aMAnda bREZZELL
Amanda Brezzell is our co-founder, creative director and lead farmer, hailing from Detroit, Michigan. They are a graduate of Eastern Michigan University (B.S. Biology, Chemistry, African American Studies 2018) and Georgetown University (M.S. Biohazardous Threat Agents and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Agricultural Defense 2019). Their background is in climate science and environment, community rebuilding and resiliency, sustainable agriculture, greenspace design, and African American studies.
Understanding that the challenges underrepresented communities face are amplified during times of crisis, Amanda founded Fennigan’s Farms to build resilient communities everywhere. Using a combination of sustainable indoor and outdoor design and disaster recovery knowledge, in 2019, Amanda set out to build local food systems as a means for community resilience. Starting with modern-day victory gardens and then expanding to indoor growing facilities, along with their team, Amanda has grown Fennigan’s Farms to be a resource for growers and community builders across Detroit and beyond.
Claire Austin
Claire Austin is our co-founder, project and business manager. She joined her sibling Amanda in founding Fennigan’s Farms because she believes a food sovereign future is possible. She comes to Fennigan’s Farms with over 8 years of health and science based project management and administration experience. Claire earned her Bachelors of Science in Biology from Eastern Michigan University in 2017. She is also a Detroit native and is dedicated to using her skills and expertise to move her community forward.
Claire is a master gardener and certified international sustainability professional, and uses this to teach classes and workshops geared to learning how to be semi or completely self-sufficient at home with a garden of any size at any income level. Claire also hosts programming geared toward youth and land stewardship. Her ability to create low-to-no cost sustainable solutions for families in our community supports our work in developing resilience across the City of Detroit.
Dylan Austin
Dylan is the lead carpenter at Fennigan’s Farms. He has over a decade of experience woodworking and building sustainable structures for outdoor landscapes. His expertise and creativity allows us to create innovative solutions to the issues those in our community face. From using natural fire stains to give our wood products a polished look without using any chemicals, to turning our wood scraps into bee hotels and biochar, Dylan incorporates our Zero Waste initiatives into every aspect of our workshop.
All photography can be credited to Dylan and his studio, Dylan Austin Visuals.