Ella Kilpatrick Kotner

Director of Compost Programs at Groundwork RI • (she/her)

HarvestCycle.org

Tell us about yourself, your connection to Rhode Island, and your work.

I grew up on a farm, digging my bare feet in compost piles and delivering produce to local grocery stores. When I moved to Providence about 10 years ago, I became fascinated with how the food and composting systems I was used to differed in an urban environment. In 2021 I began serving as the program director for Harvest Cycle, a community composting program within the nonprofit Groundwork RI that collects food scraps from across Providence via bicycle and processes them into compost, which is then redistributed to the people whose food scraps it is made from.

What’s your motivation for doing this work?

Composting food scraps supports this foundation by building up local food systems, urban canopies, resilient cities, and empowered communities. We are building the West End Compost Hub because food scraps are a valuable resource that should be infinitely recycled and utilized in our communities, rather than thrown away. Community composting has a myriad of benefits in addition to landfill diversion, including job creation, carbon sequestration, local food production, and community engagement.

In what ways do you hope to leave an impact on the Ocean State in the coming year?

We are currently redeveloping a brownfield site in the West End of Providence into a compost hub. The West End Compost Hub will create compost for the community and be a place for gathering, training, and education. Two federal grants that would have funded the final construction phase were terminated, leaving a funding gap and an uncertain future for the hub. We know the value that the hub will bring to the community, so we remain committed to bringing it to life. Finding the funds to replace the terminated federal grants and complete construction will be our biggest challenge to overcome in 2026.

What challenges do you anticipate having to overcome to achieve these goals?

In a time when the large-scale systems meant to protect us are failing and being dismantled, local self-reliance is more important than ever. I am energized and motivated by the incredible ecosystem of community composters in Rhode Island working to reshape how society conceptualizes waste and build local, circular models that are environmentally, socially, and economically beneficial for all.

What’s your reason for optimism approaching 2026?

Composting is the ultimate redemption story – it turns what many consider trash into something that nourishes life and builds community, microbial and human. This cycle and the connections formed through it give me hope and keep me optimistic about the future.

Sponsored by URI College of Business • web.uri.edu/business