b'LETTER FROM THE CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTORSPlanting fruit and nut trees, and many of the other perennials POP favors, requires a sense of optimism and trust. Trust that the trees we plant will still be there in five, ten, or twenty years, cared for by community partners - not paved over for new development. Optimism that we will take the needed steps to halt the forward progress of climate change, so the plants can survive higher levels of heat and humidity, more intense rainstorms, and increasing pest and disease pressure. In reflecting on the first decade and a half of POPs existence as an organization, while not every single tree and orchard planted still survives today, the optimism and trust with which weve approached our workcoupled with the enthusiasm of our staff, board, volunteers and partnershas resulted in outcomes that positively impact our city in myriad ways. We hope these impacts are reflected in this report of the activities of the last year.The pandemic continued for another year, but this didnt hold POP back from our core work of planting and supporting community orchards and sharing best practices in orchard care with our partners, volunteers and the general public. Two new people, Sharon Appiah and Corrie Spellman-Lopez, joined the team in early 2021, and now serve as Orchard Manager and Education Director respectively. Along with Orchard Assistant Simone Shemshedini and Fundraising and Communications Assistant Cortina Mallozzi, they have brought so much to POPs community-building and education efforts. We also welcomed three new board members who have helped to reinvigorate and inspire our already-engaged board: Gillian Golson, Ron Whyte and Brian Olszak (who returned to POPs board after a 5-year hiatus). In 2021, we continued to examine how we can use POPs platform and voice to make our city more equitable. In September, we updated our land access policy for community partners, described in detail in this blog post. In short, POP now considers applications from community groups that do not have land security, recognizing that BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color) -led groups have historically lacked resources and opportunities in part due to systematic inequality, racially discriminatory practices and rising property costs. We made initial steps to live up to the values expressed in our Land Acknowledgement to honor and recognize the Lenape and Wingohocking peoplepast, present and future stewards of this land we now call Philadelphiaby providing plant materials to Indigenous food forest projects. In 2022 will see POP making additional considerations for advancing environmental justice and equity, as well as Indigenous recognition and support.As part of POPs current strategic planning process, we were asked to imagine POP in 35 years. The responses from POPs current staff and board ranged from visions of our future selves gathered in the shade of trees, enjoying freshly picked fruit with friends and neighbors, to more apocalyptic descriptions of environmental and public health disasters. With that in mind, we end this letter by coming back to optimism and trust. This year, the City of Philadelphia will release two very important plans, both prepared with stakeholder support and rooted in equity and environmental justice: a Tree Canopy Plan and an Urban Agriculture Plan. We are optimistic for the ways in which people of all ages will be inspired and involved in creating a greener and more sustainable city, where access to fresh, culturally-relevant produce and the knowledge to grow it will be wide-spread. POP looks forward to actively engaging with both of these plans and to contributing to the realization of real impacts on health, diet and environment via community orchards. We trust that you, in reading this report, will be similarly inspired to engage in positive actions so that we can all flourish in the future! PHIL FORSYTH & KIM JORDAN2'