Awarded each year by the U.S. Composting Council, the H. Clark Gregory Award is a prestigious recognition for individuals who have displayed outstanding service to the composting industry through grassroots efforts, including backyard composting, vermi-composting, and public education. And we’re excited to note that for 2019, Jodie Colón, the Compost Project Manager of the NYC Compost Project hosted by NYBG, added this noted accolade to her long-running career as a compost whiz.

Colón’s been involved with the NYC Compost Project for 22 years, first as a volunteer and then as staff, and has led this program for the last 15, educating hundreds of Master Composters and thousands of Bronx residents on composting in that time. Her ongoing efforts support a network of more than 200 community gardens, schools, and urban farms, and she engages hundreds of volunteers in organics waste diversion and compost management annually. She also shares a wealth of knowledge on composting, program management, institutional partnerships, environmental advocacy, and more.

“What a privilege it is, in a time when the news about the environment is all doom and gloom, to be able to give people hope by asking them to dream big with us,” said Colón during her acceptance speech. “I tell them not to worry, take things a step at a time, and then help them create an Action Plan so that the future they imagine can start right now.”

In 2020, Colón marks her 20th anniversary as an NYBG-trained Master Composter, from the very first graduating class in the Bronx.

“How exciting it still is, so many years later, to be providing other volunteers with the same opportunities I was given,” she said.

Learn more about the work being done by the NYC Compost Project here.