Detroit urban agriculture leader to head sustainability office, solar efforts

Rushdan formerly served as a co-director of Keep Growing Detroit, an organization that supports urban farming

By Christine Ferretti
Bridge Detroit
March 21, 2024

Excerpt:

The city’s first-ever director of urban agriculture will head the mayor’s neighborhood solar initiative as she transitions to a new role leading Detroit sustainability efforts.

Tepfirah Rushdan will become director of the Office of Sustainability effective April 12. She replaces Jack Akinlosotu, who is leaving for a new opportunity in climate change and sustainability work, Mayor Mike Duggan announced Wednesday.

Rushdan, who was appointed as agriculture leader in September, will have a “major immediate focus” on the implementation of Detroit’s controversial solar neighborhood project as well as other Detroit Climate Strategy initiatives, the city noted in a news release.

In her short time at the helm of agriculture efforts in Detroit, the long-time community farming advocate and Green Acres resident, has worked to encourage farming by improving city policies and processes and reducing red tape. Rushdan will assist the city in identifying a new urban agriculture leader, who will report to her.

“Tepfirah’s life’s work has been environmental stewardship and with her outstanding leadership skills, she is the perfect person to lead our sustainability office forward,” Mayor Mike Duggan said in a Wednesday news release. “She already had become deeply engaged in our solar initiative, exploring potential agricultural uses of land within the solar arrays.”

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