about plant based medicine and culinary arts.

"Our community is rich with culture and wisdom from Turtle Island and all over the world, I'm excited to see what we can learn together"

Richard Wooley is a former constituent correspondent for the US Senate and speechwriter for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. He co-founded several small businesses and coached over 500 startups and emerging companies, helping them re-examine strategies and draw roadmaps to their goals. He's also consulted for non-profits, including DoSomething, Super Dville and ZanaAfrica, which focus on community impact, social-emotional learning and economic injustices caused by lack of health resources. In media, he produced original news video content for CBSeye and, for seven years, co-authored a weekly political opinion column for the Huffington Post. He's an invited editorial writer for CNN.

As a board member, he helps reaching out to broader community through social media and other engagements.

When this gorgeous amaranth flowers turn into grains, goldfinches love to feast on them.