Team Member Title Director

Rose is best described as an “octopus”, constantly learning new ways to bring people together for the common good. Reflecting her outlook, Rose has worked in community development, food security, and sustainable economic development in over a dozen countries. Larger projects have included sustainable economic integration of new EU (former East Bloc) countries and cross-border initiatives under the EU’s Rafael (cultural), Interreg IIb, and IIc (rural) funding. Other project leadership includes international sustainable tourism conferences and maritime heritage events.  She provides seminars and training for intercultural collaboration, communications, and marketing.

As fundraiser and grant writer for projects, charities, and non-profits, Rose has raised over $150 million from EU and Canadian governments, corporate and private foundations & sponsors, as well as individual donors.

An enthusiastic holistic nutritionist, Rose delivers workshops and organizes programs on community food security; Indigenous and other food traditions & health; nutrition for special needs and at-risk children; and more.  She has also been a voluntary paralegal on refugee asylum cases, orchestral musician, and is a published poet.

Rose honours the people in her life who guide and improve her, personally and professionally. Mother, auntie, and grandmother, Rose lives on a farm in the ancestral unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq people. She enjoys testing (and eating!) what she is learning about permaculture, growing in friendship and community with neighbours.

Barb is a social impact professional with more than 20+ years of experience in the corporate philanthropy and nonprofit space. She has a degree in Cultural Anthropology which sparked her love of understanding the human journey. Her roots in Nova Scotia run deep, as her paternal ancestors are one of the settler families of Lunenburg and Mahone Bay, coming from Germany in 1752. Although Barb grew up all across Canada, she decided to make Nova Scotia her home in 2018 to be closer to her father’s side of the family and to embrace coastal living. Since then, Barb has become a concerned citizen in how the province can thrive in these uncertain times, building pathways for all Nova Scotians to have a high quality of life.

Barb presently is the Senior Operations Manager with Engage Nova Scotia. In her personal time, Barb enjoys communing with the natural beauty of Nova Scotia with her magical dog Merlin, a 9 year old Lab/Shepherd mix and rescue.

Phil Ferraro’s mentors included social theorist Murray Bookchin, environmental scientist Dr. John Todd.

Phil’s master’s degree in Social Ecology included a thesis on creating food and energy self-reliance in northern climates with studies in renewable energy, organic agriculture, community development, and social responsibility. He is also an early pioneer of permaculture design; having received his accreditation in 1995. 

In the early 90’s Phil introduced a series of environmental education courses at the University of Prince Edward Island which led to his co-founding The Institute for Bioregional Studies Ltd. (IBS) in 1995.   From 1999 – 2016, IBS has managed a series of far-reaching programs on behalf of the PEI ADAPT Council, Agriculture Canada and Bioenterprise Inc., helping agriculture and agri-food producers respond to emerging issues and develop new ways of doing business. 

In 2014, IBS, in partnership with the PEI Farm Centre Association, created The Legacy Garden which has grown to become one of the largest urban farms in Canada. Today, the Garden operates as a social enterprise helping alleviate food insecurity by donating thousands of pounds of food to various charities while also operating a Therapeutic Horticulture program.  The Garden and Therapeutic Horticulture program are in the process of expanding on a second site, in Eastern PEI, on land managed by IBS.

Dr. Maria Rodriguez was born and raised in Venezuela and emigrated to Canada 26 years ago. After living in Quebec and Ontario, she has called PEI home for the past ten years. Maria recently retired after twenty years with the federal public service, where she held a variety of responsibilities, most recently with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada as Manager, Science Policy and Partnerships. She has many years of experience in science-based policy analysis, participatory processes, and partnership development, nationally and internationally, and is a strong advocate for inclusive decision-making processes and the need to create spaces and build capacity for active citizen engagement. Maria holds an agriculture engineering degree from the Central University of Venezuela and a PhD from McGill University, Montreal.