Meet Our Team

Darren Broughton

Altria, Board Chair

Darren first became involved with Shalom Farms through volunteering. With a passion for building healthy communities, he wanted to further his support of Shalom Farms. He joined the Finance Committee in 2020 and the Board of Directors in 2021. Darren now serves as Chair of the Finance Committee and Treasurer. Darren is Vice President & Associate General Counsel at Altria Client Services, providing legal support to Altria Group Inc.’s operating and service companies. Since joining Altria in 2009, he has provided legal support in a variety of areas including sales, marketing, distribution, and brand and trade channel integrity. Darren and his wife live in Midlothian with their three active children, and as a family, they focus their volunteer efforts primarily in areas involving the food system, volunteering at a variety of local organizations.

Steve Russo

Semi-Retired/Volunteer, Farm Committee Chair

Steve joined the Board in 2022, after five seasons as a lead volunteer at Shalom Farm’s Powhatan farm site. Steve has spent his entire career in the commercial real estate investment and finance industry, both with larger commercial/investment banks and most recently forming his own company. Steve holds a degree in Landscape Architecture from Virginia Tech. He currently lives in Midlothian, VA with his wife, two daughters and two dogs. Interests include yoga, farming, music and anything on the water.

John Casciano

Markel

As a military brat, growing up John moved more than a dozen times before heading to college and then law school, having attended three separate high schools in Italy, Germany and Virginia. He has a B.S. in Biology – an obvious choice for a lawyer destined to scrutinize the finer points of insurance policy construction and application.

John worked in private practice in Boston and D.C. for over 20 years, where he specialized in insurance coverage litigation/arbitration and defense of bad faith claims. Having made the leap to “in house” at Markel in early 2019, he thoroughly enjoys the challenges he encounters as AGC-Claims Counsel.

In his spare time, John enjoys spending quality time with his wife and 4 sons, cheering for the Hokies (or any team playing against UVA) and occasionally competing in CrossFit competitions.

Carrie Edwards

Retired/Volunteer

Carrie Edwards is a seasoned Communications professional with 38 years of experience, currently serving as a farm volunteer and member of the Funding Committee for Shalom Farms. Recognized for her ability to develop strategic partnerships, funding and communications outreach, she brings a deep understanding of how to generate impact to the boardroom, coupled with a proven track record in market research, strategic planning and non-profit management.

Jill Gaynor

Retired/Volunteer

Jill Gaynor has served in a variety of corporate, nonprofit, and church roles over the course of her career. She worked in corporate marketing for 23 years, ultimately serving as the Vice President of Marketing at Hamilton Beach Brands. She left corporate marketing to work in the nonprofit field at United Methodist Family Services. Jill served as the Annual Giving Officer at UMFS, helping raise money to support children in foster care and children struggling with mental health challenges. Last year Jill took early retirement, and continues to serve in a variety of church and community volunteer roles. She holds a BA from William & Mary and an MBA from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. In her free time Jill enjoys hiking, kayaking, traveling and reading. She is married to Jim Gaynor and lives in Henrico.

Reuben Essandoh

Capital One

Tarra Moxley

Marsh McLennan Agency

Tarra is an accomplished insurance professional with diverse experience in the industry, having held roles ranging from insurance underwriter to insurance broker. Currently, she serves as an Executive & Professional Liability insurance broker at Marsh McLennan Agency, where she supports businesses in Richmond and the Mid-Atlantic region.

Passionate about community service, Tarra has volunteered extensively in the Richmond community. She has served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Richmond Animal League. She’s also mentored youth as a Big Sister in the Big Brothers Big Sisters program. Her involvement with Shalom Farms began during a corporate volunteer event, and she now regularly serves market customers at one of the Mobile Markets in Richmond.

Originally from Michigan, Tarra earned her Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in Economics and Finance from Northwood University in Midland, MI. In her free time, she enjoys raising her two young daughters and getting lost in a good book.

Sam Schwartz

Self-employed/Public Affairs Consultant

Sam Schwartz lives in Richmond, VA with his wife, Cass, and two dogs. He has a passion for helping fellow Richmonders find happiness, wellness, peace, and prosperity. In his free time, he enjoys cooking, participating in mindfulness practices, volunteering at Shalom Farms, walking his dogs in the woods, and pretending to be a gardener. Sam and his wife are fortunate to be Godparents to 9 kids, ranging from ages 3-13, nearly all of whom live in Richmond.

