Ashley B. Gripper

Dr. Ashley Gripper, born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, focuses her work on Black people's connection to the Earth and the reclamation of land-based living and organizing practices. With over a decade of involvement in food and land justice movements, she has fostered strong relationships with urban and rural growers across the country. As a community builder and the Founding Organizer of Land Based Jawns, a spiritually-rooted organization, Dr. Gripper supports Black Philadelphians in deepening their relationships to land, food, and ancestral spirituality. The organization offers workshops on agriculture, carpentry, land-based living, and community healing. Dr. Gripper began her formal farming training at Sankofa Community Farm in Southwest Philadelphia and is a member of Soil Generation, where she is working on Philadelphia's first Urban Agriculture Strategic Plan, slated for release this summer. She earned her PhD in Population Health Sciences from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, where her transdisciplinary research uses mixed methods to explore the intersections of urban agriculture, mental health, spirituality, and collective agency. In the fall, Dr. Gripper will join Drexel's Dornsife School of Public Health as an Assistant Professor of Racism and Population Health Equity, with appointments in the Department of Community Health and Prevention and Environmental and Occupational Health. Her appointment aligns with the Ubuntu Center on Racism, Global Movements, and Population Health Equity, furthering the Center’s mission and scholarship.