Panel 4: Building Bridges: Community Investment Across Disciplines
At the heart of humanity lies our innate desire to build community—leaning on one another for various forms of support. This summer, the members of this panel explored diverse approaches to fostering community, ranging from conceptual efforts— such as education and lowering barriers to entry, to the most physical—hands-on work connecting people with food and other essential needs. Our experiences were varied, from an ecovillage internship on a commune in rural Virginia, to working in the core of agricultural production, promoting accessibility in the equestrian world, and engaging in pest control education and sewing NICU patchwork blankets in New Zealand. Across the globe and across disciplines, we each contributed to and benefited from support networks, learning what it takes to create community and why it is so vital.
Moderator: Ali Ingellis, Dressage Coach & Riding Instructor, Equestrian Center
Recognizing Value: The Role of Small-Scale Agricultural Producers in the Food System - Lila McDougall ’25, Psychology major EOS minor
Life on a Commune: Radical Community Building in the Face of Hyper-Individualization - Indigo Kopp ’26, Philosophy & Spanish double major
Solid Strides: Expanding Access to the Equestrian Industry - Sonia Altenhoff ’25, Biochemistry & French double major
Community Engagement in New Zealand - Celine Falcon-Geist, Psychology & Education major/Latinx studies minor.
Speaker name: Lila McDougall
Title: Recognizing Value: The Role of Small-Scale Agricultural Producers in the Food System
This summer I worked as an Agricultural Production and Retail intern at Theo’s Market Garden, a fifth-generation direct to consumer farm in the vibrant “Agri-hood” of Littleton Massachusetts. This immersive 14-week experience provided me with hands-on knowledge in agricultural production while also facilitating the application of classroom-based knowledge in marketing and sales efforts at the farm’s store front. My days started at 6am, grading produce in the stand and organizing different displays for maximum consumer appeal in conjunction with current growing conditions such as our July “tomato bar”. Throughout my internship, I deepened my understanding of local supply chains, built relationships with diverse stakeholders, and witnessed the seed-to-fork process in action. In the end, I developed a profound understanding of the reciprocal role community plays both in supporting small producers and the inverse role these organizations play in giving back to the local community.
Speaker name: Indigo Kopp
Title: Life on a Commune: Radical Community Building in the Face of Hyper-Individualization
More than ever, people are leading highly individualized lives. This comes at the cost of community, which has historically been crucial to our physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing. This summer, I lived and worked at Twin Oaks, an egalitarian intentional community in Virginia. Here, residents share income, cars, common spaces, appliances, and ultimately themselves—all in the name of community. Life at Twin Oaks requires abandonment of many comforts we take as necessary in our hyper-atomized lives. So what makes it worth it? For Twin Oakers, it’s everything else they get to share: a common livelihood, their burdens, and themselves with a caring group of people. In this presentation I hope to convey what I learned after a summer of emotional and physical investment into Twin Oaks: the importance of community, and why what seems to many to be a radical, even impractical lifestyle choice reveals the deficits of modern life.
Speaker name: Sonia Altenhoff
Title: Solid Strides: Expanding Access to the Equestrian Industry
Many children go through a “horse” phase. Some children grow out of that phase and stop asking for ponies for Christmas after a while, but some children desperately hold onto their love and interest for these seemingly mythical and beautiful creatures. Unfortunately, horse-back riding lessons are generally incredibly expensive and inaccessible for most families. Additionally, due to the history of the sport, much of the equestrian industry is very whitewashed. This summer I worked for Solid Strides, a non-profit organization whose mission is to create a welcoming and inclusive space by actively inviting under-resourced, Black, Indigenous, People of Color, LGBTQIA+ and other historically underrepresented populations into the horse world via their program which reduces financial barriers to entry. I worked as a summer camp counselor, lesson instructor and horse exercise rider for Solid Strides to deepen my understanding of what broadening inclusivity could look like in the equestrian industry.
Speaker name: Celine Falcon-Geist
Title: Community Engagement in New Zealand
During my internship in New Zealand, the importance of building community became clear to me as I connected with people of all ages in many different settings. Through the social impact studio at the University of Otago, I worked to connect students to the greater Dunedin city. For a some weeks, I lived on a tiny island weeding, planting native vegetation, and embracing a wonderful work-life balance. I created lessons for children on native pests and steps New Zealand is taking to eradicate the invasive animals, allowing me to view a different governmental approach to action plans. I made NICU blankets with a group of grandmothers from wool scraps while learning about their life paths which shed light on the importance of seeking out moments of joy. Through all of these experiences, I built long-lasting friendships and hope for community engagement in my future endeavors.