People & Partners

Pamela Broom

7th Ward Revitalization Project Manager & FARMacia Wellness Hub Director

Pamela is an experienced nonprofit administration professional specializing in project planning, implementation, evaluation, research, and grant writing. She is proficient in community development consulting locally, regionally, and nationally with a focus on intergenerational connectedness. The work of her passion is in urban agriculture development, outreach, infrastructure planning and hands-on community-based growing to promote food as medicine.  As former Deputy Director of the New Orleans Food and Farm Network (NOFFN) 2009-2011, she facilitated citywide community outreach, training and technical assistance to individuals and organizations with emerging and established urban agriculture initiatives. She is a graduate of Tulane University and completed course work toward a Master of Urban Studies (MSUS) at the University of New Orleans’ Department of Urban Studies and Planning focused on applied urban anthropology. Pamela joined NewCorp in 2017 and is overseeing neighborhood-based revitalization strategies and guiding the development of the FARMacia.

Vaughn Fauria

Director and President of NewCorp, Inc.

Vaughn Randolph Fauria, dynamic community servant and progressive business woman, has served as the Executive Director and President of NewCorp, Inc. since September 1997. Under her leadership, NewCorp, Inc. was designated a Department of the United States Treasury Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) and serves as the Small Business Administration’s (SBA’s) micro-lender for the State of Louisiana. Mrs. Fauria promotes the advancement of small, minority and women owned businesses from startup to maturity. She works closely with Minority Business Enterprises (MBEs) and Disadvantaged Business Enterprises (DBEs) to assist them along profitable growth trajectories.

 Mastodonte

Mastodonte (MA-STO-DON) is a New Orleans based construction company with over a decade of combined experience in stormwater management and construction.

“We have a vision of a city that embraces water while also creating urban ecosystems that can improve the quality of life for a community.”

Luisa Abballe hails from bustling New York and is a graduate of Fordham University where she studied sociology and visual arts with a concentration in painting and drawing. While at Fordham she got involved in service work and diversity peer education and continued to do both when she came to New Orleans in 2011 serving in AmeriCorps and then as a carpentry manager at SBP. Permaculture techniques and stormwater managment became a focus as flooding posed a constant problem for homeowners in the field. Luisa joined on the Evans + Lighter team as a project manager where she gained much knowledge and expertise installing stormwater management systems and landscapes. Luisa is a licensed horticulturist and has a passion for teaching the skills of the trade in stormwater and ecological systems.

Arien Hall is a Baton Rouge native who attended Loyola University New Orleans with a focus in Arts in Music. After leaving school she taught music with several orchestra programs around the city, including Ellis Marsalis Center for Music and the Make Music NOLA program. During her work with various non-profits, Arien learned of the Americorps program and the great benefit assisting in rebuilding New Orleans could provide. While working with SBP, she gained hard skills in carpentry and building. After leaving the non-profit sector, Arien retained a job with Evans + Lighter Landscape Architecture where she received training in permaculture practices and sustainability as well as construction of stormwater management systems. She now holds six years of experience in the field of construction and stormwater management.

Hall and Abballe created the hand drawn site design and forest garden 7 Layers + 2 (found under Our Vision).

NORA: New Orleans Redevelopment Authority

The New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA), created by the State of Louisiana in 1968 as the Community Improvement Agency (CIA), is a public agency charged with revitalization of underinvested areas in the City of New Orleans.

FARMacia’s site is a property within NORA’s Growing Green program. The New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA) makes vacant land available for greening and urban agriculture projects through its Growing Green program. Approved applicants are offered a standard one-year lease with the potential for future renewals and eventual purchase. NORA is currently leasing 35 lots and has sold 22 lots for Growing Green projects such as orchards and urban farms. The diversity of Growing Green participants—ranging from individual citizens to large non-profit organizations—is indicative of the program’s popularity and accessibility.