Professionally, Sam began his career with a focus on public service, doing casework and community outreach in Virginia Beach for a member of the US House of Representatives and Senator Mark Warner. After spending several years in the public sector, in 2013, Sam moved to Richmond and began a career in policy, advocacy, and public affairs for a series of innovative life-science companies. He has spent the last decade trying to expand access to various life-saving therapies and drugs, most recently with a focus on expanding access to plant medicine for those dealing with a variety of chronic, debilitating conditions, for whom more traditional therapies were not effective. Sam has expansive experience in public relations and advocacy, government affairs, and building effective public affairs campaigns. He is currently in a transition period in his career, hoping to ultimately return to public service, with a focus on on-the-ground work that directly impacts the community in which he is grateful to live, work, and
play.

Melvin Watkins

M&T Bank, Treasurer

Melvin is Senior Vice President in charge of the Commercial Middle Market and Commercial Real Estate teams in Central and Southern Virginia for M&T Bank. He supports and leads the team as they build out the Banks presence in the Richmond Market since joining the Bank in 2010. Melvin lives in Midlothian and outside of work you will find him exploring the trail or golf courses thought the United States.

Charlotte Woodfin

Family Physician, Woodfin

Christine Luckritz Marquis

Union Presbyterian Seminary

Christine Luckritz Marquis is Associate Professor of Church History at Union Presbyterian Seminary. She has been teaching at Union since 2013. She has previously taught at Duke University, Lehigh University, and Moravian Theological Seminary.
An M.A.R. graduate of Yale Divinity School, Luckritz Marquis received her B.A. in Religion from Illinois Wesleyan University. She earned her Ph.D. in Early Christian Studies from Duke University in 2012. She has been the recipient of several awards, including most recently the Dolores Zohrab Liebmann Fellowship from 2010-2012. Luckritz Marquis’s teaching and research explore early Christian communities and their practices, especially those founded in Egypt, Syria, and the Arabian Peninsula. Her interests include memory and spatial practices among early Christians, the role of violence in early Christian identity formation, early Christian material culture,
understandings of the body, and Christian interactions with neighboring Christians in both the West and in Persia, as well as non-Christians, especially early Muslims.
She has served as both Field Archaeologist and Registrar for the Yale Monastic Archaeological Project – North. Her first book, Death of the Desert, explores how memory and spatial practices were transformed by acts of violence among Egyptian ascetics (UPenn Press, 2022). She has also co-edited and translated The History of the Great Deeds of Bishop Paul of Quentos and Priest John of Edessa, Texts from Christian Late Antiquity volume 29 (Piscataway, NJ: Gorgias Press, 2010). Luckritz Marquis currently serves on the Editorial Board of the journal Interpretation. She has served as Member-at-Large on the Board of her scholarly guild, the North American Patristics Society (2016–18) and will begin service on the Digital Humanities Board affiliated with this Society this coming May. She has co- Chaired multiple committees both at Union and in the international guild, Society of Biblical Literature. Luckritz Marquis also served as the Director of the Master’s of Theology program from 2020–24, and is currently serving as the program’s Interim
Director this Fall.
Luckritz Marquis appreciates the opportunity to share her expertise in public forums. When she is not writing or teaching, Luckritz Marquis enjoys farmers’ markets, cooking, and assisting local food programs that seek to provide access to and education about sustainability.

Navi Johnson

Entrepreneur, RVA Black Farmers Market Founder

Navi Johnson is a Richmond-based entrepreneur, digital marketing strategist, and community builder dedicated to uplifting local food systems and Black-owned businesses. As the founder of the RVA Black Farmers Market, Navi has created a vibrant community marketplace that connects Black farmers, food producers, creatives, and small businesses directly with Richmond residents. Through intentional curation, cultural celebration, and accessible programming, she has grown the market into a signature hub for wellness, fresh food access, and economic empowerment. Beyond the market, Navi is known for her journalistic-style content creation, brand storytelling, and her commitment to shaping inclusive spaces where community, creativity, and commerce thrive.

Scott Golden

Performance Food Group

Scott Golden is a strategic communications executive with more than 27 years of experience driving high-impact corporate communications, media relations and crisis management for Fortune 100 companies and mission-driven organizations. Currently serving as Director of External Communications & Community Engagement at Performance Food Group, Scott leads innovative external communications strategies, media relations and community engagement initiatives that elevate brand reputation and foster stakeholder trust.

Previously, Scott spent nearly two decades at Elevance Health (Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield), where he directed communications for major state plans, managed multimillion-dollar community relations budgets and served as a trusted spokesperson on policy and crisis issues. His expertise spans executive communications, strategic planning, brand awareness and cross-functional leadership, with a proven ability to design and execute campaigns that drive engagement and support organizational objectives.

Scott is recognized for his thought leadership, dynamic public presence, and commitment to community service, holding board and chair roles with organizations such as Sportable, Maymont Foundation, and March of Dimes. He is a graduate of Leadership Metro Richmond and was honored as a “Top 40 Under Forty” by Inside Business Magazine.

Scott holds a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations/Journalism from Radford University.