Shelburne Farms

Shelburne Farms' mission is to inspire and cultivate learning for a sustainable future. The nonprofit offers transformative learning experiences that are grounded in place and enriched by nature to help educators and students create a more thriving world. The organization's home campus is a 1,400-acre diversified working farm located in Shelburne, Vermont on the homelands of the winooski band of the abenaki. The entire historic campus is a living classroom that invites program participants, visitors, and overnight guests to learn, grow, and be inspired. Shelburne Farms realizes its mission through programs focused on education for sustainability. Our work seeks to create the space, spark the conversations, and share the stories to inspire educators, students, and learners of all ages to build a better future for everyone. Through a diverse portfolio of programs and activities, Shelburne Farms: - engages youth and people of all ages in learning experiences that inspire them to build diverse, resilient, caring communities; - practices stewardship and embodies values of place and community through caring for and sharing our natural, agricultural, cultural, and human resources; and - collaborates with educators and other local, national and international partners to advance education for sustainability worldwide. Shelburne Farms is supported by charitable contributions, tuition, fees and additional revenue from its mission advancing enterprises, including a grass-based dairy and award-winning farmstead cheese making operation, an organic market garden, maple sugaring and lumber operation, special events, year-round guest accommodations, and farm-to-table food services. Following the gift of the property to the nonprofit in 1984, growing programs and improving the historic property as an inspiring campus for learning have been ongoing endeavors. This marks Shelburne Farms' 50th year as an educational organization that touches the lives of thousands of people. In 2022, the farm received charitable support from 4,622 individual donors from 48 states and 6 countries. Shelburne Farms' professional learning programs served 1,200 educators from across the country and around the world, both on-site and virtually. Welcome center attendance for the walking trails and children's farmyard totaled 102,395 people. In addition, 3,800 youth attended school programs and summer camps, and 16,221 others came to stay at the farm and/or participate in family and adult programs, and events. Every educator is seen as a life-long partner working to increase the impact of education for sustainability locally, nationally, and internationally. Ultimately the success of the education programs at Shelburne Farms is measured by deepening teacher practice and student learning, leading to improvements in quality of life for generations to come. Through the Shelburne Farms institute for sustainable schools, the hub for all professional learning programming, two innovative education for sustainability undergraduate and graduate certificate programs were offered in collaboration with the university of Vermont for the first time in 2022. Shelburne Farms also continued to receive significant donor-designated funding for its education for sustainability programs. Gifts and grants provided critical support for the farm-based education network, Vermont feed (food education everyday) in collaboration with nofa-vt, place-based education programs in partnership with the national park service, and for climate change education programming. A special partnership with the usda made possible the launch of a national farm to school leadership center. Capital gifts and grants also made possible continuing campus capital improvements, including continuing rehabilitation of the breeding barn as a future space for educational, agricultural, and community gatherings. Shelburne Farms' vision is a healthy and just world rooted in stewardship and community. To learn more about how Shelburne Farms is working to inspire an emerging generation of change makers, please visit www.shelburnefarms.org.