FOUNDER + DIRECTOR

Jacob (he/him) has served as the Director of Jewish Life and Abundance Farm since 2013. Previously, he served as a rabbi and educator for a number of leading Jewish environmental organizations including the Teva Learning Alliance, Hazon, Adamah, the Jewish Farm School. A Wexner Graduate Fellow and former Rabbi and Assistant Director at Hillel at the University of Washington, Rabbi Jacob was ordained as a rabbi from the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies where he also received a M.A. in Rabbinic Studies. He is also a graduate of Vassar College where he received a B.A. in environmental studies and religion.

FARM MANAGER

Nat (they/them) is the Farm Manager at Abundance Farm. They have grown food and taught students on a variety of community and educational farms both in the Connecticut River Valley and in Northern California. Having personally experienced the internally and externally transformative power of ecologically oriented agriculture, Nat is passionate about facilitating bountiful farm spaces where people of all ages can connect with farming, gardening, and the more-than-human world. When not at the farm, Nat can be found cooking, playing piano, and talking to trees and rocks.

COMMUNICATIONS & ADMINISTRATIVE COORDINATOR

Eliana Echols (They/She) serves as the Communications & Administrative Coordinator. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Communication Studies with a specialized focus in Interpersonal, Spatial, and Crisis Communications. Eliana believes strongly in the power and importance of robust and vibrant community, and lifelong learning. Their professional background includes working with neurodiverse individuals (and is proudly neurodiverse herself) as well as working with wildlife, exotic and farm animals, and pets. Their hobbies include loitering, lollygagging, extreme porch sitting, and aimless wandering with an occasional dabble in transcendental awe.

BAKER

BAKER

Sam (he/him) co-manages the Abundance Farm Bakery. Owner of Backyard Bread, Sam builds wood-fired ovens and teaches baking to people of all ages, toddlers through adults, with a special focus on Jewish Communities. He built his first oven as a teenager out of mud from the backyard and sold bread in the halls of his High School. Since then he has taught and built and baked throughout New England and the East Coast. He is at his happiest when there's kids running around the bakery and when building happens as a community.

DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

Lindsay (she/they) is excited to talk to the CBI community about the future of the campus and what is important to ensuring the future. Lindsay has experience in development, grants, communications, and government. Lindsay has worked in Western Massachusetts for over 15 years, including in Development at Hampshire College, in the Mayor’s Office and Community Development at the City of Greenfield, as a Legislative Aide for a State Representative for the Second Berkshire District, and consulting for government, non-profits, and start-ups. Lindsay earned an MBA from UMass Amherst and a BA from Bryn Mawr College.

MAINTENENCE SUPERVISOR

Lennie McKemmie (he/him/his) serves as CBI's Maintenance Supervisor, overseeing our building and grounds with great care. He has a background in HVAC and can build just about anything. When he isn't at work, you might find him engrossed in his art, creating intricate woodburned illustrations of animals.