The Regenerative Real Estate Podcast
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104 episodes
Doug Davis is a conservation-based real estate developer, self-proclaimed adrenaline junky, and co-founder of The Farm at Okefenokee. It is a legacy project that Doug plans to work on for decades to come, one that combines development and conservation. The Farm is on 705 acres near Folkston, Georgia, and will ultimately have 250 sustainably-built cabins among crop fields and farm animals that will produce high-quality food for its residents. The development is based on principles of regenerative agriculture, conservation, and a belief that a vibrant community needs “body heat”—people interacting in a lively way with each other and the land. Doug and show host Neal talk about Doug’s youth as a “hellion” obsessed with the outdoors, and they detail some of his great adventures surfing, hunting, and hiking. They trace his career path which began in construction, then progressed into engineering and finally development. Doug’s foundational love for nature has always informed his work, especially his conservation mitigation bank projects, which restore large wetlands to their pre-industrial state. They also discuss Doug’s journey launching The Farm and his and his team’s big plans for its future, which includes a restaurant, extensive regenerative farming, community events and classes, a swimming pond and dog park, and a series of small “villages,” each consisting of 25 cabins. You can follow along with Doug’s journey of living at The Farm and continuing to develop it on his Instagram https://www.instagram.com/doug_davis_jr/ and The Farm’s Instagram https://www.instagram.com/thefarmatokefenokee/. You can also check out okefarm.com https://okefarm.com/ for more information. ———————- At Latitude https://chooselatitude.com, were more than a real estate firm; were your partner in the transformation of homes, communities, and habitats towards healthy, resilient, and thriving communities. By combining specialized real estate consulting services with a creative agency model, we work with property stewards and developers on capital and fundraising strategies, team formation, branding, marketing, and sales. --------- Are you a professional wanting to create transformational outcomes with your work? Join the Regenerative Real Estate Community https://latitude-regenerative-real-estate.mn.co to get access to workshops, regenerative real estate investment opportunities, and connect to other leaders and culture creators within the greater real estate industry to create the impact you seek in your work.
Lindsay Baker is a movement leader, author, and podcast host. Currently, she is the CEO of the International Living Future Institute, and her path there has been surprising and impressive. She started her career working at the US Green Building Council developing early standards for LEED, subsequently she was a researcher at UC Berkley, global head of sustainability at WeWork, member of Google’s Real Estate Sustainability Team, and co-founder of a smart buildings company. Throughout her winding career, she has been driven not by a desire to have a particular role but by a desire to effect as much change as possible at the intersection of buildings, climate, and human health. She seeks positions where she can access “levers for disproportionate change,” where she can make a major impact. Lindsay and show host Neal trace Lindsay’s mission-focused upbringing and professional career, including her childhood in Atlanta, formative years in college, and first job working on the LEED certification. They talk about her experience in Silicon Valley, at Google and WeWork, exploring her philosophy behind enacting change most effectively. They also touch on her current position at the International Living Future Institute, her experiences leading the organization through a period of significant change, including the pandemic and social justice movements, and the group’s future goals. For more information about her current work, visit living-future.org https://living-future.org/. ———————- At Latitude https://chooselatitude.com, were more than a real estate firm; were your partner in the transformation of homes, communities, and habitats towards healthy, resilient, and thriving communities. By combining specialized real estate consulting services with a creative agency model, we work with property stewards and developers on capital and fundraising strategies, team formation, branding, marketing, and sales. --------- Are you a professional wanting to create transformational outcomes with your work? Join the Regenerative Real Estate Community https://latitude-regenerative-real-estate.mn.co to get access to workshops, regenerative real estate investment opportunities, and connect to other leaders and culture creators within the greater real estate industry to create the impact you seek in your work.
