WTJ%202013%20e-version%20(2) by Whole Communities

Whole Thinking Journal CE NTE R FOR WHOLE COM M U N ITI E S No. 8, Spring, 2013

Whole Thinking Journal No. 8, Spring 2013 The Whole Thinking Journal is an annual publication of the writing, themes, ideas, and projects of the collective voices of Center for Whole Communities, our staff, board, and alumni. Center for Whole Communities fosters inclusive communities that are strongly rooted in place and where all people – regardless of income, race, or background – have access to and a healthy relationship with the natural world. Our objective is to strengthen movements for change by connecting diverse leaders from multiple disciplines and helping them to explore differences, develop more durable and compelling responses to problems that cannot adequately be addressed in isolation, and transform their movements to act in concert with each other’s goals and aspirations.

CENTER FOR WHOLE COMMUNITIES Knoll Farm, 700 Bragg Hill Road, Fayston, VT 05673 Tel: 802.496.5690; Fax: 802.496.5687 www.wholecommunities.org Tatek Assefa: Program Coordinator Molly Bagnato: Outreach and Operations Manager Aric Brown: Land Steward Jenny Helm: Development Associate Ginny McGinn: Executive Director Kevin McMillion: Office Manager Helen Whybrow: Co-Founder and Publications Editor Board of Directors Hal Colston Carolyn Finney David Grant Polly Hoppin Melissa Nelson Kesha Ram Lauret Savoy Tom Wessels, Chair

Whole Thinking Journal is published once a year by Center for Whole Communities. Copyright 2013. All rights reserved. To request the right to reprint, copy, or republish anything found in these pages, please contact the publisher, Center for Whole Communities, Knoll Farm, 700 Bragg Hill Road, Fayston, VT 05673. Tel: 802-496-5690. www. wholecommunities.org. Printed on 100% recycled paper in Waitsfield, Vermont Cover image by Peter Forbes

Contents 3 | Radical Change: Pathways, Practice, and Presence Ginny McGinn 5 | The Courage to Make Change Ernie Atencio, Peter Forbes, and Danyelle O’Hara 9 | Finding Our Voices at Knoll Farm Ramtin Arablouei 11 | The Urban Friction: Grassroots Changemakers and the Professionals Jeffrey Betcher 15 | Detroit Mana `o Jonathan Likeke Scheuer 21 | Food Justice at Soul Fire Farm Leah Penniman 24 | Food, Voice: A Story from the Holyoke School System Catherine Sands, Diego Angarita, and Jazmin Colon 30 | Wild and Cultivated Foods and Communities: A Collaboration Wendy Johnson and Melissa Nelson

Departments

From the Editor

Transition. Movement, passage, or change from one position, state, stage, subject, concept, etc., to another; change. To move through. In music, a transition can mean “a sudden, unprepared modulation,” though to most of us it means something more gradual and expected, something we hold in our awareness. But what I find interesting is to note how often I expect, almost subconsciously, for transitions to be relatively quick. Imagine that you are transitioning to a new profession, or changing your relationship with someone, or arriving in a new neighborhood and trying to make it a home — huge things, right, and they might take a while? Why is it then, that so many of us become impatient with ourselves when it takes not just months but often years to move through these sorts of passages? Why do we wonder when people fail to move with grace from one time of life to another (like adolescence, or old age) or judge people when they hold on to old ways of relating or thinking that clearly don’t serve the whole anymore? As humans, we are not all that quick, really. Anything that has emotional content becomes lodged in us on a deeply psychic or subconscious level, and we do not give up our hold easily. Anything that requires us to think and feel in new patterns can feel horribly awkward and even painful as we find ourselves in the same old ruts we want to move away from. Knowing that about ourselves as individuals, one can understand a little better why cultural or structural change can takes ages, how trauma can be passed down through generations, how institutions driven by people who are invested in change not happening can seem immovable. This ability to change, and the structures — both internal and external — that make change difficult, is on the most basic level what our work at Center for Whole Communities is about. Our executive director, Ginny McGinn, who deeply studies and practices how this process of external social change is also one of inner work, writes about this idea of intimate, but radical, change in her opening piece. Following her article, we’re running a piece that is the culmination of many months of study and inquiry into the land trust movement. In this article, Ernie Atencio, Peter Forbes, and Danyelle O’Hara write about the need for structural shifts, or what is required for a movement to change. To add another angle, Ramtin Arablouei, a young leader who attended our Next Generation retreat in 2012, writes about how change also begins only when people feel that they have a voice and a safe space to speak up. So, how can you take these insights, or these openings that you have on a retreat, and apply them back in your world,

in your work, in any place full of challenges and animosity and old patterns that damage or prevent positive change from happening? What kinds of things tend to happen when you do? Several of our alumnae/i give us answers to those questions. Jeffrey Betcher writes about how even the best intentions can go awry in an urban setting when progressive changemakers do not fully understand the perspective and needs of the communities they aim to serve. Jonathan Scheuer describes how the inner work that Ginny writes about serves him when he has to navigate a contentious world of conflicts over landuse in Hawai’i. Leah Penniman is addressing food justice and providing cultural healing in her community by aligning her work with what she loves — growing food — and reminding urban youth of color that “they belong to the land.” From their ground-breaking work on food justice in the Holyoke, Massachusetts school district, Catherine Sands, Diego Angarita, and Jazmin Colon reveal just how hard it can be for students to make change within an institution, and yet what kind of empowerment comes when they, too, raise up their voices for the first time. Finally, we are pleased to include in this edition a story of collaboration between two of our faculty, Melissa Nelson and Wendy Johnson, that was born during their time together at Knoll Farm. Their story tells of a project that will cultivate Native foods, food sovereignty and plant knowledge as part of the organic farm and garden at the Community College of Marin in Indian Valley, California. Finally, with all these longer stories, we heard from dozens of people who wrote to us — in letters, emails, and short paragraphs — about their work of change, whether it was growing their own food or leading a story project in a prison or starting a farm with new Americans to raise their own goat meat. We have included as many as we had room for in these pages, and to read more, we hope you will link to the Alumnae/i Stories page on our website. Most of all, we hope you’ll stay in touch. Carry on the good work, wherever you are and at whatever pace or scale. It all counts. It’s all connected. May we continue to hear and inspire one another. Helen Whybrow

Knoll Farm Fayston, Vermont

Radical Change: Pathways, Practice, and Presence Ginny McGinn

can’t begin to write about radical change without acknowledging the vision and work of Peter Forbes and Helen Whybrow. What they have created on this hillside in Vermont is compelling, beautiful, and radical. Knoll Farm, home of Whole Communities, is a place that embodies the true meaning of the word “radical” — from the root, going to the origin or what is most essential. It was Peter and Helen’s example of living in deeper relationship to land and place, and their vision to invite people into relationship with the land and each other that caught my imagination. Enough so that I was willing to uproot my family and move to Vermont. For me radical change is about creating alignment between what I most value and care about and my day-to-day, moment-to-moment behavior. I believe it is each of us tending to that alignment — in ourselves and our work — that has the potential to create whole communities. This is not an easy road we are traveling. Our society faces a future where climate change is a certain threat to our current way of life and our planet’s ecosystems, our economy is fragile, our food systems are dependent on fossil fuel, water has become a commodity, and the divides between those who have resources and access to power and those who don’t continue to widen. We live in a time where the prevailing mindset in our organizations and institutions is built upon a 200-year-old, “linear,” industrial way of thinking and working that has created the environmental crises we now face. We, citizens of the United States, “first world people,” have created a culture that is rapidly depleting both the environment and our social structures — and with globalization and new media, American culture is spreading like wildfire across the globe. The industrial mindset that I’m referring to is not something that lives outside of us — it is the way of thinking and being in the world that we each embody to differing degrees. Our minds and behavior have been shaped by our histories and the culture around us, and we in turn shape it. The pathway to change is rooted in each of us, and we each have the capacity to foster wholeness in what is an increasingly fragmented world. But it will take radical — at the root — transformation in both our thinking and our working. The industrial consciousness or mindset that has created our current reality has some key characteristics that are deeply embedded in our work culture. It prioritizes efficiency over

impact. Decisions are made top down. It is reductionist, which assumes a complex system is nothing but the sum of its parts. It is linear — presuming a sequential progression of events — and it is competitive. Success is defined by growth and profit — money is the measure. This approach to building our economy and our infrastructure, cars, roads, bridges, and other important innovations of the 19th and 20th centuries has been incredibly effective. And yet, we have seen that unchecked, the impacts of this dramatic growth can be devastating to the very systems of life that we depend upon. In the last 25 years, we have begun to explore different approaches to addressing our industrial and technological challenges, looking to nature as model to design everything from water pumps to house paint. And yet we have only scratched the surface of how we might learn from nature as we design our organizations. The key barrier to applying the brilliance we find in nature to human systems is ourselves. It is our own habits of mind that are creating conditions not conducive to life on the planet. It may be too late to turn the tide on climate change, but it is not too late to transform ourselves — not too late to cultivate radical change in our lives and work. In 1999 I heard Michael Lerner, the founder of Commonweal in Bolinas, California speak about how we might respond to the times we are living in. Commonweal is a nonprofit health and environmental research center that offers programs in health, environment, education and justice and they are well known for their cancer help program. Lerner was speaking about his

PETER FORBES

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experience working with terminal cancer patients, how he has Whole Communities, we engage various forms of what we witnessed patients come to terms with their diagnosis and call awareness practice — which, depending on the faculty engage in their healing process to live full, rich lives in the face member who is teaching that retreat, might be sitting or walkof a terrible disease. He likened having terminal cancer to the ing meditation, Qi Gong or Tai Chi, or perhaps the process experience of living on the planet today, knowing the depth of of becoming aware of our own energy and connecting it with the environmental damage that has been inflicted on our land, the world around us. All of these and many other practices air, water, animals and people. How can we face the truth of cultivate awareness, or what psychologist Daniel Goleman the planetary “diagnosis” and still engage fully in the process calls “mindsight,” the ability of the mind to perceive what of healing ourselves and our communities? Michael describes the mind is doing. Our capacity to be present and in relationhealing as the physical, emotional, mental and spiritual process ship with people who see the world differently than we do, to of becoming whole. That wholeness is not dependent on the act in alignment with our deepest values, or to work through eradication of disease; it is about the way we choose to act challenging issues together all call for our most alert, mindregardless of the outcome. ful presence. Overcoming the fragmentation in our culture One of the incredible innovations of the 20th century has and in our movements for environmental and social change been the development of diagnostic imaging. We have begun will require leadership from each of us that prioritizes the well to understand the mysteries of the human brain and how it being of the whole community. We need to lift our heads out functions through studies conducted of our various trenches as we “battle” by neuroscientists in academic institu- The key barrier to applying the brilliance we to save the planet, and step out of our tions across the developed world. Just fighting stance into relationship. We find in nature to human systems is ourselves. fifteen years ago, we believed that the need to tend in a holistic way to the human brain stopped developing when It is our own habits of mind that are creating people and places we care deeply about. we were in our teens. Today science Imagine a world where we prioritize conditions not conducive to life on the planet. has begun to explore the brain’s neuropeople and nature over profit, where our plasticity, which refers to the changes communities are resilient, diverse and in neural pathways and synapses that are due to changes in thriving, a world where our societal structures serve the whole behavior, environment, and neural processes. It turns out that community. Then take a moment to reflect on how you are our brains are continually adapting and changing through- contributing to the creation of that world: what are the ways out our life. What’s more, through thinking and acting in that you are acting in full alignment with that vision? To not new ways, we can create new pathways in our brains that can simply imagine that world, but to actually bring it into being become habitual and easy to practice regularly, pathways that requires each of us to increase our capacity for mindful prescan help to bring about the consistent changes in ourselves ence. The cultural mindset that has created the challenges we that we want to see in the world around us. face will not be transformed until we refrain to participate fully Mahatma Gandhi’s oft-repeated quote, “Be the change you in it, and begin instead to transform our own industrial habits wish to see in the world” sounds so simple, and yet it is one of mind and behavior. thing to know that we need to “be the change,” another to Each day — moment by moment — with each breath, each know that change is possible, and another still to make the step, we have an opportunity to create radical change. Will we changes that are required of us. This is where practice comes take it? in. If we are to begin to transform ourselves, to change at the deepest level, we need to know our own mind. We need to Ginny McGinn is the executive director of Center for Whole Communities. She is cultivate awareness moment by moment, so that we can begin a passionate social change leader whose career has spanned the arts, nonprofit to create new pathways in our brains, new ways of being in management and green business entrepreneurship. Before coming to Whole relationship — to those we live and work with, to the way we Communities, Ginny served as president of Bioneers, a national nonprofit dedilive and work, and to the natural world. cated to disseminating practical and visionary solutions for restoring Earth’s What do I mean by practice? In our retreats at Center for ecosystems and healing human communities.

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The Courage to Make Change: A Letter to the Land Trust Movement Ernie Atencio, Peter Forbes, and Danyelle O’Hara

Editor’s note: since its beginnings in 2003 — and through programs such as 2042 Today, Whole Measures, and an upcoming Native Lands Summit — Center for Whole Communities has been deeply engaged with the land conservation movement to strengthen both conservation and communities by helping conservationists to become more effective allies and partners in community building and social change. Ernie is an alumnus of Center for Whole Communities, Peter is a co-founder, and Danyelle is a founding board member. Together they spoke with more than 70 conservationists and potential community allies to arrive at these conclusions.

his is a particular moment in time for conservation and these thoughts, compiled and written after many conversations with land trust leaders around the country, are designed to help the movement rise to this moment. The story of all long-term efforts — and organizations — is that they need to evolve in order to innovate and serve.

Organizational change is always a slowly swinging pendulumof-a-conversation between “how” and “why.” How land trusts do their work has been the focus of the last 25 years, and those hard skills are imbued today in the culture and DNA of conservation groups everywhere. The question for the next 25 years is why, for whom, and how will they do their work differently to achieve these more systemic goals and approaches? This article is mostly about aligning that movement around who it really wants to be and, should it choose, preparing it to be better partners with a much larger universe of actors already working successfully to create healthier, whole communities. The allies are waiting and are excited, willing to meet land trusts on equal ground. The opportunities are for a much larger set of shared and durable successes, and for land trusts to fulfill the calling of one of their greatest heroes, Aldo Leopold, to create a stronger and broader land ethic in this country. The reason this has been so hard to achieve is that it could never be done alone; to strengthen a land ethic in this country requires that conservationists join others.

