Eirin (they/she) first arrived on Chumash lands in the midst of spring wildflower blooms after a wet winter, and was instantly swept off their feet by the magic of this high desert canyon landscape and the beings who tend to it. Eirin brings an action-oriented systems thinking approach to their work as Co-Program Director, balanced with a strong sense of humor and a light heart that feels most content when it is free to observe, wander, and dream.

Eirin is from the ancestral homelands of the Mvskoke people, also known as Atlanta, Georgia. Always curious about the hidden worlds of animals, plants, and insects, they had many formative and beautiful experiences in their late teens rambling through the oldest mountain range in the world, the Appalachians. In their early twenties, this connection to the natural world became clearer with their blossoming love for all things food; the cultural stories it holds, the autonomy of being food secure, and the ability to heal our collective relationship to land through regenerative practices. A big picture-thinker and interested in deconstructing the institutions that shape our built environment and food system on scales large and small, they spent many hours volunteering in community gardens and organic farms across Atlanta to better understand systemic barriers local growers face. Eirin received their B.A. in Anthropology from Georgia State University in 2018, and in 2021, graduated with their M.S. in City and Regional Planning from Georgia Institute of Technology. They focused their graduate studies around the interconnections of food systems planning, environmental land use, affordable housing, and community-based disaster resilience. Directly prior to coming to Quail Springs, they were working as a food systems planner with cities and farmers across the Atlanta Metro Region.

Through a combination of experiences gained via employment in local government, community organizing work in Atlanta, and shared lived realities of collapse in late-stage capitalism, Eirin has spent the past few years seeking alternative examples of collective community resilience, resistance, and care, outside of colonial modalities in both urban and rural landscapes. This never-ending journey has taken them to many inspiring places, and landed them here in the Cuyama Valley.