Dr. Charisma Acey is an associate professor in the Department of City and Regional Planning at UC Berkeley. Her applied research focuses on local and regional environmental sustainability, with a focus on poverty reduction, urban governance, environmental justice, and access to basic services. Charisma’s efforts with Growing Roots focus on research that outlines the operational needs and evidence base for publicly-funded urban agroecology, with a focus on equitable food access and distribution. She has worked on participatory re-zoning for local healthy food systems and sustainability planning in the San Francisco East Bay, Columbus, Ohio, and Portland, Oregon. Prior to joining UC Berkeley, Professor Acey worked in academia, federal government and NGO’s on global food justice and international development and relations.