Final report for SNE20-010-NY
Project Information
Often professional development programs for agricultural service providers focus on offering opportunities to build specific knowledge and skills that can be utilized to better serve farmer audiences. This type of ‘educatum’ as it was known originally in latin, places the emphasis on ‘molding’ or ‘training’. The service provider is trained and in turn teaches the farmer. This project, however, focused on often neglected roots of the word 'education' deriving from ‘educare’ and ‘educere’, which mean ‘to nourish, to bring up, to lead forth, to draw out.’ This project recognized that in this era of mass information sharing, knowledge and resources are often abundantly available, but spaces where agricultural providers can draw out and employ their inner resources - their sources of joy, gifts, strengths, and rich identities - were gravely lacking. With so many professional development programs focused on delivering 'education' to the trainee, it's become normal for providers to lose their own voice and see themselves as a receptacle to receive and recapitulate knowledge. When we use professional development ‘trainees’ as a means to an end, we constrain solutions to the challenges they face to what is ‘outside’ of them. Rarely are we invited to reflect on our passions, inspirations, or failures and struggles. We often fail to show elements of our identities - for example, our race, ethnicity, gender or sexuality - for fear of being marginalized or disliked. While we tend to keep much of our identity and inner wealth hidden from our work, our work is not separate from who we are.
When an agricultural provider offers their farmer beneficiaries a fragment of their potential, this is also the farmers’ loss. When they lose their voice, they become no more valuable to farmers than an internet search. When they are treated as a means to an end, they infer their purpose is a conduit, and many resign to this.
Each year of this 3-year project, 20 agricultural service providers from NY reconnected with a sense of purpose and identity by drawing out and nourishing their inner resources in a supportive community of practice. Through 2 in-person retreats and 4 online peer learning circles, these providers develop and shape a professional learning plan to implement in their service to farmers. Our retreat programs were adapted from the Academy of Leaders and Courage to Teach programs which have been offered by the Center for Courage & Renewal for over two decades. The formats were successfully tested and refined by our certified Courage & Renewal facilitator Marcia Eames-Sheavly, who has incorporated them into existing extension programs for garden-based learning educators, Cornell faculty and staff programs, and student classes since 2012.
After participating in a community of practice aimed at reconnecting work with purpose and identity, 60 agriculture service providers will implement a professional learning plan that brings forth the diversity and identity of the educator, invigorates their educational efforts, and demonstrates willingness to take risks. They will engage 1200 farmers within 6 months completion of the program.
SARE’s professional development programs depend on agricultural service providers to convey knowledge and skills to farmers in an effort to encourage them to adopt more sustainable practices. Agricultural providers are essential to SARE's mission. So how are agricultural service providers doing? How are they weathering the challenges of decreasing funding streams, consolidation, administrative mandates, increasing email correspondence and online meetings? (The Small Farms Program's staff of 9 serves an audience encompassing 15,321 newsletter subscribers and 541,600 website visitors per year. Staff estimate they respond to 40 emails for every 1 in-person interaction with a farmer). How is their morale as they attempt to serve agricultural entrepreneurs - a high-stress occupation with suicide rates 1.5 times higher than the national average - in a world with ever increasing pressures from climate instability, a rapidly changing marketplace, land development, consumer preferences for convenience, and most recently, a global pandemic? What value are they providing farmers today, when high speed internet offers thousands access to a single online course (the Small Farms Program (SFP) received 35,000 online course registrations in response to an offer of 2 free courses per individual) or an incredible variety of "How-to" videos and articles (the SFP video “Kingbird Farm Layer Management & Egg Production” received 789,630 views. The Small Farm Quarterly article “Dorper Sheep: Truths and Myths” received 118,305 reads). Why are they often too busy and overwhelmed to enroll and remain engaged in NESARE PDP trainings (a frequent frustration expressed at NESARE State Coordinator PDP meetings over the past 10 years)?
The answer is many are struggling with fatigue, inadequacy, defeatism and hyper-busyness. While no formal research has documented these challenges, I have compiled the voices of a diversity of providers in an attachment to represent this community. What development program can we offer providers that will create a trusting space to surface these challenges, to engage the fullness of their gifts and capacities to address them, and to renew a sense of purpose and inspiration? The Reconnecting with Purpose project was our proposed solution.
Proposed Solution:
Each year of this 3-year project, 20 agricultural service providers from NY reconnected with a sense of purpose and identity in a supportive community of practice. Through 2 in-person retreats and 4 online peer learning circles, these providers developed and shape a professional learning plan to implement in their service to farmers within 6 months completion of the program. Specific examples of action projects have been provided in the Education section of the plan. Our retreat programs were adapted from the Academy of Leaders and Courage to Teach programs which have been offered by the Center for Courage & Renewal for over two decades. The formats have been successfully tested and refined by certified Courage & Renewal facilitator Marcia Eames-Sheavly, who has incorporated them into existing Extension programs for garden-based learning educators, Cornell faculty and staff programs, and student classes since 2012. Project manager Violet Stone co-designed and co-facilitated all aspects of the project. The facilitators made use of multiple engagement methods, including poetry and stories, solitude, reflection, and deep listening, in the same way that Courage & Renewal programs have been structured since 1997.
Farmers gained ag service providers who:
- Developed the skill set to listen deeply for what was not being said and ask open and engaging questions that led to deeper understanding of the whole farm situation, in order to provide more inspired or courageous ideas in response to problems.
- Better equipped to bring compassion to their struggles and offer the self-awareness and self-confidence to draw out and trust in the farmer’s own intuition and autonomy (this is especially important for farm visits and “Reading the Farm” programs).
