Guest Profile
Pamela Reese Smith
Pamela Reese Smith is a native of Harlem and current resident of Rochester, New York. She is an urban farmer in the City of Rochester who raises specialty mints and herbs for tea and organic vegetables on her small farm. Pamela has been engaged in community organizing for over 40 years. She graduated from the University of Rochester in 2007 with the highest distinction in her class. In 2012, she was awarded the Community Champion Award from the Rochester Business Journal for her work in her community. Pamela became the Administrator for the City of Rochester in January 2014. During this time, she received the GRO1000 grant to establish a training, education, and demonstration garden that supports over 100 urban gardeners throughout the city.
In 2019, Pamela became the Community Garden Coordinator for the City of Rochester. She has orchestrated several successful special projects, including a Neighborhood Leadership Institute. She also facilitates and organized educational opportunities where she brings educators together to teach people how to navigate difficult barriers that traditionally stand in the way of underserved populations.
Before focusing her efforts in the City of Rochester at large, Pamela was the Community Project Administrator for PathStone Corporation where she concentrated her efforts on supporting the residents of Marketview Heights— a community dealing with food apartheid and rampant poverty. It was Pamela’s mission to assist the residents in organizing, finding resources, and finding a sense of pride in their community. Alongside the Marketview Heights community, she worked to establish community gardens in the neighborhood main corridor’s previously vacant lots. Recognizing the neighborhood’s positive improvements, a decrease in crime activity, and resident involvement, The City of Rochester named Marketview Heights a Focus Investment Area. Over the last decade the city has invested millions of dollars into the community. To this day, the gardens continue to adorn the main corridor. They are resident-led and have become major visitor destination.
Pamela is a quiet visionary with tireless energy and an ability to take a small idea to it’s highest potential. She is a motivator who helps empower people to take action and make a difference.
