5th Class, 2009-2011
Field Placement: Afristar Foundation, South Africa
Lindsay Dozoretz was based in Johannesburg with the Afristar Foundation, an organization that addresses local food security needs through permaculture and sustainable development programs. Lindsay was specifically involved in permaculture food security trainings and education, both at urban project sites in Johannesburg, as well as at rural training centers. Through Afristar’s partner organization, SEED (Schools Environment Education & Development), Lindsay worked to improve school feeding programs by establishing school gardens, integrating permaculture ecology and nutrition classes into the curriculum, and implementing plans for more sustainable schools. Along with these main projects, Lindsay also supported Afristar’s community seed bank initiative, assisting Afristar in the creation of a pan-African sustainable food action network, and was involved in the design and production of educational media for homestead food production and sustainable development.
Policy Placement: Afristar Foundation, South Africa
For her policy placement, Lindsay Dozoretz continued her work with Afristar Foundation in Johannesburg to promote a sustainability platform within national food security policy in South Africa. She was engaged in several initiatives that advocate for more holistic food security strategies within regional and national policy, including the development of an advisory document on the incorporation of sustainability into a national food security strategy. Through Afristar’s partner organization, SEED, she documented the impact and success of schools-based food security programming in order to influence new policy directives related to school gardens. Lindsay was also part of a food security working group at WITS University, contributing to policy recommendations for both Johannesburg City and Gauteng province, and assisting in the development of a green economic development strategy.
Pre-Fellowship Education/Experience:
Before becoming a Fellow, Lindsay Dozoretz was the Education and Marketing Coordinator/Sustainability Lead at Seeds of Change in New Mexico where she conducted outreach and education efforts around sustainable and organic agriculture. In 2008, she completed a dual Master’s degree in International Affairs, Natural Resources, and Sustainable Development at American University’s School for International Service and at the United Nations University for Peace in Costa Rica. Prior to graduate school, Lindsay served as a Sustainable Agriculture Peace Corps Volunteer in Senegal where she worked to address local food security issues. She has also engaged in community development work in the Atlantic rainforest of Brazil, conducting a survey of medicinal plants and assisting in workshops for shade coffee production with Fazenda Iracambi. Lindsay grew up in Buffalo, New York and received her BA in Anthropology and English from Cornell University in 2001.