Meghann Ackerman

No matter where she lives, Meghann remains slightly obsessed with Somerville. She is also a writer, cook, baker, knitter, and zombie enthusiast. Meghann enjoys exploring new neighborhoods and getting to know them through their art, food, and especially, drink.

Clay Adamczyk

Clay Adamczyk is news and arts writer, photographer, musician, and curates a DIY show space. He recently cofounded the Allston DIY Festival and plays in the Allston based band, Yoko Oh, No! He was born in Chicago, IL. and relocated to Boston to study at Suffolk University where he has since graduated with BA’s in Journalism & Literature and accidentally received a minor in History. He is currently planning on launching his own blog following local bands and the DIY basement culture and you can check out his venue at myspace.com/theallstonhouse.

Allison Baker

Alli was born in Xenia, OH (which is cool because it starts with an X) but moved to Boston in 2007 because her family made it look like so much fun. Since then she has discovered that dining out is her favorite sport and increasing food awareness is her favorite cause. Alli has been caught exploring all steps of the food supply chain from herding pigs and processing chickens, to infusing spirits and trading bites of cheese for bites of charcuterie with newly-friended strangers at local establishments. Sometimes she writes these experiences down at her blog Nuts to Soup.

Rachel Leah Blumenthal

Rachel Leah Blumenthal is a science and food writer, photographer, and musician. She currently plays with two Somerville bands, The Bowties and The Michael J. Epstein Memorial Library. Born and raised in Sharon, Massachusetts, she holds a BS in Neuroscience from the University of Rochester and an MS in Science Journalism from Boston University. Check out Rachel’s blog at forkitoverboston.blogspot.com and her website at rachelblumenthal.net.

Laura Burns

Laura Burns is a writer and comedian based out of Somerville. Previous publications include The Rumpus and Funny not Slutty. Her sketch group, Friends of Gertrude, was an official selection of the 2010 Philly Sketchfest. In addition to having a passion for Boston’s comedy scene, she is fond of music, movies, food, cocktails, wine, fashion, crafting, and karaoke. The more karaoke, the better.

Abbe Cohen Dvornik

Abbe Cohen Dvornik is a Somerville mom who enjoys honing Iron-Chef-like skills to combine what’s in the fridge and pantry into a tasty meal on the fly. She is a longtime fan of local foods and local flavor – her idea of fun includes browsing new grocery stores in or from other places, and finding cool restaurants hiding just around the corner. She moved to Somerville in 1996, bought a home here in 2000, and has loved living here ever since. Abbe blogs about local food and community supported agriculture at outoftheboxfood.blogspot.com.

Jody Colley

Kansas City native Jody Colley got her start in the alt. weekly world at the then independently owned Pitch Weekly. There she worked through various positions including business manager, distribution director and classified sales manager. After the publication was purchased by New Times (now Village Voice Media) in 1999, Colley headed West joining the sales management team at the San Francisco Bay Guardian. As advertising sales director at the Guardian, Colley was active in various San Francisco business groups, AAN (Association of Alternative Newsweeklies) committees and served on the executive committee for AWN. In 2007, Colley left the Guardian to be publisher and one of the owners of the East Bay Express. She currently serves as an at-large member of the AAN board of directors.

Sam Coren

Sam Coren is an inbound marketing specialist, blogger, photographer, radio DJ, and musician. She moved to Somerville’s Winter Hill neighborhood in 2009 after graduating from Northeastern University with a BS in Music Industry. As a firm believer in free form, independent radio, she can be found co-hosting a program entitled “You Can’t Do That On Radio Anymore” on 104.9 WRBB FM Boston on Sunday’s at 5pm EST.

Sam used to pay the bills by account managing promotions that offered cool new opportunities for musicians on OurStage.com, a music discovery website. She was also a staff writer for their blog. In April of 2010 Sam became the project manager at PullnotPush where she currently works. PullnotPush is an inbound marketing firm focused on helping small to medium-sized businesses get found online using HubSpot software. In October of 2010 Sam decided she was being kind of a bum when it came to making the world a better place. To fix this hole in her life she decided to put her skills to good use at Somerville Local First. As former blog editor Sam collaborated with community bloggers to produce content on the organization’s website that promotes member businesses, other local nonprofits, and city events. Nowadays, she is the content manager for StudentAdvisor.com, but still contributes to the SLF blog biweekly.

