Meet Our Team

 Lani Furbank

Lani Furbank brings deep expertise in food systems storytelling, strategic communications, and media strategy to Food Works Group. A skilled journalist, editor, and campaign strategist, Lani strengthens FWG's ability to translate complex food systems work into compelling narratives for diverse audiences, from funders and policymakers to consumers and community partners. She also works part-time at a diversified vegetable farm in Loudoun County, Virginia, and spent a season at a regenerative livestock farm in Fauquier County, Virginia, grounding her communications work in firsthand agricultural experience.

Prior to joining Food Works Group, Lani served as a communications campaign specialist at the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL), where she led media strategy around development finance reform and climate accountability. She also built a career as a food journalist, with bylines in the Washington Post, CNN, BuzzFeed, Eater, the Michelin Guide Digital Platform, Food Tank, Edible, the Washington City Paper, Thrillist, Time Out, and the New York City Food Policy Center, as well as on-air appearances on Good Morning Washington, Good Day DC, and Great Day Washington. Before going freelance, Lani was the associate producer for Let's Talk Live on WJLA-TV.

Lani holds a master's in Sustainable Food Systems from the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) and a bachelor's in media arts and design with a minor in environmental studies from James Madison University (JMU). She currently serves on the board of Slow Food DC and chairs the Green Tables Committee for the DC Chapter of Les Dames d'Escoffier. She was a 2025 writer in residence at Woodlawn and Pope-Leighey House in Alexandria, Virginia.