- More empowered to incorporate creativity and inspiration to their teaching, research and outreach
Advisors/Cooperators
- (Educator and Researcher)
- - Producer (Educator)
- - Producer (Educator and Researcher)
Educational Approach
Reconnecting with Purpose prepared ag service provider teams as peer learning circles to bring the
principles and reflective practices of Courage & Renewal, as well as drawing from such foundations as social-emotional
adult learning, to two in-person retreats and 4 peer learning circles to:
- Cultivate self-awareness in their work with farmers
- Create opportunities for greater connection in the agricultural community
- Foster teamwork and shared leadership with colleagues and farmers.
- Strengthen capacity to listen, pay attention, and be present in farmer relationships.
- Hold tension and deal with conflicts with, among and between farmers constructively.
- Reconnect with what originally inspired them to engage in their work with farmers.
Milestones
Each year of the project, 3000 ag service providers learn about Reconnecting with Purpose through the Cornell Small Farms Program newsletter. The announcement links to the project web page where applications materials are provided.
3000
3000
September 01, 2020
Completed
August 10, 2020
The announcement of the project is offered below.
You’re Invited: Reconnecting with Purpose
As farm and food system educators or change makers working alongside rural and urban farm communities, we face enormous challenges to our efforts to support improved livelihoods of those we serve. Among these are climate instability, rapidly shifting markets, exorbitant land/lot prices, lack of resources, race/gender/class inequities, and labor shortages. While we may design focused educational programs or convene groups to work towards change, our work can become daunting. Over time, we may find our energy, commitment and spirit depleted. Are you seeking a space to step away from day-to-day work to pause, reflect, replenish and connect with a larger community of others doing similar work? The Cornell Small Farms Program is pleased to invite you to a unique development opportunity: Reconnecting with Purpose – A Retreat Program for NY Farm and Food System Educators and Change Makers. This 5-month program is designed for those working across the New York farm and food system and seeks participants from all backgrounds, roles and ages. This includes those working with NYS community gardens, urban farms, youth farms, food systems organizers (e.g. food hubs, food banks), farmer-educators, Cornell Cooperative Extension, USDA, NRCS, non-profit organizations, private consultants, and community foundations. “Reconnecting with Purpose” aims to create a welcoming and trustworthy space for farm and food system educators to explore challenges, to re-engage with personal strengths and capacities to address them, and to renew a sense of inspiration and purpose in their work and lives. The program, which spans from October 2020 – March 2021, consists of a virtual 2½ day opening retreat followed by 4 monthly peer learning circles, and ending with a virtual 2½ day closing retreat. Although virtual, this program will not be led by ‘sage on the stage’ facilitators; facilitators will be guides on the side with your active engagement throughout. Retreats are comprised of 3-hour long Zoom sessions in the mornings and afternoons, with spacious breaks in between. All programming is aligned with the Center for Courage & Renewal principles and practices and is funded by the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program.
Learn More About Reconnecting with Purpose
Learn much more about the intended audience, retreats, peer learning circles, approach, key project dates and project leaders by visiting the project website.
Join Project Leaders for a Drop-in Q&A Session
Curious but have questions? Join a virtual session anytime on Wednesday, August 19th from 1:00pm - 2:00pm to meet the project leaders and ask questions.
How to Apply
To apply for the program, click here. Thanks to support from NESARE, this program is offered at no cost. Applications are due Friday, August 28th.
Each year of the project, 30 ag service providers apply to the program. A letter of support from a supervisor is required with commitment to 70% of the cost for two retreats and travel support.
30
65
September 20, 2020
Completed
August 28, 2020
We were overwhelmed with 65 thoughtful and earnest applications from a huge diversity of providers and farmer-educators in a two week window. The quality of applications was tremendous and we put over 30 applicants on a wait list for Year 2. A letter from supervisors was not needed as the program was offered virtually at no cost.
Each year of the project, 20 ag service providers are welcomed to the program.
20
28
September 30, 2020
Completed
September 09, 2020
With the transition to a virtual format, we were able to accomodate a higher maximum number of applicants. We offered the spaces to 28 people and all accepted. Our Year 1 Cohort is provided below:
| Amanda Henning | CCE Niagara | Lead Agriculture and Food System Educator & Ag. Team Supervisor |
| Amara Dunn | NYS Integrated Pest Management Program | Biocontrol Specialist |
| Ariana Taylor-Stanley | Here We Are Farm / National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition | farmer / Northeast Regional Organizer |
| Barb Neal | CCE Tioga | Agriculture Agent and Horticulture Educator |
| Bari Zeiger | National Young Farmers Coalition, Greater Catskills Young Farmers, Northeast SARE, Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute, CCE Sullivan, Frost Valley YMCA | Federal Policy Committee (Women's Affinity Representative, President & Advocacy Leader, Administrative Council (Farmer Representative), Board of Directors, Program Advisory Committee, Farm Manager |
| Beth Leipler | Providence Farm Collective Corp. | Farm Director |
| Caitlin Tucker | CCE Cornell Vegetable Program | Extension Assistant/Technician |
| Dana Havas | CCE Cortland Co | Agriculture Team Leader |
| DeVonne Jackson | Positive Obsession | Founder |
| Erin Summerlee | Rural Health Network of South Central NY | Food and Health Network Director |
| Glen Robertson | Challenge Workforce Solutions | Ability in Bloom program leader |
| Jacqueline Roytman | SNAP to Grow Urban Farm | Director/Educator/Consultant |
| JAMILLAH ELBEY | MaWu Lisa Temple | CoCreator/Educator/ Facilitator |
| Janet van Zoeren | Lake Ontario Fruit, CCE | Pest Management specialist |
| Katie Nuber | EquiCenter | Therapeutic Horticulture Programs Coordinator |
| Laura McDermott | CCE ENYCHP | berry crop specialist - extension educator |
| Lucy Spence | Refugee and Immigrant Self Empowerment Syracuse Refugee Agriculture Program | Agriculture and Market Coordinator |
