“When we’re talking about diversity, it’s not a box to check. It is a reality that should be deeply felt and held and valued by all of us.” – Ava DuVernay, Award Winning Film Maker
* CKC invites our entire community to join us in honoring Juneteenth at Koiner Farm *
June 19,1865, marks the day when Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas, and enforced the emancipation of enslaved African Americans, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation was issued.
Juneteenth is a powerful reminder of both delayed justice and enduring resilience in the ongoing struggle for Black freedom and liberation in the United States. This June 19, 2025, we gather not only to commemorate the past, but to reflect on the work still ahead to advance equity, dignity, and freedom for all people.
At the local level, Koiner Farm represents a piece of that progress. Once privately held by Charles Koiner, the farm became a community space thanks to the vision of Charlie and his daughter, Lynn, who placed the land in trust so it would remain a working urban farm — open, inclusive, and rooted in community land stewardship — in perpetuity.
- Lynn, CKC Board President, and Hannah, CKC Co-Founder & Deputy Director
* Storytelling of one's own quiet Juneteenth Celebration at Koiner Farm since 2020 *
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I moved to Silver Spring in April of 2017, which was the same year I made the decision to always take time off for Juneteenth. I had PTO [paid time off] I needed to use, and Juneteenth was a holiday I had enjoyed celebrating in college because of how community focused it was.
Three years later - 2020 - stuck inside, as we all were due to the global pandemic. I received an email the week of Juneteenth from Hannah Sholder stating that there was a volunteer position opened if I was interested and no worries cause "they were dividing people into two groups to help ensure social distancing”. I was thrilled. I had been cooped up in my apartment, and I needed to get out. The farm gave me an out. It also gave me community, food, and a reminder that people, like plants, can be resilient.
For me, Juneteenth is a reminder that freedom isn’t a milestone, it’s a daily act of resilience. This means showing up for one another and making tomorrow better. It also means honoring our ancestors and never forgetting their struggles. Working in the gardens and at the market, and now on the Board, helps me be more resilient, both personally and with my community.
- Lea, Board Member & Development Chair
* Josiah Henson Museum to Visit Koiner Farm for Juneteenth 2025 *
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More than a century before Charles Koiner was born, Josiah Henson was enslaved on a plantation, near Old Georgetown Road and Rockville Pike. Decades later, this plantation was subdivided, and one of those smaller farms is thought to have become the original Koiner Farm.
While it is inspiring to think that one of the nation's most influential abolitionists -Josiah Henson - was born here in Montgomery County and may have worked the same land as our nonprofit's namesake, this connection also underscores the vastly different conditions upon which these two men worked.
Josiah Henson eventually escaped slavery to Canada and helped over 100 others find freedom via the Underground Railroad. His 1849 autobiography inspired Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery novel, Uncle Tom's Cabin. This book broke all record sales and played a key role in propelling the U.S. into the Civil War by exposing the dehumanizing effects of slavery. President Abraham Lincoln called it a "book of power."
Molly, from the Josiah Henson Museum, had planned to attend last night's 3rd Thursday Farm Market & Juneteenth Celebration at Koiner Farm, but was unable to because of the storms. We hope Molly will join us for a future event, and in the meantime, we encourage you to visit the Josiah Henson Museum on Old Georgetown Road in North Bethesda.
* CLTs Work to Overcome the Long-Lasting Impacts of Restricting Land Ownership *
The Charles Koiner Conservancy for Urban Farm is a land trust, founded upon the values and principles of Community Land Trusts (CLTs), which emerged out of the civil rights movement. A CLT is form of equitable land ownership in which the nonprofit organization serves as the long-term land steward, providing affordable housing, community farms and gardens, or civic spaces that build supportive and equitable communities.
In 2016, a documentary titled The Arc of Justice was released, highlighting the formation of the first CLT in the U.S. -- New Communities, Inc., located in southwest Georgia. The Arc of Justice helped to inspire the formation of the Charles Koiner Conservancy, and we have tried to adhere to the values of cooperative land stewardship and collective land benefit ever since.
In this time of fragile liberties, our work feels even more urgent. We recognize the long-lasting and irreplaceable damages that have resulted from perpetuated racist deed restrictions, heir's property (black land loss), and other policies and systems that have been used to restrict land ownership. This is not a red versus blue or north versus south thing. Even here in Montgomery County -- one of the most progressive Counties in the Country -- our population remains is deeply segregated on the basis of land ownership.
We hope you will join us in supporting a cooperative network of food-producing greenspaces throughout Montgomery County that are doing the slow-but-steady work make fertile land and healthy food more equitably distributed.
- Kate, Founding Executive Director
OUR COMMITMENT TO
DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION
The Charles Koiner Conservancy for Urban Farming is founded upon the principles of community land trusts and committed to cultivating and preserving a culture of diversity, equity and inclusion through open land access and stewardship.
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DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION POLICY:
The collective sum of the individual differences, life experiences, knowledge, inventiveness, innovation, self-expression, unique capabilities and skills that our staff, volunteers, interns, board and other representatives bring to our work is our organization’s greatest asset.
We embrace and encourage our staff, volunteers, interns, board members, and other representatives of the organization to represent differences in age, race, disability, ethnicity, family or marital status, gender identity or expression, language, national origin, physical and mental ability, political affiliation, color, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, veteran status, and other self-identifying characteristics.
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The Charles Koiner Conservancy’s diversity initiatives are applicable, but not limited, to our practices and policies on board recruitment and selection; employee and contractor compensation and benefits; professional development and training; promotions; social and recreational programs; terminations; and the ongoing development of a work environment built on the premise of diversity and equity that encourages and enforces:
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Respectful communication and cooperation;
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Teamwork, ideas sharing and permission of equal participation;
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Work/life balance through flexible work schedules to accommodate varying needs;
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Appreciation, understanding and inclusion of differences in abilities.
All staff, volunteers, interns, board members and representatives of the organization have a responsibility to treat others with dignity and respect at all times. All staff, volunteers, interns, liaisons, board members and representatives of the organization are expected to exhibit behavior that fosters collaboration, respects new ideas, and encourages cooperative work.
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Any staff, volunteer, intern, liaison, board member or other representative of the organization found to have exhibited any inappropriate conduct or behavior against others may be subject to disciplinary action or termination.
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Anyone within our organization, or receiving services from the organization, who believes they have been subjected to any kind of discrimination that conflicts with our diversity policy and initiatives should seek assistance from either the Governance Chair of the Board, President of the Board President, or a trusted senior staff member.
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NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY:
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The Charles Koiner Conservancy for Urban Farming does not and shall not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion/creed, gender, gender expression, age, national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or other form of self identification, in any of its activities or operations. These activities include, but are not limited to, the appointment to and termination from its Board of Directors, hiring and firing of staff or contractors, selection of volunteers, selection of vendors, selection of interns and providing of services to clients.
The Charles Koiner Conservancy for Urban Farming is an equal opportunity employer. We do not and shall not discriminate in employment, recruitment, Board membership, advertisements for employment or contracted work, compensation, termination, upgrading, promotions, and other conditions of payment against applicant or existing staff, intern, contractor or other position on the basis of race, color, religion/creed, gender, gender expression, age, national origin, disability, marital status, sexual orientation, or other status of self identification, or for any other discriminatory reason.
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