Ben Daugherty

Green Dining Alliance
Program Manager
ben@earthday-365.org
314.282.7533

Ben has been involved with the restaurant and event industry in St. Louis for over 10 years and is drawn to places that exhibit diverse, passionate, and cultural experiences through food and beverage programs. His passion for sustainability started with an interest to reconnect and find a more fulfilling relationship with food.  With a recent journey into a minimalist approach to living, Ben prioritized zero waste initiatives into daily habits manifesting a search to find a career that would align his passion for sustainability with a role that would allow him to be of service to the local community and environment.

While volunteering with different St Louis urban farms Ben was first captivated by Urban Harvest’s Food Roof, which demonstrated sustainable initiatives and a mission to serve communities who need access to healthy, inclusive, and equitable food sources. He hopes to see a growing sustainable collaboration between the entire region’s communities and businesses and its local farmers. Ben’s experience working with the STL Metro Market showed him an awakening perspective of minority community struggles with food apartheid and the need for environmental and food justice in St. Louis’ minority communities.

Outside of work, Ben enjoys gardening, cooking, home brewing, reading, going to St. Louis’ many incredible parks, catching a movie at The Hi Pointe, biking, traveling, and trying different restaurants, coffee shops, and breweries. He has a love for the outdoors and enjoys hunting down home on the family farm, trout fishing at Meramec and Bennett Springs State Parks, hiking, and going to Cardinals games.  He enjoys trying new things and is always game for learning new hobbies.

Ben believes in a growth mindset and enjoys finding ways to consistently improve and grow from life’s experiences, both good and bad. He believes the St. Louis region and its businesses and residents have the potential and grit to grow together as a community progressing towards a greener healthier environment to call home.

Bob Henkel

Program Director
bob@earthday-365.org
314.282.7533

Bob Henkel comes to earthday365 with over 20 years of program development experience in service-oriented non-profits. Bob has a passion and enthusiasm for sustainability, recycling, land stewardship, and developing human potential. Bob has shared his love of nature with youth and adults, facilitating wilderness adventure and team building experiences in a variety of programs throughout the country including Outward Bound in Maine, the Wyman Center in St. Louis and the Girl Scouts in Knik, Alaska.

Bob and his partner, Kelly, moved to northern California in 2006 where Bob worked as the site and facilities manager for the di Rosa art and nature preserve in Napa while pursuing his interest in sustainable land management strategies. He is certified in Permaculture Design and as a Sustainable Building Advisor, which is recognized as a mastery level course by the USGBC. Bringing these areas of expertise to St. Louis, he has consulted on edible forest design and habitat restoration.

Probably the most significant learning experience has been through Bob’s connection with Jon Young and the Wilderness Awareness School. By learning to sit still in one spot as a daily routine and engage his senses, especially listening to bird language, Bob has been able to develop a deeper connection with nature, hope in these challenging times, and the skills to make positive change.

In 2012, Bob and Kelly returned to St. Louis to be closer to family. They love Missouri and find that it has ecological reminders of all of the places they’ve been, well, except sharks. But Bob is really a freshwater river person anyway.

Janessa Jenkins

Communications and
Marketing Manager
janessa@earthday-365.org
314.282.7533

Janessa has recently joined the earthday365 team as the Communications and Marketing Manager. She has experience working as a Freelance Graphic designer supporting small businesses in elevating their brands visually. She has received her BFA in Graphic Design from Southeast Missouri State University and her MA in Public Relations from Full Sail University. She believes in living a holistic lifestyle and is passionate about the intersection of social justice and the environment.

Janessa is a local artist who has contributed to many creative projects around the St. Louis Region. She has been involved in creating murals in Ferguson, live painting in the Delmar Loop, a digital campaign for Commerce Bank, as well as working with both the University City and Normandy school districts. It is important to Janessa to lend her talents in uplifting POC (People of Color) in areas of St. Louis that are underprivileged and underserved.

Janessa is passionate about supporting Black Owned Businesses as well as local small businesses. She enjoys spending quality time with her husband, Lawrence, and their son. She loves to be creative, collect houseplants, socialize, and soak up the sun (preferably near water)!

Allison Wray

Marketing & Communications Intern
info@greendiningalliance.org

Allison joined earthday365 this July after finishing her sophomore year studying Environmental Science and Policy at Smith College. As a remote intern, Allison has worked from California, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts since joining the team. She is passionate about environmental justice, and believes that environmental advocacy and sustainability need to be more accessible and inclusive for marginalized communities that already face higher environmental risks. In the past, she has worked as an intern for Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership in Philadelphia and has been passionate about local environmental work ever since!

Allison’s future goals are in the world of environmental education. She believes one of the keys to inspiring care for the environment is to start by connecting with people and communities (especially young people and children). She hopes to show people the importance of protecting the world around them regardless of age, race, gender, class, disability or cultural background that may have isolated them from environmentalism before.

Aside from her passions for science and the earth, Allison’s first loves are music and art. At Smith, Allison sings with and arranges music for Groove A Cappella, and studies classical singing as a mezzo-soprano. She also has a background in graphic design, drawing, and large-scale mural painting. In her free time she loves frequently changing up her hair color, and one of her favorite sustainable hobbies is collecting vintage clothing and antiques from thrift stores!

