Communitas of New York
Communitas of New York
Podcast Description
The Communitas of New York podcast invites our listeners and partners to join us in witnessing community-driven innovation. We highlight the constellation of stories generated by alumni of the Communitas Ventures Accelerator Program, which has been running since 2018. Together, we explore how these founders—in the sectors of education, food security, housing, materials science, health, and the arts—navigate the challenges of accessing the right resources at the right time, staying true to their respective visions, and best managing potential! We welcome you to tune in as host Monique T. Marshall, founder of Black to Business and a proud Communitas Ventures alumna, leads rich conversations, uncovers tales of trials and successes, and reaps valuable advice from our entrepreneurs who are shaping New York’s landscape of innovation.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
This podcast focuses on various themes including entrepreneurship in education, food security, housing solutions, health innovations, materials science, and the arts. Episodes feature stories like Jiye Son creating safe nail products, Lucas Addo advocating for personalized learning for individuals with autism, Charlecia Joy addressing representation gaps in art supplies, and Dan Zauderer transforming food access through community initiatives.
The Communitas of New York podcast invites our listeners and partners to join us in witnessing community-driven innovation. We highlight the constellation of stories generated by alumni of the Communitas Ventures Accelerator Program, which has been running since 2018. Together, we explore how these founders—in the sectors of education, food security, housing, materials science, health, and the arts—navigate the challenges of accessing the right resources at the right time, staying true to their respective visions, and best managing potential! We welcome you to tune in as host Monique T. Marshall, founder of Black to Business and a proud Communitas Ventures alumna, leads rich conversations, uncovers tales of trials and successes, and reaps valuable advice from our entrepreneurs who are shaping New York’s landscape of innovation.
In Season One, we focus on individual alumni founder stories, the lessons they have learned, and the wisdom they have to share.
In Season Two, we focus on stories of collaboration generated by these alumni entrepreneurs, creating positive impact in communities in New York. We explore how collaboration develops organically amongst a community of founders, and how these synergistic moments create lasting impact for stakeholders in communities.
In this episode, we find out how we can address food insecurity at individual, family, and community levels. What happens when we start to pay attention to how things grow? What are the positive impacts that occur when we come together in a community to create and scale up autonomous, self-sufficient food systems? Host Monique T. Marshall speaks with Samia (Sam) Lemfadli, founder of Change Food for Good. What happens when we approach issues of food inequity and lack of access with a collectivist mindset? Find out about the potential that is unlocked when we realize, “we have everything we need at our disposal, and what we don’t have we can figure out within community.”
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Samia Lemfadli is a Brooklyn native and technologist with a deep-rooted passion for sustainable agriculture. As an alumnus of programs like General Assembly’s Web Development Immersive and Platform by Per Scholas, she has leveraged her technical and business development skills to improve workforce strategies and advance technical infrastructure for organizations like MIT Civic Media Lab, The Knowledge House , Per Scholas, New York Maritime Innovation Center, Kilimanjaro Initiative USA, and JobsFirstNYC. Samia has applied her lived experience of the workforce development system to secure more than 500 job placements for program alumni and her community network. She remains a fierce advocate for young adult economic mobility. She believes workforce development and inclusive technology advances can be key levers for self-determination and more resilient communities. She was selected for Hunter College’s 2025 40 under 40 Rising Stars in Food Policy Award, Claniel Foundation’s 2022 Emerging Leaders Fund, was a 2020 Echoing Green Semi-Finalist, Head of the Junior Board for Kilimanjaro Initiative USA and served as Co-Chair for the Yes Bed-Stuy Partnership.
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