Ava Richardson

Director of Sustainability
City of Baltimore


Ava has over a decade of experience leading public health initiatives, advocating for environmental policies, and managing programs designed to address social, racial inequities and environmental justice. She previously served as the Sustainability Manager and a Food Matters Technical Advisor in the office, where she led the implementation of special projects, supported the Commission on Sustainability, and helped to pilot new sustainability programming such as the Farmer’s Market-based food scrap collection pilot. During her time with the city, Ava also served as the ReCAST Project Director at the Baltimore City Health Department, advancing efforts to address decades of trauma in west Baltimore. She holds a BS in Biology from Frostburg State University, an MPH from Morgan State University, and is currently obtaining a Doctorate of Public Health with a focus on environmental health and engineering from The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.