Greg Hale is an expert on high performance and carbon-neutral buildings. He is one of the developers behind the Catskill Project, a 90-acre carbon-neutral community in upstate New York with homes designed to all passive house standards. The community, which is envisioned to eventually have 25 homes, sees itself as exemplifying the “future of living.” Greg has long been a forward thinker in the area of carbon neutral construction, and the Catskills Project is the culmination of a lifetime of environmentalism and sustainable development. Greg and show host Neal discuss Gregs path to starting a passive house community, from his formative years in the Adirondacks to his time working as a real estate lawyer. They also explore Greg’s decade-plus experience working for the government of New York State, including at the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). There, he was a part of the force behind some progressive environmental policies that aim to make New York carbon neutral by 2050. Finally, they dive into Greg’s current efforts with the Catskills Project, the challenges that come with building and marketing a passive house community, and their end vision for the 90-acre site. For more information about the Catskills Project, visit thecatskillproject.com. https://www.thecatskillproject.com/ ———————- At Latitude https://chooselatitude.com, were more than a real estate firm; were your partner in the transformation of homes, communities, and habitats towards healthy, resilient, and thriving communities. By combining specialized real estate consulting services with a creative agency model, we work with property stewards and developers on capital and fundraising strategies, team formation, branding, marketing, and sales. --------- Are you a professional wanting to create transformational outcomes with your work? Join the Regenerative Real Estate Community https://latitude-regenerative-real-estate.mn.co to get access to workshops, regenerative real estate investment opportunities, and connect to other leaders and culture creators within the greater real estate industry to create the impact you seek in your work.
Peter Block is an author, organizational development consultant, and citizen of Cincinnati, Ohio. Among other books, he has written , , , , , and . His work has centered around reclaiming our humanity in the relentless modern world. He has a deep belief in the central role that place and our relationship to it plays in our life—our happiness and our health. Peter and show host Neal discuss Peters career from one of his earliest and most formative sparks of inspiration, as a graduate student thinking about how groups work together. In the conversation, they explore how our spaces and dominate cultural narratives can divide us, and how they can be shifted to bring us together. Peter also shares his approach to designing effective community meetings that bring the public into the process of development in a way that is measured, inclusive, and productive. He also talks about some of the projects and developments that are giving him hope, such as dividend housing and pocket neighborhoods. To learn more about Peter Blocks work, visit PeterBlock.com https://www.peterblock.com/. ———————- At Latitude https://chooselatitude.com, were more than a real estate firm; were your partner in the transformation of homes, communities, and habitats towards healthy, resilient, and thriving communities. By combining specialized real estate consulting services with a creative agency model, we work with property stewards and developers on capital and fundraising strategies, team formation, branding, marketing, and sales. --------- Are you a professional wanting to create transformational outcomes with your work? Join the Regenerative Real Estate Community https://latitude-regenerative-real-estate.mn.co to get access to workshops, regenerative real estate investment opportunities, and connect to other leaders and culture creators within the greater real estate industry to create the impact you seek in your work.
Nathan Helbach is a sustainable developer and the CEO of The Neutral Project. When he was in school working on a degree in sustainability, he came up with the idea to build carbon-neutral developments. Today, with The Neutral Project, he is working to make that dream a reality. Key to reducing the embodied carbon in these buildings was moving away from steel and concrete to mass timber. Currently, Nathan is behind the construction of what will be the tallest mass timber building in the world. Nathan and show host Neal discuss Nathan’s path to starting The Neutral Project, including his childhood experience helping his father with small projects in Madison and then in his early 20s, working for a traditional developer on hundreds of traditional stick frame buildings. Once Nathan got the idea to start a business dedicated to carbon-neutral construction, he started working against the inertia of routine and tradition. He had to learn how to acquire and build with mass timber, as well as follow passive house principles. Finally, they touch on the exciting future of The Neutral Project and the many developments they have in the works. To learn more, check out theneutralproject.com. https://www.theneutralproject.com/ ———————- At Latitude https://chooselatitude.com, were more than a real estate firm; were your partner in the transformation of homes, communities, and habitats towards healthy, resilient, and thriving communities. By combining specialized real estate consulting services with a creative agency model, we work with property stewards and developers on capital and fundraising strategies, team formation, branding, marketing, and sales. --------- Are you a professional wanting to create transformational outcomes with your work? Join the Regenerative Real Estate Community https://latitude-regenerative-real-estate.mn.co to get access to workshops, regenerative real estate investment opportunities, and connect to other leaders and culture creators within the greater real estate industry to create the impact you seek in your work.
