This town hall forum will focus on the state of environmental justice in Montgomery County (past, present and future). Panelists will focus on a few key areas and the discussion will end with an assessment of the present and solutions for the future.

Temitope (Tope) Fajingbesi, MBA, CPA, ACA, is a social impact entrepreneur and educator. She is an agricultural business lecturer and advisor at the University of Maryland, College Park, Co-Founder of Dodo Farms in Montgomery County MD, and the coordinating trustee of United for Kids Foundation.

Vanessa Pierre is a garden coach, educator, and food activist in the DC Metro area. When she is not performing her functions of being a single mother to three beautiful children and working full time, she runs an organization—Homestead Hustle & Healing— whose mission is to build strong, self sufficient, empowered and healthy minority communities through food & gardening education, demonstration, & advocacy.

Laurie-Anne Sayles is the first African American and the first black woman elected to the Gaithersburg City Council. She is a member of the National League of Cities Board of Directors, the Transportation and Infrastructure Service Committee, and the Women in Municipal Government vice-chair. A member of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, she chairs the Chesapeake Bay and Water Policy Advocacy Committee.