Our Team
Jamie Levato
Executive Director
Jamie started her professional career providing supplemental educational support for children of migrant farmworkers. Jamie spent 11 years at Poughkeepsie Farm Project in 2010 leading its education department, growing the programming 10-fold and reaching several thousand youths annually during her time there. In December 2021, Jamie was hired as Fareground’s first executive director. In her personal life, Jamie’s activism and advocacy are centered on racial justice with a focus on police brutality and issues in the criminal justice system. Jamie has been gardening, cooking, and loving food since childhood and enjoys every opportunity to share her passions with like-minded individuals.
Maritza Mendoza Luis
Operations Manager
Maritza is a firm believer that food should be easily accessible to everyone, regardless of their income level or where they live. As a long-time resident of Newburgh, NY, Maritza is deeply committed to addressing food justice issues within her community. She is bilingual in English and Spanish, which allows her to effectively communicate and connect with a diverse range of individuals. Currently, Maritza continues her impactful work at Binnacle Books in Beacon, NY, where she intertwines her love for literature with her commitment to social change. Her prior experience as a consultant at Step Up For Better Living, a nonprofit organization aiding low-income Bronx residents, has equipped her with invaluable skills in advocating for marginalized communities and driving meaningful social impact. With a solid background in digital marketing spanning six years, Maritza brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to her work. Her multifaceted experiences at a local independent bookstore like Binnacle Books and in community advocacy with Step Up For Better Living uniquely equip her to excel in her new role at Fareground. In her new position, Maritza will continue her mission of fostering community connections and addressing pressing social issues, drawing upon her diverse skill set and unwavering dedication to making a positive difference.
Kara Marie Dean-Assael, DSW
Co-Founder and President
Kara is passionate about destigmatizing hunger and disrupting the current value system we live in, to a focus of an anti-oppressive and anti-racist value system. Kara is a mother, a social worker, a researcher, and a collaborator. She has worked as a social worker and researcher since 1999 and has collaborated with many communities to create a variety of programs and changes. With a passion for social justice and social change, Kara realizes that concrete change must start right where one is standing and living and she is committed to creating change in her community of Beacon, NY, in the Hudson Valley.
Karen George
Treasurer
Karen has volunteered with Fareground since its inception in 2011. Karen is a mother and a wife living in the Hudson Valley area. She works in New York City for a Consulting Firm during the week and dedicates her free time to Fareground and its mission and her community. Karen is passionate about giving everyone choices and resources in the community and strongly believes in helping with hunger and food security issues that communities are currently experiencing. Through Fareground and working with other community organizations, Karen believes a difference can be made.
Maggie Dickinson
Vice President
Maggie is a writer, teacher, and researcher. She is the author of the book Feeding the Crisis: Care and Abandonment in America's Food Safety Net. She is committed to ending hunger and poverty and creating communities where all people have access to the food they need. She is Associate Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at CUNY’s Guttman Community College. She lives in Beacon with her teenage twins, partner, and three cats.
Jennifer Clair
Secretary
Jennifer is a culinary instructor and the founder of Home Cooking New York, a cooking school in New York City. She is a former Food Editor at Martha Stewart Living and the former Recipes Editor at The Wall Street Journal. She lives in Beacon, NY with her husband and two teens.
Peggy Basalyga
Board member
Peggy spent her career in veterinary medicine and as a NY licensed wildlife rehabilitation specialist. Before moving to Beacon in 2011, Peggy and her husband of 45 years, Rick, have been avid animal advocates, raising chickens and goats in Pound Ridge as well as a household of rescue pups. Peggy is also a loving mother to three sons and has been passionate in nurturing them to value social justice and human rights and to stand up for what they believe in. Peggy has spent her retirement focused on feeding her neighbors—whether she is cooking at Beacon Community Kitchen, delivering weekly bread donations to several local food pantries, or volunteering with Fareground every week.
Gracelyn Woods
Board member
Gracelyn Woods transforms businesses by designing human-centered operational systems where both people and profits thrive. Drawing from her background managing high-pressure productions for Oprah and Lady Gaga, she architects frameworks that convert workplace stress into sustainable success. As COO, she builds operational infrastructure that supports professional wellness without sacrificing performance. A Black woman executive, she brings a vital perspective on creating inclusive operational models that drive measurable business results while honoring the whole person. Gracelyn lives with her partner and daughter in Beacon, New York, where she actively contributes to her community—volunteering, distributing homegrown produce to food banks, and engaging in local initiatives. She is currently building a Hudson Valley non-profit to meet a significant community need for safe spaces for intergenerational gathering, including the early stages of development for community centers in Beacon, NY. She sees community engagement as an extension of leadership, proving that sustainable business models are rooted in the same principles that sustain strong, thriving communities.
Anne Thompson
Board member
Anne spent much of her career as a child clinical psychologist as well as working in a nonprofit in Washington, DC, dedicated to ending poverty. Before she moved to Beacon three years ago, she researched non-profit organizations where she could dedicate her time, energy and passion. Fareground stood out with its mission and direction and Anne has been a volunteer since she moved. She’s excited to move the mission forward and address the food insecurity crisis in the Hudson Valley.
Andrea Kapsales
Board member
Andrea Kapsales has worked as a chef, baker, caterer, recipe developer and food stylist over the last forty years. She is especially focused on regenerative agriculture in the Hudson Valley and NY state with a goal to preserve farmland that supplies local ingredients to our communities. She lives in Beacon with her 2 teenage children, her husband, and her dog.
Felicia Schinella
Board member
Felicia Schinella is a lifelong Dutchess County resident. Together, with her husband she has raised three accomplished adult children and are the proud grandparents of three marvelous grandchildren. After more than 30 years working in public education, she finds herself at a point in life where her love for the outdoors, nature, and sustainable living is blossoming in new and exciting ways. As she enters this next chapter, she and her husband are growing into passionate horticulturalists, beginning with their family garden and looking forward to expanding that work further. They currently operate two small nonprofit initiatives that provide nature-based support to military veterans and cancer patients. This hands-on experience in local farming has deepened her understanding of how powerful and nourishing it is; physically, emotionally, and spiritually, to grow and share what the earth provides. Felicia shares; "My life’s work has always centered around helping others—whether it’s been supporting students and families in the education system, nurturing my own children, or tending to the needs of underserved groups through our nonprofit work. Joining the Fareground Board would not only allow me to broaden the network of people I can serve and support, but also deepen my personal journey in building a more equitable, healthy, and connected community.
We'd like to thank our past Board members for their valuable work:
Margot Schulman (co-founder)
Tara Bernstein
Samantha Iyengar
Jean Brennan
Ricci Scott
Yvonne Bateman
Dana O’Malley
Bridgett Robinson
April Farley
Jennifer Rutledge
Carole Penner
Kavitha Rao