VIV STOCKMAN

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These recommendations are not a call to change the mission people by entering into partnerships with organizations whose of land trusts and conservancies. Emphatically, we heard this strengths are in people’s skills. They come in with deep curiosfrom both community allies and land trusts themselves. No ity and are working hard to understand how to engage at the one wants land trusts to stop doing what they do best. No grassroots, trying to understand community sensibilities and respondents felt that land trusts should expand into new sectors sharing decision making, and co-creating rather than selling of work. In fact, “At their best, land trusts are keeping their focus their own “product.” on the conservation parts of their mission. They’re not trying to These land trusts are making communities stronger because build brand new people-type programs if there are already partners communities have access to experiences on and with the doing those things.” Community conservation has never been land that are transformative. Land trusts are helping to bring about mission drift, but about the healthy food to the table, to improve possibility of finding a larger and local and regional economies, to Community conservation is about putting the unique shared purpose for that mission. provide land-based youth educaCommunity conservation is about expertise of land conservation in service to larger tion, to improve peoples’ health and putting the unique expertise of land well being, and to help communities community objectives. conservation in service to larger own significant land resources. This community objectives. Land trusts helps communities to be more resilshare a destiny with the communities in which they work. The ient. And it helps land trusts to become more resilient, innovagoal is to find the sweet spots where those destinies overlap and tive and successful. Community conservation is already buildthen to learn the skills of being a good and effective partner. ing a stronger constituency for conservation far beyond the But, truthfully, community organizing is often very new for usual suspects. It’s helping land trusts to learn and to become conservation groups. And it does require different skills and better public citizens. competencies for land trust leaders. Transactional skills will As one land trust executive director said, “Each time we need to be matched with relational skills; it’s about becoming engage in a new place, our knowledge base increases. We try new full leaders on a larger stage. For some land trust leaders who tools and learn what does and doesn’t work . . . and become a just love “doing deals” this may be an uncomfortable stretch, but trusted part of the community.” our conclusion is that many land trust leaders are already doing There is very effective community conservation going on some of this community work and the far majority will enjoy today, but it is the exception rather than the rule. And it is and personally grow from what it asks of them. these innovating exceptions, among some of the oldest and The premises of effective community organizing are: to meet most successful land trusts in the movement, who are calling the community where it is; to listen deeply to its interests, aspi- most ardently for changes. This is because they care so much rations, and needs; and to move forward where there is over- about the movement they helped to create. lap. Some land trusts are already practicing good community Attempting community conservation requires the courage organizing. They are protecting the land while helping people to make big changes. And when a person or an organization of to connect to and benefit from it, in ways both tangible and people takes on big change, it’s easy to be hard on oneself, it’s intangible. They are becoming voices to help their communi- easy to criticize more than encourage, and it’s easy to get overties think about what the land means—culturally, historically, whelmed. To all readers of this report, we offer these words of socially, and economically. These land trusts are defined by encouragement: “Do the best you can in the place where you are their local culture, community, and economy, not by a set of and be kind,” said Scott Nearing, a social justice leader whose organizational outcomes. “I love to see land conservation where work spawned the back-to-the-land movement in the United it ties together a connection between land, economy, enterprises, States. and community,” said one senior land trust leader. The the main purpose of our research is to strengthen These land trusts are leveraging community “green infra- community and conservation by trying to bring them together. structure” to serve a broad base of the population in supporting It takes courage, willingness to hear feedback, and more than community health and viability, including supporting working a few deep breaths to begin this important work of making families, ranchers, and helping farms and farmers to thrive. big change. We recognize that big change may start with They are dynamically drawing on a wide range of tools for small steps and we also recognize that those small steps can be conserving and sustainably utilizing land. They are reaching extremely powerful when taken with intention and wisdom. www.wholecommunities.org

Structural Change An effective response to the opportunities of community conservation, from the perspective of the innovator land trusts who are calling for change, would entail deep “structural change” within the movement. In addition, some of the land trust movement’s most important potential allies may not be ready to stand alongside conservationists to do this deeply important work of connecting land and community until they see evidence of structural change. “Structural change” is a term used to describe efforts that go directly toward changing inequitable social arrangements that are so deeply embedded in our culture, practices, and institutions that they are often unnoticed or “invisible.” Dr. Paul Farmer, the internationally celebrated public health leader, says of these social arrangements that they, “are structural because they are embedded in the political and economic organization of our social world . . . neither culture nor pure individual will is at fault; rather, historically given (and often economically driven) processes and forces conspire to constrain individual agency.”

Structural change as a process undoes inequitable social arrangements that systematically disadvantage certain groups and replaces those arrangements with equitable ones that ground our culture, practices, and institutions. The direct and prominent connection between wealth, class, and land conservation has been well documented in this country by generations of academics and practitioners. This information, however, is not well integrated into the story that land conservation tells about itself or the practices it uses to address these dynamics. At the same time, stories in the United States abound within the living blood memory of Native Americans, low-income White people in Appalachia, Black family farmers, and Indo-Hispano land grant heirs, to name but a few groups for whom a loss of land is tightly connected to loss of income and economic well being, history and culture, and their sense of self and dignity. In some communities, mental health professionals have recognized a collective “historical trauma” connected to the loss of land and identity that is directly linked to substance abuse and violence. The gap between the stories

CHARLIE GRAHAM

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told by conservationists and those told by others who are inequitable social arrangements will be repeated forever unless deeply connected to and love the land can impede authentic we, as a primarily White conservation movement, step forward collaboration, although connection to and love for the land and do something to take apart the structure. In this case, the should unite the two groups. This is the sorrow of the conser- structure is one created by silence. By not talking about the vation movement, of our nation too, and one major obstacle issues, by “choosing to focus on the future” we are actually to creating healthy, whole communities. perpetuating the past. We recall William Faulkner’s famous The ability to integrate land trust stories with the depth and statement that “the past is never dead; it’s not even past.” complexity of the movement’s roots and with the fullness and The ramifications of this history are still with us. Another richness of the broader United States story about land requires interviewee asks, “What is that wealth creating, how [land trusts] first that land trusts know and understand these different use it and invest it? And how does it benefit the community?” stories. According to one land trust executive director, “In our It’s not a question of whether or not we as a movement are land trusts there’s an insufficient understanding of the historical privileged and powerful; the question is, what do we each do and current connection to landownership and dynamics related with that power and privilege? Who do we aspire for it to to privilege, and specifically, where people are placed socially and serve? It’s no longer a question of whether or not our nation’s economically in the community. systems of parks and conserved There is a deficit of training and The gap between the stories told by conservationists and lands were often built upon the learning around this.” forcible removal of the people of those told by others who are deeply connected to and love Here’s an example of a sentithat land. The question is how ment we have all heard often the land can impede authentic collaboration, although will we conserve lands differently enough that bears re-telling to connection to and love for the land should unite the two today? What have we learned? explain the challenge of making What can we put our talents in groups. the structural changes that are service to today? necessary to succeed at commuThis can feel overwhelming to nity conservation. “I choose not to live in the past. I cannot possi- the staff of any land trust, no matter how big or small, tradibly address what happened 150 years ago. I choose to focus on the tional or innovative. What’s a caring and aware conservationist future.” This kind of statement is sometimes used today as an to do? The first step is educating ourselves and the second step excuse by some conservationists to not engage in issues that are is speaking the truth however authentically each and every one important to others, or are difficult, or perceived “unsolvable” of us can. And let’s remember again what Scott Nearing said, to conservationists. It may refer to Native lands, the history of “Do the best you can in the place where you are and be kind.” slavery, the history of black family land loss, the history of the creation of our National Parks, the history of Hispanic land Ernie Atencio was for nine years the executive director of the Taos Land Trust. grants. To say, “I’m not going to talk about that” closes more He has a Master’s degree in applied cultural anthropology and has spent much doors that it opens. And the authors of this letter fully under- of his career promoting the powerful connections between land and culture, stand that the intention behind these kinds of comments is not healthy ecosystems and healthy communities. to do harm, but there have been resulting impacts which are, nonetheless, harmful. Prior to co-founding Center for Whole Communities in 2003, Peter Forbes As one Native lands conservationist explained, “The problem is worked for 18 years for the Trust for Public Land. As a facilitator, public speaker [land trusts are] not recognizing all of the different Tribes in the and consultant he works with leaders, communities, and organizations to make region and their long history in the area. So we found ourselves broader and more effective social and environmental change. at odds with the land trust groups. We had to say, ‘look, you can’t rewrite history as you see it. I mean the history is what it is.’ If Danyelle O’Hara is an organizational management consultant based in St. Paul, there was some vehicle that would hold land trusts accountable, so Minnesota and a founding board member of Center for Whole Communities. they just can’t come in and do what they want on our homeland. Her work (in the United States and Africa) has been to help build capacity and . . . Some way to not only set the history straight but the cultural support communities in developing visions, along with practical plans for achievrecord straight.” ing those visions, in the most inclusive ways possible. The difficult truth is that without structural change,

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Finding Our Voices at Knoll Farm Ramtin Arablouei

have spent much of my short professional career working in philanthropy, a sector where most people are much older and look different than me. I am Iranian-American, English is my third language, and I had a very modest upbringing. Whether it is my funny sounding name, accent, or appearance, I have always felt a bit isolated. On top of this, I haven’t had the chance to connect professionally to many people whose backgrounds resemble mine. Fortunately, this changed when I went to Center for Whole Communities for a leadership retreat in September 2012.

The Next Generation Retreat I attended is designed to convene environmental and social justice professionals to strengthen the next generation of leaders in those fields, particularly people of color. It’s a space for young professionals who are not often looked to for big vision or strategic wisdom. Participants are selected from a large pool of candidates who have been nominated by Whole Communities’ alumnae/i; and awarded a fellowship to attend. My cohort consisted of eighteen professionals from across the United States, mostly people of color, between the ages of 25 and 35.

Next Generation Retreat at Knoll Farm in 2012. SARRAH ABULUGHOD

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was new to his or her field. They were mostly accomplished mid-level staff at NGOs. These were front-line descriptions of a macro-level problem. Not surprisingly, research paints a picture similar to the anecdotes I heard at the retreat. In a 2011 study, the Level Playing Institute found that “70 percent of employees of color believe that their employer does not do enough to create a diverse and inclusive work environment.” A 2010 BoardSource survey of non-profit organizations found that 84 percent of all board members at non-profit organizations in the United States were White. In 1993 the number was 86 percent. Many environmental justice funders and activists have voiced concern about the lack of minority leadership throughout the field for years. Poor people and people of color are most often directly affected by environmental degradation. It matters when leadership in civil society and philanthropy Ramtin’s group gathers at the Story Circle at Knoll Farm SARRAH ABULUGHOD reflects the diversity and dynamism of the work it supports. The retreat, which aimed to improve our leadership and These concerns have not been voiced in vain. Within my storytelling skills, and to create community, took place over own organization’s membership several foundations have six days at Knoll Farm in central Vermont. For some, the supported long-term efforts to close the race, class, gender, and outdoor camping conditions tested limits. We slept in tent generational gaps within the field. Many environmental justice cabins or small yurts. Shower facilities were outdoors. There organizations have made commitments to shared generational was no electricity in the sleeping or bathing quarters. And at leadership. Others have intentionally recruited staff or board night, it was cold and the silence was deafening. The wildlife members who reflect the diversity of the communities they on the farm included some coyotes and the occasional black serve. Thankfully, a core group of funders has been there to bear. This information provided very little comfort during support these efforts. my late-evening walks back to my tent under a pitch-black I believe it is no longer a question of whether or not environVermont sky. mental leadership should become more diverse, it is a question The heart of the retreat was in the intense personal interac- of how. As many current leaders retire, it will be time for a new tions among participants. People’s generation to take the reins of backgrounds were wildly different. These were front-line descriptions of a macro-level problem. the environmental and social Everyone seemed alien, yet incredjustice movements. I expect ibly familiar. Whether the topic of conversation was animal that many of my peers from the Next Generation Retreat will rights or hip-hop or organizing strategies, the intellect and be among those leaders. passion in these conversations blew me away. By the end of the program I saw a shift in many of my fellow There were also feelings I hadn’t expected. I was shocked retreat participants, and I felt it myself. Everyone seemed a by the pain, sorrow and unhappiness in the stories of young little more empowered and confident. Each of us left with a people of color trying to make a difference and a career in the better sense of our own vision. As I got in my shuttle back to non-profit sector. Most participants, despite their accomplish- the airport on a dewy, cold Vermont morning, I looked back at ments and intelligence, expressed that they felt powerless at Knoll Farm while eagerly awaiting my future. their organizations. They told stories of being threatened or shut down by superiors after challenging norms around race, Ramtin Arablouei works at the Health and Environmental Funder’s Network, gender, and class. Others said they were ignored and their where he is Program Manager for Environmental Health and Environmental opinions not valued. It is a feeling many young people know in Justice. He came to Knoll Farm for a Center for Whole Communities’ Next the beginning of their careers. But none of these participants Generation Leadership Retreat in 2012.

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The Urban Friction: Grassroots Changemakers and the Professionals Jeffrey Betcher

’m pretty darn sure of two things. Trouble is, those two things seem to conflict. I’m sure of what I experienced at Center for Whole Communities in 2010: that personal transformation is as connected to social and environmental change work as water is to a garden, and that strong relationships and good process are foundational . . . the bricks and mortar of a just and sustainable world. How can I be a responsible change-maker without honest self-exploration shedding some light on my unique path forward? How can I close the gap between myself and other change-makers without digging through the sediment of perception until bedrock differences appear? How will we all come to share a vision for the future without high-quality human relationships becoming common as dirt?

Alas, I’m just as sure of what I experience in the “transitional” urban neighborhood of San Francisco, California where I live and work, a place fast being remade by public and private development. Here, when thoughtful people from the far corners of the changemaking scene engage through good process, I see how the results favor the changemakers who have the most decision-making authority and resources. Let’s face it, the conveners of town hall forums, opportunity-analysis process meetings, and community stakeholder gatherings are usually the ones fidgeting with purse strings and butcherpapering the walls with evidence that they understand that community involvement is important. At the end of the typical gathering, community members often seem to “green light” the convener’s top-down ideas

Young resident Deja Hill playing in the first vegetable patch planted by neighbors on the median strip in 2003.

JEFFREY BETCHER

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before leaving with the nagging feeling that they’d been had. vulnerable communities, they are usually the detritus of these They return to homes in foreclosure, and a neighborhood top-down tidal waves, or preexisting and conveniently ignored. losing touch with its unique culture. They wonder if their All of that is just the context: the facts of life for urban community’s network of place-based professionals is relevant changemakers here. I do want us all to get along better over since outside facilitators had to be called in to run the meeting time regardless of who pays our salary (if we get paid at all). and communicate the community’s ideas to invisible decision- Yet I can’t help sensing a role for out and out conflict, dividmakers. They realize they gave away time they might have ing lines and boxes for categorizing change agents. I seem to spent organizing against the slippery edges of gentrification. need answers to questions like: What is the appropriate leaderDoes honoring my own inclination toward collaboration ship role for a place-based community to play in the changand the values I absorbed at Center ing urban core? Is there anything for Whole Communities make me For me, juggling interaction with power on one hand that urban planners and developcomplicit in creating a place where and opposition to it on the other can seem like an ers, government policymakers and the neighbors I seek to help are, by funders can truly hand over (along impossible circus act. degrees, losing out? Is the commitwith decision-making authority ment to multi-sector partnership and and adequate financing) to just consensus shared throughout the Quesada Gardens Initiative, the plain folk? Do existing populations in changing places ever organization I tend in Bayview Hunters Point, unintentionally have absolute rights to define change, or must that necessarily supportive of an urban planning juggernaut that is programmed reside with the experts debating in the broader public realm? more for the affluent people who are likely to live here in 20 years I hear myself say that communities have a responsibility to than it is for my neighbors struggling to hold on right now? engage, advise and participate; just as urban planners have a I seek to balance inequitable process with opposition rather responsibility to listen and respond. But that’s different than than select between the two. But the scale’s arms are so crazily seating real power with communities. And it’s part and parcel slanted that, well, I worry. of a missed opportunity given that it is the place-based, grassMaybe I’m balancing what I experienced with a diverse roots associations that are creating the culture, social strucgroup of leaders at Whole Communities, and the daily grind tures, and local economies that the “systems folks” hope for in of work on the ground. In the barn, it all made so much sense. their “build it and they will come” approach. I felt validated as someone who presents himself as a commuThe clearest example I’ve seen lately of how top-down nity builder championing dialogue, unity of purpose, and changemaking affects places like where I live has to do internal group wisdom and strength. Pure community build- with the food movement. Progressive food justice organizing … that is, connecting people to one another across differ- ers (White, educated, and from a relatively privileged class) ence, and connecting people to the wanting to create a sustainable place they live through consensus . . . if it’s important to speak truth to power, we need to food system drove through legislaand strength-based programming tion that made it a city policy to know where the power resides and where it doesn’t. … joins social justice and commuaudit “underutilized” land — even nity development like nothing else in working class neighborhoods of can. Right? It will contribute to the creation of thriving urban color where land use is the hottest of hot button issues — so places where people with roots can stay, regardless of privilege, that the land in those neighborhoods can be repurposed for and to which respectful new arrivals will be drawn by the value one goal: to grow food. of diversity. Right? Anything that might provide food to hungry people is hard Right!...sort of. In the setting where my work and life exist, to argue with. But should I stay quiet if more privileged city change is already happening and innovative best practices and residents bike from another neighborhood to a place to which structures for community involvement are in place. But still they have no real connection for the purpose of growing food the change is generated by policymakers who advocate for the on land the immediate community needs and wants for other greater good as they see it, private investors who look toward purposes? Doesn’t that risk branding the food movement, which profit, and large funding and advocacy organizations that want is truly critical to our globe’s future, as a force of gentrification? to assert their agendas and draw constituency from the effort. The local food movement’s effort is just an example. Similar When there are problems associated with justice issues and frictions heat up when public health folks train us about how www.wholecommunities.org

