"This shows what is possible when people are clear on what they are doing, why they are doing it, and who they are doing it for" - Bilen 

Bilen’s Story

"Bilen, a founder of Farm School NYC, remembers the seed of the idea for Farm School was planted at the grail. Members of the civil sector, non-profit sector, and community all came together for an informal weekend retreat to dream, collaborate, and plan a unique urban agricultural training program.

 In the beginning, FSNYC was working as an ecosystem to bring various offerings from people working in each sector. Bilen, who worked in the parks department, helped to plug up holes that may not have been covered in Farm School NYC’s initial funding by redirecting resources and finances to the school. With Bilen’s support, FSNYC was able to alleviate some of the pressure the organization faced from grant cycles and other things that challenged its sustainability. 

Bilen and the other founders envisioned Farm School NYC as a program to bring up new generations of urban land stewards with their education rooted in the spaces the community supported. It was an intentional call to work with gardeners, farmers, and educators from the community who had been doing this work from the ground up. Oftentimes, the knowledge of community members and elders is not seen as valid "formal training.” But in this intergenerational, community-led educational space, Farm School aimed to shift these perceptions and create a school where the voices and experiences of elders and community members were valued. 

Bilen along with the other founders worked diligently and intentionally to ensure that  curation of FSNYC was generative. The variety of backgrounds and experiences each person brought was called upon. Together, they collaborated to envision a project that would serve NYC long into the future. Their skill and cooperation created the system of change we know today as Farm School NYC.

According to Bilen, FSNYC is a testament to this teamwork. It was a space where everyone was showing up for one another to support the final project. Bilen treasured being able to witness and participate in people power in action. She walked away from the process understanding what collaboration looks like across sectors and how when a group of people come together to invest their energy into co-creating a shared dream, a dream comes true.  

Bilen, who still stays in contact with current students, feels like she is now seeing the forest from the initial seeds she helped plant 12 years ago.