The following is the summary of an interview between Lynn Ellen Schimoler, Grassroots Fund's Data & Learning Director, and Tarshire Battle, Executive Director/Founder Roots 2Empower. Grassroots Fund grantee since 2019.

Roots 2Empower started in 2019 as Restoration Urban Farm, a community-driven initiative to reconnect justice-impacted individuals and families with the land. Participating in a social enterprise accelerator program led them to find their new name Roots 2Empower, reflecting deep commitment to equity, healing, and collective power.

In 2024, during their Rhode Island Community Climate Conversations – a powerful anecdote comes from a teen and her grandmother who attended one of their events at the Cape Verdean church on the Pawtucket–Central Falls border. The teen, deeply concerned about flooding near her school and the cost of asthma medication for her younger siblings, had never spoken at a public meeting before. But with the support of Roots 2Empower’s booklet, hands-on facilitation, and the space created for learning and sharing, she stood up and shared her family's story. Her grandmother, a Portuguese speaker, added her perspective with the help of their translation services. This intergenerational duo began attending more events, and the teen joined a local advocacy group focused on transit equity. It is meaningful for a lived experience to be genuinely valued in a public climate conversation. The essence of Roots 2Empower’s impact surfaces when residents become leaders, storytellers, and advocates for their communities’ resilience.

Whether through policy recommendations in the Rhode Island Climate Action Strategy, entrepreneurship, food justice, environmental stewardship and centering decision-making of voices historically marginalized - Roots 2Empower is not just informing, they are igniting and transforming!