Shanella Palmer (she/her) joined DC Greens as The Well Community Ambassador in 2026. Food justice has always been a cornerstone in Palmer’s life. Growing up between Flatbush, Brooklyn, and Portmore, Jamaica, Palmer saw first-hand how community care and food justice transcended borders through her time packing and sending barrels of food and other supplies to family members back home. This experience, along with a chance encounter at a local community garden, would set her on a path to becoming the advocate that she is today.
Palmer holds her master’s in public health from the CUNY School of Public Health and a Bachelor of Science in Human Biology from SUNY University at Albany. Prior to her time at DC Greens, Palmer completed a competitive food justice and anti-poverty fellowship with the Congressional Hunger Center’s Bill Emerson National Fellowship, a one-year immersive experience where she served communities in Pittsburgh by developing, disseminating, and analyzing a multi-municipal food audit, which was used to inform a county-wide food justice fund initiative. The second half of Palmer’s fellowship was spent at the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). There, she analyzed school meal policies, led authorship on blogs and reports, and coordinated and hosted national webinars.
In her free time, you can catch Palmer hanging out with her friends, trying new foods at a local restaurant, taking a stroll in the park, or volunteering in her community.