| Maya Marie | KCC Urban Farm | Assistant Farm Manager and Food Education Coordinator |
| Melissa MacKinnon | Schenectady Urban Farms | Director |
| Patrice Lockert Anthony | Black Label Consulting and Coaching | Owner |
| Petra Page-Mann | Fruition Seeds | Co-Founder |
| Raju Rajan | ReWild Long Island | President |
| Rich Taber | CCE Chenango | Grazing, Forestry, Ag Economic Development Specialist |
| Richard Woodbridge | Agricultural Business Educator at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Niagara County | Agricultural Business Educator |
| Sara Curtis | People's Growth Farm | Co-Founder |
| Shona Ort | Corning Community Food Pantry Garden and Ort Family Farm | Community Garden Coordinator - Corning Community Food Pantry + Field Manager & Social Media Specialist - Ort Family Farm |
Here is our year one project timeline:
October 18th, Circle of Trust Orientation (Virtual)
Monday, 5-6pm
October 20th - 22nd: Opening Retreat (Virtual)
Wednesday 9am - 3pm
Thursday 9am - 4:15
Friday 9am - 11:30am
Peer Learning Circles (Virtual)
November 19th (1.5h slot TBA) Peer Learning Circle
December 17th: (1.5h slot TBA) Peer Learning Circle
January 21st: (1.5h slot TBA) Peer Learning Circle
February 18th: (1.5h slot TBA) Peer Learning Circle
March 23rd - 25th: Closing Retreat (All Virtual)
Wednesday 9am - 3pm
Thursday 9am - 4:15
Friday 9am - 11:30am
Opening Retreat. Participants will be welcomed into a unique professional development atmosphere, in which through conversation, individual reflection and deep listening they will have the chance to (re)discover the essence of what guides and sustains them in their life and agricultural work. Facilitators will offer boundary markers that create a context for careful listening and deep connection with others and the challenges they experience in their work. The Retreat #1 takes place over three days and two nights; the process will offer the opportunity to:
• Reconnect to identity and integrity by considering what drew them to this work to begin with and by actively reflecting on their professional journey.
• Explore the connection between attending to the inner dimension of our lives and the impact they have on communities within which they live and the working communities of which they are part.
• Learn now to hold paradox and tensions in the face of complexity and uncertainty, and kindle their passion to engage in their work during times of change, resilience and resistance.
• Identify gifts and strengths, while acknowledging limits, to build a more thoughtful understanding of their workplace challenges.
• Conclude the first retreat with a clearly articulated learning goal they will implement in their work with the farming community
20
28
October 31, 2020
Completed
October 23, 2020
Participants were offered several ways to prepare for this Retreat, including a handout packet with poems, questions and pieces to work with. The entire handout packet, including program overview, is available here. We conducted an extensive evaluation documenting learnings and outcomes of the Opening Retreat. Following are some quotes from participants reflecting on the experience. The full evaluation may be accessed here.
Participant Feedback: Reconnecting with Purpose Opening Retreat
“The most important takeaway to me from this retreat was to realize that I have colleagues, in Cornell Extension and generally affiliated with the NY food industry, who are willing and interested to be vulnerable and to support each other in such a open manner to strive toward a better world. It is easy to get bogged down in day to day drama and tasks, and to forget that there are other people struggling with similar goals and challenges who are able and willing to be there for each other.”
“I had lost some of my confidence in my ability to make an effective and lasting change in my community and my nation. This retreat allowed me to see that not only is it possible, but, that I can do it easier than I thought.”
“This retreat has reminded why I am so passionate about sustainable food systems and how excited I am to dive head first further into the field for my own benefit and the benefit of the individuals I work to support.”
“I still feel so held and kept from participating in our retreat. The level of care displayed was deeply internalized and i'm elated to continue. The excitement of this program has already cleared/ redirected my mind in immeasurable ways from listening and connecting with each participant. The randomized breakout rooms were a contributor to this flow. New minds with new questions that created avenues for new thoughts.”
November Peer Learning Circle. Each year of the project, participants will carry their project focus drafted in the retreat setting forward to a series of 4 monthly peer learning circles (remote via Zoom). Peer Learning Circles will provide a community of practice to support participants with respect to questions, concerns, barriers they may be holding or encountering related to their project focus. A PLC consists of 3-5 participants including a facilitator (Stone, Sheavly and Rangarajan). PLC members will come to each meeting with a “learning goal” – a question, action or issue around which they want to receive support, drawn from their professional learning plans, formational goals, and/or other issue they want to take priority for a particular session. Each will also come with a plan for how they want to receive support from fellow peer learning circle members, choosing from one or more of the following: Open Honest Questions, Story Sharing, Brainstorming, or Resource Sharing. Specific details about the general structure and environment of these meetings as well as a typical agenda are provided as attachments.
28
28
November 30, 2020
Completed
November 30, 2020
Participants were assigned to one of six Peer Learning Circles led by project facilitators Marcia Sheavly, Anu Rangarajan or myself. Peer Learning Circles across the groups took place on the third Friday of each month. Peer Learning Circles are confidential learning communities in which each member has the opportunity to bring a concern question or issue to their colleagues and receive support by way of attentive listening and 'open and honest questions'. These are NOT discussion groups, not opportunities to use group think to solve someone’s problem, and definitely not opportunities to give 'advice'. Rather, the premise of a Peer Learning Circle is that each member has an inner teacher and the role of peers is to support each person's inquiry and exploration by helping to draw out one's intuition, wisdom and inner compass.
In this first session, Peer Learning Circle members got acquainted and introduced their chosen project focus to one another. Each member presented the questions or challenge they were bringing to the Circle and received 20 minutes of their choice of support.
