Bios
Damien Forshe
Damien
Forshe
has
owned
and
operated
Rid-All
Green
Partnership
Exterminating
Corporation
for
15
years,
but
his
true
passion
is
urban
agriculture.
Deeply
embedded
in
him
since
his
youth,
Damien
got
the
chance
to
fulfill
his
dream
in
2011.
His
passion
received
a
boost
when
he
met
Will
Allen,
head
of
...
Growing
Power
Inc.
and
the
urban
farmer
recognized
by
Time
Magazine
in
2010
as
one
of
the
100
most
influential
people
in
the
world.
Now
Damien
is
investing
his
own
money
and
working
with
friends
to
attract
capital
to
expand
the
Rid-All
Green
Partnership,
an
anchor
in
Cleveland’s
Urban
Agriculture
Innovation
Zone.
This
zone
is
a
26-acre
area
of
mostly
vacant
city
land
bank
and
tax
delinquent
properties
between
E.
79
and
E.
84
streets
off
of
Kinsman
Avenue.The
long-term
strategy
is
to
use
urban
agriculture
to
educate
the
next
generation
of
Clevelanders
to
not
only
learn
to
grow
and
eat
fresh
foods,
but
to
also
operate
and
grow
their
own
businesses
in
the
food
industry,
ranging
from
selling
fresh
produce
and
fish
to
food
distributors
to
full-fledged
processing
and
packaging
of
fresh
food
products.
Damien
is
a
21st
Century
leader
in
the
food
revolution!
G. Keymah Durden III
G.
Keymah
Durden
III
has
an
eclectic
back-
ground.
Although
he
is
trained
in
avionic-mechanical
engineering
and
construction,
Keymah’s
passion
for
sustainable
living
and
environmental
protection
has
taken
him
around
the
world.
It
has
allowed
him
to
get
involved
in
several
international
programs
and
activities.
In
Ghana
West
Africa
he
...
was
involved
with
the
African
Hebrew
Development
Agency
(AHDA)
in
their
Fresh
Well
Water
Initiative
and
Healthy
Lifestyles
Program.
In
Israel
he
helped
plan
an
International
Sustainability
Summit
and
was
involved
with
the
Dimona
Community
Agricultural
Project.
He
is
also
a
former
co-owner
of
the
internationally
renowned
Soul
Vegetarian
Restaurant
and
has
been
a
practicing
vegan
for
over
20
years.
Keymah
is
a
graduate
from
Cuyahoga
Community
College’s
Post
Graduate
Program
in
Environmental
Health
and
Safety.
One
of
his
major
areas
of
focus
was
storm
water
management.
He
along
with
other
students
put
together
an
actual
storm
water
management
program
for
one
of
Cleveland’s
local
town-
ships.
But
his
specialty
is
public
relations,
urban
agriculture,
and
deconstruction
activities.
His
goal
and
vision
is
simple,
“creating
access
to
holistic,
nutritional
food
for
the
development
of
the
communities
around
the
world.”
To
this
end
he
is
eternally
dedicated.
Randy McShepard
Randy
McShepard
is
Vice
President
of
Public
Affairs
for
RPM
International
Inc.,
one
of
Cleveland’s
leading
manufacturing
and
specialty
coatings
companies.
He
is
responsible
for
coordinating
external
and
governmental
affairs,
including
management
of
the
corporate
philanthropy
programs
and
corporate
purchasing
initiatives.
In
addition
to
his
for-profit
career,
Randy
has
more
than
...
15
years
of
management
experience
in
the
nonprofit
sector
in
areas
including
economic
development,
workforce
development
and
community
service.
He
has
also
served
as
an
independent
consultant
for
over
20
years,
working
largely
with
organizations
in
the
region
that
focus
on
community
development,
neighborhood
revitalization
and
land
use.
Randy
sees
the
confluence
of
urban
agriculture
and
environmental
stewardship
as
exactly
what
urban
communities
need
to
address
key
quality
of
life
issues
such
as
job
creation,
entrepreneurship,
place-making,
community
engagement
and
education.
Randy
is
also
the
Co-Founder
and
Chairman
of
PolicyBridge,
a
public
policy
think
tank
serving
the
Northeast
Ohio
region.
PolicyBridge’s
2009
research
report,
“Rebuilding
Blocks,”
was
cited
by
the
Rid-All
Green
Partnership
as
the
blueprint
that
shaped
the
group’s
current
strategy
for
converting
vacant
land
into
thriving
urban
farms.
Randy
is
active
on
several
boards
including
Baldwin
Wallace
University,
The
George
Gund
Foundation,
The
Cleveland
School
of
Science
and
Medicine
and
TaylorOswald,
LLC.
He
holds
a
Master’s
of
Science
Degree
in
Urban
Studies
from
the
Levin
College
of
Urban
Affairs
at
Cleveland
State
University,
where
he
has
been
recognized
twice
as
a
distinguished
alum.
Marc S. White
Marc
S.
White
(Rid-All
Green
Partnership
Farm
Operations
Manager)
Fashion
Designer,
Human-
itarian,
Regenerative
Specialist,
Farmer
and
one
of
the
Original
Green
Partners
of
Rid-All
Green
Partnership.
