Staff

Jazmin Wong

Milwaukee Market Match Coordinator

Jazmin has a deep-rooted passion for making healthy and affordable foods accessible as she believes everyone has a right to purchase farm fresh foods. She has spent time working in Duluth, Minnesota, supporting BIPOC entrepreneurs, farmers, and artists through the American Indian Community Housing Organization (AICHO). At AICHO, she helped partner with farmers to provide culturally specific foods to community members through emergency food distributions, CSA shares, and farmer market events. Jazmin is excited to work in her hometown of Milwaukee and excited to be a part of making a difference her family members and friends can enjoy. In the evenings, Jazmin teaches piano to adults and children through Jazmin Wong’s Piano Studio.

Raphael Leazer

Business Manager

Stephen Petro

Farm Director & Chief Operating Officer

Nyob zoo! Food is a universal experience; an act that unites everyone. This realization profoundly influenced Stephen’s decision to farm. He spent five years learning about soil in glaciated Wisconsin loam, Maine silt loam, and Georgia clay. Participating in these ecosystems instilled a strong sense of community, respect for the land and its inhabitants, and the knowledge needed to steward a farm. Stephen continued his farm odyssey by joining Fondy in 2010. Since then, he has spent much of his time humbled by the depth and breadth of knowledge that Fondy Farmers, the land, and the Fondy community at large have shared with him; it is staggering. Stephen loves puzzles, learning language, reading land, and ensuring that farming is a viable and accessible vocation and avocation. Walking with his multi-species family is the honor of a lifetime.

Venice R. Williams

Executive Director

Venice comes from an extensive family legacy of working with food and soil. A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Venice's mother made her living managing a large grocery store, part of the Giant Eagle family of stores. Her father was a chef, caterer, baker, and a regional manager for the same grocery store chain. Almost everyone in her extended family has always had gardens or farms. She often says, "I come from a family whose grounding ethics are food, family, and faith." She continues, "Growing up, we fed everyone." Venice is passionate about growing food and cultivating community. She is also the Executive Director of Alice's Garden Urban Farm. Venice has been living in Milwaukee for 33 years. She is excited about guiding the transitions at Fondy, and helping to strenthen the organization.

Ken Hart

Lead Farmers Market Assistant

Ken keeps things "moving" at the Fondy Farmers Market and the Milwaukee Winter Farmers Market, for real! If you are ever looking for him, he is the one on roller skates swirling around, cleaning, organizing, and interacting with the customers and vendors.