What’s your name? Tell us a little about your small business or nonprofit and what you do there. What is your favorite part about working for a small business or nonprofit organization? What are you passionate about? My name is Fern Remedi-Brown. Our nonprofit is Sowing Opportunities, Inc. We didn't set out to create a nonprofit organization. In 2011 our then 6-year-old daughter, who was adopted from Guatemala, asked to meet her biological mother. We located her in 2015 and learned that the entire village, which is in an extremely remote indigenous region, was destitute and their land was completely unfarmable due to its rocky soil and mountainous terrain. We decided to help the entire village. They now have a 600,000 gallon capacity water tank and infrastructure, lacking filtration and the funds to power it, so that is one of our projects. We delivered 6½ tons of groceries to the entire village of 350 families in 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic. We currently have an agricultural project that allows people to grow native vegetables in greenhouses at their homes and corn in black plastic bags so that they are now food-secure. And, we have moved now to a 2nd village where the women are caring for their children alone because most of their husbands have traveled to try to make it to the U.S. They are not only grateful, they are incredible workers, working together, because they are deeply motivated to feed their children. Having food security helps Central Americans to stay in their communities because their hunger is addressed and they have hope for their futures. I do everything here in the U.S. - I serve as executive director, do all the planning, operations, communications and marketing, and sale of fair trade Guatemalan handicrafts. We have a team in Guatemala - a project manager and an agricultural engineer. My favorite part is that I know I am making a difference in the world in a deeply impactful and long-lasting way, creating economic and racial justice on a global scale. I am passionate about social justice, and also helping to create a path for biological families to stay together and adopted children to know their origins. Fern Sowing Opportunities www.sowingops.org
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