In August 2006, I landed at the Regenerative Design Institute as a work trader. With a background in design and a burning desire to live in a more connected way with the land, I was curious about what solutions permaculture had to offer. After a long journey traveling and living abroad, I was tired of moving. When I landed at RDI, I knew I had found a unique place - but I did not know how transformational the next three years of my life would be.

I lived on site, beginning a 4-Seasons Permaculture course and loving the beauty of the valley and the lifestyle. After a month, I felt a deep calling to participate in RDNA. While living in Thailand the year before, I had made a commitment to myself and to the Earth; I was going to make the necessary changes I needed in my life to be the change I wished to see in the world. My time at RDI was what gave me what I needed to make that commitment a reality; tools to design my life, the landscape, communities and cultures to be thriving and vibrant places where we all live in connection to one another and to the Earth. Some of these specific tools I gathered were: permaculture as a way of life, how to bioremediate our inner landscape and design a life you love, how to be of service to the land and to your community, a sense of true stewardship, personal and leadership development, an organizational structure rooted in peace making, and nature awareness tools to harness a deeper and more satisfying relationships. 

As my personal soil began to clear, I healed deep wounds and made great strides in planting seeds within our local communities to make environmental, educational, and organization changes that aligned them with a deeper purpose.

Through my leadership project in the Ecology of Leadership with James Stark and Christopher Kuntszch, I articulated my personal life vision, deepened my skills in designing my life and found balance in my personal "core routine" practices.

A few months later I was offered an opportunity to step into my vision by becoming the assistant director for The Center for Community Empowerment, Inc., which in September 2009 moved me to Jasper, Indiana, where I now reside. The Center’s mission is to strengthen community vitality through collaboration and by sharing our skills in sustainable living, permaculture/organic gardening, personal and community growth, and healing arts. These 'before' pictures of the lower garden and below shows our 'phase one' progress. We dug contour swales, are preparing the soil for spring planting and have staked out where the greenhouse will be.

Please visit our website to find out more! We are currently taking applications for our apprenticeship program (starting March/April 2010) that focuses on permaculture, organic farming and gardening.

In addition to my work at The Center, I personally have a Holistic Life Coaching practice that aids people in deep inquiry of their personal ecology, connecting them to their deeper purpose and helping them design a life they love and deserve. I am a group leader for What’s Your Tree and do permaculture design and land use planning Consulting. If you or anyone you know may benefit from these services, or if you want to collaborate, please contact me.

RDI Courses Completed

Advanced Permaculture Design with Robyn Francis -  July 2009
Ecology of Leadership - 2008-9
RNDA – Cultural Mentoring Program 2007-8
Regenerative Design & Nature Awareness (RNDA) – Essentials program 2006-7
Geoff Lawton’s Advanced Permaculture - July 2007
Natural Building Workshop- June 2007
Four Seasons Permaculture Design -  2006-07
Art of Mentoring - 2006, 2007, 2008

View more Grads in Action pages!