Organization: HEAL Food Alliance

Navina Khanna (she/they) is a co-founder and the founding Executive Director of the HEAL (Health, Environment, Agriculture, Labor) Food Alliance, a national coalition whose members represent over 2 million farmers, fishers, food workers, and advocates. Navina's commitment to building collective power for ecological and social justice runs deep. For over 20 years, they have done this work primarily through food and farming systems, and their leadership is widely respected for uniting changemakers across sectors and communities.

In their hometown of Oakland, Navina’s worked with local farms, food pantries, corner stores, startups, and schools to increase access to affordable and healthful foods. She has brought lessons from that work to her service on Oakland’s Food Policy Council and the Mayor’s Equitable Climate Action Plan committee as well as the leadership teams of Urban Tilth, the US Food Sovereignty Alliance, and the Castanea Fellowship. Navina holds an MS in International Agricultural Development and has formal training in somatics, as a yoga teacher, and in permaculture design. Her work has also been recognized with a James Beard Leadership Award and the Asia Society's Game Changer Award. A first-generation South Asian American, Navina’s worldview is shaped by migration and grounded in movement. She most easily finds joy immersed in soil, music, and community.