Leons Kabongo, Founder
Leons Kabongo is dedicated to serving Black Women in his community out of his love and respect for his incredible Mother, Madame Chef Marie Mitongo. Mr. Kabongo holds an M.S. in Agricultural Production with a focus in Community Development, and completed his undergraduate degree in Business Administration. He served as Activities Coordinator at Our Community Place for 4 years, where he was known for his signature high energy positivity, compassion, and co-leadership of one of the longest standing drum circles in Harrisonburg. He now serves as part of the management team at George’s, Inc. where he continues to lend his energizing encouragement to his team members, as well as encourage positive development on the individual and organizational levels.
Leons is a skilled and dedicated holistic farmer who understands that tending the land is a practice that mirrors tending the inner landscape to cultivate health, fruition, and sharing. In his native Democratic Republic of the Congo, the young generations are invited to form a relationship with the land in infancy through their mother, who carries them on her back as she works with the earth.
“We want to make Africa visible and beautiful in each Afro-descended person. We want to cultivate love for Blackness. Cultivating good people begins with mothers. When you have broken mothers, the world will deteriorate. “No matter how much you try to beat me down, for the love of my mother I will forgive you-because she raised me to love.”
-Leons Kabongo, Founder Young Jupiter Women’s Afro-Tourism Center
Marie Mitongo
Mother to 6 sons, the incredible Marie Mitongo is a chef and creative director for the Young Jupiter Women’s Afro Tourism Center. As the foundation and womb for this vision. Like our Mother the Earth, who has held us for centuries, Chef Marie has held one dream: to one day be able to empower women to dare to challenge the status quo of patriarchy. The seed of this vision came from her. The fruit is for all Black women to regain and find adequate nourishment so they can rebuild, restore, reshape, and revive their connection to their original home, Mother Nature. She brought the energy of sharing, to share where appreciation is due. She is here to hug you, feed, you empower you, and remind you of your queenship. With a hope that this too will steer the body, mind, and spirit of anyone coming to this endeavor to do justice to her capacity for building a better, more healing generation to come.
Perry Bellemy
Perry serves as market garden coordinator for the Young Jupiter Women’s Afro-Tourism Center. His continued service since the Young Jupiter Market Garden’s beginning is evident in the land itself-all this abundance is the fruit of our shared hard work!