Our Team
Sistas In The Village is a reflection of the sisterhood of co-founders Mecca Bey and Bweza Itaagi.
Beginning as co-workers through Grow Greater Englewood, over the years their love for community and land stewardship blossomed into a special and rare soul connection. Both had grown food for years on a range of scales, including in windowsill gardens, small containers, backyards, community garden plots, and now on their urban farm.
They have been guest presenters for Gardeneers’ After School Matters, Urban Growers Collective’s Youth Corps, and several undergraduate and graduate classes at DePaul University. Their presentations have all focused on the importance of growing food, the ancestral and sacred connection we all have to land, and tips for getting started growing food on any scale.
In loving memory of
Mecca Bey
A true embodiment of community, Mecca spread light and love to all who crossed paths with her. May her legacy live on through our work, Asé.
Mecca’s extensive background in the medical industry and her passion empowering people fueled her journey to rebuild communities through social and economic change. In 2016 she began urban farming to teach children and communities the importance of organically growing their food as part of a sustainable lifestyle.
Mecca spent her time caring for her family, writing, and living life on her own terms. As a wellness coach, healing circle keeper, community outreach leader, and urban farmer, she taught us that our health and wellness are deeply tied to farming and community. She showed us that stewarding the earth connects us to our ancestors and can help heal trauma in the communities she served.
Nyabweza (Bweza) Itaagi
Bweza Itaagi is the owner and co-founder of Sistas In The Village farm. She is an urban farmer, community cultivator, and horticulturist. She earned a master's degree in Sustainable Urban Development from DePaul University and has worked with organizations focused on urban agriculture, city planning, community empowerment, and Earth stewardship.
A first-generation Ugandan American, Bweza integrates East African farming traditions in Chicago. She sees farming as a spiritual practice that heals communities and builds collective power. Her work connects communities across continents, fostering solidarity and resilience through agriculture and shared cultural heritage.
Myahna Oliver
Myanha joined Sistas as an intern in the Summer of 2024, and since then has become a pillar of our Village. She’s currently studying psychology, and environmental science and sustainability at Loyola University Chicago. She was introduced to Mecca and Bweza through her school's environmental department, after a project promoting fresh produce in neighborhoods that are labeled as food deserts. She loves getting her hands in the soil and learning more about urban farming by getting hands-on experience at the farm.
She was born and raised in Englewood Chicago, and knows a lot about the food disparity in the neighborhood. At a young age she helped her grandparents grow veggies, like cucumbers and carrots in their home garden, and would cook delicious meals after harvest. She has strong beliefs in nourishing meals being shared and enjoyed together as a practice, because she knows that meals bring people and communities together. She plans to build bridges with her green thumb while enriching locals in the neighborhood she grew up in.
Marvin Yates
“In 2022, I saw Bweza and Mecca doing some farm work across the street from my home and introduced myself told them that I lived across the street. And I appreciate the work that they were doing and asked how I could go about participating or working for them one day. This year I begin working on the farm partnering with Bweza and Mecca. I’ve been learning about planting and harvesting fruits and vegetables and more.
It’s been very good learning experience for me, I had never harvested or planted before and I had never worked on a farm. I’ve learned a lot. Hopefully we’ll be working together for a very long time and I just wanna thank them for accepting me into their family I really appreciate it.”
Sharmain Siddiqui
Sharmain is a Muslim, Pakistani-American organizer, farmer, and medical student. She is invested in practicing a people’s medicine. To this end, she is involved in street medicine, healthcare for the incarcerated, and in using plant and land-based healing to imagine new paradigms of liberation.
She is building out a “Free Little Library”-style apothecary with the mentorship, guidance, and care of Sistas in the Village. Our apothecary has free herbs, tinctures, and oils for giving and taking.
Adam Laudat
Bio coming soon!