to eat, environmentalists educate us about our environment, criminal justice professionals inform us how to behave . . . all good people with great intentions and urgent objectives. We should be grateful for the attention. But, even to this collegeeducated White man, it can feel patronizing. And it can feel destructive. However well intentioned, the recent food legislation, auditing of land, and incentivizing the use of that land solely for food production actually undermined a grassroots process within the community that the food advocates surely hoped to help. Our local process has been to empower communities to define the most sustainable and just uses of assets like those odd lots of “underutilized” land, without “siloed” restrictions or incentives. (Community building processes sometimes lead to land uses that have nothing to do with food.) But over time careful community building has also led to more coordinated and sustained urban agriculture than the neighborhood has seen in decades. In my example, the food policy organizers and relevant community workers had relatively good, functional relationships, and the legislation they advanced, with its regressive component, passed after a process that was about as good as these processes get. The food movement is stronger, while the community-building movement is set back and saddled with confusing messages like “building gardens will build community,” when we know that people build community and that plopping down a garden requires a mini social marketing and outreach campaign as well. Ironically, the best chance my community has to remediate the policy’s weakness is to do so informally, which means we will rely on the relationships we have with the advocates who got the legislation through in the first place to do the right thing when it comes to land use in underserved neighborhoods. Three steps forward, two back. If I could go back to the moment when good people who were advocating for this important progressive issue first started organizing centrally with a bead on citywide politics, I’m not sure what I would have suggested. My instinct is to recommend we invest more in community-emergent, grassroots responses to challenge than we do, and turn to government responses less reflexively. My food movement friends would say that, in this case, they tried to get what they needed from the city without a legislative move, and hit a wall. But as long as bottom-up approaches are undervalued, we reinforce that wall by over-reliance on the force that built it instead of investing in something new. For me, juggling interaction with power on one hand and opposition to it on the other can seem like an impossible circus

act. But I’ve seen the act often enough to know it can be done. If it is a matter of improving our odds, I have two suggestions. First that we more clearly define the roles for changemakers, and second that we revalue existing community structures. For instance, if it’s important to speak truth to power, we need to know where the power resides and where it doesn’t. If you’ve ever seen a government agency program that is made to look like a funky community-based not-for-profit effort, or a corporate community affairs marketing program that claims to be a grassroots voice, you know how complicated the sorting out of changemaker roles can be. Now consider that food policy organizers in San Francisco, on a different day, could be out protesting for immigrant or queer rights. And communitybased organizers might have a government contract that helps them pay the rent. Scratch the surface and there’s more surface. Collaborate? Consent to common objectives? Yes. But with transparency, and with the clarity that communities and large institutions are different. Similarly, we must elevate communities in the path of change from advisory status to true leadership whenever appropriate. Public participation and citizen engagement? Sure, when the

Jeffrey and Quesada Gardens founding gardener Annette Smith in 2008. JAMES ROSS

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greater good is at stake. But when the results of change will primarily affect the people who live in a place, communityemergent structures should hold the cash and drive. Those structures should be strengthened and trusted, not only because the results will be more just and better serve the community (the folks who are already here care the most about the end result), but because the capacity of the community to take care of itself will be elevated for the long term. This shift is possible, and may already be happening. After all, it wasn’t long ago that the urban planning toolkit contained little other than eminent domain policy and bulldozers. Today, in my neighborhood, public health professionals are innovating community-based participatory research models, and criminal justice leaders are implementing neighborhood court systems. I’m part of a clumsy emergent process of reaching from the top-down and the bottom-up, and can testify that a few hands have found one another and clasped. Community builders, too, are more savvy all the time. In fact, in my exploration of these challenges and ideas through work in Bayview Hunters Point, I’ve come to believe that a new sector of place-based workers is emerging in the community setting, albeit a sector that is systemically ill-defined and unsupported. In my article “Building the Community Sector,” I write more about this emergent opportunity. Until I live in a world that is more community-driven, I will need to breathe through my frustration with the status quo. I find myself grateful for the exchange with Helen Whybrow that led to this article. Building relationships and being mindful of process are critical, and Helen demonstrated this in our work together. In fact, the exchange between Helen and me was possible only because of the connections formed at the Center for Whole Communities, a place and people that bridge east and west, farm and city, public and private, grassroots and systems, thoughtful journeywomen and (formerly) ranting community organizers. I am reminded that the choice is not between two paths: acquiescence and conflict. I’m standing on one stone in what will be a path of change that is longer than a lifetime, a path that will wind forward whether or not I’m on it. The choices are between stepping toward the next stone or not, and stepping with others or alone. Those decisions are easy to make. Jeffrey Betcher lives and works in San Francisco’s Bayview Hunters Point neighborhood. He co-founded and leads the award-winning Quesada Gardens Initiative in the heart of Bayview, a network of trusted neighbors who provide the structure that new leaders and informal community groups need to grow.

When have you glimpsed your vision…? when I can crack a joke and they feel the respect? yeah around folks like y’all it becomes easier the fire lights up: grown-ups in mud puddles get cheered the first interspecies space I saw felt genuinely whole at our brown lady dinners we got together and talked about what we are doing the tools to heal ourselves we reached out in a space not normally seen we came together family on the land for generations science and healing and music I could embrace that place stand up to say I am the one strangers sharing visions from all over we get together and ask ‘what’s good?’ five years of wonderful relish in the pops of freedom with young people glimpses are regular I can and will be doing something we never would have survived without the kids we don’t lock our doors who wouldn’t be amazing? meditating I’ll have your back I just got more sensitive I can actually feel speak truth be whole feel Collected from the voices of the 2012 Next Generation Retreat fellows by Adrienne Maree Brown

Jeffrey was a 2010 fellow at Center for Whole Communities.

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Detroit Mana `o Jonathan Likeke Scheuer

t is mid-April, a weekday. As is often the case, I am working in a mild panic. Papers from too many different projects are stacked in inelegant piles across my desk in my home office tucked against a ridge in Mānoa Valley. My eye catches a few things: handwritten interview notes from a trip to Kaua`i to discuss the development of a water system for small farmers; bylaws for a land trust; an archaeological study and plan for the protection of ancient burials discovered in the course of building a hotel tower in Waikīkī; tax forms for my consulting business; a two-month-old, to-be-filled prescription for new eyeglasses. The unsorted sack at my right elbow nags at me. Some big deadlines are quickly approaching. My breathing is shallow, not that I notice. I drum my fingers, momentarily appreciating the work I did painting my desk top. I stare at ninety-six emails in my inbox, eleven unread. My mind flits like a fly. I think about a potentially contentious meeting coming up. My client wants to protect a coastline from development impacts. My jaw clenches as I go over all the opponents who will be at the meeting. Then I see a Post-it with a shopping list out of the corner of my eye. What should I cook for guests coming over tomorrow? Need to go shopping. When will I pick up my son and visit my mom? Need bread. My mom used to bake bread all the time. Oh boy, am I distracted, I shouldn’t be this way. I must be less focused than other people. Guilt. I remember not being chosen for a job I applied for twenty years ago, and wonder if it is because I get distracted. Sigh. Staring again at my screen I choose an email to respond to and drill down to writing the words needed for a response. It is a relief to focus, but the escape is temporary. The discomfort of being with these piles and emails will also be left soon, at least for a while, as I will have to be off on my errands. Even while my mind is deeply wrapped in the writing of a long email, a few things flash on and off in the back of my mind, blinking like a charging light on a phone. I think about the possibility of attending a Whole Thinking Retreat on a fellowship I was recently offered. I am excited, as I have been a fan of Center for Whole Communities for years, and its vision of people connected to land and place and each other, across movements and other kinds of difference. That said, I have no idea really what to expect. After I applied, I was offered the possibility of attending the Center’s first Urban Whole Thinking Retreat in Detroit. Blink. Pause. Write. Blink. My computer beeps. I send my missive and check the one CENTER FOR WHOLE COMMUNITIES © 2013

TOM JACKSON

that came in: email from Whole Communities. Detroit. I am going to Detroit! Detroit? Other work will wait. I immediately do three web searches: Detroit + progressive + conservation; Detroit weather in August; and Detroit + crime statistics. We will be doing metta practice, so sit in a relatively comfortable posture. It’s difficult to wish well for someone when you are in excruciating pain. But you also want to stay alert…you have to find that balance. Take a deep breath, settle into your body, and just connect with being here. It is now August. I twist my body as much as I can in my tiny airplane seat to see the ground. I’ve been in the air for four and a half hours from Seattle, just a few days after the six hours from Honolulu. Now below me stretches a vast, flat, green landscape, dissolving into haze. So different from O`ahu, green mountains and deep blue sea, the shadows of clouds dark on the curved plate of the ocean. I see below me some of what I had read about Detroit: large sections of city where perhaps one or two homes on a block are still standing, the rest grass and small trees. We are low enough now that I can make out paved roads cracked at the crown with weeds. A car drives below on these empty streets, and in the absence of buildings it seems like it is wandering. Detroit. I had never, ever thought about going to Detroit. Just feel however your body feels right now. Your feet on the floor; feel your contact with the cushion. Feel where your hands are touching. www.wholecommunities.org

VIV STOCKMAN

To make it to the retreat on time, I arrive the day before. Off barbeque at Slows; true to its name, we have a long wait and the plane, through the terminal, grab my bag and catch a ride talk at leisure. Tired from travel but anxious about tomorrow, downtown. The taxi driver was born and raised in the city. She I pepper them with questions about the area. I ask them if they is Black (I’m White); around my age (forty-three) but a grand- would consider moving back into Detroit proper. No. Maybe mother (I have a three-year-old); lost two brothers to murders if there were good jobs, if it was safer. One of them stares at me (I can’t imagine); mostly enjoys and appreciates her job that and says: “No one lives in Detroit.” pays slightly more than minimum wage (I earn far more). Back at my hotel I collapse into my bed. She wants to know more about why I am coming to Detroit. I am not that clear; I say goodbye, afraid she has ended up The first part of the metta practice is actually to bring your heart with the impression it is some sort of service trip. Before we to the right space for doing this practice. So one of the prelimipart, she kindly and enthusiastinary practices is to take some time to cally offers to show me some sights I am excited, as I have been a fan of the Center for appreciate yourself, for your own good before my retreat starts tomorrow. qualities. Whole Communities for years, and its vision of people Why am I here? Why is it so hard The next day I catch a cab that to explain why I am here? Well, connected to land and place and each other, across takes me for a ten-minute ride here I am. from downtown along a freeway movements and other kinds of difference. That said, I to Wayne State College. The driver have no idea really what to expect. And then just feel your breathing, drops me off at the end of a mall and allowing the breath to come naturally. I roll my suitcase down the walk to Before settling in for the night, I have dinner with the find the dorm entrance. It is a typical urban college campus. I only person I know who lives in the Detroit area and some get buzzed in the front door, check in at the front desk, fumble of his friends, all of whom live north of the city. They are all for a minute to figure out how to use the key card to call the White, almost all in their twenties. We meet for really good elevator (are things so dangerous here the elevators need to be www.wholecommunities.org

secured too?), and find my room. No one else is there; I smell the smell of a dorm that is the smell of dorms everywhere — alcohol, mildew, and cleaning products. A handwritten sign near the elevator says to meet in the lounge down the hall in two hours. I unpack, and then wander a couple of blocks to a coffee shop to catch up on emails that are piling up. It is a quiet day on campus, and I see a few folks at the next table and wonder if they are in my group. I do not introduce myself. Later I walk back to the dorm lounge where a group of about eighteen people has gathered and we begin to introduce ourselves to each other; I see some of the folks from the coffee shop. People seem nice, and it is a very mixed group — race, age, gender, presumably sexual orientation. There are folks from Detroit, as well as people from all over the United States. We will head to the Cass Corridor Commons in a little while for dinner and the beginning of our retreat. The Urban Whole Thinking Retreat in Detroit TAZ SQUIRE The walk there takes us from the actively designed environment of the University into the city. It is not alarming, but we are clearly in a place that has its challenges. There are many This may not be something that you are used to doing, but just vacant lots, buildings are not well kept, the streets have many reflect for a moment on what some of your own wholesome qualipotholes. On the streets are working folks, as well as folks who ties are. Drop your attention to your heart area, feel yourself appreclearly have no work. Once at the Commons, we share exer- ciating. It doesn’t have to be a huge thing. It can be just some small cises to get to know each other. I am quickly amazed by the act of kindness. . . . If voices of doubt come up, or criticism, try and other fellows. It is only the beginning of the week, and I hear let them go — just soak in an appreciation of your own goodness. about some deep struggles folks have gone through. I pair with All of us have this beautiful purity of heart that becomes obscured. one person who warns me that I may not want to talk to him We walk back, and in my room I get ready for bed. I am still after hearing his story, and he tells me of a troubled youth with unclear on what we are doing this week, but I am excited as crime, addiction, family estrangement, and redemption. His well. I tell myself to talk less and listen more; be open. Nānā ka energy and smile make it clear that his presence is a great gift, maka, hoòlohe ka pepeiao, paà ka waha: Look with the eyes, and after we share stories we embrace. listen with the ears, shut the mouth. Good advice I have been These are folks with amazing lives, and the little I hear of given in the past, which I am still learning, and which is ready their work awes me. The spectrum of work represented is to help me again. broad. There are folks who work with land trusts, someone The next day we go deeper into what we will do for the who works with inner-city youth on gardening, a filmmaker, a week; we talk about awareness practice, working with differplanner, a dancer, a healer, a policy maker from DC. ence; story telling; creativity. I write things in my notebook, Perhaps there is a place for this short, White, half-Jewish underline, jot ideas and phrases. guy from Hawaiì who works as a consultant, mostly on enviIt quickly becomes apparent how much work has gone ronmental and Native Hawaiian into this retreat. Our teachers have issues. While the challenges of my I tell myself to talk less and listen more; be open. Na¯na¯ obviously done this kind of work privileged life seem to have little a great deal, and they are clear in ka maka, hoòlohe ka pepeiao, paà ka waha: Look to do with the struggles many of their words and warm in their with the eyes, listen with the ears, shut the mouth. the others have faced, at the same tone. I am particularly drawn to time there is great warmth from the Adrienne, a Detroiter, who brings teachers, the participants, and the Detroit hosts. We are fed a great focus and energy to her role as a leader, but with a meal by the People’s Kitchen almost all made from food from warmth and comfort with herself that suffuses any space she the area. We are paired up with a “buddy” for a walk back to is in. Mohamad asks deeply pointed questions that move us the dorms. I don’t feel so out-of-place. Maybe. forward. Ginny presses the edges of discussion ever outward CENTER FOR WHOLE COMMUNITIES © 2013

