Applied Agroecology and Fundraising Fundamentals
Fall 2024 Online Certificate Course
Course Overview
The Applied Agroecology and Fundraising Fundamentals course provides a hands-on learning experience for individuals seeking to pair regenerative agriculture practices with the skills needed to sustain them financially. Through experiential learning, discussion, and collaborative projects, participants explore core agroecology concepts such as soil health, ecological design, biodiversity, and community-based food systems alongside fundraising essentials including donor engagement, storytelling, grant writing, budgeting, and resource development. The course emphasizes practical application, systems thinking, and values-aligned fundraising that supports social and environmental justice. Participants develop an applied project that integrates agroecological practice with a realistic fundraising strategy, leaving the course with concrete tools, increased confidence, and the capacity to build resilient, well-resourced initiatives rooted in community and ecological care.
Course Dates: September 11 - November 13, 2024
Course Times: WEDNESDAYS from 6 PM – 8 PM PACIFIC TIME
Course Platforms: ZOOM & GOOGLE CLASSROOM
Course Details
Dr. Frida Endinjok is an agroecology instructor with extensive experience teaching and mentoring emerging and current farmers, scholars, and advocates committed to building more sustainable and equitable food systems. She joined the MESA team in 2020 as the Lead Instructor for the CSUN Institute for Sustainability’s first AFFP Cohort and later served as Fellowship Coordinator. Dr. Endinjok holds a Ph.D. and a master’s degree in public health with an emphasis on community health education, as well as a bachelor’s degree in nutrition. Her professional background includes developing and evaluating the “Let’s Grow Healthy” program, which provides hands-on, garden-enhanced nutrition education in elementary schools across Los Angeles, establishing and coordinating an on-campus garden that offers workshops, fresh produce, and community projects, and founding and leading a Food Recovery Network chapter to redirect edible food from landfills to individuals experiencing food insecurity. With more than five years of teaching and mentoring experience, she is deeply committed to helping others discover their passions and advocate for sustainable food systems.
Your Instructors
Dená Brummer, cook, food stylist, teacher and writer, epitomizes the modern chef. What ties these roles together, besides an immersion in the world of food, is her unyielding desire to educate and empower her community through health-focused cuisine. After a 15-year career in communications/marketing, she decided to take a detour into the world of food and enrolled at the Institute of Culinary Education to study Health Supportive Culinary Arts. Since 2018, she has been on a journey to combine her two passions - food and storytelling - with the intent of creating work that inspires, creates community, and raises cultural, social and environmental awareness. Today, she runs a teaching garden at the City of Hope and works as a private chef. When she is not consumed with all things food, you can find her gardening, hiking and exploring the world with her 15 year-old daughter.
