Growing up in Pittsburgh, Claire always made her parents buy her the most dead-looking plants at the Giant Eagle so she could try to take care of them, and she loved harvesting red beets and raspberries in her family’s backyard garden. Her work in community organizing and planning, youth programming, conservation, and urban agriculture has taken her all over Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. Now, her dedication to food justice has brought her to her position on the Grow Pittsburgh team, and she’s really excited to be on board.
After studying Urban Studies and Social Work at the University of Pittsburgh, Claire found that she wants to work at the intersections of social justice issues, the urban landscape, and the natural environment. She hopes to help build alternatives to the inequitable systems we participate in today. Recently, she has worked with the Student Conservation Association leading youth in park conservation projects, at Pashek + MTR on comprehensive community planning initiatives, and as an educator with the YWCA. She also worked on a small farm in Detroit, where she felt especially affectionate about the gentle process of washing and packaging salad greens for delivery.
Claire likes big bundles of rainbow chard, and you can steal her heart with a really good sandwich. She’s always looking for new cities and mountains to explore. Around town, you might find her looking for a dance party or walking very quickly (and being told to slow down by whoever she’s with). Sometimes she likes to imagine shrinking to the size of a fairy and climbing around some mossy branches.
Claire is very motivated to work alongside Pittsburgh folks in their gardens and communities, and she’s equally motivated to get muddy as often as possible.