As
a
student
of
life,
and
the
first
African
American
male
graduate
of
Kent
State’s
School
of
Fashion
in
the
Mid
1980’s,
Marc
has
spent
...
his
career
drawing
inspiration
from
Nature
and
the
Creation
to
form
his
unique
design
aesthetic.
He
has
a
philosophical
vision
of
“traditional”
clothing
and
culture
that
translates
into
completely
modern
sartorially
pleasing
and
covetable
wear.
He
brings
vitality
and
art
to
a
segment
of
this
industry
that
was
considered
out
of
touch
with
the
urban
community
for
years.
As
with
clothing,
Marc
saw
early
on
that
the
human
body
is
the
original
canvas
of
God’s
creative
expression
and
that
contemporary
standards
of
beauty
were
not
favoring
the
innate
resident
beauty
that
every
human
naturally
possessed;
creating
low
self-esteem
and
identity
crises
in
many
people.
To
echo
Marc
“We
are
an
outer
reflection
of
an
inner
condition.”
Optimum
health
through
nutrition
and
righteous
thinking
plays
a
major
role
when
it
comes
to
our
aesthetic
beauty
and
overall
wellness.
Living
abroad
between
1990
and
2010,
Marc
had
the
opportunity
to
re-
side
in
West
Africa,
Israel
and
Europe.
Steeped
in
the
deep
rich
culture
of
his
journeys,
he
has
gleaned
much
creative
inspiration
from
this
exposure.
In
2003
Marc
Co-Founded
the
Dimona
Greening
Company,
an
urban
greening
company
in
Southern
Israel
whose
objective
was
to
raise
the
green
standards
and
practices
of
the
people
there.
This
initiative
fostered
personal
and
environmental
consciousness
towards
a
more
sustainable
and
regenerative
life.
In
the
Fall
of
2011
Marc
was
propositioned
by
longtime
friends,
fraternity
brothers
and
Rid-All
Green
Partnership
Co-founders
Keymah,
Damien
and
Randy
to
come
back
to
Cleveland,
manage
the
project
and
bring
his
spirit
to
the
farm.
He
operated
a
store
from
2013-2016
located
in
downtown
Cleveland
through
a
partnership
with
Rid-All
Green
Partnership
called
The
Natural
Effect.
Marc
designed
and
produced
a
line
of
clothing
and
products
that
demonstrated
a
combination
of
utility
and
elegance
called
“Reconstructed”,
as
well
as
a
regenerative
juice
and
food
product
line
called
“The
Urban
Farm
Doctor’s”
superfood
line.
Dave, “Dr. Greenhand”
Dave,
“Dr.
Greenhand”
has
been
in-purpose
since
he
was
five
years
old.
From
a
grandmother’s
hand
came
his
true
passion
for
the
earth.
“She
taught
me
that
all
great
conversations
are
around
a
meal.”
From
producing
food
for
neighbors
and
friends,
he
began
to
understand
food
and
the
power
of
...
feeding
people
good
food.
A
very
short
stint
in
the
military
took
him
away
from
his
passion,
only
to
land
him
thousands
of
miles
away
from
home
learning
the
“soils
of
war”
first
hand.
A
graduate
of
Glenville
High,
student
of
agriculture
at
Agriculture
Technology
Institute,
a
branch
of
Ohio
State
University
and
A
marine
veteran
from
1979
to
1983,
his
rounded
experiences
give
a
fuller
picture
of
the
unique
qualities
Dr.
Greenhand
brings
to
the
team.
“I
learned
from
my
grandmother
that
the
secret
to
beautiful,
healthy
plants
and
vegetables
is
the
soil
and
clean
water..
Soil,
It
is
alive!”
With
a
strong
fatherly
presence,
Dr.
Greenhand
learned
how
to
grow
vegetables
and
fell
in
love
with
it.
At
16,
in
1975
they
closed
the
Horticulture
program
at
his
high
school
but
did
not
take
him
away
from
his
journey
with
the
soil.
He
enrolled
at
The
Ohio
State
University,
accepted
into
the
agriculture
program.
Life
circumstances
introduced
him
to
military
service
as
a
teenager
to
advance
his
educational
pursuits.
This
time
aboard
allowed
for
learning
opportunities
with
farm
practices
and
his
passions
connected
to
soil.
This
also
gave
him
a
worldview
of
his
passion
of
the
soil
that
would
help
him
today
in
his
role
at
Rid-All
Green
Partnership
as
the
Dr.
of
All
Green
Things!
Finishing
his
term
and
returning
home
was
his
desire.
Family
and
friends
embraced
him
and
he
was
provided
a
platform
to
be
cultivated
at
the
farm.
His
daily
tours
that
provide
youth,
teenagers
and
all
aged
adults
with
an
intimate
look
at
the
neighborhood.
A
neighborhood
kid
success
story,
Dr.
Greenhand
is
always
ready
to
make
sure
the
home
front
is
taken
care
of,
a
philosophy
shared
by
his
whole
family
and
the
team
at
Rid-All
Green
Partnership.
Wasted Talent Media is a multi-award-winning film, broadcast and digital media production company founded in 2009 by Erin Ludlam and Todd Volkmer. Winners of several ADDY and AVA awards, WTM creates inspiring content across a broad creative spectrum from documentary film to television and advertising. WTM is also the creator and producer of Arts Quest hosted by Erin and Todd and distributed throughout the Midwest.