Shyaam is the founder and director of EcoVillage Farm Learning Center and has more than 40 years of leadership experience in public health, sustainable urban agriculture, environmental, social and economic justice in low-income communities. After 28 years as a director in the City of Berkeley’s Health and Human Services Department, Shyaam retired and decided to put his passions to work with inner city youth. In order to create a hands-on nature experience for children, Shyaam partnered with several foundations to establish a five acre eco-farm in the heart of Richmond. Eco Village has been a teaching center, engaging over 5,000 urban kids in the sustainable raising of honey bees, tomatoes, oranges and pumpkins. Shyaam holds a B.S. from Texas Western College at University of Texas at El Paso and a Masters of Public Health from the University of California at Berkeley. For his many contributions, he’s received numerous community service awards; served in the Peace Corps in Nigeria; and has sat on the Boards of Food First, International Child Resource Institute, California Food and Justice Coalition, Consumer Cooperative Federal Credit Union, and Oakland Community Action Partnership to Combat Poverty. A native of Texarkana, AK, Shyaam lives in Richmond, and joined the board of Pogo Park because he is a strong believer in the system approach to problem solving rather than the “quick fix,” “band-aid” or “treating the symptoms” approaches and he believes Pogo Park is on the right track.