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with gentle probing. Taz teaches us to carve spoons with the I have to) shift from one position to another after about ten gentle encouragement that makes creativity thrive. Anushka minutes of sitting. I can tell that this week — back in April the leads us in awareness practice, and I think all of us are already idea of taking a whole week off seemed like too much — will in love with her. go too quickly. We settle into our cushions, our chairs. Anushka I have been in new situations before, I say to myself, so this asks us to connect with our heart center, and work on a forgiveshould work out okay. I think about the events in my life and ness practice. work when I have been the outsider, which is most of the time. The words she offers resonate with the Episcopal confessional Man, have I screwed up a lot, and it I recited almost every Sunday of is easy to dwell on those times. But, I I can see how in the work I share, where anger and my youth. “Most merciful God, have also done some things well. My we confess that we have sinned pain are so common, how this effort toward wholeness mind goes back to walking through against you in thought, word, and is needed, and is accessible. It feels possible. a native rainforest with a Hawaiian deed, by what we have done, and leader who was repeatedly arrested by what we have left undone. We and imprisoned trying to protect it from development decades have not loved you with our whole heart. We have not loved earlier. He and I worked together with others to acquire and our neighbors as ourselves.” permanently protect the 25,000 acres for traditional Hawaiian As I did those many Sundays, I feel overwhelmed. I consider use. The first time I met Palikapu, I was very nervous; but it the words. I think about the one definition of sin that has worked out. made sense to me: that which separates us from others and In the retreat, I try to be as present as possible, but my mind ourselves. There is so much to do in this life, so much to do in does move off. I think a lot of my wife and three-year-old son my home. There is so much left undone. There are so many waiting in Seattle to go back to Hawai`i with me. Is he asking ways in the past I could have done better. For a while it seems for me? How is she doing? I think about the ever-present piles like even raising the idea of forgiveness brings up too many of work on my desk as well; I need to get a PowerPoint draft painful memories. done for a presentation on water law history next month. Then But we continue, eyes closed. Feeling the presence of the I breathe and manage to focus again. circle, for a moment I glimpse it — peace. The next preliminary practice we will do is a forgiveness practice. You can just repeat these phrases to yourself and don’t worry if it doesn’t feel complete; it’s just a way of opening the heart. There are three phrases we will use: If I have done anything to harm anyone, intentionally or unintentionally, through thought, word, or action, I ask for forgiveness. If anyone has done anything to harm me, intentionally or unintentionally, through thought, word, or action, I offer forgiveness, as best I am able. If I have done anything to harm myself, intentionally or unintentionally, through thought, word, or action, I forgive myself. We are doing awareness practice, and Anushka is leading us. We sit in a circle in the sanctuary of the church that hosts space with the Cass Corridor Commons. It becomes easier to sit in the circle on the zafu cushion as the week goes on. This is physical as my body becomes used to sitting this way, but it is more as well. We are far enough along in the week that the fellow participants have become friends. The relaxed lines of one person’s cheek as she closes her eyes are familiar; I love seeing how another sits kneeling over a cushion with the straightest back. I know when a third friend will (as www.wholecommunities.org

We will start the metta practice by bringing to mind someone it is really easy to wish well for; someone for whom our sense of love and happiness comes very easily when we think of them or see them. We will start by connecting with our own well wishes for them; just as we want these things, the other person wants these things. May you be peaceful and happy. May you be strong and healthy. May you be safe, from inner and outer harm. May you live with joy. It is nearing the end of the week in Detroit, and we are doing metta practice for the first time. I am blown away with this way to wish well for others. When we are guided to think of someone for whom it is easy to wish well, I instantly think of a woman we saw on our bike ride across inner Detroit. We rode for almost fifteen miles, through many landscapes that looked like those I had glimpsed from the air while landing. Our bike hosts led us through a long itinerary. There were stops at an elementary school near an incinerator, the Heidelberg project with its post-apocalyptic decoration of abandoned homes; a gorgeous Earthworks CENTER FOR WHOLE COMMUNITIES © 2013

TOM JACKSON

urban farm site. The luxuriant midwestern summer vegetation seemed so exotic to me, in the way I imagine palm trees do to folks from here. In between our stops we rode through many neighborhoods with only one or two houses standing, or vacant high-rises. Our group of cyclists clearly stood out, and there was a bit of staring and occasional calling out. At each site we had deep conversations about what worked, what was provocative, and what was still needed in each of these struggles. On our way back from the Detroit waterfront, one elderly woman walking home saw us, stopped, put down her groceries, and clapped. “I am so happy to see you! This is great!” In our well wishing, I think of her. Then my mind goes to the many other people we have met, folks who are doing progressive work here that puts other places to shame — urban gardening, art, food justice, CENTER FOR WHOLE COMMUNITIES © 2013

environmental justice efforts. Detroit rocks. It is very easy to wish well for them. Connect again with the heart, and this time send the wishes to yourself: May I be peaceful and happy. May I be strong and healthy. May I be safe, from inner and outer harm. May I live with joy. I am leaving Detroit and am at the airport gate. I have just said goodbye to the last of my fellow fellows. I think about arriving in Seattle and then going home with my family, and trying to tell the story of what this was like — Detroit, the retreat, what I have learned. In some ways I feel as inarticulate as I did when I arrived. But I can say that I learned some real, practical tools that will help me in my everyday work. I can say www.wholecommunities.org

the common story of Detroit with all its negatives is as off base as the stories folks tell of my home. I can see how in the work I share, where anger and pain are so common, how this effort toward wholeness is needed, and is accessible. It feels possible. The question will be, can I hold on to this feeling and keep these practices? Can I care for myself in this way?

Later that day, when we sit before the commission, we are calm. We are happy. Rather than being nervous, I am glowing with pleasure at the chance to be there. I greet the folks I know warmly. After the meeting, one person who represents a developer begins to verbally attack me. He tells me how wrong our points are, and I listen, but I smile; I firmly but gently make my point. He finally stutters, “this conversation is over!” and stomps away. Aloud and in my heart, I wish him well.

In the last part of the practice period, we will expand our sense of well wishing outward, out to everyone in the room here, and then to all beings. Just as we wish to be happy, and healthy, and safe, so does everyone here, no matter what the story of his or her life. The same is true for everyone in the world, and all the animals; they Expand yourself even further, out beyond the walls of this buildseek safety, happiness. ing…all the beings on the ground, in the air; expand further and May all of us be peaceful and happy. include all on the great planet, from very small to very large. May all of us be strong and healthy. May all beings be peaceful and happy. May all of us be safe, from inner and outer harm. May all beings be strong and healthy. May all of us live with joy. May all beings live in safety. It is a month later, September. I am back in Honolulu. It May all of beings be free from suffering. is 4:24 am and still tired I wake up, thinking about a presenIn the months since that meeting, the struggles — intertation I have to give to a state commission that day. Wife nal and external — go on. It is not as if a little well wishasleep beside me, and son in the next room, I pad from ing has transformed everything, or eliminated my desk piles. our bedroom to the living room, However, I notice a pattern to my I see more outlines of a possibility that there need nervous about the day ahead. We interactions and work that is differare asking this commission to take ent, and awareness and breathing not be such a gulf between the nature of the goal, steps to protect a natural resource stubbornly creep into my consciousthat Hawaiians depend on so they and the path to get there. ness. I see more outlines of a possibilcan exercise traditional and customity that there need not be such a gulf ary practices. Developers with billions of dollars in proposed between the nature of the goal, and the path to get there. projects, who would incur millions in costs if what we want It is a cool afternoon, December. I am back at my desk. happens, oppose us. On both sides are people I know well, Just one year ago I was nominated to go to a Whole Thinking in some cases have known for years and even decades. As we Retreat. I look at the papers on my desk and my emails, and have been in dialogue over this issue for the past year, the smile; it is time to write something about my experience in anger and frustration of those opposed to us has been palpable Detroit. I wonder how to explain all that has happened, and and growing. As I first think of it my teeth clench, my breath then I begin to write. grows shallow. So I slip on my ear buds and snap them into my smart Jonathan Likeke Scheuer, Ph.D. was born and raised and lives in Hawai`i. In his phone, go to Anushka’s website (www.anushkaf.org) and find roles as a consultant, on the board of the Hawaiian Islands Land Trust, and as a one of her guided metta practices. I hear her kind voice, and member of the O`ahu Island Burial Council, he works with Native Hawaiian and begin the sitting. When I am at the main part of the well wish- broader communities to develop strategies to avoid, manage, and/or resolve ing, I envision each of the people I expect to see that day on conflicts over resources. both sides of the issue, and I wish them well.

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Food Justice at Soul Fire Farm Leah Penniman

y journal from the Whole Thinking Retreat I attended at Knoll Farm in 2007 is cluttered with snippets of wisdom from those who shared the sacred space: “We need beauty to bear the gift of consciousness.” “Only love can save the Flint Hills.” Love? Beauty? My work until then as an activist in the urban agriculture and racial justice movements had been characterized more by passionate self-sacrifice than by the pursuit of love and beauty. I was both envious and secretly critical of those who built their lives around such “self-indulgent” notions, and yet five years after the retreat, my family established Soul Fire Farm — a labor of love and beauty, and the vehicle for our local and international food justice work. Food justice is a complex and potentially overwhelming issue that lies at the intersection of environmental, social, racial, and

economic spheres. Please bear with me while I pause my story about Soul Fire Farm to offer a few statistics to reveal some of the complexity and magnitude of food insecurity and particularly its impacts on people of color in this country: According to the USDA, 40 million households in this country suffer from lack of access to adequate food, termed food insecurity. This impacts people of color disproportionately. About 10 percent of Black and 10 percent of Latino families experience food insecurity, three times the rate for White families. Similarly, food-related illnesses, such as obesity and diabetes disproportionately affect people of color. Food workers of color are more likely to work over 40 hours per week, make sub-minimum wage, have no paid sick days, and no health insurance. Furthermore, the number of Black farmers has declined precipitously, from 14 percent of this nation’s agricultural producers in 1920 to less than 1 percent today. Black land

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the earth, that we want to rewrite the narrative of the relationship between people and land, and that we want food justice. We get our hands dirty learning some farm skills, cook a meal together, eat, converse, dance, and play educational games that elucidate some of the complexities of the food system. Then, we circle up and appreciate each other — it’s easy, because by then we all care for one another. Once, during our presentation, the slide turned to a picture of Gandhi with his quotation, “To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves.” A young man from Kenya stood up and said, “My posters are coming down and Gandhi is going up on my wall.” (2) Growing food is ridiculously satisfying and fun. I remember working at the Food Project outside Boston, Massachusetts as a teen. I was confused about so many things in life and very Trimming garlic with a youth group. LEAH PENNIMAN unsure about my place in the world, but I was completely sure that planting carrot seeds was good and right and true. That loss is currently over 12 million acres and rising. Compared to never changed. At Soul Fire Farm, we grow over 75 varieties White farmers, data on Black farmers shows that they tend to of vegetables and raise chickens for meat and eggs on pasture. be older, have less formal education, lower literacy rates, lower Everything is done organically, no till, with minimal fossil farm incomes, and lower total incomes. fuel inputs and attention to biodiversity and carbon sequesFood justice refers to the right of all peoples to healthy and tration. I love raising food that I am proud of and commitculturally appropriate food produced through ecologically ted to making sure it gets to my people. Most of the food sound and sustainable methods, and their right to define their we raise is delivered to the doorsteps of families who live in own food and agricultural systems. We have work to do to what are termed “food deserts” (census tracts without stores get there. I was recently on a conference call of the “Black carrying fresh produce.) We accept electronic benefit transfer Organizing for Power and Dignity: (EBT) food stamps, which is rare for Food Sovereignty” international We tell youth why we farm — that we love the Community Supported Agriculture group, and people were arguing (CSA) farms because of the paperearth, that we want to rewrite the narrative of the passionately for allegiance to their work burden. We are able to make relationship between people and land, and that we respective approaches to food justice: farm shares affordable because we “Policy is THE answer, community want food justice. have a mix of high-, middle-, and education is THE answer, etc.” low-income members who each pay Rumi said, “Let the beauty we love according to a sliding scale. Kahlil be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss Gibran said, “Work is love made visible.” When we leave a wax the ground.” And there are at least 100 ways to build food box on someone’s stoop stuffed with reds, greens, and oranges justice on this planet. Here are three of ours at Soul Fire Farm: and a dozen eggs on top, it’s a little piece of my heart, made visible — and edible. (1) We take it as our sacred duty to remind young people, particularly urban youth of color, that they belong to the (3) We have extended our Soul Fire Farm family beyond the land. Our tragic history of being stolen from land and then boundaries of this country and built relationships of mutual being forced to work stolen land has left generational scars aid with farmers in Haiti and Brazil. Haiti, in addition to being that confuse the trauma we experienced on land with the land the homeland of my ancestors, is a case study in “humanitaritself. Our youth work at Soul Fire is simple. We offer free ian aid” turned disastrous. There is a long history of paternaleducational programming for young people on our farm and ism, occupation, and theft perpetrated by the United States we tell the truth. We tell youth why we farm — that we love on Haiti that is beyond the scope of this essay. One case study www.wholecommunities.org

will need to suffice. Haitian rice farmers have long struggled to compete with the low prices of imported rice, even before the 2010 earthquake. Under the U.S. farm bill, 75 percent of humanitarian food aid is “tied aid,” meaning food donations must be purchased, processed, and transported by American companies. After the earthquake the United States distributed thousands of tons of American rice just as Haitian farmers were bringing their own crops to market. The devastation on the local farm economy was so severe that then-President René Préval asked deliveries to stop. While the reasons for poverty in Haiti are complex and the correct role of “aid organizations” is potentially even more complex, friendship is relatively straightforward. After the earthquake, I wanted to lend a hand as did several other Haitian-Americans. We made friends in the community of Cormier and exchanged our respective skills, knowledge, and resources with one another. Most Haitians are farmers and as a fellow farmer, I was able to provide tools and strategies to implement a community composting program.

Leah’s son weighing beans for market. LEAH PENNIMAN

consciousness. Yet, I have learned to trust. When I began to align my justice work with the calling of my heart, I did not Currently, I am working with our Haitian partners on a diver- become ineffectual, as I feared. Rather, a subtle magic began sified “aboriculture” project. In a similar vein, last summer working and the fruits of my efforts began to have impact we were honored to host a delegafar beyond the intended reach. I tion of landless farmers from Brazil When we leave a wax box on someone’s stoop recently received a cold call from an who were touring internationally to aspiring Black woman farmer in the inform people about land sovereignty stuffed with reds, greens, and oranges and a dozen Boston area. She found me online challenges in their home. We learned eggs on top, it’s a little piece of my heart, made and wanted to hear my voice, “just that they had a need for natural to make sure that it’s possible. That visible — and edible. building skills, and so my husband we Black people can be farmers and — a professional builder — traveled we’re not crazy.” to Brazil to share his craft. For under $30, the community “It’s not just possible. It’s necessary,” I said, smiling (and built a healing center out of rocks from the stream, mud from crying.) the land, and thatch from the forest. Howard Thurman said, “Don’t ask what the world needs. Leah Penniman and her partner, Jonah Vitale-Wolff started Soul Fire Farm in Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what Grafton, New York as a vessel for education and community building where the world needs are people who have come alive.” It is still people gather to share skills on farming, forestry, and natural building, innovate difficult for me to accept this perspective. Words like “duty,” land use practices, and contribute to the movements for justice and sustainabil“responsibility,” “obligation,” and “sacrifice” berate my heart ity. Leah was a Center for Whole Communities fellow in 2007.

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Food, Voice: A Story from the Holyoke School System Catherine Sands, Diego Angarita, and Jazmin Colon

With help from Nick Alger, Dr. Krista Harper, Jennifer Gonzalez, Monica Maitin Dorimar Rivera, Janelis Rivera, Ashley Rolon, Aneuddi Sostre, Jonell Sostre, and Molly Totman

I. Jazmin’s Story As a sixth grader: I was in school and my life was boring. I was a robot. I woke up, went to school, watched TV. The school food was horrible. My stomach hurt. I would go to the nurse and she would give me crackers. What was I going to do about this? My mom told me about the Nuestras Raíces youth program. It happened after school with youth from all over Holyoke around my age or older. At the beginning when we met everyone, it was scary. I’m a shy person. We spent a lot of time the first week just getting to know each other. This was a big step everyone had to make for all of us. After a while, we became friends and I started to be more relaxed with everyone.

