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MARION — Mari Hunt Wassink has always had a passion for social justice issues, but it wasn’t until her post graduate school plans were “scattered” by the pandemic that she pivoted to a career that allows her to work to expand social equity throughout Eastern Iowa.

After graduating from Coe College in 2017 with a degree in history and Spanish, Hunt Wassink began work in the education and nonprofit space.

In 2020, as she was preparing to return to school to pursue a postgraduate degree, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and Hunt Wassink was forced to pivot.

She started volunteering at a farm in Iowa City, working through the Community Supported Agriculture program — commonly known as CSA — where she

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