Meet the Team

A Master Beekeeper candidate and an urban beekeeper for a decade, Guillermo is our organization’s founder and Executive Director. He brings years of marketing experience to us from his time at brands such as Vanity Fair and Vogue. Having grown up in a food desert, he believes bees are the key to transforming our food system and ensuring that everyone has access to healthy, local foods. When he’s not at the apiary or speaking at an event, Guillermo is hiking or traveling.

Rebecca is a Catskills beekeeper and certified Master Composter. A lifelong storyteller, she has written for numerous news and lifestyle publications, authored the book Compost City: Practical Composting Know-How for Small-Space Living, and founded The Compostess blog. A former brand strategist and creative director, she has worked with marketing, product, and technology teams to build global businesses. She splits her time between the mountains and city with her dog, Max.

Joey Rodriguez is passionate about conserving nature and helping creatures of all kinds through fundraising and design. With a background in film production, graphic design, development, and operations management, his almost 20-year career has taken him from New York to Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Oregon, and many places in between. He is the author of four novels and two novellas and creates intergalactic art and music in his spare time.

Leta is a native New Yorker and second generation American who’s passionate about urban ecology, food justice, and community-based initiatives. She brings a background in beekeeping, environmental education, and urban agriculture. In her spare time, she shoots video and photography, does community gardening, and cooks for loved ones and mutual aid groups.

Nick is a certified Master Beekeeper and co-owner of one of NYC’s premiere urban farms, Astor Apiaries. He shares his passion for honey bees and pollinators through teaching and public events/tours at his apiaries. A veteran of the TV/Film industry, Nick discovered honey bees when he took up beekeeping with two hobby hives. Since then his apiaries have grown to over 50 hives in multiple locations all over New York City.

After studying in California and Spain, Jennifer became a cartographer for Lonely Planet before earning a certificate in Horticultural Therapy at New York Botanical Garden. She founded Brooklyn Nature Club in 2016 to focus on developing urban environmental projects.

Karen is passionate about optimizing communication to create and maintain relationships both professionally and personally. With a background in Communication and IT, she thrives in knowledge and information management and the use of technology to make data accessible for learning and creating solutions. When not organizing knowledge, Karen can be found discovering new places and cultures through food, travel and reading.

Cecily Jackson-Zapata is an attorney representing nonprofits and social enterprises. She serves on the Board of Directors of Social Enterprise Alliance and Social and Environmental Entrepreneurs (SEE), Inc. and is the founder of Social Innovatus, a nonprofit that helps innovative nonprofits and social enterprises execute their missions and increase their impact. Cecily is a graduate of Stanford Law School the University of Southern California.