Catch up with Sam on her blog at www.samcoren.com or on Twitter at @samcoren.

David Day

David Day began his Boston journey in Ball Square and loves Somerville. He edits the Arts section of the local independent paper Boston’s Weekly Dig, promotes shows as Basstown Presents, co-founded Together: The New England Electronic Music Festival and has a movie out called Speaking in Code.

Christine Del Castillo

Christine Del Castillo is global soul and a digital native with a passion for inspiring people to jump on bandwagons that make the world a better place. She is a nonprofit fundraiser, inbound marketing strategist, and blogger. This Filipina transplant lives on the Somerville-Cambridge side of the Charles, where she scours neighborhood thrift stores, hangs with her def posse, and fails at vegetable gardening.

Connect with her online at her blog, Good Together, her website, http://about.me/delcastillo, and on Twitter at @chrissachrissa.

Liana Fedele

Liana is Senior majoring in Anthropology and International Relations and at Tufts University. Her love affair with the ‘Ville began in late 2008 when she first rolled down Holland Street after spending a lifetime in Chicago. When she’s not working as SLF’s Member Management Intern, Liana finds her spare time occupied by beading, books, food blogs, microbrews, and the occasional yoga class. Liana hopes to go on to study the intersection of legal practices and sustainable food systems, sharing the local love wherever she goes.

JJ Gonson

JJ Gonson is a woman with a lot of energy. She has two kids, and wrangles the whole Cuisine en Locale circus. With a background in short order, rock and roll and photography, she likes to tell herself that maybe she is no longer merely a jill of all trades, but perhaps even master of a few. Find her on facebook or email her jj@enlocale.com

Joe Grafton

Joe is the founder and Executive Director of Somerville Local First, a leading network of Locally Owned and Independent businesses creating sustainable local economies. He is also a steering committee member of the New England Local Business Forum, a board member of The Sustainable Business Network of Greater Boston and the Chief Operating Officer for the Together Music Festival. Joe is a Huffington Post Blogger, social media expert, published journalist and advocate for local economies across Greater Boston, New England and beyond.

Kathleen Hornby

Kathleen was born in Canada, works in downtown Boston, lives in Medford, and dreams of moving back to Somerville. She was vegan for seven years and still eats a lot of kale. Follow her on Twitter at @KathleenBean1.

Emily Kanter

Emily is the Program & Outreach Director for the Sustainable Business Leader Program, a comprehensive certification program that supports locally-owned and independent businesses in improving their environmental business practices and reducing their carbon footprint. Currently, Emily is also a staff coordinator for The Boston Local Food Festival this October 2, 2010, a delicious outdoor celebration of the many benefits of local food. She brings a profound understanding of the local and organic industry from many, many years working at Cambridge Naturals, a family business just across the border from Somerville.

Michael Kanter

Michael is a founder of the store Cambridge Naturals, which started in1974. Michael partners with his wife, Elizabeth Stagl, in their natural health business. They live in Somerville and are passionate about locally owned and independent business being a big part of helping to build strong local economies.

Danielle Kennedy

Interim blog editor Danielle is a Linguistics and Psychology major at Northeastern University. She is a huge nerd about it, so don’t start her talking about it. Danielle has her hands in many other local nonprofits, including Peer Health Exchange, during which time she taught health classes to ninth graders in schools without a health program in the Boston area, and MassVOTE, an organization that strives to register voters in underrepresented communities in Massachusetts. Now, as the Web & Editorial Intern at SLF, Danielle is excited that there is a forum that has to publish her various musings.

Susan Labandibar

Susan Labandibar is the founder and CEO of Tech Networks of Boston, a single source for computer networks and web technologies for Boston-area businesses. The firm is one of the first established IT service companies in the country to incorporate IT energy use reduction into all of its offerings.