December Peer Learning Circle. Peer Learning Circles provide a community of practice to support participants with respect to their on-going learning goals. A PLC consists of 3-5 participants including a facilitator (Stone, Sheavly and Rangarajan). PLC members will come to each meeting with a “learning goal” – a question, action or issue around which they want to receive support, drawn from their professional learning plans, formational goals, and/or other issue they want to take priority for a particular session. Each will also come with a plan for how they want to receive support from fellow peer learning circle members, choosing from one or more of the following: Open Honest Questions, Story Sharing, Brainstorming, or Resource Sharing. Specific details about the general structure and environment of these meetings as well as a typical agenda are provided as attachments.
28
December 31, 2020
Completed
December 31, 2020
For our December Circle, we began introducing themes. We opened the circles by reassuring participants that by now they are likely discovering that ‘reconnecting with purpose’ is a journey, and that even as elements of thier projects are more technical and straightforward, other elements may meander. They might not have a formal arrival at their project’s conclusion; part of the project is the inquiry itself, sometimes called “living into the questions.”
Our theme for the December Circle was "Making our Way by Walking". We opened with the short poem below and invited participants to reflect on the question: "Where have you been walking with your project elements since we last met?"
“Walker” – Antonio Machado
Walker, your footsteps
are the road, and nothing more.
Walker, there is no road,
the road is made by walking.
Walking you make the road,
and turning to look behind
you see the path you never
again will step upon.
Walker, there is no road,
only foam trails on the sea.
January Peer Learning Circle. Peer Learning Circles provide a community of practice to support participants with respect to their on-going learning goals. A PLC consists of 3-5 participants including a facilitator (Stone, Sheavly and Rangarajan). PLC members will come to each meeting with a “learning goal” – a question, action or issue around which they want to receive support, drawn from their professional learning plans, formational goals, and/or other issue they want to take priority for a particular session. Each will also come with a plan for how they want to receive support from fellow peer learning circle members, choosing from one or more of the following: Open Honest Questions, Story Sharing, Brainstorming, or Resource Sharing. Specific details about the general structure and environment of these meetings as well as a typical agenda are provided as attachments.
20
28
January 31, 2021
Completed
January 31, 2021
Our theme for our January Circle was Looking Within. We opened with the poem Winter Is the Best Time and invited members to consider the questions below.
Winter Is the Best Time
Winter is the best time
to find out who you are.
Quiet, contemplation time,
away from the rushing world,
cold time, dark time, holed-up
pulled-in time and space
to see that inner landscape,
that place hidden and within.
-by David Budbill, from While We've Still Got Feet. © Copper Canyon Press, 2005.
Questions for January Reflection:
As you reflect on the beginning of the new year, how are you making your way into your project?
Are there any parts of that are uncomfortable?
What are you noticing about yourself?
What discoveries are you making as you continue to reflect on what arose in our fall retreat and first PLC?
February Peer Learning Circle. Peer Learning Circles provide a community of practice to support participants with respect to their on-going learning goals. A PLC consists of 3-5 participants including a facilitator (Stone, Sheavly and Rangarajan). PLC members will come to each meeting with a “learning goal” – a question, action or issue around which they want to receive support, drawn from their professional learning plans, formational goals, and/or other issue they want to take priority for a particular session. Each will also come with a plan for how they want to receive support from fellow peer learning circle members, choosing from one or more of the following: Open Honest Questions, Story Sharing, Brainstorming, or Resource Sharing. Specific details about the general structure and environment of these meetings as well as a typical agenda are provided as attachments.
20
28
28
February 28, 2021
Completed
February 28, 2021
Our theme for our February Peer Learning Circle was "In the Flow". We opened with the poem Fluent and offered the questions below as invitational prompts for entering in to the Circle.
Fluent
I would love to live
Like a river flows
Carried by the surprise
Of its own unfolding.
By John O’Donohue
Questions for Reflection:
- In your ‘Reconnecting with Purpose’ journey, what surprises you?
- What’s going well, what pleases you?
Each year of the program will close with a retreat. During Retreat #2 participants will follow a similar three-day, two-night format and will offer the chance to:
• Return with their now close-knit, trustworthy cohort to share their project outcomes;
• Gather the collective wisdom of the group
• Affirm their learnings.
• Identify opportunities to further apply this approach in their life and leadership.
• We will also hold a modified approach to Clearness Committees.
20
28
March 31, 2021
Completed
March 19, 2021
Reconnecting with Purpose
March 17 – 19, 2020
WEDNESDAY MORNING, MARCH 17th
8:50 Arrival on the Zoom call
9:00 – 11:00 Session 1: Settling In, Reconnecting and Reorienting to the Circle of Trust
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON
1:00 – 3:00 Session 2: The Journey to Purpose Takes Courage
THURSDAY MORNING, MARCH 18th
9:00 – 11:15 Session 3: Courage Takes Trust – Relational Trust
THURSDAY AFTERNOON
1:30 – 4:15 Session 4: Reflection Triads
FRIDAY MORNING, MARCH 19th
9:00 – 11:15 Session 5: Exploring Wholeness
Each year of the project, in the subsequent 3 months following the 6 month Cohort experience, individual study students will be sought and engaged to complete both quantitative methods (surveys) assessing general and professional learning plan outcomes with all participants and qualitative methods (interviews) with randomly selected participants within 6 months’ completion of the program. The Cornell Small Farms Program has experienced previous success engaging students in program assessment. Students have the opportunity to learn much-needed skills in program evaluation in a real project context, and program participants have the benefit of a neutral assessment, since they are not directly involved.
20
28
June 30, 2021
Completed
March 31, 2021
We compiled extensive learnings and outcomes immediately after the program ended. The full evaluation results may be accessed here. Excerpts are provided below.
