
Rachel Strodel
Advocacy Advisory Council
Rachel Strodel is an artist, writer, farmer, doctor, and street medic. After graduating from medical school and completing a year of residency in Family and Community Medicine at the University of Maryland, they are currently taking a hiatus from clinical training and working at TALMAR, a farm focused on creating accessible, therapeutic opportunities for people to engage with agriculture. After moving to Baltimore for medical school in 2019, they became a member of BRACE (Baltimore Redevelopment Action Coalition for Empowerment), a community-led organization supporting the Middle East neighborhood and resisting Johns Hopkins’ colonization and gentrification for 10+ years. Through BRACE, community leaders and members collaborate to redistribute fresh produce to Baltimore residents, stock free fridges with nutritious food, host community gatherings, and organize rallies and legislative actions to resist Johns Hopkins development of a private police force. Rachel is also engaged in abolitionist mutual aid organizing as a member of Baltimore Jail Support, Safety Drive, and the Donnell Justice Fighters. Rachel loves spending their days drawing, painting, riding their bike, learning herbalism, and dreaming of healing beyond the carceral logic of the medical industrial complex.