A recent graduate of the Master of Sustainable Real Estate Development (MSRED) at Tulane University, Jenga Mwendo works as Deputy Director of Crescent City Community Land Trust on securing permanently affordable housing and commercial development in New Orleans. Mwendo is also the founder of the Backyard Gardeners Network and has worked since 2007 to strengthen the Lower Ninth Ward community – organizing neighbors to revitalize and create gardens, planting trees, and developing support systems to encourage and support the culture of growing in the neighborhood by and for the Lower 9^th Ward and the larger Black community of New Orleans. Mwendo has also worked with the Center for Sustainable Engagement and Development to lead a Food Action Planning initiative, and Tulane City Center as a Community Organizer. She is a graduate of the Southern University Agricultural Leadership Institute, a 2010 TogetherGreen Fellow, and a 2011-13 IATP Food and Community Fellow. She has received numerous awards and recognitions for her work including 2010 Cox Conserves Heroes, the 2011 Gambit 40 Under Forty, and the 2014 EBONY Magazine “Hero Next Door.”