Through her summer campus job at New Britain ROOTS, Lennon Favreau ’27 explored her passions for community-building and environmental justice, directly impacting the local community while practicing food justice and program management. Her advice to students: “You are more capable than you might think you are!”
New Britain ROOTS is an off-campus organization that partners with Wesleyan University through the Bailey College of the Environment’s Planting Seeds summer internship program. The mission of New Britain ROOTS is to cultivate community connections and equitable access to quality food through empowerment and learning with the people who grow, prepare, and eat food in New Britain, Connecticut.
In what ways has your campus job contributed to your personal, academic, or professional growth and aspirations? What skills have you gained?
Working in the Planting Seeds program {at the Bailey College of the Environment} helped me a lot in terms of my professional aspirations. I have always known that I want to pursue a career in which I interact and work with people everyday, but my position at New Britain ROOTS really solidified my goals. At ROOTS, I had the opportunity to work with community members who were impacted and affected by the work I was doing. This made me feel so much more connected to the community in such a positive way. I got to work in the gardens with kindergartners at summer school, sell produce to older folks at the senior center, and work with ROOTS’ City Growers program where my co-workers were New Britain highschoolers who grew up in the community we were working in. I feel so grateful to have been exposed to such a wide range of New Britain residents because the work that ROOTS and Planting Seeds does is so community oriented that it is essential for me as an employee to interact with all these different pockets of people.
Can you share any memorable experiences or achievements from your campus employment journey?
One of the most memorable experiences that I had during this employment journey had to do with a member of the New Britain community named Maria. On my third day working at New Britain ROOTS, I accompanied Alex McHardy, ROOTS’ community project manager, to Maria’s house to fill some garden beds for her. She was one of the kindest women I have met. She fed us breakfast sandwiches and gave us cranberry juice after we filled the garden beds with soil, she was wonderful to talk with, and she was so grateful to us for coming to her house. Then, during my last week working for ROOTS, Maria came to New Britain’s Main Street Farmers Market where I was selling produce. Immediately, she recognized and remembered me from 9 weeks previous when I had been at her house. This is one of my favorite moments from the summer because it felt like the perfect way to close my time at ROOTS. I started the in the Planting Seeds program knowing very little about New Britain, and by the end of my experience I felt extremely honored that the community members of New Britain so graciously allowed me to immerse myself within their city. It was so memorable to learn about the lively community that exists in New Britain. I feel really thankful that I was able to work in such a special place with such special people.
What advice would you give to students who are seeking or starting their campus employment journey?
The biggest piece of advice I would give to students who are seeking or starting their campus employment journey is to know that you are more capable than you might think you are. At the beginning of my time as a Planting Seeds intern there were many instances where I was really hesitant to share my ideas and thoughts because I was worried that I was unqualified to provide suggestions or input. As the summer progressed I realized that I was in this position for a reason. I could only grow and expand my capabilities if I went out of my comfort zone to involve myself in decision-making processes and opportunities. I found it really helpful to take any anxiety I might have around this new experience and turn it into genuine curiosity. With this shifted mindset, I found that I was able to form a stronger relationship with my supervisors, and I realized that I was learning from them on such a deeper-level than if I just stayed quiet in the background. It is really important that you trust yourself that you will do a good job because you are so much more capable than you might feel.
Give your campus job supervisor(s) a shout out – what did you love about their mentorship?
The guidance that I experienced through the Bailey College of the Environment Planting Seeds Program was nothing short of fantastic. First, Christine Caruso, Malana Rogers-Bursen, and Lily Robbins facilitated wonderful weekly workshops in which the Planting Seeds members were able to share their experiences in a safe and comfortable environment. They presented about important topics like identity, community organizing, black and brown land loss, and so much more. Creating an environment in which we could have these conversations while also applying them to the hands-on work we were doing at our sites was extremely beneficial to how I understood and continue to understand food justice. Second, my direct supervisor at New Britain ROOTS, Jenna VanDonselaar, was the perfect mentor for this summer opportunity. Her leadership was a perfect balance between teaching and trusting. She guided me through how ROOTS operates within New Britain and taught me about beekeeping, general gardening, and program management while also giving me space to take initiatives with ROOTS’ community fridges, farmers market operations, and upkeep of the school gardens. I loved my mentorship this summer and I am so thankful to them for the time they dedicated to my growth and development within this program.
Updated February 25, 2026.
