Ezinne Uzo-Okoro

After 16 years of contributions to space missions, Ezinne developed an entrepreneurial approach, which uses food to grow the local economy. The online platform, Terraformers.com helps anyone with a black thumb to grow affordable and fresh produce at home through easy access to local garden experts. Ezinne strives to provide economic opportunity for gardeners and create sustainable diets in urban communities in Lagos, Nigeria. The networked backyard gardens are within a 20-mile radius to encourage produce sharing and donations in the community. Her vision for Terraformers is to normalize backyard gardening and provide insights on how to grow food in extreme environments, which could have space-based applications. Ezinne is a seasoned NASA engineer, who has contributed to over sixty large spacecraft missions as an engineer and manager. Her last role was the Chief of the Small Spacecraft Mission Design Division. When she is not working on food systems, she focuses on the robotic assembly of small satellites in Low Earth Orbit. She is a Harvard Kennedy School Center for Public Leadership Fellow and an MIT Legatum Development and Entrepreneurship Fellow.