One day, Diego, [the assistant executive director of Nuestras Raíces] had a large paper on the wall. He asked us for examples of food justice. We all kind of looked at each other and giggled because no one had heard of it before. One of the youth asked Diego, “What is justice?” Diego explained that it was like something being fair. He asked us for examples of things that were not fair. I said that I didn’t think it was fair that the city took away the trash bins and recycling bins just because some people weren’t using them right. Diego then asked us for an example of something unfair related to food. Kids said that good food is expensive; that the only place to eat was McDonalds and it’s unhealthy, and that the school food was really bad and made us feel sick. Finally, Diego

School lunch is served. DORIMAR RIVERA www.wholecommunities.org

asked us for an example of how to make those unfair things right. We said we could write letters to the principal, to our teachers, or we could make a petition and ask the schools to give us better food. “This,” Diego said, “is food justice.”

II. Many Voices In 2009 an unexpected group of people came together to improve school food in the small city of Holyoke, Massachusetts. Could the schools in Holyoke serve meals with fresh produce from a nearby urban farm that was an incubator for Puerto Rican farmers looking to provide food to their community? Could students lead a process of reflection and knowledge-building about sustainable agriculture, the power of community and food justice, and cultural and generational difference, which would influence the way the school district viewed food and nutrition? This story describes how a group of students got engaged in food and spoke up to try to make change in their community. In Holyoke, Puerto Ricans make up 41 percent of the city population and suffer from an unemployment rate of over 31 percent. Holyoke is, by most criteria, the poorest city in Massachusetts and is part of a classic food justice story: Holyoke’s Latino residents suffer disproportionately from the health impacts of a challenged food system, where highsalt and high-sugar foods are easier and cheaper to come by than fresh, culturally relevant produce, and consequently we see much higher rates of diabetes, hypertension, asthma, and cardiovascular disease. A constellation of people coming together at the right time made this project significant. Working together with a sense of humor and respect, we began to build relationships. “We” were: student Jazmin Colon, and a group of her Nuestras Raíces youth leader peers from various Holyoke schools; Diego Angarita from Nuestras Raíces, a grassroots organization that promotes economic, human, and community development in Holyoke; and Catherine Sands, a consultant with Fertile Ground and a food systems lecturer at the University of Massachusetts. In addition, this group worked with Dr. Krista Harper, an anthropologist from the University of Massachusetts’ Center for Public Policy, and college student Molly Totman, who used PhotoVoice, a multimedia device to follow the path of vegetables from the farm to the school cafeteria plate. To add even another layer, a technical assistance grant from the Community Food Security Coalition enabled us to frame our conversations about how to go about transforming school food by using Whole Measures for Community Food Systems. (Whole Measures for Community Food Systems is CENTER FOR WHOLE COMMUNITIES © 2013

based on Whole Measures: Transforming our Vision of Success, by Center for Whole Communities.)

III. How We Began to Think Together Whole Measures for Community Food Systems frames food organizing using six values: justice and fairness, strong communities, thriving local economies, vibrant farms, healthy people, and sustainable ecosystems. The emphasis is on convening groups of people to “think together” about where their food comes from and the changes they are accomplishing in their communities. The students began coming to the Holyoke Food and Fitness Policy Council’s Farm to School Committee action team meetings held at Nuestras Raíces. Holyoke Food and Fitness Policy Council is a collaborative effort working to create and sustain a more healthy and vibrant Holyoke through the development of programs, policies, community leaders and advocacy. The group had come together to improve school food and wellness. We had adults and students coming from different perspectives: adults working with farms; food service having to provide low-cost nutritious meals, students who felt meals were unappetizing. Nuestras Raíces was trying to open up a market for their farmers. The committee focused on the middle piece: once we get the local produce from La Finca, Nuestras Raices’ farm, into the school, how is it prepared to be attractive and nutritious to the kids? Early on in the conversation one of the students said “I didn’t know anything about farm to school. I thought it [school lunch] just came from some factory. I didn’t really know it came from farms around here.” Executive chef Glen Brunetti from the food service company; Ana Jaramillo, the wellness coordinator from Holyoke Food and Fitness Policy Council; and urban farmers from La Finca helped the students understand how food was grown, purchased, and delivered to the schools — and they came away with a better understanding of the entire school meals system. We spent one day “mapping” the school food system. Then we divided into small groups and talked about the ways that Whole Measures for Community Food Systems helps us think about a whole food web in a community.

1. Sustainable Ecosystems and Justice and Fairness. In this first group the students decided to draw a community garden, then listed the following reasons why this community garden would be sustainable: “less pollution, fewer chemicals in food, and less packaging.” When asked what resonated for them with Justice and Fairness, they included a picture of www.wholecommunities.org

build trust between generations. The three generation gaps we encountered in our work were between the youth and older Puerto Rican farmers, youth and University evaluators, and youth and school administration stakeholders. The students used their time together to learn how to build bridges to groups of adults. Over the summertime Diego worked with the students to deepen their understanding of large environmental issues, food systems information, Puerto Rican history, and agricultural knowledge. By starting with this development of basic information, the youth grasped a language that adults around them were using to talk about all of these issues. However, we still were challenged as a group by the fact that talking in a conceptual way wasn’t nearly as interesting or accessible to the students as doing something tangible, so the adults had to build their part of the bridge too.

IV. Jazmin’s Story Students map where school lunch comes from. CATHERINE SANDS

So we kept meeting with Krista, Catherine, and Molly after school with a bigger group of adults talking about school food. It’s not pizza and a salad, and wrote, “able to make a choice and not that we weren’t interested in what we were talking about…it’s that fair to eat food that doesn’t taste good.” it all of a sudden it felt like school. Each day Krista would explain 2. Vibrant Farms and Strong Communities. In the second group to us what PhotoVoice [a tool that allowed the youth to take photos the students saw Vibrant Farms as, “lots of people/activity, of the cafeteria and behind the scenes] was and how it works: this plenty of fresh veggies, lively, steady income, clean air, no was the fun part. There were other times when there were more truck depots, and healthy people.” They described Strong adults than youth and we were just sitting there bored. We also Communities as, “good communication, healthy, clean spent a lot of time talking about Whole Measures because we didn’t communities, safe, less violent neighborhoods, people look- understand the words people were using. I missed a few sessions ing out for each other, lively and good energy, good educa- and then Diego called me up and asked why I wasn’t coming tion system, and equality.” anymore. I decided to tell him the truth, 3. Thriving Local Economies and Healthy . . . the youth grasped a language that adults that the meetings were really boring, and People. The third group’s first drawthat I was really hungry after school. He around them were using to talk about all of ing of Thriving Local Economies asked me to come back and that they captured a small map depicting these issues. would make changes to make it more an theoretical local business where fun. After that Molly called me and got one of the students would sell clothes, the money coming me more involved in the activities, Krista brought really good food in would pay her bills, go to the local bank, and buy food like yogurt and granola, and Catherine brought in apples and we from the local farmers’ market. The group drew more made applesauce together. The meetings became more interactive arrows showing how this cycle would continue, benefiting and we all started to take turns teaching each other and presentthe local business, farmer, and bank. The second drawing, ing things. I kept coming because I felt like they really did listen Healthy People, also showed a map. The map starts with to what I had to say even though I called the meetings boring. I farm workers picking fresh food, then bringing it home think it helped us to trust the adults and feel more comfortable and cooking it in their own home. talking with them. During the Whole Measures conversations, we acknowledged that there are generation gaps in viewing the Holyoke food system. Values-based conversations about the Holyoke school food system proved an effective starting point to begin to www.wholecommunities.org

V. PhotoVoice We had an opportunity with Krista Harper’s PhotoVoice lab for the youth to capture a visual story about the path of some of the food as it traveled from Nuestras Raíces farm, to their CENTER FOR WHOLE COMMUNITIES © 2013

school cafeteria. They had turned up a crack in the school food system: the school’s executive chef, Glenn Brunetti, together with the Nuestras Raíces farm, had figured out a way for the Holyoke schools to purchase produce from La Finca and to deliver it directly to the schools (a few miles up the road) rather than having it be trucked first to the distributor’s warehouse 25 miles south in Hartford and then back again. For a brief period of time, the schools purchased Holyoke grown lettuce, peppers, eggplants. The youth seized the opportunity to track this important farm-to-school collaboration and to develop a presentation for the school committee. It also represented food justice to them in a real way: Puerto Rican farmers were selling their produce to local schools to serve to a largely Puerto Rican population of school children. The youth group defined PhotoVoice as: “when a photo sends the message instead of words.” The group divided and

took pictures of the steps: growing vegetables at the Nuestras Raíces farm harvesting, transporting, and serving them at school meals. After taking the pictures, they printed them and talked about them with Krista, Molly, Diego and Catherine. The youth also wrote comments on titles of each step in the supply chain. They interviewed the farmers and heard about what they farmed and why, discovering that their reasons related back to their time in Puerto Rico and a sense of cultural legacy and preservation. With that historical context, the teenagers had more information to appreciate their elders and began to build relationships where before there had been none.

VII. Being Seen and Heard: The School Committee Meeting The PhotoVoice project culminated with a school committee meeting for which the students made a ten-minute presentation to the school committee to introduce themselves,

Pick up day at La Finca. MONICA MAITLIN

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share their successes with farm to school, and ask that they I felt like they didn’t care and that they had their own problems be considered a partner in future conversations about school to talk about. Overall we felt like it was awesome, a new experifood. “Grown-ups think kids want junk food, but we do care ence, nerve-wracking, and fun. But because they are supposed to about what we eat and if you put healthy food in the cafeteria, be representing us and we elect them or our parents do, it’s kind of we will try it and grow to like it — we try new things,” they our job to let them know what we want so they can let the school said. This was a first opportunity for food company know what they want. the school committee to learn about It was a chance to be seen and heard and to try and My favorite thing about the youth the purchasing from the farm and program is learning about Puerto build a dialogue with the decision makers for the to hear from students about their Rican history. You don’t learn it in first time. school food preferences. It was a schools, you don’t learn about other chance to be seen and heard and to cultures. You never learn about it. try and build a dialogue with the decision makers for the first Schools don’t want to teach it. I feel most Puerto Rican in my time. It was a big step in the understanding and empowerment food. My food is my culture. The history makes me proud. I love of these youth. learning about Puerto Rico and what we did, all the history. I think what would get kids to eat the food at school is if it VIII. Jazmin’s Story: looked and tasted like the food they see at home, but it should We met at Nuestras Raices, before the meeting started after school. be healthy. All of us were wearing our green shirts to look more professional. We practiced our presentation on note cards and Diego gave us Epilogue: tips on how to be less nervous. Today was the big day when we Later that month, the youth brought their PhotoVoice exhibiwere going to the School Committee to present the PhotoVoice tion and a meal that they cooked to the broader community at project and advocate for Farm to School! Diego and Hector from an event attended by 60 people. While the school committee Food and Fitness gave us rides to Dean Tech where we met up meeting didn’t show the students immediate results, over time, with Catherine, Krista, and Molly. We got there early even before their voices have begun to influence decisions around school any school committee members arrived. There was another group food. Together with the Holyoke Food and Fitness Policy there, of parents in purple shirts. They were asking the committee Council, the school committee agreed to create an intergenfor uniforms for one of the elementary schools. Chef Glenn showed erational School Food Task Force to represent all the voices up to support us, which was cool. We stayed out in the hallway working to improve school food: students, school nurses, food practicing until we were called in to give our presentation. We service, parents, teachers, nonprofit partners. This has been were all really nervous especially since it was being recorded for the particularly important as it is a district-sanctioned forum for community channel. dialogue and collaboration. Amy brought a box of cilantro and radishes from the farm and The youth had several public speaking engagements some cards with information on them. Diego passed them out to in which they were able to teach adults about the process all of the school committee members. they used to investigate the school The two goals we had were to let the I feel most Puerto Rican in my food. My food is my food system and to build relationschool committee know that kids ships. For example, Jazmin led a will eat healthy food if you give it to culture. The history makes me proud. workshop in Whole Measures at them, and also that we wanted them the national networking meeting to support Nuestras Raíces in being able to still sell vegetables to of the Community Food Security Coalition in Oakland in the schools no matter what company comes in [to run the food November of 2011. Two other students, Jonell and Monica, service]. We started our presentation introducing ourselves and became paid part-time evaluators with Catherine and the going through our photos of how food travels from the farm and Holyoke Food and Fitness Policy Council. Students Nick, ends up in our lunches. I was really nervous but I think I did a Jazmin, Jonnell, and Monica worked with the School Food good job. All my friends were there supporting me as well as the Task Force to launch two very successful culturally relevant adults. At the end, the head of the school committee thanked us meals, a model that will continue in the coming years. for our presentation and we went home. I was surprised that they Finally, a key result of this process is that Nuestras Raíces didn’t ask us any questions and they didn’t seem to be too excited. has begun to strategize about building infrastructure for food www.wholecommunities.org

Student Jennifer Gonzalez interviews farmers at La Finca. NICK ALGER

safety certification for its farm so that they can meet the new regulations to sell directly to schools, something farms across the country will likely also have to face.

Diego Angarita is the Assistant Executive Director at Nuestras Raices. He has been working in Holyoke since 2008 through the Holyoke Food and Fitness Policy Council and running the Nuestras Raices youth program. He has a bachelor’s degree from Hampshire College and is overseeing the current strategic planning

Note: You can read more about this project and learn specifically about how Whole Measures for Food Systems can help communities look at and change their food system in the document “Stories from the Field,” available for free from Center for Whole Communities.

process of Nuestras Raices. See a beautiful film about their origins here. He is interested in learning more about the cooperative model, sustainable energy, and community based finance. Catherine Sands is a food systems and policy organizer, educator and evaluator living and working with rural and urban communities in Western Massachusetts. She directs Fertile Ground, a farm to school initiative, and teaches Community Food Systems and Food Justice and Policy at University of Massachusetts – Amherst.

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Wild and Cultivated Foods and Communities: A Collaboration Wendy Johnson and Melissa Nelson

Wendy Johnson: Collaboration, community, celebration—these words summon the essence of my experience serving on the faculty of Center for Whole Communities at Knoll Farm, where I have been journeying to teach and learn every summer since 2003. In July of 2012 I had the pleasure of participating with a Whole Communities leadership team that included Steve Glazer of Poetics of Place from Thetford Center, Vermont and Melissa Nelson of the Cultural Conservancy, hailing from the San Francisco Bay Area. Although Melissa and I are northern California neighbors who live less than ten miles apart, prior to this past summer’s teaching we rarely had the opportunity to work together. Thankfully, this has changed. Since our time together at Knoll Farm, Melissa and I have teamed up, shoulder to shoulder, opening new ground here in the Bay Area. The dynamic nature of our current partnership is rooted in the applied cultivation of whole community principles on home ground.

