The Pollinate Conference is a networking event to bring together women & non-binary folks in agriculture and natural resource conservation to "cross-pollinate" ideas and share knowledge across the different sectors in both industries. The conference has grown to partner with conservation districts around Michigan to better serve people in different areas of the state. In 2024, we established a partnership with the Michigan Association of Conservation Districts, which serves as our parent organization and fiduciary entity.
Natural resources and agriculture are intrinsically linked, but oftentimes pass by each other by way of intention or misunderstanding. By bringing together the people who practice each industry with passion and wisdom, we can cultivate working relationships the better serve our communities, our resources, and our food systems and wild spaces.
This conference is not exclusive to topics about pollinators. If you have accidentally reached us in search of pollinator resources (sorry about that!) let us direct you to some great options:
www.macd.org
www.pollinators.msu.edu
www.pollinator.org
Natural resources and agriculture are intrinsically linked, but oftentimes pass by each other by way of intention or misunderstanding. By bringing together the people who practice each industry with passion and wisdom, we can cultivate working relationships the better serve our communities, our resources, and our food systems and wild spaces.
This conference is not exclusive to topics about pollinators. If you have accidentally reached us in search of pollinator resources (sorry about that!) let us direct you to some great options:
www.macd.org
www.pollinators.msu.edu
www.pollinator.org
Casey White, Pollinate Founder
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For those who like to know all the details, Pollinate was started in 2022 by Casey, the MAEAP Technician with the Eaton Conservation District, as an event to bring together women in agriculture and conservation who identified as the farmer, not just as the farmer's wife. There were existing events for women in agriculture to come together, but at the time Casey was not married, does not have children, and is not a generational farmer, so the events never really seemed to be relevant to them.
Casey never identified as "the farmer's daughter" because Casey was the farmer. This rang in Casey's mind when they scrolled through conference agendas citing family conflict resolution on the farm and trips to the craft store - there's absolutely a place for those spaces but they weren't spaces that would meet Casey's needs. Casey wanted an environment where they could be surrounded by other women + beyond folks who considered themselves the farmer just as much as their partners, so Casey created the conference they wanted to attend. In 2023 Casey came out as non-binary and recognized that by holding this as a "women's" conference, they had inadvertently excluded themself from their own conference, as well as other underrepresented voices in agriculture and natural resource conservation. We opened up Pollinate to be a more inclusive space and empower **everyone** to take a seat at the table. |