Farmer Freed Founder Selected to Participate in ROI Global Summit

From ROI Community:

Emily Freed of Santa Cruz, who started the “Farmer Freed” company as part of her mission to grow a new Jewish Farming Movement nationwide, has been selected to participate in the 2016 ROI Global Summit in Jerusalem, an exclusive, high-profile gathering of young, global innovators, taking place June 26-30.

With her company, Emily produces “Sebaba Salts,” Israeli-inspired high-end salt and spices grown organically along California’s central coast. Farmer Freed donates nearly 40 percent of profits to women’s farming groups in the belief that Jewish farming means repairing the world.

Inspired in part by living on an Israeli kibbutz – an agricultural cooperative – Emily also believes a farm can nurture Jewish community, and she regularly celebrates Jewish holidays at Jacob’s Farm, an organic farm where she works in Santa Cruz.

“Farming in a Jewish context means that we donate as much food as possible. We have to uphold the Jewish value of Tikkun Olam (repairing the world),” she says.

Thanks to her extraordinary vision and innovation, Emily was selected among 150 of the Jewish world’s leading young change makers from 29 countries who will convene for intensive networking, skill-building and ideation at the 2016 ROI Global Summit, the flagship program of ROI Community, an initiative of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation.

This year’s participants bring a diverse set of interests and accomplishments, ranging from building an online support system used by thousands of victims of sexual abuse around the world to making Jewish text more accessible through humorous takeoffs on biblical stories to establishing a yoga organization that provides low income Kenyan women with the skills to become self-sufficient yoga instructors and much more. These 150 innovators share a commitment to building a more vibrant, inviting and inclusive Jewish future for the benefit of the Jewish community and the broader world.

“Since its inception in 2006, the ROI Summit has convened some of the most promising young Jewish minds, providing them with a platform to showcase their ideas, challenge each other and develop their visions for change. We feel lucky to be able to look back on a decade of community activity, to learn from our challenges and success over the years and to see the tangible impact that our members have created in communities across the globe," said Justin Korda, executive director of ROI Community. “This group of change makers is injecting the Jewish world with a boost of energy and creativity that will shape the Jewish future for years to come.”

Further information is available through the ROI Community website.