Meet Our Team

Dwight Lowe

Founder and Executive Director

As an influential leader in his community, he has dedicated his life to influencing others to become effective agents of change. His life’s work aims to empower and equip men, women, and children with the tools and knowledge to create financial and spiritual equity for themselves.

 

Dwight Lowe is the Founder and Executive Director of Home Beneath Our Feet, Inc., a non-profit organization. From a young age, Dwight recognized the lack of opportunities that were given to the inner city. With his passion for giving youth in the community opportunities and his love of gardening, he was driven to start an organization that would help solve many of the obstacles he faced living on the East Side of Buffalo. Last year Dwight was one of 24 selected to participate in the Oishei Fellowship Leaders of Color Cohort. Throughout his career, Dwight has partnered with numerous organizations to further impact the lives of many community members. While youth development is at the heart of his mission, bringing awareness of crime prevention is a key goal. He has organized and implemented clean ups throughout the city using CPTED strategies to improve the communities he serves. When he is not working in the community, Dwight is advocating for individuals with disabilities and serves on the DEI board for People Inc.

Jesse Napierala

Farm Manager

Jesse Napierala is an Environmental Expert with a Passion for Nature

Jesse Napierala is a talented Perma culturist, beekeeper, nurseryman, orchardist, and horticulturalist. With a childhood spent working on farms, Jesse developed a deep appreciation for nature and the art of cultivating food. He earned a certificate in Permaculture Design from Oregon State University and has been managing organic farms for over a decade. Jesse is an avid beekeeper and the proud owner of Earth Eden LLC, a sought-after edible/ecological landscape and self-sustainability consulting service. His dedication to nature inspires him to offer and implement natural solutions to address many of the global issues we face today.


Averill Dove

President

Averill Dove, entrepreneur and sales expert leads a thriving 15+ year career dedicated to helping people navigate through financial literacy, leading toward ownership. He is currently a Real Estate Agent with MMB Realty Group., and also the CEO of Dove Towne Automotive, a company committed to making the car industry equitable for all consumers. 


Averill is the middle child of six and raised on Buffalo’s East Side, Cold Springs neighborhood. He attended Seneca Vocational High School as a student football athlete while studying Cad/Cam Robotics. Averill learned quickly the needs of his community involved access to financial proficiency and governmental support to eradicate the negative impacts of poverty. With this, Averill received a football scholarship to Hobart College, located in Geneva,  NY, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Africana Studies; minoring in Media and Society. Upon graduating, he returned to Buffalo and using his minor, launched one of Buffalo’s first multimedia platforms highlighting the local inspiring hip-hop culture and promoting their music and businesses. This platform catapulted many Buffalo artists into mainstream moguls. 

 

In 2011, Averill entered into the corporate world and began a management career with Verizon leading over 15- 20 staff members across several successful different company locations. He used his skillset to cross reference helping customers fulfill their needs in any area involving financing to ownership, including the automotive industry. In 2016 he added to his sales career an in-depth knowledge of car sales working as a sales consultant and trainer, teaching young professionals the art of sales while building self-sustainability. He was named an ENCORE Awardee as a top performer within the company generating over $12 million in sales in his 6+ yr career in this industry. In 2017, Averill received his Master of Theology from Midwest Theological University.

Brittany Triggs


Secretary

Brittany is a Staff Attorney at the Legal Aid Bureau of Buffalo, Inc. in the Western New York Regional Immigration Assistance Center. In this role, she advises public defenders and assigned counsel of the immigration consequences of criminal pleas as well as provides immigration advice for attorneys representing non-citizens in family court. She has spent time living in many places around the country and world and found herself in Buffalo after law school graduation. For the last five general elections, Brittany has worked the polls. In her spare time, Brittany enjoys exploring new places, listening to music, reading, finding a bargain, and spending time with her loved ones. Brittany is excited to contribute to the development and nurturing of young people, through the unique experiences HBOF offers. 

Brittany Lowe

Treasurer

Brittany Lowe is the treasurer at Home Beneath Our Feet. She has 10 years of banking experience. When she’s not working, she loves spending time with her husband and three kids doing puzzles and watching movies. She loves to cook, play board games and read. Home Beneath Our Feet’s mission is dear to her heart because she believes helping our youth find their way in this world is so important for our future generations. 

Deja James

Board Member

Dejia James is Policy Advancement and Media Manager with Partnership for the Public Good, a community-based think tank. Her role includes maintaining the yearly Community Agenda process, a sustained participatory public policy change initiative, and hosting The Public Good, a weekly radio show, on WUFO 96.5, unveiling local community work and connecting them to national social issues relevant to Western New Yorkers. Her areas of focus are member engagement, public affairs, local, state, and national community relations. She specializes in developing content and storytelling inclusive of advanced ideas for citizenship and advocacy for racial equity. She is proficient in utilizing lobbying on State, City and County legislative levels to develop sustainable pathways for leadership, access to resources, and community-based narrative change. Dejia received her Bachelor of Arts in International Relations with a minor in Spanish from SUNY Geneseo, where she completed her Spanish studies in Quito, Ecuador. Prior to PPG, Dejia worked closely on immigration advocacy, refugee resettlement, and childcare small business training. She also coordinated for racial equity initiatives at a local foundation.

Ebony White

Board Member

Ebony M. White is a native of Buffalo, New York. She currently is the Community Health Engagement Manager at the Buffalo Center for Health Equity. Ebony received her undergraduate degree from SUNY Empire State University with a focus on Community Health. Ebony’s work experience exceeds over 20 years in the human services field. Supporting men, women, and children throughout her career. Advocacy and equity pursuit is her purpose, giving voice and presence to individuals that are marginalized and historically underserved by social and health related systems.
Populations served over her professional career include opportunity youth, intellectual disabled, geriatric, and everyone in between that has interfaced within healthcare in need of care coordination. She has been able to build rapport to improve patient experiences with healthcare/social systems. Her ability to amplify the needs of her community is her mission. She challenges the systems and policies that are major contributors to the Social Determinants of Health cycle that adversely impacts communities that are black/brown.

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