“This is a really important program for helping our food system stay sustainable because so many educators and farmers are just so burned out and it’s because of more than all the work we got to do. A lot of times it’s because we have forgotten to keep the things that give us life in our lives and work.”
“The program provided an opportunity to practice listening skills, to talk with people outside of their immediate professional circle, to learn how to discuss interpersonal topics in a professional manner – all of these are so important to a successful work life and even more important to a successful leader.”
“I’m passionate about the work I do and the folks I get to work with, but this program has really supported my journey in taking a look at myself outside of productivity and external expectations.”
“The Reconnecting with Purpose program gave me incredible insight into the passion and strength of individuals in the food systems field. It also inspired me to become a productive member of this community to support and advocate for local food producers.”
“I feel less alone with many of the burdens I feel in my job and I feel as if I have the tools to help alleviate some of those burdens.”
“Allowing time (and instruction!) to listen and be listened to was honestly profound. It was also great to have time allotted for introspection and encouragement to explore both the issues and beauty of what we experience and who we are.”
“The space for reflection allowed me to take a good long look at myself and learn some new things. I feel very connected with where I am at this moment and where I want to go and that is hard to do in the everyday grind of life.”
“I feel the greatest benefit is that I know, better, how to balance not only me work and life, but also my emotional health and wellbeing in regards to my work. I am less afraid to bring to the table more of who I am to what I do – I know it is a muscle that will take practice (and thankfully we had regular practice during the project). I am willing to let my programs become less about ticking boxes and more about making differences in peoples lives (yes evalution is still an important factor to measure how my work impacts others – but I recognize that there is more to be considered than qualitative data in our work).”
“It has inspired me to take on new and exciting roles that I admittedly have butterflies about taking on, but believe that not only is this work important but that I have a responsibility and opportunity to help guide this work.”
“I really appreciated the comradery and relationship building with other’s in my field or similar fields, who have similar perspective to me and who I would not have come into contact with or gotten to know otherwise. I also really appreciated the safe environment and ability to share things I am usually uncomfortable talking about, especially in a “work” setting.”
“It’s truly bewildering how in the midst of a pandemic and virtual everything that I’ve still managed to connect deeply with so many wonderful individuals that share similar passions and hopes for their work. It’s been an honor to learn about others’ journeys and projects. This project has really added perspective to my work and influenced the expectations I set on myself.”
“This program is a missing link in our world and in our professions, one that we definitely need to nurture and pay attention to.”
Over the Spring and Summer, Violet conducted 6 in-person interviews capturing participants experiences with professional videographer Jamie Johnson. The following video was intended to document impacts of the program and describe it to future participants.
Watch on Youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2qMQC9Hbek&t=2s
Each year of the project, Violet Stone and Marcia Eames-Sheavly will review feedback and make necessary adjustments to the program prior to releasing applications to the on-coming Cohort. For the final Cohort, Violet Stone will summarize the accumulative feedback in preparation for the final report.
20
28
August 31, 2021
Completed
August 31, 2021
Over the summer, we configured a new facilitator team to better represent the diversity of our members. We also made changes to our facilitators program notes in response to evaluation feedback. Our Year 2 team is listed below.
Marcia Eames-Sheavly is an ICF Certified Integral Professional Coach and Circle of Trust® Facilitator prepared by the Center for Courage & Renewal. In these roles and as a university teacher and outreach educator, reflective practice and community development are cornerstones of her work, whether she is facilitating a circle, spending time with students in the classroom, online learners around the world, or community members from New York to Belize. Marcia has developed and led numerous retreats and programs informed by the principles and practices of Circles® of Trust; she created and implements the Inner Life of Teaching & Leadership cohort-based experience at Cornell University. She is the recipient of numerous teaching and writing awards.
Kimerly (Kim) Cornish, is a social justice advocate and accessible yoga instructor. She's been a student of the Center for Courage & Renewal's programming since 2017. Kim grew up in rural Dorchester, Maryland with farming in her extended family. She regularly presents on her ancestor, Harriet Tubman, and contemporary visual culture. She also facilitates reading and discussion groups on works by authors Audre Lorde, James Baldwin, and Ibram X. Kendi.
Violet Stone is the Reconnecting with Purpose Project Coordinator and the NY State NESARE Professional Development Coordinator. Violet has a passion for creating welcoming spaces that invite authentic reflection and warm connection. Her first encounter with work of the Center for Courage & Renewal in 2018 was transformative in giving her the courage to co-create a development opportunity that invited and honored the whole self. She co-facilitates this project with Marcia and Kim with gratitude and humility! She has been working in the field of sustainable and regenerative agriculture for 20 years and has led projects for the Cornell Small Farms Program since 2007.
Jamillah El Bey is a Peer Learning Circle facilitator, alongside Marcia, Kimerly and Violet. Jamillah is a gardener, earth worker, integrated healer and wellness educator. After completing the Reconnecting with Purpose Cohort in 2020-21 she has been facilitating Peer Learning Circles for other Cohort members and NESARE networks. You’ll meet her in the Retreats, listening and learning alongside us and you might be lucky enough to be in the Peer Learning Circle she facilitates!
Anu Rangarajan is an Advisor and Leadership Team member with the Reconnecting with Purpose Program. She is the Director of the Cornell Small Farms Program and the Manager of the Equitable Farm Futures Project. She has a special gift for speaking poetry! You’ll meet her in the Retreats, listening and learning alongside us.
Each year of the project, 3000 ag service providers learn about Reconnecting with Purpose through the Cornell Small Farms Program newsletter. The announcement links to the project web page where applications materials are provided.
