Sept. 21: The Refugee Collective: Texas' First Resilient Farm Plan

Matt Simon was born and raised in Austin, TX. He has worked in sustainability-related jobs in Austin since 2008, including at Austin's first single-stream recycling company and a bike-powered composting hauler. He earned his Permaculture Design Certificate in 2015 from the Austin Permaculture Guild and made the shift to full-time organic agriculture in 2017 as the manager of Green Gate Farms. Since 2020, he has held the position of Farm Director at the Refugee Collective Farm, where he leads the organization's food access and regenerative agriculture initiatives. He has previously served on the boards of the Central Texas Young Farmers' Coalition and the Central Texas Farmers' Cooperative. He is currently on the Austin/Travis County Food Policy Board. 

Meg is an innovative entrepreneur, systems thinker, and nonprofit social enterprise leader, founding the Refugee Collective (formerly the Multicultural Refugee Coalition) alongside two Liberian refugees and another American woman in 2009. Under her collaborative leadership, the Refugee Collective has grown to provide livelihood opportunities for refugees through skills-based education and social entrepreneurship. The Refugee Collective Farm and Studio offers fair-wage jobs for refugees in areas where they bring valuable skills and expertise, along with opportunities to learn and advance in their careers. With wonderful partners and an all-star team, the Refugee Collective is poised for significant growth over the coming years. Meg has a background in conservation biology and nonprofit management. She is passionate about refugees and immigrants, sustainability, ethical fashion, local food, regenerative agriculture, social enterprise, conservation, and making the world a more equitable and prosperous place for all. Meg is also a parishioner and serves on the vestry at St. David's.