As a dedicated organic gardener and educator, I am committed to working for social justice and to growing healthy food, land, and water for a hungry world. In these crucial times of accelerated climate change and massive ecological and economic challenge, I am grateful for four decades of training in the Buddhist tradition of engaged meditation practice and for the opportunity to learn and grow with a diverse and dedicated circle of colleagues. Since 2008 I have been closely involved in the establishment of an innovative partnership program at our local College of Marin-Indian Valley campus. The Indian Valley Organic Farm and Garden is the result of a long feasibility study and collaboration with the College of Marin, Conservation Corps North Bay, the University of California Cooperative Extension, and the Marin County Board of Supervisors. Modeled after successful teaching farms at California universities at Santa Cruz, Davis, San Diego, San Luis Obispo and Fresno, the Indian Valley Farm project is designed to teach the principles

From left: Kaylena Bray (Seneca), Melissa Nelson, Wendy Johnson, Lauren Valentino (student garden intern). COLIN FARISH

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and practices of organic agriculture by establishing an organic Corps, with almost half of this land designated for native teaching farm accessible by public transportation and to offer ethnobotanical development. career certificate and degree programs in the fields of applied Now a scant five seasons later this lively partnership program environmental design and sustainable horticulture. At its root is pulsing with life. The farm is a fully certified organic operation this partnership is grounded in the intelligence and innovation with two dedicated young farmers hired by the Conservation of Marin County’s vibrant organic farming community. Corps North Bay to manage the daily operations of the program. I was introduced to this unique partnership program by These leaders work closely with up to ten work-study students a another close friend and Whole Communities faculty member, season who are employed on the farm, enabling each student to Deborah Schoenbaum, and by Marilee Eckert, Whole earn wages and college scholarship aid while they farm. In addiCommunities alumna and the director of the Conservation tion, two seasons ago we established a special Work Experience Corps North Bay. Together we visited the windy coastal prairie and Apprenticeship program to provide community college farm site at Indian Valley. My heart both sank and soared at the students with valuable on-farm training in sustainable agriculrecognition of the hard work involved in growing this partner- ture offered by local organic farms. ship and the joys of doing so on this land. Without hesitation, Close to three acres of the Indian Valley organic farm are now I joined the team. in full perennial and annual row crop production, including an The first time I tasted the raw soil of Indian Valley was a few extensive young orchard of more than 100 heirloom fruit trees. weeks later, in February of 2009, just before the initial organic Many of these apples, pears, plums, apricots, peaches, figs, and farming class began. I had been invited to teach this inaugu- olives were propagated in our farm class and are beginning to ral course with Steve Quirt, the produce their first flush of fruit. We Cooperative Extension organic sell our produce to the public from I ran my index finger through the wet ground and tasted agriculture coordinator for Marin a popular on-site farm stand and County. We stood together on the the gritty earth. Four thousand years of unbroken story through a fledging Communityempty field of the Indian Valley Supported Agriculture (CSA) and persistent culture coated my tongue. farm site, fully aware that this program begun this year. We also was old land as well as new — a sell to local markets, restaurants, “tended wilderness” cultivated and harvested for millennia by school programs and several wholesale outlets. Our farm Native American residents of the place. We cut a ragged seam greenhouse is groaning with thousands of organic seedlings in the frozen sod. The soil of Indian Valley was marbled, wet started for the farm and to offer for sale to the public during ochre clay and lean, rust-colored loam undercut with serpen- our popular seasonal plant sales. tine rubble. I ran my index finger through the wet ground and College classes in the Environmental Landscape Program tasted the gritty earth. Four thousand years of unbroken story are massively popular, often filled to capacity. Since the incepand persistent culture coated my tongue. tion of this partnership hundreds of students from all walks Not long after, Eric Wilder, environmental education special- of life have participated in our hands-on academic program. ist for the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria came to the The College of Marin is regularly visited by other commufarm to address our class. Eric is a member of the Kashaya band nity college and public programs inspired by the partnership of Pomo Indians and a respected and experienced member of model and eager to cultivate similar relationships. In addition, the tribal council. He reminded us that California Indians hundreds of visitors, volunteers, school groups and other orgahave a long and practiced history of applied horticulture, plant nizations flock to the farm throughout every growing season. community conservation and wilderness management, which It was not until the autumn of 2012, following Melissa’s and my has made possible a sustainable harvest of natural resources time at Knoll Farm, that we began to dream and develop fresh, over the generations. interactive plans for the ethnobotanical area at Indian Valley. At the formal opening of the Indian Valley Organic Farm First Melissa joined our farm class to guest teach with some of and Garden program a few weeks later, two tribal elders led her students and leaders from the Cultural Conservancy, a San us in a ceremonial dedication of the land. The partners of the Francisco-based, Native-run, non-profit organization. Following program participated in this celebration by planting a young this inspiring collaboration, our program joined together to apple tree near the gateway to the farm. The six coastal prai- share resources and opportunities. Affinity and connection grew rie acres of the site had been well fenced by the Conservation as we walked, planned, and sat down to eat together on the CENTER FOR WHOLE COMMUNITIES © 2013

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farm. This winter the Cultural Conservancy formally became a fourth partner in the Indian Valley Organic Farm and Garden Program. Now we are even fundraising together from an enthusiastic public and plotting our first planting ceremony of heritage native crops for mid-May of this growing season. I give gratitude to Center for Whole Communities and to the gift of persistent culture that nourishes us.

and sustainable food production practices, and the rich cultural knowledge of stories, songs, recipes, and practices that go with traditional foodways. Through our work, we aim to restore biodiversity in our food supply, improve Native health among California Indians in and around the Bay Area, and protect and enhance the cultural and biological heritage of our lands. As we all know, food can heal us, but some food can also Melissa Nelson: harm us. I believe there is no time like today to decolonize and Wendy told me about the amazing organic farm she helped to re-indigenize our bodies, minds, and communities by taking start at the Indian Valley campus of the College of Marin in back our food sovereignty. Our very survival, individually and Novato. I was instantly enthralled and excited to see it. And I collectively, may depend on us taking back control over the told her about the Cultural Conservancy’s programs to revital- quality and production of the food we put into our bodies. ize Native American foods and health. “We are what we eat” the old saying goes. But we are also where Since our founding in 1985, the Cultural Conservancy has we eat. The plants and animals that we consume become our been dedicated to our mission to protect and restore Native bodies. Our food literally becomes our flesh and our flesh cultures and foodways; empowering native peoples in the gives shape to our minds and spirits. After we die, our flesh direct application of their traditional knowledge and practices becomes earth, which grows food, and the whole cycle flows on their ancestral land. Our guidall over again. This is a primal and ing principle of acknowledging the sacred cycle of birth, growth, death, I believe there is no time like today to decolonize sacred relationship Native peoples and regeneration that most of us now have with the land and our commit- and re-indigenize our bodies, minds, and take completely for granted. This ment to cross-cultural interaction “nutrient cycling” as scientists call it, communities by taking back our food sovereignty. for environmental problem-solving, is the basis of our production, repronetworking, and peacemaking are at duction, and regeneration. What we the root of this new collaborative effort with Wendy and the put into our mouths as food is one of the most basic things Indian Valley Organic Farm team. They had already set aside a that we, as individuals, can control. beautiful hillside to create an ethnobotanical area for teaching Recognizing the seriously unbalanced state of indigenous and education. The Cultural Conservancy is honored to accept health, particularly among Native communities without this invitation to partner with them to facilitate a community- land on which to grow their food, the Cultural Conservancy based process to develop the ethnobotanical teaching area with resolves to promote and disseminate a reintegrated vision and native plants that are culturally significant to the local Coast holistic practice of Native health and healing for California Miwok, Pomo, and Wappo Nations. Additionally, we plan Indians. Through this new partnership with the Indian Valley to create a Native foodways garden area, possibly integrated Organic Farm, we plan to provide Bay Area Indians, many of into the already existing fecundity and beauty of the organic whom are landless, a place to grow traditional foods and share vegetable gardens and orchards established in the main Indian traditional knowledge. By creating an integrated native garden Valley Organic Farm. and by strengthening existing networks, this project seeks to The Cultural Conservancy has a long history of working establish sustainable gardening practices that encourage agriin Native health and food sovereignty issues. Under our suite culture entrepreneurship, improve nutrition, foster self-reliof Native Foodways programs, Restoring American Indian ance, strengthen cultural traditions, and fight community and Nutrition, Food & Ecological Diversity (RAIN FED), we individual food insecurity. have entered into numerous projects and partnerships that This project will be a multi-phased project, starting with aim to improve Native health, create new Native foodways, the new ethnobotanical area to honor the many different and leverage existing resources to better serve Indian commu- uses of Native plants and also working to incorporate Native nities. The vision of our RAIN FED program is to restore the American foods, such as heirloom squash, chia seeds, and health and well being of Native communities by reinstituting medicinal plants like angelica and tobacco into the lush Indian American Indian food systems, indigenous land management Valley Organic Farm. www.wholecommunities.org

Through our work with local Native communities, we plan to hold educational workshops for Native youth and families, to encourage a youth-elder dialogue program, to establish a Native foods CSA, and to bring together the California Indian and other Native communities for feasts and cultural celebrations around food and health. With a team of inter-tribal planners, we will design and manage this ethnobotany area and Native foodways garden with a “tending the wild” land management strategy dedicated to Native American land-care and community health. We envision including various Native American food plants into the overall farm in creative and fun ways. For example, we can plant the aromatic and sacred California white sage (Salvia apiana) planted alongside broadleaf sage (Salvia officinalis) and intermix Iroquois white corn and Ozette potatoes in the rows between the newly planted apple orchard. Community participation and cooperative ownership are central elements of this project. We have already received interest and support from many local tribal members including the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, the local sovereign nation who has given us its blessing to do this work. Wappo, Pomo, and other Native individuals have also expressed great interest in being a part of this effort. Community participation will lead to increased dialogue among California Indians and the community already working at the Farm, sharing knowledge about different approaches and ways of seeing plants, food, medicine, and water. This garden will also help re-connect Native peoples living in the diaspora to their own tribal foods and therefore cultural traditions and backgrounds. Connections will also be made between youth and elders through our food delivery program, enabling Native youth to visit Native elders who cannot get to the Indian Valley site, by bringing them fresh food from that month’s harvest. We will join and create a community of farmers and Native foods advocates, from local California Indian tribes of Marin and Sonoma Counties, urban Native youth, Native elders, and American Indian Studies students from San Francisco and Sonoma State Universities and College of Marin. Participants will learn about soils, seeds, organic and sustainable agriculture methods, the fundamentals of plant selection and propagation, landscape, farm and garden design, installation, and maintenance. They will also engage in traditional gathering, cooking and nutrition classes, and diabetes prevention education. Given that the traditional Native approach to engaging with food is holistic and eco-cultural, participants will also engage in related cultural activities such as storytelling, learning songs, language, and basket weaving. CENTER FOR WHOLE COMMUNITIES © 2013

Wendy’s acorn cornbread. MELISSA NELSON

Our Cultural Conservancy team is already learning from the amazing knowledge and practices of Wendy and her capable team. The collaboration between the Cultural Conservancy and the Indian Valley Organic Farm educational program is one of reciprocal learning and sharing. We will provide Native science curricula, access to a Native learning community, and lectures and events on contemporary California Indian and Native cultures. In turn, the Indian Valley Organic Farm & Garden program is graciously offering knowledge and expertise on sustainable agriculture, as well as hands on work through their teachers, volunteers, and students. Thanks to Wendy and the generosity of the Farm team, they are also providing resources, tools, plants, and access to their greenhouse. Our goal is to create a reciprocal collaboration where we are teaching and learning from each other about how to strengthen local, organic food production, food sovereignty, and community health. Wendy Johnson is a writer, organic gardener, and Buddhist meditation teacher as well as a founding member of the faculty of Center for Whole Communities. She has been a mentor and advisor to the Edible Schoolyard program of the Chez Panisse Foundation since it began in 1995, and more recently a founding instructor of the College of Marin’s innovative Organic Farm and Garden Program, established in 2009. Her most recent book is Gardening at the Dragon’s Gate. Melissa Nelson (Turtle Mountain Chippewa) is a writer, educator and cultural and environmental activist. She has been the executive director of the Cultural Conservancy since 1993, and since 2002 has been a professor of Native American Studies at the University of California, Davis. Her edited anthology, Original Instructions: Indigenous Teachings for a Sustainable Future, was published in 2012. She is on the board and faculty of Center for Whole Communities.

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Alumni News Curt Meine: It has been a pleasure to bring the

spirit of the Center for Whole Communities into our work on the documentary film Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time. The film, the first to document the life and legacy of Leopold, premiered in February 2011 and has been showing continually since, in community screenings around the world. The production team was led by Buddy Huffaker and Jeannine Richards from the Aldo Leopold Foundation and Brooke Hecht from Center for Humans and Nature — CWC alumnae/i all! — and we were pleased to film an interview with Peter Forbes that was used in the film. We would like to invite all our CWC friends to learn about the film at http://www.aldoleopold.org/greenfire/index. shtml and to consider hosting a local screening in your community. Daniel Lim and Anastasia Yarbrough: Both alumni of the NextGen Retreat, together we founded Inner Activism Services in 2012. A social change consultancy, we’re excited to apply our knowledge of ecology, Native American and African spiritual traditions, feminism, and other systems of knowledge to help organizations do their work in ways that replenish the earth, our sense of justice, and the human spirit. We help our clients practice sustainability through compassion, foster resilience by learning from ecosystem processes, and increase diversity and cultural humility in their work. Please visit us at www.inneractivism. com. Olivia Hoblitzelle: I look back at our Mentors and Apprentices retreat with delight and appreciation. Currently, I’m particularly intrigued by the subject of ageing consciously and the contemplative life, and how we elders might show a new way in a culture that is age phobic. Drawing on my background in Buddhist psychology and practice, this is slowly becoming a book. My first book was Ten Thousand Joys & Ten Thousand Sorrows: A Couple’s Journey Through Alzheimer’s, which continues to sell and lets me give talks on a subject I feel deeply about. May we all move into the later years fully engaged and with joy! Scott Russell Sanders: The youngest of our grandchildren, Benjamin Russell Sanders, emerged into sunlight on October 1, 2012. In the spring, Indiana University Press published a volume of my selected essays entitled Earth Works, which includes twenty-one essays from my previous books and nine that have never appeared in book form. An opera for children entitled Mooch the Magnificent, for which I wrote the libretto, is www.wholecommunities.org

being performed in schools in southern Indiana; in 2013, it will be published and made available for performances elsewhere. Blessings to all whom I have met at Knoll Farm over the years of being on the faculty there. Elvera Sargent: I am currently working on a proposal: Tsi Niiohaho:ten —Choosing Our Path, to develop our youth by providing a Mohawk immersion opportunity at the high school level in Akwesasne. Our school currently goes up to 8th grade, and just as our students get close to speaking Mohawk it is time for them to go to an English-speaking public school, so a group of us have decided to change that trend. It’s scary but very needed. Students will also be provided opportunities to apprentice with various jobs to learn the language of that job, learn skills, and learn what they want to do in the future. Note: In June 2012, Elvera was awarded with a Firekeepers Award from the Seventh Generation Fund for “long standing good work for Indigenous People.” Jess Gerrior: I am celebrating the beginning of my second year as the Sustainability Coordinator at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, New Hampshire. I’m also building relationships between the University and local farms and helping to develop a summer course in sustainable agriculture. Despite my love of working for sustainable local food systems, I have never been known for my green thumb! I am likely to get in over my head, so any CWC alumnae/i who would enjoy passing along their gardening wisdom or want to learn along with me are perpetually welcome at my home in Antrim. Marcia Lee: This last year has been one of preparation. The Detroit Area Restorative Justice Network and Corkstown Restorative Justice Center are on their way to really taking off and I am in the process of continuing to transform internally so that my external world can also be one of healing, justice, and compassion. Joshua Sargent: As I sit here, in a sling about my shoulders is a tiny newborn addition to our family! His name is Ronkwetiio, which means “everything about him is beautiful,” and he was born on November 19th, 2012. Professionally, I have taken time off to be with my family, and am working on using my awareness training at home and to see what the next step is. A great movement among Native People has swept North America and it is called IdleNoMore. For those of us that have not been “idle,” this is a happy thing. It is my hope that the people whose hearts are

