About the Author

Kyla Jagger Neilan is a researcher, practitioner, and activist for social justice and food sovereignty. She holds an MPA in international development from Cornell University and a BA from Oberlin College in Third World studies, with minors in environmental studies and French. Kyla is the recipient of awards for gender and environmental research and fellowships from myAgro, the Cornell Institute of Public Affairs, and the Environment Ohio Research and Policy Center. She has worked for Oxfam America, the United Nations World Food Program, Catholic Relief Services, and journalist Naomi Klein. Her research on women’s and farmer’s organizations, with fieldwork in Mali, Ethiopia, and Tanzania, focuses on gender and food systems at the margins, seeking to understand and be in solidarity with social movements for food sovereignty, agro-ecology, and global feminisms that address root causes of food crises, environmental racism, and gender-based violence. At home in Boston, Kyla lives in co-ops, goes to punk shows, and keeps a permaculture vegetable garden. Currently, Kyla is working with farmers in the Central African Republic to recover their livelihoods after conflict.

Over the course of more than a year, Kyla Jagger Neilan and Jeffrey Ashe worked closely together developing the majority of the book. The bulk of the research responsibilities fell to her, and in several cases she would interview Jeff before and throughout the drafting of several chapters. The collaborative process made the book stronger as Kyla helped Jeff bring his experience to the page.

Books by this author:

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In Their Own Hands  Paperback Available  $19.95 <Add to Cart