3000
3000
September 01, 2021
Completed
September 01, 2021
In addition to conducting outreach through the Small Farms Program Enewsletter and social media, in our second year we partnered with past participants and their organizations to share the announcement. We have learned that word-of-mouth referrals are a way to reach applicants most aligned with the program's opportunity. Additionally, we continue to tweak language to reflect more authentically what the experience offers which has taken some courage, but we were emboldened by the positive impacts from the first year! Our program's website is: https://smallfarms.cornell.edu/projects/reconnecting-with-purpose/
Each year of the project, 30 ag service providers apply to the program. A letter of support from a supervisor is required with commitment to 70% of the cost for two retreats and travel support.
30
52
August 31, 2021
Completed
August 31, 2021
We were once again stunned by the quality and diversity of 52 applicants and tried to accommodate a group a little higher than we should have. We accepted 31 into the program, which proved a little too many given that the program had to be once again offered virtually. One of the beautiful aspects of this program is how our definition of agricultural service provider (which to us means "In service to oneself, the land, the earth") draws people of all ages, all backgrounds, yet all connected deeply to being of service within the farm and food system. It is bringing so many new people into the SARE community who may not have identified as working within the sustainable agriculture field.
Each year of the project, 20 ag service providers are welcomed to the program.
20
31
September 12, 2021
Completed
September 12, 2021
Below are the members of our Year 2 (2021-2022) Cohort. It was an incredible group. Seeing all their names now makes me miss them!
| Name (First and Last) | Organization or Affiliation: |
| Aaron Ristow | American Farmland Trust |
| Adrianne Traub | Seven Valleys Health Coalition |
| Alice Varon | Certified Naturally Grown |
| Anu Rangarajan | Cornell Small Farms Program |
| Bethany Wallis | Northeast Organic Farming Association of New York Inc. |
| Beverly Abplanalp | Catharpin Farm Circle of Friends |
| Christian Aponte | Grow NYC |
| Cimbria Badenhausen | First Circle |
| Diana Albarran Sollohub | Sollohub Family Farm |
| Elias Martinez | Kubed Root |
| Elizabeth Higgins | Cornell Cooperative Extension Eastern NY Commercial Hort Team |
| Erica Frenay | Cornell Small Farms Program |
| Heather Wodehouse | Phillies Bridge Farm Project |
| Héctor Gerardo | SEAmarron Farmstead, LLC |
| Jacob Gigler-Caro | Salt City Harvest Farm |
| Jamillah El Bey | Gardener, Health and Wellness Educator |
| Kartharhy G. | Regenerative Ag & Runanomics, K'allam'p | USA & ECU |
| Katelyn Walley-Stoll | Cornell University, Cooperative Extension, Southwest New York Dairy, Livestock, and Field Crops Program |
| Kimerly Cornish | Co-facilitator |
| Liz Alexander | Cornell Cooperative Extension of Chemung County |
| Marcia Eames-Sheavly | Co-facilitator |
| Mary Godnick | Cornell Cooperative Extension of Essex County, Adirondack Harvest |
| Mary McClelland | Granny Smith Lane Podcast |
| Maryjo Lane | Community gardens, library systems, Continuing Education, CCE, MG's, MFO, Community Mushroom Educator |
| Matt Dami | Agroforestry Farmer, Regenerative Land Educator |
| Megan Henry | Catskill Food Pantry |
| Nancy J Kuster | Columbia County Recovery Kitchen |
| Nurullah Hajra | St. Francis College, Brooklyn Heights, NY 11201. |
| Rob Cohen | Vassar College Life Long Learning & Stony Kill Farm |
| Shontae’ Cannon-Buckley | North East Farmers of Color |
| Stacy Dedring | Dutchess Outreach |
| Todd Curtis | Convergence Farms LLC |
| Violet Stone | Co-facilitator |
Opening Retreat. Participants will be welcomed into a unique professional development atmosphere, in which through conversation, individual reflection and deep listening they will have the chance to (re)discover the essence of what guides and sustains them in their life and agricultural work. Facilitators will offer boundary markers that create a context for careful listening and deep connection with others and the challenges they experience in their work. The Retreat #1 takes place over three days and two nights; the process will offer the opportunity to:
• Reconnect to identity and integrity by considering what drew them to this work to begin with and by actively reflecting on their professional journey.
• Explore the connection between attending to the inner dimension of our lives and the impact they have on communities within which they live and the working communities of which they are part.
• Learn now to hold paradox and tensions in the face of complexity and uncertainty, and kindle their passion to engage in their work during times of change, resilience and resistance.
• Identify gifts and strengths, while acknowledging limits, to build a more thoughtful understanding of their workplace challenges.
• Conclude the first retreat with a clearly articulated learning goal they will implement in their work with the farming community
31
31
October 22, 2021
Completed
October 22, 2021
Participants were offered several ways to prepare for this Retreat, including a pre-Retreat Orientation reviewing the Circle of Trust Touchstones and a handout packet with poems, questions and pieces to work with. The entire Fall 2021 Retreat handout packet, including program overview, is available here. We conducted an extensive evaluation documenting learnings and outcomes of the Opening Retreat. Following are some quotes from participants reflecting on the experience. The full results may be accessed here.
I have experienced an impasse in building my community of supporters. The workshop helped me realize that I was being too transactional in my assessment of who to include in my community. During the workshop I discovered that by putting aside transactional criteria and focusing on commonality of needs and aspirations I was able to help and be helped by others that I previously would not have thought to initiate a dialog with.
The biggest takeaway has been realizing the need and desire to meld my social life with my professional life more intimately in order to fully manifest my true potential.
The workshop helped me recognize the value of accepting and sharing help. It helped me understand how to honor the privacy and dignity of others when exploring inner thoughts and feelings.
The Retreat was a safe community for you to release what you have been holding deep within the depths of your mind and a space to be open to receive the offerings and wisdom of other likeminded and compassionate community members.
