Rhonda Baird

I've been teaching permaculture design since 2005 in the Midwest. In 2006 I co-originated the Bloomington Permaculture Guild in Indiana and began teaching permaculture to children. In 2008 I joined the editorial board of Permaculture Design Magazine (formerly Permaculture Activist). My permaculture design practice formalized by creating Sheltering Hills Design. In 2014, I co-originated the Great Rivers and Lakes Permaculture Institute. There is a huge need for good governance and communication in groups. This led me to look at sociocracy, which has been described as "permaculture for people." After six years of learning about sociocracy, I have been selected as the Operational Leader/ Executive Director of Sociocracy for All. Before permaculture, I was an active community organizer in the areas of labor, urban policy reforms, domestic violence and homelessness, and public forests. Two stints in graduate school focused on Labor and Social Reform Movement History, Gender Studies, and Religions of South Asia with a focus on the adoption of beliefs and emergence of culture. Sociocracy, NVC, mentoring, nature connection/primitive skills, and entrepreneurial skills all inform my work as well.