Brandon Welch is the co-founder and CEO of Mad Capital, an investment fund dedicated to helping farmers transition from conventional to regenerative and organic agriculture. Brandon knew he wanted to do something to make a positive impact on society and the environment, and he found that the world of finance was the most powerful way for him to do so. Conventional practices are so deeply ingrained in the culture of agriculture and business of farms, that it takes a big leap of faith and lots of support for farmers to make the switch to adopt more regenerative practices. Welch and Mad Capital connect farmers that are willing to evolve with those that that want to invest in regeneration. Brandon and show host Neal discuss Brandon’s love for outdoor adventure and how a cross country camping trip led him to an internship at Hunter Lovins’ Natural Capitalism Solutions. They trace his path to staring Mad Capital and raising millions of dollars to provide famers with funding to switch from conventional to organic agriculture. They touch on the obstacles to inspiring change in an old industry that’s done things the same way for generations, as well as the creative solutions that connect investors wanting to make a difference in our food system with farmers open to a change. To learn more about Brandons work, visit MadCapital.com https://madcapital.com/. ———————- At Latitude https://chooselatitude.com, were more than a real estate firm; were your partner in the transformation of homes, communities, and habitats towards healthy, resilient, and thriving communities. By combining specialized real estate consulting services with a creative agency model, we work with property stewards and developers on capital and fundraising strategies, team formation, branding, marketing, and sales. --------- Are you a professional wanting to create transformational outcomes with your work? Join the Regenerative Real Estate Community https://latitude-regenerative-real-estate.mn.co to get access to workshops, regenerative real estate investment opportunities, and connect to other leaders and culture creators within the greater real estate industry to create the impact you seek in your work.
Mark Lakeman is an architect, placemaker, and urban planner. He is the founder and design director of Communitecture, and the co-founder of both the City Repair Project and Village Building Convergence. He believes that public spaces play a foundational role in human society. However with relatively recent colonial systems they have been subdued and replaced by a grid system that connects cars and commerce but not so much people. Now, he is working to revive them by breaking through the cultural inertia and bureaucracy that works to maintain the status quo. Mark and show host Neal discuss the profound impact that Marks parents had on him—one an urban planner and the other a researcher studying public spaces in ancient cities. After a few years working in traditional architecture firms, he became disillusioned with their values and traveled the world learning how contemporary indigenous villages were organized. Since then, hes been committed to turning Portland into a place full of lively communal spaces and town squares through placemaking activities—like Little Free Libraries, a concept that he helped create himself. For more on Marks work, visit communitecture.net https://www.communitecture.net/, cityrepair.org https://cityrepair.org/, and villagebuildingconvergence.com https://villagebuildingconvergence.com/. And check out our Latitude spotlights highlighted at the top of the episode. Latitude Change Agent spotlight: Mark Voss https://chooselatitude.com/markvoss Ecosystem Directory partner spotlight: EcoNest Architecture https://chooselatitude.com/ecosystem-directory/econest-homes and Paula Baker Laports new book "Prescriptions for a Healthy House" https://www.econestarchitecture.com/shop/prescriptions-for-a-healthy-house-4th-edition-a-practical-guide-for-architects-builders-homeowners ———————- At Latitude https://chooselatitude.com, were more than a real estate firm; were your partner in the transformation of homes, communities, and habitats towards healthy, resilient, and thriving communities. By combining specialized real estate consulting services with a creative agency model, we work with property stewards and developers on capital and fundraising strategies, team formation, branding, marketing, and sales. --------- Are you a professional wanting to create transformational outcomes with your work? Join the Regenerative Real Estate Community https://latitude-regenerative-real-estate.mn.co to get access to workshops, regenerative real estate investment opportunities, and connect to other leaders and culture creators within the greater real estate industry to create the impact you seek in your work.