newly stirred and called to action will be drawn to the work that I and many others have been doing. No doubt we will be working with difference and tension! Skennen (in peace) Jack Pannell: Thanks to a transformative experience at Knoll Farm, I have achieved success with my charter school project. Baltimore Collegiate School for Boys has been authorized to open in the fall of 2014. We have a vision to send 100 percent of our students to college in a city where 6 percent of our public school high school graduates from low-income households attend and complete college within six years. Baltimore Collegiate will open with grades 4, 5, and 6. Our work is designed to transform a generation of boys of color in Baltimore City. John Roe: I’m currently about half-way through a six-month Bullard Fellowship at Harvard Forest in Petersham, Massachusetts. My work here is writing a book detailing the ecology of the northern hardwood forest and how forestry can affect that ecology. The book is aimed at forestland owners in particular, but also important to all others who are involved in managing northern hardwood forests, whether directly as foresters or indirectly as conservation professionals monitoring conservation easements. My hope is that it will move more of the landscape toward better management that supports both ecological integrity and wood production — often competing issues. Miquel Santistevan: In the time since the retreat, I had returned to school and acquired a PhD candidacy in biology at the University of New Mexico. I then started a nonprofit corporation called AIRE (Agriculture Implementation Research & Education) with funding from the Kindle Project. I am also a math, science, and sustainability high school teacher at the Chrysalis Alternative School. My activities are chronicled at the website solfelizfarm.wordpress.com. Sophia Kizilbash: I have moved to Seattle to support the expansion of the organization I co-founded and co-lead, the Native Youth Leadership Alliance (www.nativeyouthleadership.org). The Next Generation Retreat in 2009 greatly impacted my leadership, and one of my youth fellows, Mariana Harvey, attended the NextGen Retreat in 2012. Lucile Beatty: My partner and I continue our practice of hosted housing and have had the honor of hosting two amazing young activists who are working with organizations in Oakland on housing and immigrant rights. My work at CENTER FOR WHOLE COMMUNITIES © 2013

the Contra Costa community college continues as I work to build an automotive program that respects the environment, builds leadership and provides jobs. Fred Tutman: My very busy work as a Riverkeeper continues to be politically and culturally significant in Maryland. I am indebted to Center for Whole Communities for helping me draw what should have been an obvious connection for me: That sense of place is really the basis for environmentalism and community. This realization not only anchored my core belief that my future “Riverkeeping” needed to work much harder to serve communities (not just dogmatic environmental slogans and abstract issues) but also the related epiphany that in a very real way, the environmental movement is inadvertently magnifying social and economic disparities that exist around race and class by ignoring the actual sense of place experienced by many communities of poor and people of color. I believe that the reason environmentalism appears to be predominantly for White people is because there is a perception that only the sense of place and circumstances enjoyed by them is worthy of funding and conservation, that one must be a part of the dominant affinity group to be recognized as an “environmentalist.” So many people think the road to more diversity in environmentalism is to simply change the message or to educate those who do not get it. Not so. We actually need to change the substance of what the message is about so that those on the outside of these movements have some benefit for participating. Inviting others to share the messaging without sharing the benefits is not only silly but it is also patronizing. Changing people’s ideas about the environment without improving their circumstances is pointless. Anyhow, an environmental movement that is diverse has a much richer story to tell and a greater likelihood of succeeding. The seed of this powerful realization was planted in that Whole Thinking Retreat I attended several years ago. Adrienne Brown: My news is that I am still living in Detroit and loving it, with a BALLE fellowship to focus on growing our local food economy with the Detroit Food Justice Task Force. I will also be doing a lot of writing and facilitating around transformative movements in 2013! And I have three doula gigs for the year so far. Looking forward to all of this and being back at Knoll Farm this summer. Trina Jackson: Well, since my retreat in 2008, I have experienced many positive changes. The challenges have been filled with opportunities for growth and strength. On a personal level, I went back to school in 2009 to finish my undergraduate

degree and graduated in 2011 from Goddard College in nearby Plainfield, Vermont. This was a huge milestone in my life. And the topic that I chose for my senior project while at Goddard brought all of my political, social and ancestral work together. My project, Grown By Herself, was dedicated to honoring the gardening traditions of African American women and how these traditions contribute to U.S. environmental history. I traced a lot of what African Americans grow in their vegetable gardens back to plants that were domesticated and cultivated in West Africa prior to European arrival and the subsequent transatlantic slave trade. I researched what enslaved Africans grew in their provisional gardens in the Americas, focusing on the southern U.S., where my ancestors were. I wanted to show how gardens are also a form of authoring, and in the context of social justice, a political act. My time at the Whole Thinking Retreat facilitated this path for me, and for that, I am grateful! Chris Landry: I am completing production of a video interview with activist and systems thinker Joanna Macy that will be available as a DVD and online download in the spring. I’ve also started a collaborative branding/communications/media firm called Clarity (www.clarity-first.com) to help organizations more effectively tell their stories about how they’re changing the world. I’d be happy to talk with Whole Communities alumnae/i about this work. Deb Schoenbaum: I facilitated a fun panel at Bioneers (“Capitalism 2.0: Cutting-Edge Conscious Entrepreneurship”) and, in December, I was elected onto the Board of Directors of a wonderful Oakland-based organization called TransForm (www.transformca.org). Through political advocacy and programs, it addresses social inequity in a fundamental quality of life issue — accessible and affordable public transportation. Pepe Marcos: Participating in the Whole Thinking Retreat was a great mid-career experience that helped me slow down and re-think my path. One of those changes is that I became the Education Advisor for the Border Action Network, an immigrant human rights organization in Tucson, Arizona. This signified a big shift in my work in education from environmental to social issues, but it all made sense once I saw it under the Whole Communities lens and confirmed that all of those issues are connected. Today, by stepping back and looking at the “whole,” I can make sense of the many ramifications of my work on border issues and on bringing environmental education to communities of color and diversifying the field of environmental

education. I will be forever thankful for this gift I received from Center for Whole Communities. Ernie Atencio: Working on the Levers for Innovation project with Peter Forbes and Danyelle O’Hara was a real privilege for me. Before leaving the Taos Land Trust after nine years as Executive Director, I oversaw the transfer of a sacred site from the land trust to the Taos Pueblo Tribe, maybe the most gratifying and meaningful project I have ever been involved in. The work I do now is under a business called Land & Culture Consulting (landcultureconsulting.com). Deb Habib: continues to grow as director of Seeds of Solidarity Education Center in Orange, Massachusetts, whose motto is Grow Food Everywhere! The programs of this non-profit organization awaken the power of youth, families, and schools to transform hunger to health and cultivate resilience. I am currently working on a book with my husband — artist and farmer Ricky Baruc — entitled Making Love While Farming: A Field Guide to a Life of Joy. Morgan Powell: I returned to New York from Knoll Farm a few years ago with my destiny changed. When I arrived at a Whole Communities retreat in the summer of 2006, I was determined to continue in open space interpretation and conservation work but needed a wider circle of support and camaraderie than the Bronx had yet offered me. My week in Vermont among land steward peers from all over the country was both a necessary vacation from the rigors of my park manager duties at Stuyvesant Cove in Manhattan as well as a multi-sensory bath. By night, I gazed at stars. By day, walks among ferncarpeted forests and all the fresh food I could eat made that week a true homecoming of the soul. I savored the stories of our circles while enjoying the sense of being deeply heard. Unpacking my bags once back in New York, and finding a cool place to put my carved spoon, I began to see what was next. One of the elders on that retreat had encouraged me to stay in the Bronx and continue my work there. Within weeks, Bronx River Sankofa was born — although I had not yet found that name. I use various media platforms like blogs, videos, printed stories, and a Facebook page to recognize and celebrate four decades of African American environmentalists and over 350 years of Bronx social history in the Bronx River watershed. Now I do this work as a Community Researcher with the Bronx AfricanAmerican History Project out of both Fordham University and the Bronx County Historical Society.

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2012 Whole Communities Alumnae/i

Abby Johnson, University of Delaware, DE Adaku Utah, Project SAFE/SouLar Bliss, NY Adela Nieves, East Michigan Environmental Action Council, MI Ajamu Brown, Bed-Stuy Community Eco-Mapping Project, NY Alberto Rodríguez, Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition/Technical Advisory Group, WA Alexa Mills, MIT Community Innovators Lab, MA Amanda Charland, Hanover Consumer Cooperative Society Inc., VT Amanda Cundiff, U.S. Forest Service, CA Amara Enyia, Center for Labor and Community Research, IL Amy Miller, Lebanon Farmers’ Market, VT Anastasia Yarbrough, NC Angela Kuhne, Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, CT Anne Shaughnessy, Nashoba Brooks School, MA Babs Nesbitt, NH Brian Hsiang, CQ Associates/Retrain YouthBuild, VT Brooke Lehman, The Watershed Center/The Institute for Social Ecology, NY Brooke Newsom, Woodstock Union High School/ Fable Farm, VT Buddy Huffaker, Aldo Leopold Foundation, WI Candace DeWolf, NH Carly Benkov, American Jewish World Service, NY Carol Judy, Clearfork Community Institute/ fairtradeappalachia.wordpress.com, TN Carrie Petrik-Huff, Seeds of Solidarity, MA Cate Sementa, NH Catherine M. Baca, Quivira Coalition, NM Charlie O’Leary, Santa Fe Conservation Trust, NM Chris Wood, Building A Local Economy, VT Christy Leffall, Urban Habitat and East Bay Meditation Center, CA Courtney Stackhouse, The Wildlife Society, MD

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Cynthia Lin, Multicultural Student Center: University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI Cynthia Sadkin, Legal Assistance Foundation, IL Dani McClain, ColorOfChange, CA Daniel Calloway, Cuyahoga Valley National Park/I Can School, OH David Derauf, Kokua Kalihi Valley, HI David Fine, NH Deborah Hawthorn, Transition Town WRJ/North Universalist Chapel Society, VT Decora Sandiford, ReadNex Poetry Squad, NY Dee Robbins, Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust, MA Derwin Dubose, Conservation Trust for North Carolina, NC Desa VanLaarhoven, Marion Institute, MA Diana Copeland, East Michigan Environmental Action Council, MI Donna Marston, NH Donna Ryan, NH Dyanna Smith, Red Eft Project, NH Eddie Merma, Gads Hill Center, IL Edward Cronin, Coaching for Success, MA Erin Caudell, Ruth Mott Foundation, MI Erin Heskett, Land Trust Alliance, MI Ernest Jolly, CA Eugene Allen, Be Present Inc., GA Farzeen Mahmud, Dartmouth College, NH Frank Aiello, Heart of the Lakes Center for Land Conservation Policy, MI Frank Lopez, The Peace Poets, NY Franklin Pleasant, Community Advocate, MI Fred Carter, Black Oaks Center, IL Free Flowin, ReadNex Poetry Squad, NJ Gabe Zoerheide, Vital Communities, VT George Lareau, NH Ginger Wallis, VT GloJean Todacheene, San Juan County in New Mexico, NM

Gloria Lowe, We Want Green Too!, MI Gloria Rivera IHM, Great Lakes Bioneers, MI Gregory Tarver, Urban Releaf, CA Gregory Wilson, The Unitarian Universalist Church of Brevard, FL Gustavo Teren, Highland Research & Education Center, TN Herb Nolan, The Lawrence and Lillian Solomon Foundation, MA Ibrahim Abdul-Matin, Green Deen: What Islam Teaches About Protecting the Planet, VA Ifeoma Nwoke, NY Irene Schwoeffermann, Coalition for a Livable Future, OR Jan Kearce, Institute for Civic Leadership, ME Janet Parker, Farley Center Farm Incubator/ Wisconsin Network for Peace and Justice/350 Madison Climate Action, WI Jeannette Tuitele-Lewis, Sierra Foothill Conservancy, CA Jeannine Richards, Aldo Leopold Foundation, WI Jee-Hee Haar Farris, Dumican Mosey Architects, CA Jeff Chen, Pick-Up America, MD Jennifer Hewitt, The Pomfret School, VT Jennifer White, Colby-Sawyer College, NH Jess Gerrior, Franklin Pierce University, NH Jessica Loeffler, Bradford Elementary School, VT Jessica Wrenn, American Jewish World Service, NY Jim Lorman, Edgewood College, WI Jo D. Saffeir, Jo D. Saffeir Consulting, ME Joe Hsueh, Systemica, MA Johnny Sundstrom, Siuslaw Institute, OR Jolie Olivetti, Victory Programs ReVision Urban Farm, MA Jonathan Scheuer, HI Jonathan Scott, Northern Virginia Conservation Trust, DC Jose Marcos-Iga, Environmental Education Exchange, AZ

37 Joseph Gorman, Student Environmental Action Coalition, VA Joseph Maldonado, Boys and Girls Club of Dane County, WI Joseph Roberts, Stoneweaver Stonescapes, NC Joshua Arnold, Global Awareness Local Action (G.A.L.A.), NH Joshua Sargent, Kanenhiio Ionkwaiontonhakie, NY Juan Carlos Piñeiro Moyet, ReadNex Poetry Squad, NY Kahlil Kettering, National Parks Conservation Association, FL Kaila Binney, Island Grown Schools, MA Karen Elizabeth Ganey, Center for Sustainable Practice/Creative Lives After School Program, VT Karen Freudenberger, VT Karen White, Woodstock Elementary School, VT Karim Al-Khafaji, Bridgespan Group, CA Kasandra Rohrbach, National Wildlife Federation, CA Kelly Riley, NH Kent Alexander, BluesEnBop, MA Kierstyn Hunter, NH Kizzy Charles-Guzman, NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, NY Konda Mason, Hub Oakland, CA Kristin Pauly, Prince Charitable Trusts, MD Lan My Tran, Student Conservation Association AmeriCorps, VA Laurie Lane-Zucker, Hotfrog; Impact Entrepreneur, MA Lee Matsueda, Alternatives for Community and Environment, MA Leia Lewis, Sankofa Vision Inc., LA Lesly Feaux, Boulder County Public Health, CO Linda Graham, NH Lisa Wiesner, 3Rivers Arts, MA Louise Herne, Mohawk Community at Akwesasne, NY Lylianna Allala, Nature Consortium, WA Marcia Lee, Cap Corps Midwest, MI Margaret Chloe Powell, Camp Red Clover/Farm to School, VT Margaret Waldock, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, NJ

Margosia Jadkowski, City of Savannah, GA Maria Elena Campisteguy, Metropolitan Group, DC Mariana Harvey, Native Youth Leadership Alliance, WA Maritza Valenzuela, DC Mark Bowen, Hampstead Institute, AL Martin Boldin, NH Mary Margaret Sloan, Vital Communities, VT Matthew Dubel, Maine Audubon, ME Matthew Martin, Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership, OH Matthew Wyatt, Sierra Student Coalition/Real Food Challenge, LA Max Joel, Solar One, NY M’ellen Kennedy, Peace and Unity Bridge/Friends on the Path/Universalist Church, VT Mercedes Mack, People’s Yoga Project, VT Merilynn Bourne, L.I.S.T.E.N. Community Services, NH Michelle Martinez, Consortium of Hispanic Agencies, MI Michelle Walker, Southside Community Land Trust, RI Nancy North, NewGround Inc., WI Nassim Zerriffi, Global Kids, NY Nathan Sime, PASS AmeriCorps, WI Nicholas Heyl, NH Nicole Byrd, Solano Land Trust, CA Nuri Friedlander, Harvard University, MA Ola Akinmowo, Brooklyn Queens Land Trust, NY Peter Barr, Carolina Mountain Land Conservancy, NC Ramtin Arablouei, Health and Environmental Funders Network, MD Reid Slavin, NH

Rima Vesely-Flad, ICARE, NY Rob Schultz, COVER, NH Robbie Samuels, Socializing for Justice, MA Robert Nathan, Northwest Earth Institute, OR Sally Miller, Sustainable Woodstock, VT Samantha Harvey, Overbrook Foundation, NY Samina Raja, SUNY Buffalo, NY Sanaa Green, East Michigan Environmental Action Council, MI Sarika Tandon, Antioch University New England/ Vermont Natural Resources Council, VT Sarrah AbuLughod, Green Muslims, VA Scott Stokoe, NH Shane Bernardo, Earthworks Urban Farm, MI Shelana DeSilva, The Trust for Public Land, CA Shin Shin Hsia, EarthCorps, WA Sioux Trujillo, MI Soapy Mulholland, Sequoia Riverlands Trust, CA Stella Koch, Audubon Naturalist Society, VA Stephen Cook, Columbia Land Trust, OR Susan Levy, Washington Community Action Network, WA Tolu Fashoro, Capital District Community Gardens, NY Tom Jackson, Joe Public Films, NH Tom Rumpf, Nature Conservancy, ME Tony Anderson, Let’s Retrofit a Million Education Fund, GA Vikram Krishnamurthy, Center for Public Horticulture - University of Delaware, DE Vivian Stockman, OVEC, WV Whitney Tome, Environmental Defense Fund, MD Yusuf Burgess, Youth Ed-venture and Nature Network, NY

