As the Chief Executive Officer of the EA Alliance, Emily Brooks serves as a community connecting point to unite grass-roots and community based organizations. The EA Alliance supports and promotes community-based health and agricultural initiatives by developing and encouraging grass-roots, local, and sustainable food systems. Emily specializes in supporting organizational needs such as business planning, marketing support, strategic planning, grant writing assistance, market positioning, branding, and broadening customer bases.
Emily passionately believes in changing the social norm towards agricultural sustainability and development through education and coalition building.
Her current and former clients include:
· Formulating and building a revolutionary nonprofit organization in Wisconsin called BRIDGES Healthy Cooking School dedicated to reducing the obesity epidemic among children by building coalitions between the local food supply, educators, and medical providers. By creating and teaching over 1,000 highly specialized educational classes, Emily transformed Workplace Wellness programming for businesses into a Community Wellness Education approach which encompassed the entire needs of North East Wisconsin inhabitants. Under Emily’s leadership, the school was managed by 5 advisory groups represented by 60 area business leaders, experts, and organizations.
· Constructing strategic plans, marketing plans, organizational systems, business development modules, and value-added educational products for Sustainable Food Systems in Wallingford, CT.
· Managing and growing the Celebration of Connecticut Farms, a fundraiser for the Connecticut Farmland Trust, as Food & Beverage Manager. Emily directly manages farms, producers, health departments, chefs, restaurants, and event coordinators for this 800-seat outdoor food and wine festival.
· Revising the Funding and Sponsorship systems and procuring operational funds for Connecticut Farmland Trust, in Hartford, CT.
· Launching Litchfield Hills Food Systems in Litchfield, CT.
· Creating a 3-year strategic funding plan including funding case statements for Two Angry Moms, a documentary film encouraging local food consumption in schools in Westport, CT.
An active speaker throughout Connecticut, Emily leads book discussions and classes about sustainable agriculture at the Gunn Memorial Library in Washington, CT.