Nekia McDonald
Farm Manager II
Nekia comes from a long line of farmers from the ‘Bottoms’, a small community along Bayou Bartholomew in Southeast Arkansas. He received his education from Green Mountain College with a Master’s in Sustainable Food Systems. He also holds a Bachelor’s in Sociology from Paine College. To deepen his understanding of Sustainable Agriculture, Nekia has traveled to the Volta Region, Ghana to study traditional African systems of sustainability. Nekia is a veteran of the US Army and a former classroom teacher.
While working as a classroom teacher in Augusta, Georgia, Nekia wanted to develop a program that focused on service-based learning. Under the eldership of Sam and Loretta Adderson, Nekia led a team of growers to establish the Growing Growers New Farmer Training Program in Keysville, Georgia. The Growing Growers Program allowed new and beginning growers a chance to learn the concepts of Organic Agriculture through classroom workshops and hands-on experience. Nekia is a member of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, the National Black Food and Justice Alliance, and the Association for the Study of Classical African Civilization (ASCAC). Nekia is married to Aisha Ralph and is the father of two boys, Sean and Cameron.
