Under new leadership, Organic Growers School kicks off its 21st year

Lee Warren is the new executive director of OGS.

Year after year, the Organic Growers School brings together experts, enthusiasts and professionals from sectors as diverse as livestock production to alternative energy to permaculture, making the conference relevant and accessible to the commercial farmer looking to hone her business operation to the homesteader looking to implement micro-hydro electricity at his house, as well as the suburban dweller who just wants some advice on how to bust out a killer batch of kimchi. The Organic Growers School will be holding its 21st annual Spring Conference this weekend March 8 and 9 at UNC Asheville.

Earlier this year, the school appointed Lee Warren as the new executive director. Warren replaces Meredith McKissick, who held the position for the past 10 years. McKissick, who co-owns Foothills Farm and Butchery with her husband Casey, will carry on as the Spring Conference coordinator for this weekend’s event.

Warren, a longtime farmer and homesteader herself, was the program coordinator for the Southeast Women’s Herbal Conference for eight years and will be the Organic Growers School’s first full-time executive director.

“The [School’s] vision of a mutually supportive network of thriving communities and prosperous farmers throughout our region is a vision close to my heart, and the dedication and passion on the part of the board, staff and participants is an inspiring climate to step into,” says Warren.

The school organizes its curricula according to “tracks,” with each track hosting a continuous theme or subject of lectures and classes that unfold throughout the weekend. Participants aren’t confined to a particular track however, but can skip around as their day progresses, checking in to the gardening or permaculture track in the morning, and then switching over to cooking, livestock, primitive skills or any of the other diverse tracks offered at the conference depending on their specific areas of interest. 

As Warren takes a lead and the organization looks to the future, its strategic plan includes an expansion of programming in an effort to “educate, inspire, and support people to farm, garden, and live organically,” she says.

For more info, visit organicgrowersschool.org.

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About Jordan Foltz
Exploring the subtle and esoteric aspects of what drives and inspires people to take action— including religion, spirituality, ethics, and aesthetics.

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