Castanea Fellowship
Geeta Maker-Clark, MD, ABOIM, is the Director of Integrative Nutrition and Advocacy at NorthShore University HealthSystem, where Geeta accelerates food as medicine initiatives and advances community engagement. Geeta is also the Physician Lead of the Healthy Initiatives Task Force, Chair and Founder of the Food As Medicine CME Symposium, an Integrative Medicine Physician/Consultant, a Castanea Fellow, Director of the Food is Power course at Montessori School of Englewood, Co-Director of Culinary Medicine at The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, and a former Staff Physician at Ventura County Medical Center & Santa Paula Hospital. Geeta is dedicated to promoting healthy and sustainable food systems, nutrition education, and integrative medicine.
Castanea Fellowship
The Castanea Fellowship is a multi-sector collaborative that creates opportunities for transformative leadership to thrive. It is a new, two-year fellowship for diverse leaders working for a racially just food system in any of the areas of: health, environment, agriculture, regional economies, or community development. Castanea Fellows will build power to shift structures and culture towards the creation of a more equitable, sustainable, and healthy food system for children, families, and all communities. We give Castanea Fellows the time, space, and resources they need to connect and innovate on long-term solutions that can foster vibrant communities. Castanea Fellowship is nurtured by a stellar Steering Committee, supported by a powerhouse advisory council, informed by hundreds of conversations with food system change-makers, and inspired by a decade of successful alumni from the W.K. Kellogg Food and Community Fellows. The Castanea Fellowship is supported by a larger community. This includes our powerhouse Steering Committee, as well as a phenomenal set of advisors. Advisors are a set of national partners with diverse expertise who serve as Community Advisors and on the Selection Committee. We also value our connection to alumni of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Food and Community Fellowship. We are grateful to these incredible advisors and their guidance to the Castanea Fellowship. Learn more about them by visiting our website. Our name comes from the Castanea, or chestnut tree family. We are inspired by the symbolism of Castanea, a species that is native to North America that is resilient, innovative, and abundant. Our organization reflects our core values: racial equity, diversity, and impact. Our inaugural cohort, the 2019 Castanea Fellows, will be announced on June 12th, 2019. Our 2020 cohort will be announced in December 2019. Follow us on social media: #Castanea2019 Twitter: @castaneafellows Facebook: Castanea Fellowship Instagram: Casta