Collaboration connotes people working together, but people don't work together in a vacuum. On this episode of Communitas of New York, we hear Kashon DuBose, the founder of Cultivators; and Renee Keitt, the co-founder of KBM Spices and Things. In conversation with host Monique T. Marshall, the two founders discuss what it means to have a relationship with a community through having a relationship with the land, to seek knowledge from the past and from our surroundings, and to internalize and share that knowledge ourselves. How is collaboration a natural function of our human need to be in community? Indeed, can we grow without being in a collaborative mode? How does impact measurement go beyond the realm of the quantitative, especially when in the mindset that we are all sharing the same planet and the same air? Join us for this enlightening conversation. 

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Kashon DuBose is the founder of Cultivators, a Bronx-based nonprofit that uses green spaces as pathways to healing, resilience, and community. Rooted in his own lived experience, Kashon created Cultivators to bridge the gap between underserved urban communities and the restorative power of nature.

Through hands-on projects—like tree pit restorations, terrarium workshops, and rain garden stewardship—Cultivators empowers youth and families to see green spaces not just as patches of land, but as safe, healing environments. Under Kashon's leadership, the organization has engaged hundreds of community members in sustainability and mental health initiatives, while sparking conversations about how access to nature is an equity issue.

Kashon has shared his work on platforms like the Children & Nature Network Conference and BronxNet TV, continuing to advocate for mental health, environmental stewardship, and the transformative role of community care. His vision is simple but powerful: to cultivate both the land and the people, reminding us that when we nurture the earth, we nurture ourselves.

Renee Keitt is a co-founder of KBM Spices and Things, a woman-and non-binary-led BIPOC worker-owned cooperative based in the Bronx. She is a grower, seed saver, and master composter who manages the Kelly Street Garden and a member of various gardens in East Harlem and the Bronx.  Renee is a graduate of Farm School NYC and studied at CUNY's School of Labor and Urban Studies; she works at the intersection of food, housing, nature, and the built environment, sharing collective wisdom to nourish and empower. KBM Spices and Things creates plant-based, culturally rooted food, health, and wellness products that draw on traditional medicine to support community healing.