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Fiscal Year 2011–12 Financial Report April 1, 2011 – March 31, 2012

April 2011 through March 2012 marked the second year of our Breakthrough Campaign, which was designed to generate support to enhance the parts of our work that have always been strong and to carry our work beyond its roots at Knoll Farm to break new ground. We made great progress in FY12 bringing that vision into reality as we moved through our founder transition and began the work to host our first Urban Whole Thinking Retreat in the summer of 2012. The total revenue for FY12 was $986,667. From April 2011 through March 2012, we utilized $606,695 in grants from fourteen different foundations and one corporate giving program. In addition, we received contributions from 238 generous individual donors totaling $167,092. Our fall fundraising campaign was especially successful due to a generous matching grant from the Kendeda Fund. Our earned income for the year totaled $49,730, an anticipated decrease from FY11 as a result of the founder sabbatical. We spent a total of $947,379 during FY12 delivering an increased level of programming while remaining below our anticipated expenses for the year. Support from foundations has been critical to our work thus far, and we are deeply thankful for the confidence placed in us

2011–2012 Income

Program Fees, Workshops and Events 5%

through gifts utilized this year from Anonymous Foundation, Argosy Foundation, Compton Foundation, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Betsy and Jesse Fink Foundation, Ittleson Foundation, Johnson Family Foundation, Kalliopeia Foundation, Kendeda Fund, Merck Family Foundation, Ruth Mott Foundation, New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, Adelard A. & Valeda Lea Roy Foundation, and Sweet People Apparel via 1% for the Planet. INCOME Individual Giving $167,092 Grants for FY2012 programs $606,695 Program Fees, Workshops and Events $49,730 Miscellaneous income $5,150 Breakthrough Fund (50% Grants, 50% Ind. Giving) $158,000 Total Income

$986,667

EXPENSES Retreats and Workshops Whole Thinking Program $399,001 Advanced Leadership $244,593 Other Programs $42,914 Fundraising $91,842 Administration $169,029 Total Expenses

$947,379

2011-2012 Expenses Misc. 1%

Individual Giving 26%

Whole Thinking Program 42% Administration 18%

Fundraising 10%

Other Programs 4% Grants 69%

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Advanced Leadership 26%

Honoring Our Supporters April 1, 2011 – March 31, 2012

Note: boldface indicates that the person is an alumnus or alumna of our program. $10,000 + Anonymous Foundation Compton Foundation Ann Day Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation Hidden Leaf Foundation Ittleson Foundation Barbara Fenhagen & Tom Johnson through the Johnson Family Foundation Kalliopeia Foundation Kendeda Fund Margot & Roger Milliken New Hampshire Charitable Foundation Ruth Mott Foundation Barbara Sargent $5,000 – $9,999 Anonymous Argosy Foundation Polly Hoppin & Bob Thomas Lostand Foundation Mary McFadden & Larry Stifler Jonathan & Diana Rose Adelard A. & Valeda Lea Roy Foundation Nancy Schaub Stifler Family Foundation Kitty & Tom Stoner Mima & Charlie Tipper $2,500 – $4,999 Judy & Carl Ferenbach Nancy & David Grant The Kresge Foundation Crea & Phil Lintilhac Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation Ruth & Scott Russell Sanders George & Holly Stone $1,000 – $2,499 Anonymous Chip Stone & Susan Atwood-Stone Michael & Margherita Baldwin Janet Prince & Peter Bergh Will & Laurie Danforth Maxine Grad Hamill Family Foundation Anya J. Maier & Hank Lentfer Marcia & Tom Wessels Peter Forbes & Helen Whybrow Anne & Ethan Winter

$500 – $999 Anonymous Deb Barnes James Blaine John Cook & Phoebe Buffum Cook Liz Barratt-Brown & Bos Dewey The Guide Foundation Keith Taylor & Olivia Hoblitzelle Tandy Jones Stephanie Kaza & Davis TeSelle Ginny McGinn & Tim Woodford Norcross Wildlife Foundation Karen Outlaw Paul Sipple & Joan Rae Lauret Savoy Megan Gadd & Nathan Wilson $250 – $499 Anonymous Mark Ackelson Jeff Schoellkopf & Beth Binns Schoellkopf William & Emily Boedecker Butternut Mountain Farm Kenneth Colburn Win Phelps & Gigi Coyle Samir Doshi Joan FitzGerald Jill & Tom French Dagmar Friedman Richard Wines & Nancy Gilbert Pete Helm Jane & Mike LaMair Amy Wright & Gil Livingston Main Street Landing Co. Melinda Moulton Lucy & David Marvin Doug Reed Lisa Cashdan & Peter Stein Carl Wallman $100 – $249 Tatek Assefa Alex Bauermeister Marcelo Bonta Darby Bradley Flip Brown Katherine Brown Anne Burling Steven Cadwell Bev & Hal Colston Wrenn Compere Page Knudsen-Cowles & Jay Cowles Jane & Andrew Cunningham Matthew Dahlhausen Kristi Davis Patricia DeMarco David M. Dion Real Estate

Rita & John Elder Jay Espy Corinna & Stef Frenzl Richard & Joy Garland Tim Glidden Juan Wade & Claudette Grant Larry Grinnell Florence & Martin Rudy Haase Craig Anderson & Lee Christina Hackeling Carol Harley Mark & Karen Hatcher Toby Herzlich Meg & Gary Hirshberg Roy Hoagland Steven Hagenbuch & Dana Hudson Sarah Jawaid Jamieson Insurance Agency, Inc. Tom Johnson & Ina Smith Heeten Kalan John Kassel Helen & Terry Kellogg Margaret Kessel Gopi Krishna Lorien & William H. Leahy Lauren Mackler Dane Springmeyer & Jennifer Marlow Ray Mikulak & Robin McDermott Curt Meine Sandy Mervak Donna Meyers JoAnn Thomas & Doug Nopar Rebecca Lovejoy & Kevin Peterson Susan Reid Gilbert & Laura Richardson Steve Roberts Carol Romero-Wirth Rebecca Ruggles Pauline E. Schneider Carolyn Servid Winthrop Smith Alcott Smith South Carolina Conservation Credit Exchange Molly & Mike Strigel Judy Sulsona Dijit Taylor Katharine Tipper Beth Tuttle Robin Underwood Brad & Ann Fowler Wallace Jason Walser Constance Washburn Andy Robinson & Jan Waterman Sue & Rand Wentworth Diane White Reid Wilson

$35 – $99 Susan Arnold John & Jan Auleta Todd Sirak & Molly Bagnato Baked Beads Haeja Kang & Andrew Kang Bartlett Jamie Baxter W. Jeffrey & Martha Bolster in honor of Eleanor Bolster Lauren Bornfriend Laura & Duncan Brines Dominique Burgunder-Johnson Linus Chen Joseph & Kim Coble Jeanne Medeiros & Edward Connelly Sharon Daloz Parks & Larry Daloz Kristina Egan James Etgen Robert Etgen Debora Ferreira Linda & Gene Fialkoff Carolyn Finney Alan French Sue-Charlie Grigg Lisa Haderlein George Hall John Halsey Minner Hobbs Sally Goodwin & Kurt Hoelting Carol & Charles Hosford Sarah Thorne & Tom Howe Audrey & Phil Huffman Julie Iffland & Chris Recchia Junji Itagaki Julianne Johnson Virginia Kennedy Robert Fink & Renee Kivikko Matthew Kolan Kim Larson Lance R. Lee Timothy Dunn & Amy Liebman Dina Magaril Patrick & Susan McKeown Kate Mendenhall Sheila Moran & David Millstone Sally Berdan-Molnar & Al Molnar Terry Osborne Lisa Peakes Kevin Pentz Mark Brooks & Mary Powell Katherine Preissler David & Sarah Drew Reeves Bettina Ring Deborah & Mark Robertson Mary Roscoe Susanna & Mark Scallion Alice Schleiderer Anne Shaughnessy www.wholecommunities.org

40 Nina Simons Richard Smith Cassie Smith Maria & Taz Squire Kate Stephenson Chuck Lacy & Gaye Symington John Grim & Mary Evelyn Tucker Fernando Villalba Carol Warren Susan Wolpert Up to $34 Steve Alexander Tom Brightman & Tara Tracy Taylor Burt Stephanie Calloway

Alisa Costa in honor of Isadora Snapp Candace DeWolf DeeAnn Downing Shadia Fayne Wood Steve Glazer Sam Graulty Richard Baruc & Deb Habib Lisa Hein Jenny Helm Harvey & Ethel Horner Lon Jackman Richard & Sally Jacobs Rebecca & Kail Katzenmeier Brett KenCairn Margaret Kessel

Rue Mapp Lucy McCarthy Kevin & Jessie McMillion Jenn Barton & Willard Morgan Linda Mulley Consulting, Inc. Colin & Melissa Nelson Riley Neugebauer Chris Nytch Erika Osbourne Symmonds Allen Penrod Ruth Pestle Joanna Rago Jeff Golden & Kavitha Rao Sudeep Rao Donna Ryan

Marion Stoddart Ryan Strom Pat Tompkins Iesha Wadala Trudie Young While we do our best to honor all of our donors accurately, we occasionally miss a name. Please let us know if we missed you. For any giving-related questions, please contact Ginny McGinn at ginny@ wholecommunities.org.

We are continually inspired by the generosity and care and wisdom we receive from so many friends, alumnae/i, allies, and family, as well as our faculty and board. To all of our supporters we offer a deep bow of gratitude for the gift of support and for your confidence in the work of Whole Communities. Thank you!

www.wholecommunities.org

CENTER FOR WHOLE COMMUNITIES ÂŠ 2013

Center for Whole Communities 2013 calendar Residential Fellowship Retreats

Open Workshops

Held at Knoll Farm, Fayston, Vermont

2042 Today: Young Leaders Re-Imagining Conservation, July 6 – 12 Now in its fourth year, 2042 Today is a program designed in collaboration with Center for Diversity and the Environment to build the practical leadership skills to engage, inform, and learn from a dramatically changing American public. More and more conservationists are thinking about the significance of 2042, the date when demographers predict that every metropolitan area will be predominantly populated by people of color, but few efforts are in place today to equip conservationists with the leadership skills to engage difference of all kinds.

Whole Systems Conservation Retreat: The Nature Conservancy, July 15 – 20 This gathering will welcome Whole Systems conservationists and their allies from the Eastern Division of The Nature Conservancy. The group will be working to strengthen the whole systems approach and build their skills in navigating the changing landscape of conservation.

Strengthening the Recovery Movement in New Hampshire: A Retreat, July 23 - 27 This leadership retreat is for New Hampshire professionals who work in the field of substance use disorders. By bringing leaders working in the recovery field together, this retreat will strengthen their capacity to help one another, and to share and build upon best practices. Building such a cohort of community leaders in an arena as challenging as this one can help prevent burn-out, leverage change, and build stronger long-term partnerships.

Whole Thinking Retreat, August 5 - 11 The Whole Thinking Retreat convenes leaders from diverse disciplines and backgrounds. Together, participants develop a shared vision for how the relationship between people and the land can become a more effective force in creating a healthy and just American culture. Our curriculum is designed to rejuvenate and re-envision leadership, to build relationships, to help leaders engage more meaningfully in the communities they serve, and to develop the competence to heal the very real divides of race, power, privilege and ideology that keep lasting social and environmental change from happening in this country.

Native Lands Summit, September 3 – 6 This summer Whole Communities will host leaders of Native and non-Native Land Trust organizations from across the country at Knoll Farm for an important opportunity to connect and strengthen the conservation movement. The gathering aims to develop stronger relationships among these leaders in order to foster deeper mutual understanding and begin to create structural change, creating the optimal conditions for future collaborations.

For a complete list of programs as well as more detailed information on our theories of change, our faculty, accommodations, fees, and registration, go to www.wholecommunities.org, or call us at 802-496-5690. Thank you.

Leadership Circle w/ Peter Forbes, June 25 – 27 Executive and program directors play unique roles with unique pressures. These times make these roles even harder. This short course offers a safe place to pause, to reflect and to learn from others in similar roles. Through a full schedule of group dialogue, one-on-one sessions, and time for personal reflection, this workshop will create safe and valuable space to explore your own leadership.

Courage Circle w/ Peter Forbes, June 28 – 29 Today, we all need courage and we all need encouragement. Perhaps you need the courage to take on a particular project, or to say no to another, to start an organization, or to leave one. Perhaps you need to courage to speak up and speak out or the courage to step back. No matter what it is, these times demand that we more fully occupy and embody the work that matters most. Held at beautiful Knoll Farm, this overnight program will provide a safe space for invigorating group dialogue, one-on-one sessions, and solo time for personal reflection.

Spoon Carving as Community Building w/ Peter Forbes, June 30 This day-long workshop is for veteran spoon carvers who want to go deeper as craftspeople, and also want to use spoon carving in their own community or organization to create positive relationships. We’ll carve spoons and we’ll explore how to teach spoon carving to others as a force for community building.

Transformational Leadership Workshop, August 14 - 17 This open workshop is a rare opportunity to spend time at Knoll Farm while doing a deep dive into the theories and practices of leadership development now commonly refer to as whole communities work. This is the perfect workshop for staff and board members, community leaders, and philanthropists who have heard about whole communities work from colleagues, but have not yet had the chance to jump in and experience it. This 4-day workshop offers a strong introduction to our theories of change and to the experiences and practices of our land-based learning center at Knoll Farm that have made our work so memorable and lasting. The curriculum explores the changing demands of leadership today.

Whole Measures: Transforming Communities by Tending to What Matters Most (Community Food Systems Focus), August 20 – 23 This special Whole Measures for Community Food Systems (CFS) is a valuesbased community-oriented tool for evaluation, planning, and dialogue geared toward organizational and community change. Whole Measures CFS invites organizations to build on the reporting of outcomes and to highlight and measure the interconnected indicators that define a healthy, whole community. Based on the Whole Measures tool, Whole Measures CFS encourages all those who care about people, food and the land to apply a big-picture approach. The workshop experience combines learning the groundbreaking content of Whole Measures with the skills of design, planning and facilitation, transformational leadership, and the practice of dialogue.

Strengthening Leadership Through Practice, August 26 – 29 As part of our ongoing commitment to deepen the Whole Thinking experience and learning for our alumnae/i, the Center for Whole Communities is offering a 4-day intensive program this summer highlighting awareness practice as a fundamental tool for building leadership capacity. The program is appropriate for individuals with any level of experience with awareness practice and requires only the desire to build your capacity for contemplative practice and be in community with other people interested in the inner-workings of leadership.

Center for Whole Communities Knoll Farm 700 Bragg Hill Road Fayston, Vermont 05673 Tel: 802-496-5690 Fax: 802-496-5687 www.wholecommunities.org

D E D I C AT I O N The staff dedicates this issue of the Whole Thinking Journal to the memory of Barbara Cushing and Kristin Siemann â&#x20AC;&#x201D; two dear friends, supporters and transcendent souls, both of whom passed away from rare illnesses in 2012. Barbara Cushing came to Knoll Farm on a Center for Whole Communities retreat in 2011. She was the program director for the Kalliopeia Foundation and in so many ways embodied their mission and vision of service, the sacred, and loving relationship. She was a gentle and caring, insightful and intelligent friend and colleague. We hope our work will honor her memory. Kristin Siemann moved to Vermont from Alaska with her partner in 2012 and often came to Knoll Farm to lend a hand and help her feel connected to her new home ground. Kristin was an environmental educator, outdoorswoman and friend with a deeply generous, kind, and joyful spirit. We miss her. Let the flight through the sky end in the folding of the wings over the nest. I bow to you and hold up my lamp to light you on your way. ~ Rabindranath Tagore