Dedicated food advocate, a long-time friend of Fresh Truck, and now, newest About Fresh Board Member, Gabriella “Gabi” Mora, sat down to talk board service, advocacy, and what it means to “ride or die” for food justice.
Tori Strickland • 3 min read
You’ve been around Fresh Truck since year one, year twoish?
GM: Yea. There was no staff. We were in Josh’s living room, all volunteers. I don’t think Josh was taking a salary at the time. The first time I talked to him, he was loading the bus, operating the markets. It’s really powerful to have witnessed all of the growth, in a lot of ways, from the early stages of the organization until now. To see all of the beautiful, talented people who have joined the organization. It just blows me away! It really does, and everyone’s so smart and so thoughtful. It’s very cool.
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Tamika Mallory has a quote, “we don’t need allies; we need accomplices.” I’ve been thinking about that in the context of what it means to be a co-conspirator/an accomplice in this work.
GM: I love that! You know, when we talk about the difference between allyship and co-conspiratorship, that’s about relationship. That’s about how are we moving in relationship with one another and how we’re holding each other in a relationship that’s mutually respected, accountable, and equitable. All of those things! It all starts, to me, with relationship. You can understand it in different ways, but I think everything spins out from there. It then informs how we treat one another, how we show up, and how we show up in movement.
A co-conspirator/accomplice is like your “ride or die.”
GM: We’re going to get up in this together! I use “ride or die” all the time. That’s the same feeling I have; that’s the same energy.
What do you think it actually looks like to be a “ride or die” in this work? What does it look like in advocating for food justice?
GM: Part of that is decentering yourself or how I’m going to show up for this person in this moment, and that opportunity can be presented to you in a lot of ways. We have all these opportunities to show up, like in our workspaces, other communities we might belong to, identities we hold, and people that we might share in those spaces, and it applies to this work, around food. What it means to me there is I think it depends on who you’re in relation to and who are you in relationship with.
I work for a foundation, and in that role, the relationship that I’m in, as it relates to food work, is by way of About Fresh. I work to center the organization. The foundation is going to listen to [About Fresh] because [About Fresh] is in alignment and movement with community. They understand the needs, and they’re going to tell us what those needs are. Now for About Fresh, that’s going to look a little bit different. You’re in relationship with community. So for [About Fresh], it’s “I’m accountable to this community.” I think that’s a beautiful way in which the ecosystem works and really emphasizes, always asking this question, “who are you in relationship with, and how are you centering that person as the expert?” depending on your position of power, because we all, in some degree, hold a position of power. We might not feel that way, but we do. That can look a lot of different ways, but being curious and dynamic in that is really important.
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What are you excited about being on the board?
GM: Honestly, I’m excited to serve. This is my first board appointment! The opportunity is really exciting. I don’t have an agenda; I want to learn. In another organization I worked for like ten years, I never knew more than two people on the board. It was never encouraged to have a relationship with board members. It feels like an opportunity to do something different because I feel like I have a relationship with so many staff at the organization, just from hanging around for so long.
To sum it, I’m excited to serve and support the organization, what it dreams to be, and what it continues to grow into. About Fresh is a young organization that punches way above its weight, and that’s so cool! It’s so cool to witness and now be a part of in a new and a different capacity, and maybe I’ll shake things up!
We’re counting on it!
Read Gabi’s full board bio here.