Susan serves as President of the Sustainable Business Network of Greater Boston, an 18-year old non-profit organization of business leaders committed to building economies that are green, local and fair. She also serves on the board of Interise, a national organization focused on job-creation in low-income urban areas. Susan has just completed a term of service on the City of Boston’s Community Advisory Committee on Climate Action.

Maggie Kaiser and Louis Epstein

Maggie and Louis met in Somerville (2006), moved in together (2007), got a dog (2008), and took off for a year in Paris (2009). There, they learned to stop and smell the cheeses, a skill they are excited to apply to life back in Somerville (2010-?). They enjoy front-yard gardening, commuting by bike, and roaming the streets of Somerville with their dog, Panda. Read about their recent adventures in Paris at panda-a-paris.blogspot.com.

Stacy Mitchell

Stacy Mitchell is a senior researcher with the New Rules Project and directs its initiative to curb the power of big-box retailers and strengthen locally owned businesses. She’s the author of Big Box Swindle, writes regularly for a variety of publications, and produces a monthly email bulletin, The Hometown Advantage. Visit her website at www.newrules.org/retail.

Rachel Oldfield

Rachel Oldfield is a history major at Tufts who has led freshmen as an Orientation Leader and has volunteered with the Leonard Carmichael Society. She has worked as a copy editor for the Tufts Daily and will soon be the executive op-ed editor. Last summer she worked as the marketing intern for the eco-luxury, socially responsible travel company Elevate Destinations and now she is the Sustainable Economies Marketing Intern at Somerville Local First.

Dan Parsons

Dan Parsons

Dan is the new Board President for Somerville Local First. He & his family have owned and operated downTown wine & spirits for over two decades in the heart of Davis Square. Dan’s a aficionado of most things alcoholic and live music related, a writer and musician.

Henry Patterson

Henry Patterson is an SLF Board Member and, as a Union Square landlord, only works with local independent businesses. He has founded and operated and consulted with successful restaurants for over 30 years. Currently he is focused on the financial management and growth of several restaurants, including, in Somerville, Ronnarong Thai Tapas Bar. He lives in Concord with his wife Claudine.

Elise Ramsay

Elise is a former New York snob whose awful Yankee affliction has been cured by Somerville. By day she works in neuropsychology; by later in the day she is a dancer, vegetarian chef, writer, feminist, and lover of everything animal-related. She also considers herself an amateur Somervillian tour-guide, considering the number of friends she has gleefully converted to the neighborhood.

Kelsey Roth

Kelsey Roth has been kicking around the media marketing business for over 15 years working with clients ranging from large international corporations to small local businesses. Originally from Chicago, he graduated from Boston University and soon found work in the area. Having lived in Somerville for 20 years, he now considers himself a Somerville native and grateful to be living in Ward 5 with his beautiful wife and fluffy dog. Instead of helping big companies make more money for themselves, he is using his talents for good by helping local businesses to better connect with their customers. You can reach him at his new Somerville-based business, The Management.

Kristen Schaer

Kristen Schaer is a former Army Brat who currently resides in Cambridge, and recently realized that she has lived in the area longer than she’s ever lived anywhere in her life. Instead of giving into the seven year itch, though, she’s digging in and loving her friends and surroundings. She is a lady barber, sometime ballet dancer and can most often be found discovering new music and bellying up to the various beer-laden pubs in the area.

Julia Stimeck

Julia Stimeck is the Member Management Intern for Somerville Local First. A senior at Tufts University studying International Relations, Economics, and Russian, she enjoys crafting, fashion, and the outdoors.

Chris Templeman

Chris Templeman is owner of Templeman Automation (TA). TA is a product development firm that focuses on embedded electronics and software. Their projects include developing safety equipment for F-16 aircraft, producing photo-realistic computer visualizations of ocean waves for sailor training, and designing devices to improve access to clean water for emerging nations. They love solving difficult problems that have real world impact. Chris likes cooking, neato gadgets and tinkering. Learn more about Chris and TA at templemanautomation.com.