Sunshine O’Dea has been a member of The Village team since 2022. She is our Environmental Programs Educator and Organizer, guiding our environmental education and engagement efforts.

In this role, Sunshine stewards the Philly Earth education program for our young people enrolled in Impact Studios and Village Industries. Sunshine also focuses on engaging the community with our environmental program, creating and hosting our monthly Herbal Wellness Series, and collaboratively stewarding campus land to grow herbs and food.

Sunshine has a range of experience, having previously worked for Taller Puertorriqueno, the School District of Philadelphia, and the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education. She was a Sculpture Major and Printmaking Minor at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Sunshine also holds a Teaching Artist Certificate from the University of the Arts and a Trauma-Informed Care Certificate from the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research of Bryn Mawr.

When Sunshine is not at The Village, she co-hosts a monthly Community Herbalism Circle at The Fair Amount Food Forest X Strawberry Mansion Community Gardens. She supports the Community Potlucks at The Open Kitchen Sculpture Garden and is deeply involved in SpiralQ’s puppetry activism mission work and the Annual Peoplehood Parade. Sunshine’s mission is to unite all people against Fascism through the power of food and collective action. She also has a host of hobbies, including cooking, dancing, sculpting with clay, and practicing tarot.

Contact: sunshine@villagearts.org