Elle Mari (she/her) is the Director of Urban Food Equity and co-directs the Food Access & Equity Unit at the Center for Community Health. Elle develops and leads projects to improve access to good food through an asset-based approach, focusing on building both health equity and community food sovereignty. Elle and her team design and lead projects supporting urban farmers, community members, and students. Her newest project, Growing Equity, supports the viability of urban agriculture in San Diego County through funding and technical support to farmers and community leaders.
Elle has a Master’s of Science in Food Systems and Society and a BA in Community Psychology. She has worked in the public sector supporting underserved populations and neighborhoods for 20 years, with a passion and drive to tackle food and health disparities. She is also a motivated mentor and adviser, and thrives when working with students and early career professionals.
Elle was honored with the 2016-2017 UC San Diego Exemplary Staff Employee of the Year award. She published a chapter on mobile produce markets and food justice in Food Justice in US and Global Contexts: Bringing Theory and Practice Together (2017). Elle was featured in the San Diego Union Tribune as a notable person in San Diego for her work with small neighborhood markets (2017). She was recognized by the San Diego Chapter of the American Planning Association in 2018 for her market makeover and community gathering space project at African Caribbean Market in City Heights. Elle also led a notable food access transformation project at Center City Market, serving City Heights’ Somali community in 2019. She received the 2022 Fannie Lou Hamer Legacy Food Equity Award from Project New Village, for her long-time collaboration and support of the organization’s Good Food District development.
Elle joined the Center for Community Health in 2014.