biography

Rick Kunkel was born in Baltimore in 1958. His mother was a nurse, his father a salesman. Rick's family moved to New Jersey in 1970, where he would later attend Cook College (the state agriculture and environmental college) and earn a bachelor's degree in Plant Science in 1979. After working several years on the New Jersey Agricultural Research Farm, Rick joined the Peace Corps. He served in the country of Nepal from 1982-84, helping to organize a farmeršs cooperative in the remote Himalayan village of Arughat. After returning to the United States, Rick lived and worked in Washington D.C., becoming involved in many community organizations. He earned a master's degree in Social Work from Howard University in 1989, and worked for several years with homeless families living in shelters. Rick and his wife, Johanna, moved back to Baltimore in 1992, where he has been a social worker in a mental health clinic for the past 10 years. Together with their 12-year-old daughter, they live in Gaywood, a community near Rodgers Forge. Rick has been a member of the Gaywood Neighborhood Association for the past three years. Rick joined the Green Party in 2000, and was actively involved in the Baltimore Nader campaign. Rick is the first official Green Party member to run for office in the Baltimore area.