November Peer Learning Circle. Each year of the project, participants will carry their learning goal drafted in the retreat setting forward to a series of 4 monthly peer learning circles (remote via Zoom). Peer Learning Circles will provide a community of practice to support participants with respect to their on-going learning goals. A PLC consists of 3-5 participants including a facilitator. PLC members will come to each meeting with a “learning goal” – a question, action or issue around which they want to receive support, drawn from their professional learning plans, formational goals, and/or other issue they want to take priority for a particular session. Each will also come with a plan for how they want to receive support from fellow peer learning circle members, choosing from one or more of the following: Open Honest Questions, Story Sharing, Brainstorming, or Resource Sharing.
31
31
November 30, 2021
Completed
November 30, 2021
In Year 2 of the program, we adapted these circles to focus entirely on the skills of attentive listening and open and honest questions. Formerly, peers could request support by way of questions, resources, brainstorming or stories. But the skill of asking O&H questions alone was challenging enough! Also different in Year 2 was our PLC facilitation team. Marcia and myself continued to host, but Jamillah, a second year participant rose to the leadership position of hosting a Circle.
Our first Peer Learning Circle of the program is a way for these small groups of 4 to begin acquainting and building trust with one another. We used the same poems described above for each month as metaphors for entering into a theme for the conversation and each member brought a question related to their chosen projects to receive 15 minutes of support. As what is shared within these sessions is confidential, we can't offer specific quotes to the report.
December Peer Learning Circle
31
December 31, 2021
Completed
December 31, 2021
In this second Circle, participants begin to open more fully to one another. Facilitators have the pleasure of watching participants bring more genuine challenges and skilled questions to one another.
January Peer Learning Circle
31
31
January 31, 2022
Completed
January 31, 2022
In this third Circle, participants continue to deepen into the trustworthy container of the Circle. Although online and separated by a month, the successive connections with peers do build a sense of community, and we see growth in participants willingness to confide honestly, and to face and hold the complexities of challenges in their work and lives.
February Peer Learning Circle
31
31
February 28, 2022
Completed
February 28, 2022
In our final Peer Learning Circle, we see participants making connections between barriers, obstacles, and challenges in their work and patterns throughout their lives. It takes these repeated meetings over time to arrive at some powerful insights that lead to positive changes and benefits for our participants and those they serve.
Each year of the program will close with a retreat. During Retreat #2 participants will follow a similar three-day, two-night format and will offer the chance to:
• Return with their now close-knit, trustworthy cohort to share their project outcomes;
• Gather the collective wisdom of the group
• Affirm their learnings.
• Identify opportunities to further apply this approach in their life and leadership.
• We will also hold a modified approach to Clearness Committees.
31
31
March 25, 2022
Completed
March 25, 2022
Aaron Ristow
"I have a better sense of what is important to me in my work. It's not just the type of work that I want to do, but the kind of environment where I want to work in and the people I want to be surrounded by."
— NY Agricultural Stewardship Program Manager, American Farmland Trust
Adrianne Traub
"This educational program directly benefited my quality of life. I learned a great deal about myself and how I can bring more of my whole-self to my food system development work. It helped me manage burnout and also identify areas of my work that I want to further pursue."
— Project Manager, Seven Valleys Health Coalition
Bethany Wallis
"The program has given me permission to say yes to things that benefit myself as a whole person, not just the compartments I had been functioning in. In doing so it has also opened me to see things again and truly take time to appreciate the wonder and beauty around me."
— Director, NOFA NY
Katharhy
"Unlike other programs designed for networking and community building, Reconnecting with Purpose (RwP) open the space to honesty and trust at the individual and professional level. I have experienced that it is through this mechanism that we can relearn how to listen and regenerate empathy while slowing down in/our effort to be reactive in providing advice or trying to change the mind of others. Also, open and thoughtful questions create a sense of leaning on each other rather than feeling the burden, and these emotional, design thinking experiences help me improve my cultural competence talks."
— President & Co-Founder, K'ALLAM'P (Kah-jahm-pah)
Lucy Spence
"The reconnecting with purpose program gave me incredible insight into the passion and strength of individuals in the food systems field. It also inspired me to become a productive member of this community to support and advocate for local food producers. Moreover, I feel less alone with many of the burdens I feel with this job and I feel as if I have the tools to help alleviate some of those burdens."
— SYRAP Program Director, Refugee & Immigrant Self-Empowerment (RISE)
Maya Marie
"More so now than before I'm working towards just being. I'm passionate about the work I do and the folks I get to work with, but this program has supported my journey in taking a look at myself outside of productivity and external expectations."
— Lead Collaborator/Founder, Deep Roots Project
If you could describe the program impact in one word, what would it be?
Each year of the project, Violet Stone and Marcia Eames-Sheavly will review feedback and make necessary adjustments to the program prior to releasing applications to the on-coming Cohort. For the final Cohort, Violet Stone will summarize the accumulative feedback in preparation for the final report.
2
2
June 30, 2022
Completed
June 30, 2022
After reviewing evaluation feedback, we made a number of changes to Year 3. Jamillah expressed interest in transitioning into cofacilitator role, and with Marcia's retirement, Anu stepped back into co-facilitator role. This met one of our goals, which was for our host team to represent the growing cultural and racial diversity in our program. Also, based on verbal and evaluation feedback, going forward we won't be inviting people to conduct 'projects'. Instead, we'll be focusing on guided questions related to themes for our monthly PLC groups. They will be narrative and generative. While projects provided a useful focus for some, others felt it was a distraction from questions they needed to explore that they couldn't have anticipated. An important goal of our program is to be fluid, flexible and responsive to our participants insights and expressed needs.
New Milestone: On, June 2nd, 2022, we achieved a long-anticipated vision for an in-person Reunion and Community Celebration with participants from the Year 1 and Year 2 Cohorts. This event was an opportunity for participants to put their learning into action through designing program offerings, reconnect with their Cohort members or meet an incredible group of new friends and colleagues who shared the exact experience in a different time and space, and reacquaint with practices and themes of the Reconnecting with Purpose Program.
