Speaker

Danielle Vogel, the creator of Glen’s Garden Market, comes from a long line of grocers, stretching back four generations. Before founding Glen’s, Danielle worked in government for ten years, for Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate, as well as for the Department of Justice as an environmental litigator enforcing the Clean Air Act. When the effort to pass comprehensive climate legislation failed, she dedicated herself to finding a new (more incremental) way to address global warming. And thus evolved the idea for Glen’s Garden Market, where Neighbors select from the Chesapeake Bay watershed’s finest produce, meats, poultry, dairy products and specialty foods in a space designed to celebrate seasonality and offer unprecedented access to environmentally sustainable, locally grown foods. Every decision Danielle makes for the business is made with the environment in mind. She and her team seek out and develop relationships with vendors who treat their land, their animals and their ingredients with respect. In the nearly four years since opening their doors, the Glen’s team has launched over 65 local food businesses that share their values, of which 35 are owned by women. The stores are powered by wind, they engage in rigorous recycling and composting programs and they operate under a no-waste mandate, in addition to sourcing almost entirely from the States of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed, in order to minimize transportation and refrigeration emissions. Danielle and her team opened a second location in Shaw in December 2015. Glen’s employs 96 people, all of whom make a living wage.