aMAnda bREZZELL

Amanda Brezzell is the visionary and co-founder behind Fennigans’s Farms Sustainable Design and Development. Hailing from Detroit, Michigan, they are a graduate of Eastern Michigan University (B.S. Biology, Chemistry, African American Studies) and Georgetown University (M.S. Biohazardous Threat Agents and Emerging Infectious Diseases, Agricultural Defense). Their background is in climate science, community rebuilding and resiliency, sustainable agriculture, and Afro-ecological greenspace design.

Amanda gained experience in systems design while attending Georgetown University and mapping resilience systems within the greater Washington D.C. area before returnign home to Detroit. They have been involved in policy initiatives at both the grassroots and national levels for a decade now, advocating on behalf of Urban Farmers and pathways to community food sovereignty. With their formal training and lived experience as a Detroiter, they founded Fennigan’s Farms to build resilient communities everywhere.

Using a combination of sustainable indoor and outdoor design and disaster recovery knowledge, Amanda set out to build local food systems and resiliency hubs as a means for community resilience. Starting with modern-day victory gardens and then expanding to community resource hubs, along with their team, Amanda has grown Fennigan’s Farms to be a resource for growers and community stabilizers 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. 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.