Blackwater Rising helps neighbors grow and share fresh food across Cambridge, MD. Through community gardens, education, and partnerships, we turn underused spaces into productive places that build skills, health, and belonging. Our work is simple and powerful: grow food, grow community.
Our sharing gardens help bridge the gap in food access by growing and sharing fresh produce with neighbors who need it most.
We draw strength from Cambridge’s legacy of resilience and changemakers, growing something nourishing, joyful, and new.
From seasoned gardeners to new volunteers, everyone plays a part. We’re cultivating more than food—we’re growing ommunity.
As Executive Director, Kate leads with a rural equity lens and hands-on experience. A Yale-trained attorney and former AmeriCorps VISTA, she builds partnerships that expand access to fresh, local food, grounding our programs in collaboration, accountability, and care for people and place across the Shore and beyond.
Read MoreExecutive Director
Kate grew up in rural Delaware and has dedicated her career to expanding opportunity and access to resources in rural communities. She earned a BA from the University of Delaware and a JD from Yale Law School, grounding her leadership in both practical experience and rigorous analysis.
As an AmeriCorps VISTA with MERIT Microenterprise in Salem, Oregon, Kate helped low-income entrepreneurs start small businesses, a hands-on role that deepened her commitment to community-driven economic vitality. She later practiced as a corporate transactional attorney at Boies Schiller Flexner and Paul Hastings in New York City, bringing negotiation, structure, and follow-through to complex partnerships.
In addition to leading Blackwater Rising, Kate serves as the Family Services Housing Advocate at Habitat for Humanity Choptank and sits on the board of the Nanticoke Watershed Alliance. These roles reflect her belief that food access, stable housing, and watershed health move together to support thriving neighborhoods.
When she is not working, Kate enjoys reading, cooking, practicing yoga, and spending time outdoors.
David, a founding board member and our Board President, brings planning and policy experience to our governance. From Peace Corps service to D.C. planning leadership, he champions productive public spaces, food security, and neighbor-led action, keeping our work practical, collaborative, and built for long-term results.
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David is an avid gardener who spent summers on his grandfather’s fruit and vegetable farm in southwest Michigan, an early lesson in stewardship and hard work that still shapes his approach to community. After graduating from the University of Michigan in 1983, he served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Liberia, West Africa, then returned to earn an MS in political science from the University of Michigan and a JD from American University in Washington, DC.
David practiced law in Washington, serving as an associate with Willkie Farr & Gallagher and with Garvey Schubert Barer. He also worked for U.S. Senator Carl Levin and Congressman Howard Wolpe, gaining practical insight into policy, legislation, and constituent service.
He later served six years as Chief of Staff in the District of Columbia Office of Planning under Mayor Anthony Williams, where he led the legislative effort to establish the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation and then served as the Corporation’s general counsel for two years. That work strengthened his belief in productive public spaces, long-range planning, and partnerships that deliver results for residents.
Beyond his professional life, David’s interests include mid-19th-century American and post-WWI European history; watercolor over pen-and-ink drawing; and Malaysian and Latin American cooking. He is also devoted to Carlee, the Boerboel, who keeps him humble and well trained.
Joy, a founding board member and our Director of Gardens, brings Master Gardener training and deep conservation experience. After years with Oceana, NatureServe, and The Nature Conservancy, she moved from D.C. to Cambridge to return to soil. Joy leads New Beginnings, garden planning, and hands-on education.
Read MoreDirector of Gardens / Board Member
Joy is a founding board member of Blackwater Rising and serves as Director of Gardens, where she leads garden planning, seasonal crop strategy, volunteer training, and hands-on education. She helped launch our New Beginnings partnership and guides neighbor-led workdays that turn donated plots into productive, welcoming spaces. She is a Maryland Master Gardener and regularly shares practical skills with local clubs and groups.
Joy brings decades of experience from conservation organizations. Her career includes senior roles supporting operations and people at Oceana and Conservation International, and leadership in nonprofit operations at Bat Conservation International. Earlier in her career, she worked with The Nature Conservancy and supported NatureServe’s mission. This mix of field-informed operations and organizational leadership shapes her approach to community-scale food production and stewardship.
After years of living on a boat in Washington, DC, Joy came to Cambridge, Maryland, to return to soil, co-founding Blackwater Rising and helping neighbors expand access to fresh food through shared gardens and workshops. Her focus is simple and steady: grow what feeds people, teach what lasts, and invite everyone to take part.
Mary, a founding board member and our Director of Programs, connects ideas to action. A lifelong Dorchester resident, librarian, and nonprofit manager, she designs accessible programs and supports intergenerational engagement, ensuring our efforts are welcoming, coordinated, and built for community-wide impact.
Read MoreDirector of Programs / Board Member
Mary is a lifelong resident of Dorchester County, with only brief years away for her education. She spent 18 years as a public librarian focused on community programming and adult reference services, and later managed senior and intergenerational programs in the nonprofit sector. Across both roles, she built welcoming, accessible experiences that meet people where they are.
Today, Mary represents the Comptroller of Maryland across eight Eastern Shore counties, connecting residents with state services and practical information. At Blackwater Rising, she serves as Director of Programs and as a founding board member, helping translate community priorities into clear plans, strong partnerships, and events that invite people of all ages to participate.
In her spare time, Mary is a crew member of the Skipjack Nathan of Dorchester and an active member of several civic and political organizations. She and her husband live on a legacy farm along the Choptank River, where seasonal rhythms and community ties run deep.
Lauren, a founding board member and our Director of Communications, leads storytelling, design, and outreach. A brand strategist with Brandshake Creative, she turns mission and data into clear tools that mobilize neighbors, managing web, social, and print so information is easy to find, use, and share.
Read MoreDirector of Communications / Board Member
Lauren is a founding board member of Blackwater Rising and serves as Director of Communications. She leads storytelling, design, and outreach, turning mission and data into clear messages and tools that mobilize neighbors. As a brand strategist with Brandshake Creative, she brings a practical, systems-minded approach to web, print, and social so information is easy to find, use, and share.
Beyond Blackwater Rising, Lauren helps lift community voice across Cambridge, MD. She is part of the Proudly Cambridge leadership network and collaborates with local partners to make public information accessible and actionable. This community-first approach carries through her client work, where Brandshake Creative supports civic and nonprofit organizations, such as Purpose Built Communities, Atlanta Regional Commission, and Atlanta Land Trust.
Lauren’s day-to-day includes content planning, web experience design, and steady publishing rhythms across channels, with a focus on clarity, accessibility, and neighbor-to-neighbor connection. Her goal is to make it simple for people to learn what is happening, show up, and share.