David Leon is the Co-Founder & Executive Director at Farmers Footprint and Drew Dumsch is the President & CEO of The Ecology School. They are both inspiring leaders in the regenerative movement and have taken innovative approaches to funding their projects. Although the topics of profit and capital can make many in the regenerative world queasy, the reality is that funding is a foundational element to most ambitious initiatives. And just like how societys ideas about food production and community can be revolutionized with the ideals of regeneration, so can its ideas about capital and financing. This is the first in a series of conversations that will dive deep into the state of capital in the regenerative space. It was recorded this summer in front of a live audience at the Regenerative Real Estate Gathering at the bucolic River Bend Farm in Saco, Maine. Show host Neal, David, and Drew discuss the formation of their respective regenerative endeavors: Farmers Footprint, a nonprofit "creative agency" for farmers, and The Ecology School, which has hosted over 100,000 participants in programs that aim to promote an appreciate for nature and the environment. David talks about how to approach profitability and financial sustainability as a nonprofit, and Drew explains how his group raised $14 million to bring The Ecology School to River Bend Farm through a creative combination of loans and capital campaigns. For more information, visit theecologyschool.org https://theecologyschool.org/ and farmersfootprint.us https://farmersfootprint.us/. ———————- At Latitude https://chooselatitude.com, were more than a real estate firm; were your partner in the transformation of homes and habitats towards healthy, resilient, and thriving communities. By combining specialized real estate services with a creative agency model, we work with property stewards and developers on capital and fundraising strategies, team formation, branding, marketing, and sales. --------- Are you a professional wanting to create transformational outcomes with your work? Join the Regenerative Real Estate Community https://latitude-regenerative-real-estate.mn.co to get access to workshops, regenerative real estate investment opportunities, and connect to other leaders and culture creators within the greater real estate industry to create the impact you seek in your work.
David Todd is a longtime designer, green living innovator, and realtor. Now he is Partner and Co-Head of Community at Latitude Regenerative Real Estate. He began practicing regenerative real estate in Portland many years before that phrase entered anyones vocabulary and hes passionate about bringing like-minded people together to accomplish big things. Now, he lives in Kingston, New York, where he is continuing his mission to empower agents and real estate professionals to be catalysts for healing our relationship to home, place, and planet. David and show host Neal discuss Davids long and winding path to eventually working with Latitude Regenerative Real Estate. Never one to take the conventional route, David started his career as a teacher before pivoting to real estate where he created his own title: “Eco Design Consultant & REALTOR.” In Portland, he helped convene a group of regenerative minded professionals and practitioners from a variety of fields to create the Green Home Forum, which launched a sustainable planning and building movement. Now, hes inspired by the great momentum nationwide to create new living systems connected to place and community. You can learn more about his work at chooselatitude.com/davidtodd. https://chooselatitude.com/davidtodd ———————- At Latitude https://chooselatitude.com, were more than a real estate firm; were your partner in the transformation of homes and habitats towards healthy, resilient, and thriving communities. By combining specialized real estate services with a creative agency model, we work with property stewards and developers on capital and fundraising strategies, team formation, branding, marketing, and sales. --------- Are you a professional wanting to create transformational outcomes with your work? Join the Regenerative Real Estate Community https://latitude-regenerative-real-estate.mn.co to get access to workshops, regenerative real estate investment opportunities, and connect to other leaders and culture creators within the greater real estate industry to create the impact you seek in your work.
Mel Meagher is the founder of Unfold Development, a values-driven design and development studio specializing in regenerative thinking. After spending a decade working in a more conventional real estate setting, Mel realized just how disconnected humans have become from our environment–in particular, the harmful impact that our built environments, materials and construction practices have on the earth and on our health. Mel and show host Neal discuss how Mel’s career led them to completely rethink real estate development, as well as their inspirations behind founding Unfold. Mel details Unfold’s current projects, and how they and their team are bringing intention to every step of the process to restore, reconnect, and reinterpret our built environment. They also discuss how to unite partners in real estate development so they feel connected to the larger project and purpose, and retain their passion for the work. For more information about Unfold Development, visit unfolddevelopment.com https://unfolddevelopment.com/. ———————- At Latitude https://chooselatitude.com, were more than a real estate firm; were your partner in the transformation of homes and habitats towards healthy, resilient, and thriving communities. By combining specialized real estate services with a creative agency model, we work with property stewards and developers on capital and fundraising strategies, team formation, branding, marketing, and sales. --------- Are you a professional wanting to create transformational outcomes with your work? Join the Regenerative Real Estate Community https://latitude-regenerative-real-estate.mn.co to get access to workshops, regenerative real estate investment opportunities, and connect to other leaders and culture creators within the greater real estate industry to create the impact you seek in your work.
