Laura Weiland, is the senior fellow for special projects at NCSE. Previously, she was the director of the Omega Center for Sustainable Living (OCSL), in Rhinebeck, NY, USA. Since the age of 15, Laura has lived, studied, and worked across several countries, and the United States, while imagining, designing, and creating nontraditional and cross-cultural educational experiences for herself and others. Her studies, experience, and programs range from biology, farming, permaculture, and regenerative frameworks, to eco-social design, community organizing, and climate education. She holds a master’s degree in sustainable development with a focus in community development. Along with thousands of educators, administrators, practitioners, engineers, and other visitors, Laura worked with student groups of all ages over the last decade at Omega’s learning center and EcoMachine, a natural treatment facility that purifies gray and black water for the campus through the lifecycle of plants and microbiology. Laura developed and ran Omega’s annual 4-week residential Ecological Literacy Immersion Program for 7 years, among many other conferences, environmental programs, regional gatherings, and innovative think tank events. In 2018 and 2019, she designed and organized the first Drawdown Learn Conferences, in partnership with the Project Drawdown organization, to explore how to more deeply activate a solutions-oriented approach to climate education and engagement through schools and community participation. Laura enjoys strong involvement in regional, national, and global network coordination, collaboration, and relationship building.