Rachel Lynch

Festival Vendor Logistics
festival@earthday-365.org
314.282.7533

Rachel Lynch joins the planning team for a second year to help produce the St. Louis Earth Day Festival! She first started working the organization in 2017 as a member of our Recycling On the Go staff team, which allows her to share her enthusiasm for wanting to make St. Louis a more environmentally friendly community. Rachel received her BA in English, with an emphasis in writing, from the University of Missouri St. Louis. She has lived in the St. Louis area for over 30 years and enjoys the serenity of clean wide open green spaces.

Rachel began writing about community green spaces during her internship with Forest Park Forever. As a reporter for the Forest Park Forever newsletter, Rachel attended master planning sessions for what is now the connecting waterways between Forest Parks’s Grand Basin and the Boat House Marina. Watching the positive transformation and beautification of this St. Louis gem over the past 20 years makes this park one of Rachel’s favorite green spaces in St. Louis.

Rachel has also published articles in the Webster Kirkwood Times and the Jefferson County Leader. She is currently in the process of submitting her first copyrighted screenplay for consideration.

Rachel and her husband, Mike, reside in Jefferson County with their three children and two dogs. Rachel has spent the past 20 years involved with school organizations such as Girl Scouts and the PTO. She has created and organized grade parties, community service projects, fundraising campaigns, and book drives. As a lover of green spaces, Rachel spends some of her spare time in her garden. She enjoys getting her hands dirty and is forever grateful for the green thumb she inherited from her grandmother.

As an outdoor enthusiast, Rachel is currently planning her 28th Annual Float Trip. She enjoys the beauty and serenity of Missouri’s wild rippling rivers and advocates for their beautification and clean up by lessening the impact of the human footprint.

Laura Allers-Lowry

Event Manager
laura@earthday-365.org
Phone: 314.282.7533

Laura Allers-Lowry first met the St. Louis Earth Day team in 2008 when she was a member of the Ameren Missouri Pure Power group. Laura has 19 years of experience in event coordinating/planning. Laura is honored to be a member of such a dedicated group of sustainability professionals at St. Louis Earth Day.

As the event manager, Laura takes great pride in planning for: the St. Louis Earth Day Festival, the longest running and largest, most sustainable Earth Day celebration in the country; Recycling Extravaganza, the premier and largest recycling event in the St. Louis Metro Area, and the annual St. Louis Earth Day fundraiser, Taste of Green. In addition, Laura coordinates and manages the St. Louis Earth Day Internship Program.

Laura is a St. Louis native, recently moving to South City with her husband Denny, and two miniature dachshunds, Anni and Dotti. When she is not event planning, Laura enjoys traveling to destinations that are surrounded by our planet’s natural beauty to kayak, hike, and observe wildlife.

Jeanette R. Reynolds

Festival Sponsorships & Media Relations
jeanette@earthday-365.org
314.282.7533

Jeanette Reynolds returns to the organization after serving as Program Manager and then Programs & Communication Director of St. Louis Earth Day from 2010 through 2014. She was responsible for advancing its mission while increasing the organization’s impact, efficiency, and visibility. During her tenure, the nonprofit experienced tremendous growth. Her contribution toward this success included organizing the St. Louis Earth Day Festival, grant writing, building brand standards, and improving internal processes and operations that helped to increased revenue from the organization’s signature event-greening program (Recycling On the Go), along with volunteer and staff retention rates.

Jeanette has dedicated her professional career to supporting the work of mission-driven organizations, most recently with SA2020 in San Antonio, TX as Partner Engagement Specialist – a nonprofit that drives progress toward a shared vision for a thriving San Antonio by reporting on community indicators, informing and activating the public, and aligning efforts toward the community’s goals.

Jeanette has earned a BA in Communication from Randolph-Macon Woman’s College and a MA in Gender and Development from the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, where her research focused on women’s roles in decision making, social capital, and collective efficacy. She also holds a Professional Certificate in Nonprofit Management from San Antonio Area Foundation, in partnership with Our Lady of the Lake University’s (OLLU) School of Business and Leadership.

Jeanette is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV), having served in Fiji from 2006 through 2008, where she helped residents of a housing project establish a parent-led education advocacy group, which continues to operate today.

Aspen Steiner

Communications Coordinator
aspen@greendiningalliance.org

Aspen began her work with St. Louis Earth Day in January 2017 as a social media intern for the Green Dining Alliance. She now works as the communications coordinator for the GDA and enjoys managing social media, writing blogs, tagging along on the occasional audit, and volunteering at local events. She graduated from Saint Louis University with a degree in marketing and has always harbored a passion for giving back to the community – much of her free time outside of school and work was spent volunteering.

Raised in a small farming community, many of her childhood memories include barnyard animals, outdoor adventures, and lots of home cooked meals. Her passion for the environment is fostered by her eco-conscious parents and stems from a desire to connect consumers with all aspects of food and waste production.

Aspen also works as a social media strategist at Think Tank, and enjoys following the Saint Louis food scene, taking long walks with her dog Biscuit, attending the occasional yoga class, and traveling with her family.