Dominique D. Edwards

Benton Harbor Justice40 Project Manager

Dominique Edwards is the Benton Harbor Justice40 Project Manager with the West Michigan Sustainable Business Forum. Dominique has been incredibly passionate about sustainability and the environment for over a decade, specifically in the area of food and farm systems.  

Dominique is a 2011 graduate of Purdue Northwest’s Biological Sciences program, 2016 graduate of DePaul University’s Sustainable Urban Development graduate program and is currently obtaining her Ph.D. in Community Psychology from National Louis University where her research focuses on trauma-informed food accessibility in urban food insecure environments in Northwest Indiana with a special focus on connecting this complex social issue to the adverse impacts of land loss and structural racism on Hoosier Black farmers.

Dominique has served the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission as their Public Participation Planner and Title VI/Environmental Justice Program Manager, and the City of South Bend as the Engagement Specialist on the Engagement and Economic Empowerment Team. Dominique is incredibly passionate about revitalizing local food systems through the development of community food projects, such as the Walker Street Park Community Garden, that she has managed since 2020. Dominique has also  served as the Northern Region Representative for the American Planning Association’s Indiana Chapter and created the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Committee in 2020 and currently serves as the Co-Chair. 

Current MiSBF Projects

  • Benton Harbor Justice40 Initiative

Boards and Committees

  • American Planning Association - Indiana Chapter
  • Franciscan Health Equity Committee
  • Michigan City Tree Board

Honors and Awards

  • 2023 Northwest Indiana Women on the Rise Purdue Northwest Leadership Institute & Society of Innovators
  • 2023 Community Psychology Graduate Student Award for Promotion of Anti-Racist Praxis Society for Community Research & Action
  • 2024 BMO Fellow BMO & Watson Institute
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