Wayne Caldwell (he/him), is an award-winning leader in rural and agricultural planning. His experience and career as a planner are diverse and comprehensive and includes work as a practicing planner, teacher, mentor, researcher, community activist, and leader in the profession. He is nationally recognized as a champion of the well-being of rural areas – their communities, people, heritage, farmland, and sensitive resources.
Dean Orr (he/him), is a full-time farmer from King City, Ontario, producing organic and conventional grains, pasture-raised poultry, and maple syrup. Dean is an advocate for responsible land use planning and farmland protection. He has published articles in the Ontario Farmer, delegated to numerous GTA municipal councils, and contributed as an expert witness to the recent soil health report prepared by the Standing Senate Committee on Agriculture and Forestry. He is currently working towards his MSc in Rural Planning and Development at the University of Guelph.
Kate Procter (she/her), is a professional farmer. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (’93) and a Masters of Science in Planning (’12), both from the University of Guelph. As well as farming, she has worked as a freelance journalist for over 25 years, a consultant, an editor, and an author.
Kiana Simmons (they/them), is a capacity development professional with a passion for strengthening local food systems at the community level. Kiana has a background in municipal affairs and climate change mitigation and is currently developing a collective community farming toolkit to help municipalities, community groups, and non-profit organizations implement sustainable community-led-growing initiatives, to help connect people to food & agriculture across Ontario.
Martin Straathof (he/they), has a passion for development-supported agriculture as an alternative pathway for balancing development pressures and farmland preservation. As Executive Director of the Ontario Farmland Trust, he brings his steadfast advocacy for sustainable agriculture and farmland protection, leveraging his expertise to address the province’s issue of farmland loss.
Regan Zink (she/her), is a rural studies PhD student at the University of Guelph and a Rural Planner with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Agribusiness. Regan has worked in a variety of roles including research, food systems, planning, and graphic design and communications. Regan is excited about community building, agriculture and food, and the ways people interact with the natural and built environment.