Jacob Waddell is the president of the Hemp Building Institute, a nonprofit organization dedicated to researching and promoting healthy and sustainable building practices. The way we construct our built environment has been a major cause of today’s most pressing environmental and health problems. Moving away from conventional construction materials to those that are more natural is a promising solution that’s only now starting to catch on in the U.S. Jacob and show host Neil discuss Jacob’s path to working with hemp, including his time studying material science and working with plastics before he had a revelation that he should dedicate his life to the environment. It was at that time that he discovered hempcrete—a construction material made by mixing hemp stalks and lime as a binder. They also dive into the environmental, health, and sustainability benefits of hemp building materials, including how it can be “carbon-negative,” improve indoor air quality, and improve soil quality. Now the challenge is making hemp construction mainstream and affordable, so everyone can share in its benefits. For more information about Jacob’s work, visit hempbuildinginstitute.org https://www.hempbuildinginstitute.org.
* Greg Peterson is a green-living innovator, educator, and podcast host. His life vision, which has guided him for more than 30 years, is "I am the person on the planet responsible for transforming our global food system." Greg was introduced to permaculture in the 1990s and was quickly inspired to spread its basic ideals of sustainability and working with nature. In 2001, Greg created the Urban Farm, a real world environmental showcase home in Phoenix, Arizona, where people could learn about permaculture principles and see first hand how they can be applied to homes. Greg and show host Neal discuss Gregs fateful path into permaculture, including a confluence of events in 1991 that would change his life forever and the challenges he faced in brining permaculture to the mainstream decades before it really caught on. They also discuss the basic tenets of permaculture, how to learn about your land by observing it closely, and how you can build an abundant urban garden over years and decades with patience. Finally, they talk about Gregs move to a farm in North Carolina and how he picked the perfect stewards for his Urban Farm in Phoenix. To learn more about Gregs work and to see a schedule for regular Zoom classes on food-growing, visit urbanfarm.org https://www.urbanfarm.org/blog/podcast/. Also, to listen to Gregs podcast, search for The Urban Farm Podcast in your favorite podcast platform.
Scott Snodgrass is an entrepreneur, farmer, and land developer. Hes started a number of businesses, including Edible Earth Resources, a productive landscapes company; Agmenity, a community farm developer; and most recently Meristem Communities, a real estate development firm focusing on "places for people." He and his business partner Clayton Garrett are working on their first big community project near Houston, called Indigo. Scott and show host Neal discuss Scotts path to "places for people"-focused real estate, including how he first stumbled into farming after coffee growers in Nicaragua asked him for help with their crops. They touch on Scotts various business ventures, including starting one of the first big edible landscaping companies in the United States and how he was introduced to development through various projects with his community farm company. They also get into the details around his ambitious Indigo project, a 235 acre community near Houston that will have over 650 homes, a walkable "commons" area with businesses, over 40 acres of farmland with vegetables and animals, wastewater reuse irrigation, a solar-powered battery for backup power, and ecological habitats for migratory birds. To learn more about Scotts work with Agmenity, visit agmenity.com https://agmenity.com/. To learn more about Meristem Communities visit meristemcommunities.com https://meristemcommunities.com/, and to learn more about Indigo, visit www.indigocommunity.com https://www.indigocommunity.com/.
James Ehrlich is a technology and media entrepreneur. Hes the founder of ReGen Villages, a tech-driven company that seeks to design regenerative communities focused on food, water, energy, and circular waste management. Hes also the director of compassionate sustainability at Stanford Universitys Center for Compassion and Altruism Research. James uses his lifetime of experience with video games, television story-telling, and tech to create engaging software that can help people build resilient and integrated villages that make the best use of their unique land. James and show host Neal discuss how James background in media set the stage for his current work with regenerative villages. He was in the middle of the transition from cartridge to CD-ROM gaming, as well as the burgeoning farm-to-table and organic food scenes in the 90s and 2000s. They discuss how ReGen Villages was formed at Stanford and how it seeks to harness AI and machine learning to support the creation of regenerative communities that can provide health and abundance to people all over the world. To learn more about James work, visit regenvillages.com.
Matt Morley is a Europe-based biophilic designer, entrepreneur, and podcaster. He is the founder of Biofilico and Biofit Health & Fitness, and the host of the Green Healthy Places podcast. He’s passionate about biophilic, healthy spaces and finding and bringing together other people leading innovative initiatives in the world of sustainability—which he gets to do with his podcast. As this interview is also being published on Matt’s podcast, he and show host Neal interview each other. They both talk about their background and what led them into a life of fusing entrepreneurship and sustainability. They talk about how change on a small scale can have a domino effect and they discuss how their experiences podcasting and talking to others in the field have effected them. For more on Matt’s work, visit biofilico.com http://biofilico.com and mattmorley.net/podcastand http://mattmorley.net/podcastand, where you can find his podcast.
