.png)
St. Louis, MISSOURI NWIAA CHAIRPERSON
Juhna Payton
My name is Juhna Payton, I was born and raised in Chicago, IL, on May,29,1988. I grew up in the foster care system totaling 10 foster homes and two group homes. I have always had the passion in me to help other youth like myself. I attended Western Illinois University, and majored in Law Enforcement Justice Administration. I began working in the same group home I once lived in. Soon after I started working at the Juvenile Detention Center as, a Juvenile Detention Officer. Working with the at-risk youth there was so rewarding. I helped them navigate through the tough times and was able to connect through some of my own experiences, while in the system.
In 2017, I moved from Chicago to Topeka, Kansas to work at Topeka Woman’s Prison as an Corrections Officer. After that, I was promoted to Parole Officer for Kansas City, where I learned the other side of the court system. After working with adults, I returned to work with at-risk youth as a Case Manager for a homeless youth shelter. Next, I was employed by Job Corps as a Residential Counselor, where I ran a dorm with 108 girls from the ages of 16-25 years old. Even up till this day I sill mentor some of the young girls who have turned into young adults. I was soon hired by Kansas City Public Schools as a Drop Out Prevention Specialist/Truancy Officer. It has been amazing to be a part of the great transformation of improved attendance by connecting the students, parents, teachers with great dropout prevention strategies. I strongly believe that, when we put our youth first we are putting our future first.
Contact Email: juhnap@gmail.com (816) 491-1011
Staroyce Nealy
Staroyce Nealy Born in Kansas, they say, the land of Wizard of Oz, I moved to Missouri in 1999. One fact about Kansas and Missouri is they both have Kansas City! I grew up in Kansas City, Kansas but now reside in Kansas City, Missouri. Emancipated at 16, I was able to live on my own, study for my G.E.D and passed the test! At age 17, I went to Building Trades school in Kansas, built a house from the foundation to roofing, through the school program, graduated and joined the local Carpenter's Union. Stayed with the Union for 8 years, when I then decided to get an Accounting degree.
By 2006, I also had studied for Occupational Massage Therapy and became a Licensed Massage Therapist, which I am still today. I must say, I had a very good upbringing, middle sister of 3 girls raised by grandmother from an early age. Grandmother was always in all white and dressed in her usher board uniform. I was taught good manners. Massage Therapy was so gratifying after the world of Carpentry. During those 15 years, I've worked all over Kansas & Missouri for many Massage business events.
Massage has led me to Health and Wellness consciousness over the years. 2008 started my own backyard garden with tomatoes of course, and a few other items. Married in 2009 and my husband saw my small garden and promised to put me in a garden and he did just that! He found out I loved tomatoes and I realized he was raised in his mom's garden. We filled our yard with vegetables. We put a garden in the yard of our senior neighbor. A charitable organization was formed out of being able to share so much food. I received our federal tax exempt status in 2016. We purchased over 1 acre of land to farm.
Global One Urban Farming's mission is to grow organic vegetables and fruit, distribute them free to thousands of individuals within the Inner Kansas City Urban Communities.
Global One’s Vision is to teach our fellow neighbors, adults and children proven methods of contributing to the revitalization of our neighborhoods by teaching the greenhouse process of producing plants from seed to final harvest, and building self-sustaining, peaceful, and healthy lifestyles not only by distributing 25,000 pounds of organic produce free to the needy, but even teaching them how and where to grow their own.
Global One also provides garden workshop activities, introductions to the beneficial preparation of nutritious organic vegetables, and other related educational events as a means of building community and providing healthy diet alternatives in our food desert area.
Contact Email: globalonekc@gmail.com (816) 269-9203
Brandi Ortega
Brandi Ortega, is sole proprietor of Marry Pottin's Supply, LLC, a woman-owned small business that produces hemp and CBD products. Located in Archie, Missouri, Brandi is well-known for serving her local community; she is an active member of her local cannabis and hemp community groups, and she is often one of the first to respond when
newly-diagnosed cancer patients ask for natural solutions.
A dedicated mother-turned-businesswoman, Brandi first became interested in cannabis-based medicine when searching for solutions for the youngest of her two children, a ten-year-old special needs son. Through extensive planning with her son's pediatrician, Brandi successfully weaned her son off of almost a dozen medications, and now, at fourteen years old, he has been switched exclusively to cannabis and hemp treatment. In the process of all of this, Brandi recognized a need in the community for more accessible hemp products, and so Marry Pottin's Supply, LLC was born.
Brandi struggled in school as a child due to a learning disability, and at 15, she dropped out to take care of her father after he suffered a horrible accident. Despite the difficulty of watching her mother work as the family's sole provider, Brandi's life motto is simple and filled with passion: "Kindness is Contagious". This mindset governs everything about her life and business--including the many donations of CBD and CBG she makes to patients in need.
Though Marry Pottin's Supply, LLC is a relatively young Missouri hemp producer, Brandi and her team are building a name for themselves both in business and in character. As Brandi herself has said, "I feel through kindness and love we can make our communities safer and happier."
Contact Info: brandiortega3333@gmail.com. (816) 406-8078