Permaculture Internship Program — Sustainable Living Education

Role: Organizational Strategist & Project Manager — Created the first structured permaculture internship for a nonprofit retreat center.

Notion

MS Teams

Google Sheets

Project Overview

Designed and implemented the first permaculture internship program at Claymont, a nonprofit spiritual and sustainability community. This included creating a clear organizational structure, aligning resources, and ensuring smooth collaboration across diverse teams of residents, volunteers, and educators.

My Role & Responsibilities

Surveyed community members to identify key bottlenecks and opportunities for collaboration.
Created a new team structure inspired by network engineering star topology to improve communication and clarity.
Coordinated cross-functional educational tracks in sustainable living, wellness, and craftsmanship.
Documented processes and provided ongoing mentorship to program participants.

Challenges & Solutions

The community had high enthusiasm but lacked a unified organizational framework, leading to miscommunication and duplicated work. I introduced a centralized coordination system and visual hierarchy model that gained buy-in from the majority of members and streamlined project execution.

Results & Impact

Launched the first structured permaculture internship program in community history.
Increased team efficiency by reducing project overlaps and miscommunication.
Provided participants with multi-disciplinary sustainable living education and practical skills.

Gallery Preview