Tres Crow is a writer, artist, and designer. Hes the president of Roots Down, an environmental education firm dedicated to helping governments, non-profits, and communities transform their expensive, labor-intensive green areas into productive urban landscapes. Tres and his colleagues at Roots Down argue that, with the right education, landscapers can change their practices, save money and make landscapes more sustainable. Show host Neal and Tres discuss how the landscaping industry has largely been left out of larger conversations about sustainability and regeneration. Tres dispels the misconception that ecological landscaping costs more than traditional landscaping, and he describes how productive urban landscapes, when maintained properly, can flourish for decades. Plus, Tres explains solutions that would decrease landscaping’s negative environmental impacts, cut costs, and create beautiful, long-lasting landscapes for communities to enjoy. To learn more about Roots Down, visit rootsdownga.com http://rootsdownga.com or the Roots Down app.
Jay Standish is an entrepreneur and co-founder of OpenDoor Coliving. For nearly ten years with that company, he was a pioneer in the business of professionally-run community housing. OpenDoor started by leasing a single home and eventually came to operate over 400 units in three states. In December of 2022, Jay and his business partner Ben Provan closed the business after a challenging, but successful run. Jay and show host Neal discuss Jays first major experiences with nature and the outdoors—40 day canoe expeditions in Canada that he did as a teenager. Since then, Jay has loved the feeling of being a part of a group working together and he sought to give people that experience when he launched OpenDoor Coliving, and began renting out rooms in mansions in the Bay Area. They discuss the many benefits of communal living and the many challenges the business presented: raising capital, managing community members relationships, and designing the ideal coliving space. For more information about Jay’s work, visit jaystandish.com http://jaystandish.com/.
Jo Petroni is an architect based in rural France, and she is the founder of Permarchitecture. She believes in "listening to your land," which is a way to observe the land where we live and build with curiosity and humility—and ultimately reconnect with nature. Jo is also an illustrator and climate change communicator. She is a co-creator of and contributor to the Carbon Almanac and she has an "Epistolary" of letters to imaginary friends published on Substack. Jo and show host Neal discussed how Jo aspired to be an architect since she was a young child, the adventurous path that led her to her current home in medieval village in France, and how she built her business over Zoom meetings while living as a digital nomad. They go in depth about Jos approach to architecture—incorporating sustainability and regenerative principles—and how to design while maintaining a deep connection to place. They also talk about the challenges of implementing regenerative and permaculture principles, and the importance of public communication about sustainability. To learn more about Jo Petronis work, visit permarchitechture.net http://permarchitechture.net or check out her blog at jopetroni.substack.com https://jopetroni.substack.com/.
Michael D. Ham is an entrepreneur and the co-founder and president of Wild Orchard Regenerative Teas and RePure. He sees the pandemic as culturally transformative and believes that now is the time to move beyond "sustainable" and "net-zero" to "regenerative" and "net-positive." With his tea company, he wants to make the highest quality tea available, grown on a regenerative farm and free of all the toxins that contaminate industrial produced teas. And with his new venture, RePure, he wants to provide an in-home "OS" that can monitor the air, water, and light health of our indoor spaces. Michael and show host Neal discuss Michael’s upbringing with immigrant parents from South Korea and how he eventually found his way to starting the first company to offer regenerative organic certified teas. They also discuss the importance of creating healthy indoor environments—where we spend 90% of our time—which is the focus of Michaels newest venture RePure. They talk about the risks of EMFs, the publics current level of understanding when it comes to healthy indoor environments, and the challenges of starting a business in an emerging industry. Find out more at wildorchard.com https://wildorchard.com/ and repure.io https://repure.io/.
Dorn Cox is a regenerative farmer, technologist, and the research director for the Wolfe’s Neck Center for Agriculture and the Environment in Freeport, Maine. He is the author of . Dorn believes that technologys incredible ability to distribute information at little to no cost holds immense power to change our relationship to the environment for the better. By harnessing the power of open source technology, regenerative solutions can spread at a global scale. Show host Neal and Dorn talk about his familys multi-generation farming tradition and his decade-long foray into international finance and technology. Today, Dorn sees himself in the context of the long human history of sharing knowledge and wisdom about agriculture and our connection to the land. He says that the same tools of technology that have been used to extract from and damage the environment, can be used to tell a different story and create a culture shift that embraces regeneration. For more about Coxs work, check out his new book https://www.chelseagreen.com/writer/dorn-cox/.