22
22
June 02, 2022
Completed
June 02, 2022
22 participants and facilitators from the Year 1 and Year 2 program gathered at the Treman Center in Newfield, NY for a day long community celebration. This was a joy-filled event similar in likeness to the feeling of a family reunion as participants met in person for the first time. I worked with a planning committee to organize the event, which included an incredible sequence of work and playshops, including a reflective song circle, guided nature walk, peer learning circles, collaborative art project, meditation/healing session, water ritual, and sunflower seed meditation. The program and resources were very thoughtfully and collaboratively crafted. The entire program is available here.
Note: this End-of-Program Community Reunion and Celebration was hosted through funds from the NY Equitable Farm Futures Project.
Year 3 Milestones were deleted due to a glitch in the grant management system. Some details of Year 3 milestones have been uploaded here.
7
22
6
22
September 30, 2023
Completed
September 30, 2023
Year 3 Opening Retreat Handout Packet
Year 3 Closing Retreat Handout Packet
Year 3. Reconnecting with Purpose Fall Evaluation Results
Milestone Activities and Participation Summary
Participation Summary:
Learning Outcomes
Please see evaluation data in annual milestones for participants' detailed reflections describing their unique learning outcomes each year of the project.
Performance Target Outcomes
Performance Target Outcomes - Service Providers
Target #1
After participating in a community of practice aimed at reconnecting work with purpose and identity, 60 agriculture service providers will implement a professional learning plan that brings forth the diversity and identity of the educator, invigorates their educational efforts, and demonstrates willingness to take risks. They will engage 1200 farmers within 6 months completion of the program.
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|
| 25 | 25 | 25 |
Please see milestones for the many very meaningful ways our group of educators, change-makers and earth workers have experienced transformations in their relationships with themselves and the farmers, land stewards, community builders whose lives they touch and serve.
| Activity | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Please see evaluation feedback in the milestones. | 25 | 25 | 25 | 75 |
This project had so many life-changing and life-saving outcomes as documented so abundantly in the feedback we've provided. Each participant entered with a different background, identity, vocation and goal, and each was offered the gift of taking off their masks, their 'hats' as 'service providers', to explore both their inner potential and inner barriers held by love and trust from peers and colleagues. We didn't divide ourselves into service providers and farmers. Most of us were both and all the shades in between. Martin Luther King said "Everybody can be great because everybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.” This program normalized a new paradigm in the world of sustainable agriculture by demonstrating that knowledge and skills are of little value without a 'heart full of grace' and 'a soul generated by love'. It normalized the paradigm that we don't necessarily need 'more fact sheets, more powerpoints, more manuals' but offered the perspective that living lives of purpose inspires and changes everyone around us as much as it enables ourselves to flourish. We hold ourselves accountable to ourselves and others in this growing community through committing to self reflection, witnessing our own truths, and helping one another to open and grow.
Additional Project Outcomes
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| $4000 | $6000 | $166000 | $176000 |
| Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | 30 | 30 | 90 |
Reconnecting with Purpose Community Celebration was described in the milestones. 6 of our participants have expressed interest in receiving mentee support to lead this work in their communities or for the program. Currently, resources for a mentorship network and professional development opportunities are not available, with the exception of Jamillah El Bey, who has migrated from a first year participant to a co-facilitator under Violet's mentorship. Her participation is supported through the Equitable Farm Futures Initiative. Both the Small Farms Futuro program and the Veterans in Ag program are interested in adopting the Circle of Trust model. Violet will be in conversation this winter to understand more how to collaborate with program leaders.
Extensive quotes and stories were provided in evaluation data and the milestones.
SARE Outreach
The NYS NESARE PDP coordinator reaches a huge audience by way of being housed at the Cornell Small Farms Program. Information about NESARE grant opportunities, announcements about NESARE programs, events and job opportunities are all distributed through the Cornell Small Farms Program list-serve, which reaches over 15,000 farmers and ag service providers, and through the Cornell Small Farms Program website, which receives 541,600 unique visitors per year.
The NYS NESARE PDP coordinator responds regularly to inquiries about NESARE grant opportunities as well as requests for interviews and information meetings on a broad range of sustainable agriculture topics from students, ag educators, ag entrepreneurs, non-profit organizations and farmer advocacy groups.
The NYS NESARE PDP coordinator represents NESARE regularly at large annual conferences and meetings.
The NYS NESARE PDP coordinator has regularly attended NESARE State Coordinator summer and winter meetings and webinars, led workshops and programs. NY hosted the NESARE PDP group in summer, 2014 and the SARE Fellows group in Summer 2022.
The NYS NESARE PDP coordinator reviews partnership, farmer and graduate student grants and served on the Executive Committee from 2015-2018 and again from 2021-2023.
The NYS NESARE PDP coordinator completed Cornell Cooperative Extension's Diversity and Inclusion two year program from 2020-2022 in an effort to forge new relationships and broaden networks.
Year 1:
Information about NESARE grants, resources and the current NYS PDP project was disseminated through the Small Farms program communication channels, reaching a total of over 50,000 subscribers across multiple media networks.
Year 2: Information about NESARE grants, resources and the current NYS PDP project was disseminated through the Small Farms program communication channels, reaching a total of over 50,000 subscribers across multiple media networks.
Year 3: Information about NESARE grants, resources and the current NYS PDP project was disseminated through the Small Farms program communication channels, reaching a total of over 60,000 subscribers across multiple media networks.
Recieved information about SARE grant programs and information resouces:
| Audience | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Service providers | 500 | 500 | 600 | 1600 |
| Farmers | 1000 | 1000 | 2000 | 4000 |