Creativity Connects: Designing Food Access with Dignity with Robyn Burns
In this episode of Creativity Connects, I sit down with Robyn Burns, Executive Director of The Salem Pantry, to explore how she’s transforming food access on the North Shore. Her approach goes far beyond distributing groceries — it’s a creative, equity-centered model that redefines what it means to lead with care in community food systems.
At Dot Connector Consulting, I believe stories have the power to shift systems. Robyn’s story is one of vision, vulnerability, and bold reimagination — a lesson in how food access, when designed with dignity, can become a foundation for community connection and resilience.
Reimagining Food Access as a Community-Driven System
What if a food pantry wasn’t a place of need—but a place of belonging?
That question sets the stage for this conversation with Robyn Burns, who leads The Salem Pantry with a vision rooted in care and collaboration. Her team is redefining food access by focusing on dignity, consistency, and cultural relevance.
“There’s so much power in food—whether it’s learning about people and cultures or creating spaces where exchange of ideas can happen.” – Robyn Burns
Robyn doesn’t just see food as nourishment. She sees it as language, as story, as strategy.
From Film to Farming: Robyn’s Creative Path to Food Justice
Before she was a nonprofit leader in Salem, Robyn was DJing and making films in Pittsburgh. Her creative roots taught her how to listen, how to see details others miss, and how to build rhythm into every system she touches.
A spontaneous drive to an organic farm led her to the field—literally. From that moment on, food systems became her canvas.
In Boston, she joined The Food Project, working in Roxbury, Dorchester, and Lynn to grow food with youth and neighbors on reclaimed land. For Robyn, this work wasn’t so different from film: both required trust, process, and a willingness to shape something meaningful with others.
Leading The Salem Pantry Through Crisis
Robyn stepped into her role as Executive Director just before the pandemic hit. Almost overnight, the need for food in Salem tripled. Instead of reacting, Robyn led her team through a full reimagining of how food distribution could work.
Mobile food markets became essential. Partnerships were strengthened. The pantry’s presence grew—not just as a service provider, but as a visible force for equity in Salem’s community food systems.
“It was a real moment of immersing myself into that reality, learning, growing, trying things, iterating, messing up.”
This wasn’t just resilience. It was adaptive, creative nonprofit leadership in action.
Mobile Markets and Access with Dignity
One of The Salem Pantry’s most transformative programs is its mobile food market at Salem State University. Instead of asking students to come to a pantry, Robyn’s team brings fresh, nutritious food to them—removing stigma and creating a low-barrier model of access.
“Folks can just come up and access… it’ll be here next week.”
This approach reflects Robyn’s philosophy: food access with dignity must be consistent, visible, and shame-free. This isn’t charity. It’s community care.
Systems Change Starts with Collaboration
Beyond her role at The Salem Pantry, Robyn is an active member of the Salem Food Policy Council, helping shape long-term strategies for equitable food distribution across the North Shore.
Her leadership is rooted in collaboration—with artists, students, nonprofits, and policymakers. Through her connection with Creative Collective, she continues building cross-sector partnerships that reimagine what shared leadership can look like.
This is what systems change looks like when it’s designed, not defaulted.
Lessons from Robyn’s Leadership
From our conversation, here’s what stood out most:
Food is a universal connector. It creates culture, bridges difference, and invites exchange.
Design is essential. Equitable food systems don’t emerge by accident—they’re built with intention.
Vulnerability is a leadership tool. Robyn’s openness created space for innovation during crisis.
Creativity lives in every layer of this work. From strategy to storytelling, this is creative infrastructure.
Beyond the Pantry
Outside of her executive role, Robyn remains deeply connected to joy and creativity. She trades playlists with friends, explores neighborhood markets, and makes time for the long conversations that unfold over food.
Her roots in film and music still shape how she listens—for rhythm, emotion, and story. It’s what makes her work at The Salem Pantry so dynamic: it’s not just about logistics. It’s about human moments.
She reminds us that equity lives in the details. In how we show up. In how we make space. In how we choose to connect.
Support The Salem Pantry’s Food Justice Mission
Robyn’s work is transforming food access on the North Shore, and there are so many ways to support:
Volunteer or donate: thesalempantry.org
Follow on Instagram: @thesalempantry
Share this story: Help spread the word about how mobile food pantries and policy partnerships are changing lives.
Keep the Conversation Going
Join the Creativity Connects Conversation
Creativity Connects is where stories, strategy, and systems meet. Through every guest, we’re learning how creativity can be used to shift how we lead, build, and care for one another.
This episode invites you to consider:
Where have you seen food act as a connector in your own work?
What would access with dignity look like in your organization or neighborhood?
Who would you bring to the table to co-create the next version of care in your community?
Let’s keep connecting the dots—because real change is always collaborative. Learn more about how we connect people, ideas, and systems at Dot Connector Consulting.
About the Show
Creativity Connects is a podcast hosted by Mikki L. Wilson, founder of Dot Connector Consulting, produced by Randyll Collum for Peabody TV, and brought to you by Creative Collective. This series is supported by Jenni Stuart Fine Jewelry.
Listen to more Creativity Connects episodes and explore our work at dotconnectorconsulting.com and creativecollectivema.com.
Guest Info: Robyn Burns
Executive Director, The Salem Pantry
Website | Instagram | LinkedIn
Contact: robynburns@thesalempantry.org