Hillarie Maddox is an entrepreneur, homesteader, and the creator of Black Girl Country Living—a magazine and podcast. Her work is all about helping people "return home to Mama Nature," through media, storytelling, and re-wilding experiences. Moving to the country and growing food during the pandemic was a life-changing experience for her and her family, and now she wants to give that to others. Hillarie and show host Neal discuss their shared home of Whidbey Island in Puget Sound and how Hillaries family adjusted to life there during the pandemic. They discuss how empowering its been for Hillarie, as a Black woman, to claim and celebrate her familys historical connection to farming and the land, and how BIPOC people sometimes feel unsafe recreating in rural areas. For more information about Hillaries work, visit blackgirlcountryliving.com. https://www.blackgirlcountryliving.com/ For more information about Latitude Regenerative Real Estates upcoming annual gathering, visit chooselatitude.com/gathering. https://chooselatitude.com/gathering
Hunter Lovins is an environmentalist and author, the co-founder of Rocky Mountain Institute, president of Natural Capitalism Solutions, and managing partner of NOW Partners. For decades, she has worked with communities and companies to encourage them to implement regenerative solutions that are not only sustainable but profitable. She is the author of many books, including , , and Show host Neal and Hunter discuss her family upbringing, which brought her into close and casual contact with legendary activists such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Cesar Chavez. They talked about her career journey, including her time in law school and extensive studies of economics, which set the stage for her influential ideas about the pitfalls of capitalism. They also discussed how citizens and government can shape our economic system into one that is better for people and the planet, today and into the future. For more information about Hunter’s work, visit the websites for NOW Partners https://now.partners/ and Natural Capitalism Solutions https://natcapsolutions.org/.
Alissa Collins is the co-founder of Latitude Regenerative Real Estate, alongside her husband, show host Neal. On this special episode of the podcast, Neal and Alissa tell their own life story, which culminates in their development of regenerative real estate: an approach to the built environment that considers health and wellness, sustainability, ecology, community, and spirit. Alissa and Neal discuss their separate childhoods in Alaska and Louisiana, where they both developed a deep connection to nature. After they met, they embarked on a global adventure which took them to India and the Maldives where they learned about the value of culture, community, and spirit of place. Once they returned to the U.S., they pivoted from service work into real estate, hoping to find financial freedom. Within a few years, theyd built a large property management company in Portland, but felt it was lacking their deeper values. After a period of introspection, they composted much of their former business and started Latitude Regenerative Real Estate. Now, they are focused on providing affordable housing, connecting people with the planet, and bringing them into community. Find out more at chooselatitude.com.
Steve Beshara is a developer, entrepreneur, and designer. He is the founder of Vista Growth, which does place-branding, community design, and strategic planning. Beshara loves to be innovative, on the edge of the frontier, and he believes that community-planning magic can come from charettes, meetings where a diverse group of people come together to brain storm freely. Steve and show host Neal discuss Steves upbringing, how he learned how to see all sides of an issue from his parents and how he learned to love nature as a child. They also discuss his insights into creating ripe environments for group creativity as well his role in establishing the first net-zero energy home in Serenbe. For more information about Besharas work, visit www.vistagrowth.com https://www.vistagrowth.com/.
Jim Gale is the founder and chief storyteller of Food Forest Abundance, an organization that aims to provide people with freedom and independence through food forests. After selling his successful real estate company and retiring at 35, Jim thought he would relax for his remaining years. But after he had children, he started thinking obsessively about the future of humanity and came to a revelation: the solution to our societys biggest problems is permaculture. Jim and show host Neal discuss how Jim started a real estate company in his mothers basement which reached over $1 billion in revenue in less than four years. And they discuss how hes more recently applied the problem-solving tenacity that made him successful in business to permaculture. A lifelong lover of nature, Jims passion for permaculture is infectious. He sees it not only as a way to improve our health and environment, but also as a way to gain freedom and community. To learn more about Jims work, visit foodforestabundancemn.com http://foodforestabundancemn.com.
