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We’re honored to share a beautiful tribute from Hillary Peterson, founder of True Botanicals, who recently highlighted three leaders who shaped her path to regenerative farming: Paul Hawken, Dr. Zach Bush, and our very own Mary Johnson of Regenerative Farms.

In her essay, Three Leaders Who Inspired My Passion for Regenerative Farming, Hillary explores how soil, health, and climate are deeply interconnected— Her reflection, and a generous family foundation gift helped RF support the development of the Drylands Natural Resources‘ moringa seed oil processing Hub. This year, she has continued that support, championing a partnership between her company True Botanicals and RF, for an Earth Day consumer campaign that raised funds for tree planting by Womenful Voice, RF’s local partner in Haiti, and with broader assistance RF is providing assessing regenerative ingredient sources alternatives, and the climate risk to True Botanical’s key ingredients. This partnership through 1% for the Planet , highlights the importance of True Botanical’s long range sustainbility vision and we applaud their willingness to engage directly with RF, building a more resilient future for their sourcing communities. Their work shines a light on the practical, hopeful work happening across the regenerative movement.

“Everything is connected. Nothing thrives in isolation.”

Hillary’s words beautifully validate what we’ve always known at Regenerative Farms: regeneration doesn’t begin in boardrooms—it begins with communities. And our work would not exist without the visionary grassroots leaders who laid its foundation.

We at RF know that the people truly behind the inspiration are the hard working women and local leaders who graciously shared their experiences and knowledge with people like Mary Johnson. Before RF had a name, the seeds of what would become the Regeneration Hub model were being planted—tree by tree, harvest by harvest—in tropical forests, mountainsides, and remote villages by those who live and die, closest to the land.

Two of RF’s founding collaborators deserve special recognition for their courageous leadership and dogged persistence creating real change on the ground where they live:

🌳 Camino Verde, Peruvian Amazon

Founder Robin Van Loon partnered with Shipibo and Bora communities to restore threatened rainforest species like Rosewood—once nearly extinct due to overharvesting. After years of patient seed collection, they launched a living seed bank of over 400 native species, planting over 50,000 seedlings in partnership with 100 families. Their biocultural restoration model now offers families 3x more income through forest-based livelihoods grounded in reciprocity, not extraction.

Co-founders Dirk-Jan Oudshoorn and Theo Smits built a social enterprise in the remote jungles of Indonesia. Their vision, alongside the daily commitment of 1,000 Indigenous families, is creating local value chains for wild illipe nuts and other forest botanicals gathered from the forests for thousands of years for their medicinal and cultural value. The approach Forestwise created, demonstrates it has the power to change behavior. The incentives the business creates has halted deforestation while tripling community income and protecting vital habitat for endangered species like orangutans. Their fair-trade micro-enterprises prove that forest protection can be good business—when led by those who live within it and care deeply about both local people and the environment.

🌿 Forestwise, West Kalimantan, Indonesia

From Roots to Network: Building the RF Regeneration Hub Model

Inspired by these and other partners, we co-created the RF Regeneration Hub Playbook—a practical blueprint for building women-centered, community-owned restoration enterprises that improve nutrition, restore ecosystems, and grow climate resilience.

Our Hubs span 12+ countries and are united by a shared approach:

• Empowering women with tools, training, and peer networks
• Supporting Indigenous leadership, land rights, and traditional knowledge
• Connecting regenerative producers to ethical markets
• Restoring biodiverse, productive agroecosystems from the ground up

Thanks to early support from the Woka Foundation, catalytic corporate partnerships, and grassroots ingenuity, this model has begun to scale.

A Living Global Movement

We owe everything to the quiet power of our founding partners—from Peru and Indonesia to Haiti, the DRC, Kenya, the Philippines, Appalachia, and beyond.

They showed the world what’s possible when local communities lead.

Keep the Momentum Growing 🌱

🔗 Read Hillary’s full essay
📬 Subscribe to her Substack for reflections on health, beauty, and regeneration
📰 Explore our latest field stories from women farmers and forest guardians
🤝 Support RF: Your donation helps expand nurseries, trainings, and market access for community-led restoration

With deep gratitude to Hillary for the thoughtful spotlight—and to our global network of regenerative pioneers who make this movement real.