Partners
University of Vermont Extension
alexis.colantuno@uvm.edu
Lexi joined the Farm Labor Dashboard project's outreach team in 2023. She has been assisting beginning farmers in New England for the past 3 years with a focus on diversified operations in Vermont. She has been involved with sustainable and ecological agriculture since 2017 with an emphasis on soils, natives/perennials, and business viability.
Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems, UW-Madison
jhendric@wisc.edu
John coordinates research and training programs in organic and sustainable specialty crop production, marketing and profitability. His work focuses on the economics of small-scale, fresh market vegetable farms, with an emphasis on farm scale, labor, equipment and profitability. John operated his own organic vegetable farm in southeastern Wisconsin, selling primarily to wholesale markets.
University of Vermont Extension
beth.holtzman@uvm.edu
Beth coordinates the UVM Extension New Farmer Project and Women’s Agricultural Network. She has been working with early stage farmers on business planning and marketing since 2004, and has been involved in sustainable agriculture outreach, education and advocacy since 1992.
Renewing the Countryside
jan@rtcinfo.org
Jan Joannides is executive director and co-founder of Renewing the Countryside, a non-profit working to strengthen rural communities. She is an advocate and organizer for rural communities and citizens working to stimulate economic growth and enhance their communities through sustainable landscape and resource use. Jan holds a master's degree in natural resources from the University of Minnesota. She lives with her family in Zumbro Falls, MN.
Renewing the Countryside
lisa@rtcinfo.org
A national advocate for women in sustainable agriculture, Lisa Kivirist is the author of the award-winning book, Soil Sisters: A Toolkit for Women Farmers and leads the Soil Sisters project at Renewing the Countryside. She is the co-author with her husband, John Ivanko, including Homemade for Sale, Farmstead Chef, Ecopreneuring and Rural Renaissance. For over twenty five years, Lisa and her family have run Inn Serendipity Farm and B&B in Wisconsin.
Professor Emeritus, University of Vermont Extension
Mary.Peabody@uvm.edu
Mary served as Community & Economic Development Specialist with UVM Extension from 1988 to 2022, focusing on farm business planning, rural economic development and local leadership. Her research interests include the sustainability of rural communities, women’s entrepreneurship, and the application of information technology to community and economic development.
UNH Cooperative Extension
Seth.Wilner@unh.edu
Seth coordinates the SARE program at the University of New Hampshire. He joined UNH Cooperative Extension in August of 2000. His program specialty areas include soil fertility and nutrient management, agronomic research on farms, strategic whole farm planning and marketing, and water quality issues.
UNH Cooperative Extension
jesse.wright@unh.edu
Jesse is the Agricultural Business Management Field Specialist in Rockingham County, NH. She joined UNH Extension in 2022 and works with farmers throughout NH on improving their farm’s long term economic viability through strategic planning, record keeping, financial management, and marketing. She also enjoys working with farmers to address human and environmental challenges they may face.
University of Nebraska Medical Center
aaron.yoder@unmc.edu
Aaron’s research focuses on development of sound ergonomic and human factors principles and technologies that lead to healthier and safer workers in agriculture and related industries.
Past Contributors
North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University
cliang@ncat.edu
Liang’s research, teaching and outreach focuses on entrepreneurship and its interactions with people, communities and organizations. Her research topics include multi-functional agriculture, rural development, food systems and food networks. She contributed to the Dashboard between 2015 and 2022.
Ohio State University
parker.294@osu.edu
Jason contributed to the Dashboard between 2015 and 2022. He is an agricultural anthropologist whose work investigates diversity, scale, and land tenure in households and communities using participatory research and development approaches to understanding food systems, agricultural and other natural resource issues.
Kenesha contributed to the Farm Labor Dashboard between 2019 and 2022 in her capacity as State Specialist in Agricultural Business Management at UNH. She is now with Rural Coalition.
Penn State University
Carolyn is Professor Emerita of Rural Sociology and Women’s Studies at Penn State University, and was the founding director of the Pennsylvania Women’s Agricultural Network. Her research examines issues of gender and agriculture and gender and environmental issues, with an emphasis on understanding new women agricultural entrepreneurs and their opportunities and barriers to success. She contributed to the Dashboard between 2015 and 2018.