Brenda Thompson-Duchene is a long-standing community leader, organizer, and advocate who has dedicated more than four decades to strengthening the Brownsville community. After moving to Brownsville in 1979, she quickly became active in local improvement efforts. In 1986, she transformed an abandoned dumping ground at Amboy Street and Sutter Avenue into a thriving community garden serving shelter residents and seniors—an early example of her lifelong commitment to food access, environmental stewardship, and neighborhood revitalization.

In 2010, Brenda founded the Isabahlia Ladies of Elegance Foundation (ILOEF) to expand the reach of her community work. Under her leadership, ILOEF has grown into a trusted, multi-program organization offering farmers markets, healthy meal workshops, gardening initiatives, youth and adult recreation, free computer training, and culturally grounded community wellness programming. A proud Brownsville resident, Brenda remains steadfast in her mission: to uplift, empower, and support as many community members as possible.

Yusef Webb is a community-rooted educator, chef, and youth engagement specialist who plays a central role in advancing Isabahlia Ladies of Elegance Foundation’s mission to build healthier, more resilient neighborhoods through food, culture, and youth empowerment. As the Director of Volunteer Recruitment & Youth Programming, Yusef oversees garden stewardship teams, cultivates strong intergenerational volunteer networks, and leads hands-on learning experiences that introduce youth to urban agriculture, environmental care, and leadership development. A skilled chef with deep expertise in culturally grounded nutrition education, Yusef also facilitates ILOEF’s highly regarded cooking demonstrations, transforming produce grown in the organization’s gardens into accessible, healthy, and culturally relevant meals. 
His demonstrations consistently inspire youth and families to adopt healthier eating habits and deepen their connection to the local food system. Yusef has been instrumental in shaping ILOEF’s farm-to-classroom pipeline, designing engaging lessons that blend culinary arts, STEM learning, and food sovereignty principles. His work strengthens community pride, expands youth opportunity, and ensures that Brownsville families have meaningful access to fresh food, wellness education, and positive community programming. Dedicated, innovative, and community-centered, Yusef Webb continues to be a driving force behind ILOEF’s expanding agriculture, nutrition, and youth leadership initiatives

Taurean Lewis is a lifelong Brownsvillian and seasoned community organizer with over a decade of experience in grassroots advocacy, nonprofit operations, and strategic program development. She specializes in community engagement, coalition-building, and organizational systems design that strengthen local leadership and advances racial, economic, and environmental justice. Taurean has led major initiatives across New York State, including policy advocacy campaigns, workforce development projects, and community-led planning efforts such as the Brownsville Community Land Trust. Her professional background includes senior roles at It’s Our Time, and We Are Revolutionary, where she oversaw strategic planning, stakeholder relations, program implementation, and operational systems that improved organizational efficiency. A trusted community leader, she also serves on the board of GatherFor: Brownsville and is an NYC HPD Housing Ambassador supporting residents with housing stability and resource navigation. At ILOEF, Taurean strengthens program design, operational strategy, and grant development to expand the organization’s impact in Brownsville. She brings deep roots, lived experience, and a proven commitment to building community power and creating equitable opportunities for children, families, and residents in her hometown.