Join us for the Environmental Lecture Series in Orchestra Hall. The topic for July 8 is “Collectivist Response to the Climate Crisis” with Dan Brown.
For more than a decade, Rust Belt Riders has provided Northeast Ohio with a community-driven solution to food waste. In this lecture, Brown, Director of JumpStart’s expansion into Stark County, explores how to craft, develop, implement and sustainably grow climate solutions in an age of hyper-individualism. As a worker-owned cooperative advancing nature-based solutions, the organization’s mission goes beyond diverting food waste, offering a shared, positive vision for the future.
Brown leads efforts to integrate JumpStart into Stark County’s economic development and entrepreneurial ecosystem, including launching operations at the Hall of Fame Village, developing collaborative programming and building strategic partnerships to ensure long-term impact.
Before joining JumpStart, Brown co-founded Rust Belt Riders and Tilth Soil, worker-owned social enterprises in Cleveland, Ohio, that promote the circular economy by upcycling food waste.
A graduate of JumpStart’s first Impact Cohort, Brown has been recognized as an Echoing Green Global Climate Fellow and an Environmental Leadership Program National Fellow, and he served as Sustainability Advisor on Mayor Justin Bibb’s transition team. Brown serves on the Cuyahoga County Next Generation Council and is Board Chair of the Forest City Food Collective.
Before launching Rust Belt Riders, he held roles with Ohio State University Extension, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress, LAND Studio and Saint Martin de Porres High School.
Brown is a graduate of DePaul University, where he studied ethics and community service studies.
