Mackenzie Faber began her career in education as the manager of a one-acre farm in a Brooklyn schoolyard. There, she guided crews of seasonal interns and witnessed their transformation as they practiced laying drip tape, starting brassica seeds, harvesting hot peppers, and running a weekly community market. Her approach to teaching mirrors her approach to learning, which centers the inherent wisdom and lived expertise that all participants bring to the traditional classroom, farm, or virtual environment.

Mackenzie recently completed her graduate studies in Sustainable Food Systems at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her capstone work included a partnership with Emerald Gardens and the East Denver Food Hub, with whom she and her teammates constructed a set of communications tools to facilitate the equitable transformation of the Colorado food system through values-based supply chains. A longtime worker in restaurants and in sustainable agriculture, she remains committed to advocating for dignified conditions for all who labor across the food supply chain. She roots her work in the fervent belief that food is about more than hectares, calories, and yields; for her, food is complex, food is sacred, and food is joy.

Originally from northern New Jersey, Mackenzie is a passionate believer in the restorative abilities of a good bagel. When she isn’t working, she enjoys sitting in the sun with her cat and a book of poems.