Hiroko Yamamoto is an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the College of Architecture at the University of Utah and runs the DesignBuildUTAH program. The program allows students from around the world to live in the Navajo Nation in Utah to design and build affordable homes using green build techniques. The homes are designed in accordance with Navajo culture and use local materials in a way that is cost effective and harmonious with the surrounding landscape. On this episode, show host Neal Collins is joined by Hiroko and two of her students, Maja Tacchi and Tom Mckean. They join Neal from their construction site, where they have been building a home for months. They detail how they designed the home, which includes a greenhouse and water catchment system, and they discuss the importance of immersing themselves in the Navajo community and cultural practices. They also discuss how valuable this hands-on experience is and how it has inspired their hopes for their future. To learn more about the program and to see photos of its homes visit its website https://bluff.designbuildutah.org/ . And to donate, reach out to Hiroko at HIROKO@ARCH.UTAH.EDU.
Katie McCamant is an author, architect, and the co-creator of the term "cohousing"—a community of private homes clustered around shared communal spaces. In the 1980s, she and Charles Durrett published the authoritative book on the subject, Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves https://www.amazon.com/Cohousing-Contemporary-Approach-Housing-Ourselves/dp/0898155398. McCamant is now focused on promoting cohousing communities across the United States by working with individuals interesting in living in them and supporting professionals like developers and architects interested in building them. Katie and show host Neal discuss how Katie discovered cohousing as a student in Denmark and became inspired to bring the concept across the Atlantic. They also discuss the benefits to living in a cohousing community—how they create a tight-knit group where everybody knows each other and are willing to help out in a moments notice, and how they make living sustainably easier through collective action. They also discuss ways that cohousing can be promoted throughout the country, especially by educating more everyday people and developers about its benefits. To learn more about Katies work, visit www.cohousing-solutions.com https://www.cohousing-solutions.com/.
Daron Joffe, a.k.a. Farmer D, is a farmer, designer, and ambitious field-builder promoting the idea of agrihoods and conservation-focused land development. He is the author of and the leader of Farmer D, an organization that creates agrihoods by collaborating with developers, nonprofits, and governments. He believes in the "village" model, where housing development is clustered, while large swaths of surrounding land is conserved for nature and agriculture. Farmer D and show host Neal are joined by Latitude Regenerative Real Estate change agent, Soraya Schneider. They discuss Farmer Ds path to farming and agrihood-building, which included him dropping out of college twice and a surprise meeting with a monk. They also dive into how Farmer D tackles big projects, carefully studying a places particular cultural and ecological nature and dealing with large governmental and nonprofit institutions, and they explore how he is taking on the monumental task of creating a new field of knowledge around agrihoods. To learn more about Farmer Ds work, check out farmerd.com https://farmerd.com/.
* Julie Brunner is the housing director at OPAL, a community land trust on Orcas Island in Washington state. Julie has worked in the field of affordable housing since the mid-90s and today OPAL is responsible for housing 200 families on an island with a population of just 5,000. Over the years, both through hot and cold real estate markets, theyve found innovate ways to finance and offer housing, both through home ownership and renting. Julie and show host Neal discuss the mechanics of community land trusts, the huge benefits to those housed through the program, and the important differences between offering properties to own and to rent. A former economics major, Julie explains how Americas housing crisis is not simply a supply issue and she details how OPAL has managed to offer financial security to people on an island with some of Washingtons highest property values and lowest wages. To learn more about her work, check out the OPAL https://www.opalclt.org/ website as well as the Grounded Solutions Network https://groundedsolutions.org/, where she teaches courses on community land trusts.
Peter Scialla is the Chief Operating Officer and President of Delos, a company that is infusing wellness into real estate. We spend 90% of our time indoors and increasingly scientific research has shown that our indoor environment has a major impact on our health. Delos is working to make buildings healthier by improving the air, light, and drinkable water within them. Peter and show host Neal discuss Peters background on Wall Street, where both he and his brother Paul worked for Goldman Sachs. They realized that as a wellness revolution was taking over markets across the world, there remained an opportunity with the worlds largest asset class—real estate. Theyve worked with top researchers at institutions like the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic to create indoor environments that can profoundly improve our health just by spending time in them. To see more of Peters work, visit delos.com https://delos.com/.
