Dear HMI Community,
In 2018 HMI engaged in some of our strongest collaborations to date culminating with the 2018 REGENERATE Conference we hosted with the Quivira Coalition and the American Grassfed Association in Albuquerque, New Mexico attended by over 700 participants. We were particularly pleased that such a large number of the participants were under 40 years old given the aging agriculture population.
The need for more regenerative agricultural producers on the land is greater than ever as we see more agricultural land move out of production because of development pressure, decreased production, and increasing weather fluctuation. To meet that need HMI collaborated with over 100 organizations around the globe to deliver 90 days of programming. We also had 305 farmers and ranchers enroll in HMI’s Getting Started Courses and other online training. Overall, HMI’s programming and global network of over 60 Certified Educators trained and presented on Holistic Management to 9,071 people, while also positively impacting over 11 million acres.
Thanks to the support of our generous donors in 2018 (including a $20,000 Regenerative Agriculture Scholarship grant from the Greenacres Foundation, HMI was able to increase the total amount of scholarships to over $24,000 to beginning and transitioning farmers and ranchers needing financial assistance as well as helping us begin to offer more scholarship support for Certified Educator trainees.
On the outreach front, we continue to expand our scope by educating more people about Holistic Management and HMI. By the end of the year, our outreach outcomes included over 21,000 Facebook fans and 16,000+ Twitter followers with almost 18,000 people subscribing to our e-letter.
HMI’s board also brought more focus to increase our investment portfolio while building greater financial stability for HMI into the future. Toward that end and a tighter focus on our most effective programming, we were able to end the year with an increase in Net Asset without Donor Restrictions of $78,373. We were also able to decrease our expenses by 29% and increase our financial reserves by 5.9%.
With the outstanding success of last year’s REGENERATE Conference, we have already begun planning with the Quivira Coalition and the American Grassfed Association for the 2019 REGENERATE Conference to be held at the Hotel Albuquerque in Albuquerque, New Mexico on November 19-22nd, 2019. We hope to see you all there. We will have a pre-conference Social on November 19th so please come in town early enough to participate and meet HMI’s Board of Directors, Advisory Council, and Certified Educators. This year’s theme is “Health from the Soil Up.” Please keep an eye out for more information about this conference which will feature keynote speaker Fred Provenza and a host of Holistic Management practitioners and educators, as well as innovative regenerative agricultural advocates and health professionals.
We are grateful to our growing team of Board, staff, Advisory Council, Certified Educators, collaborators, and practitioners who are passionately involved in the work of creating healthy land and thriving communities through the practice of Holistic Management.
Click here to read the full HMI 2018 Annual Report
Sincerely,
Ann Adams – Executive Director
Walter Lynn – Board Chair
