Erica Hall

Erica Hall, M.S. CED, MBA, ARM, has a multi-disciplinary background as a community economic development practitioner, community organizer, environmental justice advocate, Board member, Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (JEDI) facilitator/trainer/consultant, and Senior Legal Professional with interests in intersectional environmentalism exploring the connection between sustainability, resiliency, food waste, climate change, food insecurity, the built form and placemaking, economic resilience, racial, social justice and equity, housing diversity, and affordability. Erica is currently the Board Chair/Executive Director of the Florida Food Policy Council, a statewide food policy council working to explore and address gaps in the food system in Florida. Erica is also Executive Committee Vice-Chair of the Suncoast Sierra Club, and a member of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) Food Security Advisory Committee. Erica is active in the US Green Building Council (USGBC), American Planning Association, and other environmental, neighborhood revitalization groups working in urban agriculture, food advocacy and policy, community engagement, non-profit management, Board development, environmental justice, neighborhood revitalization, historic preservation, and community economic development at the Federal, State, and local levels in NYC, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Atlanta, and now throughout the State of Florida. Erica was a longtime volunteer with FreshFarm Farmers Market in Washington DC and was an EBT/Snap Outreach volunteer for the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC). Erica previously chaired a DC non-profit, Healthy Solutions, that worked with Community Supporting Agriculture (CSAs), Community Gardens, Brownfield Remediation, food insecurity, and urban agriculture.  Erica previously served on the Board of Directors of Groundwork Anacostia River DC, a local non-profit that utilizes environmental restoration goals as a vehicle for community development. Erica is also a Senior Fellow of the Environmental Leadership Program, a dynamic network of 900 of the country’s top emerging environmental and social change leaders. Erica was also selected as co-chair of the Host Committee for Greenbuild, the world’s largest conference and expo dedicated to Green Building. As co-chair, she worked to connect and introduce the U.S. Green Building Council and Greenbuild to International Real Estate Management (IREM) and other real estate groups. The 2015 Greenbuild Host Committee, on which Erica served, has earned the President’s Volunteer Service Award in 2016. She has participated in developing Food Policy Councils in NY, DC, VA, and MD and has been very active in the green building and environmental justice community in the DC area, using her platform to combine leadership and activism. In 2007, she worked on the initial Corner Store project in DC that has since been duplicated around the country. Currently living in St. Petersburg, FL, Erica stays busy on several projects, including advising and working with the St. Petersburg League of Women Voters and the City of St. Petersburg on the development of a Food Policy Council for the City of St. Petersburg. Erica previously served as a workgroup member of the Grow Smarter Strategy, a comprehensive, integrated, data-driven community plan to enhance St. Petersburg’s competitive position and provide quality, diverse economic growth. As a member of the Ad Hoc Committee of the Enoch Davis/St. Pete Youth Farm, Erica helped to define the mission statement for the project, helped guide project direction, while producing some broad actions needed to implement the project.