Katie Lloyd

She/Her

Whole Farm Manager

katie@ruralaction.org

Katie Lloyd is the Whole Farm Manager at Rural Action. Katie has a passion for sharing resources and connecting farmers with peer mentorship opportunities that allow all parties to grow and flourish in our local food system. When Katie is not working on outreach, she is reading, hiking, or doing hand embroidery.

Katie graduated from Miami University with a degree in Biology and Environmental Science, and went on to serve in the Peace Corps in Cameroon for two years as an agriculture extension agent. During her time in West Africa, she worked on various projects, including mushroom inoculations, tree distributions, and the creation of a modern beekeeping group in her village.

After the Peace Corps, Katie pursued an MA in Climate Change and Global Sustainability from the School for International Training, which took her from the Westfjords of Iceland, to the Island of Zanzibar, and finally to the coast of Kenya. Her experiences abroad and at home prompted her to write her thesis on the impacts of climate change on beekeeping practices in the United States and in Africa.

“Throughout my academic and service career I have noticed an underlying theme of the importance of the local community, especially local food systems, in building resilience in the face of climate change,” Katie says. “The communities best prepared for negative climate impacts are those that have a network of resources at hand for local and diversified income from agriculture. Working with Rural Action to connect beginning farmers with the resources to help them succeed feeds directly into building capacity and resilience to change, and benefits everyone who shares in our local food system.”