Advisory Board
Community Food Navigator is grateful for the guidance, support, and wisdom of our Advisory Board. This group offers their experience in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors to make financial and administrative recommendations related to governance, management, and sustainability of Community Food Navigator, including its funding, focus, and operations. The Advisory Board works closely with the staff and Stewards to support the work.
Margot Pritzker
Co-Founder, Community Food Navigator, Advisory Board Chair
Margot is the Co-Founder and Executive Chair of the Community Food Navigator, an active and collaborative hub for knowledge and resource sharing by and in support of community led food systems.
Margot Pritzker is Chair of the Aspen Institute Board of Trustees.
Pritzker is a member of the Board of Directors of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, Urban Growers Collective, Grow Greater Englewood, and the Israel Now Education Foundation. She is also a member of The Chicago Food Equity Council and an active participant in the Chicago Region Food System Fund.
Pritzker is chair of the Zohar Education Project Incorporated, established in 1995 to translate the Zohar, the mystical canon of Judaism, into English.
Pritzker was the founder and president of WomenOnCall.org an online meeting place for skills- based volunteering. WomenOnCall successfully merged with Chicago Cares in 2018.
Margot and her husband, Thomas J. Pritzker, direct The Pritzker Architecture Prize which is considered the profession’s highest honor.
Margot and Tom reside in Chicago, they have three sons and four grandchildren. Their extensive travel and knowledge of South Asia has resulted in one of the foremost collections of South Asian art. Margot holds a B.A. from Northwestern University and an M.A. from the University of Chicago.
Francee Harrington
Co-Founder, Community Food Navigator
Erika Allen
President, Green ERA Educational NFP; Co-owner, Green Era Sustainability; Co-Founder/CEO Operations, Urban Growers Collective
Erika Allen (she/her) is the Co-Founder & CEO Strategic Development and Programs for Urban Growers Collective and the President of Green ERA Educational NFP and Co-Owner of Green Era Sustainability Partners. Previously, Erika founded and was the Director of Growing Power – Chicago and National Programs Office for 16 years from 2002 to 2018. Allen is the co-founder of the Chicago Food Policy Action Council, serves on the board of Grow Greater Englewood and Leadership Council for Growing Home, and is an Advisor for the Community Food Navigator project.
Erika is a 2023 Chicago Foundation for Women Impact Award recipient. She received an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Public Health from the University of Illinois at Chicago in December 2022. Erika has and currently holds several public service positions. Erika has been appointed by IL Governor J.B. Pritzker for the IL Leadership Council for Agricultural Education (ICAE) for a 3 Year term (2022-2024) and was most recently elected as Vice-Chair. Governor Pritzker also appointed Erika to the IL Agriculture Equity Commission. She served as a Chicago Park District Commissioner from 2012-2017. Allen was appointed in 2021 by the Biden Administration to join the Farm Service Agency Committee for Illinois. And she is also a Co-Chair of the Food Equity Council for the City of Chicago.
Erika Allen’s work exemplifies a strong commitment to sustainability with her dedication to the eradication of environmental injustice and promotion of regenerative, urban agriculture within Chicago. Her commitment to the public sector through the promotion of sustainable agriculture, forging economic opportunities for low-income individuals and creating access to healthy food has made a strong and considerable impact on the City of Chicago. Erika has dedicated her professional career to public service, developing sustainable community food systems and addressing structural racism and its inherent barriers to justice.