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Ashley Gripper

Daughter of Dawn Kipkin and Paul Gripper III

Founding Organizer of Land Based Jawns

PhDc in Environmental Epidemiology at Harvard

  • landbasedjawns@gmail.com
  • asg745@g.harvard.edu
  • scholar.harvard.edu/ashleygripper

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About Ash Grip

Ashley Gripper was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA. Her work focuses on Black people’s connections to Earth and reclamation of spiritually-rooted land based living and organizing practices.

Ashley is also a PhD Candidate in the Department of Environmental Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her research explores the impacts of urban agriculture on mental health, spirituality, and collective agency; and is supported by the Health Policy Research Scholars program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Ashley is the Founder of Land Based Jawns, a spiritually-rooted organization that provides education and training to Black women on agriculture, building, land based living, and safety with a focus on self and community healing. She is also a farmer at Sankofa Community Farm and working with Soil Generation to design Philly’s first Urban Agriculture Strategic Plan.

Online publications

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We don't farm because it's trendy; we farm as resistance, for healing and sovereignty

Invited Talks

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Vision for a return: Black food sovereignty and the post-pandemic city.
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She Hid Sees in Her Hair: The Power of African American Ancestral Foods.
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Urban Farming / Common Ground. Philadelphia Contemporary.
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Black Owned Farms and Gardens: Agriculture as Activism, Community, and Healing. Michener Art Museum.
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Prioritizing inclusion in environmental health, food sovereignty, the ecology of Indigenous cultural fire practices, and balancing energy needs with community health.

Media & Press

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Academic Presentations:

Yin J, Gripper A, Tomasso L, Yu S (2021). Incorporating Nature into Built Environment at Different Spatial Scale for Population Health. Nature and Health.

Gripper A (2021). Food, Environmental Justice and Health Inequities: Some Lessons from Philadelphia. Peace and Justice Studies Association Annual Conference.

Boykin M, Gripper A, Hines R, Martinez J (2021). “Addressing structural racism to advance health and racial equity.” RWJF Change Leadership Programs Summer Virtual Convening.

Bailey Z, Gonsalves G, Gripper A, McClure L, (2021). Building a Movement Accountable Research Process: How can epidemiologists partner with activists to produce actionable research? Symposium organized by Jackie Jahn and Catherine Duarte. Society for Epidemiologic Research.

Gripper A (2021). Vision for a return: Black food sovereignty and the post-pandemic city. Delaware Valley University One Health Lecture.

Encarnacion A, Gripper A, Martinez D, Williams, Williamson D (2019). Expanding the definition of the built environmental using an environmental justice framework. Interdisciplinary Association for Population Health Sciences (IAPHS).

Gripper A (2016). Public Health Implications for Urban Planning and Design: Improving Retail and the Food Environmental for Residents of NYCHA’s Red Hook Houses. Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.

Cheung K, Gripper A, Hernandez A (2016).The Highbridge: Maximizing Public Health Impact through Design. SustainaBuild Design Challenge, New York Department of Design and Construction.