Aaron Johnson is RAFI’s Co-Policy Director.  Before joining RAFI, he worked as a program designer and evaluator for several youth asset-building nonprofits in Durham, NC. Originally from Illinois, Aaron grew up spending his summers on his grandfather’s hog and dairy farm and later working as a farmhand on his uncle’s hog farm. These formative experiences shaped Aaron’s passion for fighting for more ecologically just food systems. He enjoys elaborate cooking projects, photography, and having fun with his partner and daughter.

As RAFI’s Challenging Corporate Power Project Manager, Melanie Canales realizes a goal she barely dared to dream: making a living by fighting the man. Melanie’s work focuses on dismantling corporate consolidation in the agricultural industry through building policy and resources informed by on-the-ground stakeholders, crafting narrative change, and relentlessly reimagining what a just transition in scalable agriculture can look like. A mover and shaker at heart, Melanie enjoys swimming, dancing, and stewarding her local pollinator ecosystem as a beekeeper in her spare time.

Susan Paykin is the Associate Director, Community-Centered Data Science at the DSI, where she leads social impact and strategic partnership initiatives including 11th Hour Project, Data Science for Social Impact Network, and the Community Data Fellowship. She also serves as the Program Lead of the Open Spatial Lab and oversees its spatial data science research projects and partner engagement. Susan was previously the Research Manager at the Center for Spatial Data Science at UChicago and has served leadership roles for environmental and social impact organizations. She holds a Master in Public Policy (M.P.P) from the Harris School of Public Policy at University of Chicago and a B.A. in International Studies from Brandeis University.

Dylan Halpern is the Technical Lead for the Open Spatial Lab at the Data Science Institute. He builds tools with social impact partner organizations focused on low-code and no-code geospatial data science and visualization. His work includes open source software engineering, product management and design, and stakeholder engagement. Previous work includes engineering and visualization roles with the Center for Spatial Data Science and Healthy Regions and Policies Lab (UChicago), Sensible City Lab (MIT), and research as a Fulbright Scholar in Brazil. Dylan holds a Masters in City Planning from MIT and a BFA in Graphic Design from Virginia Commonwealth University.