Get to know us.

Our Founding Philosophy

We are a group of people who grew up in the “mainstream” modern culture, who have awakened to the reality of its harm on the planet and are now getting curious about what we do next. How do we evolve our lifestyles to feed not just ourselves and our families, but the Earth too? Our inquiry is one of personal and planetary regeneration.

We look to the Original People of the Earth whose cultures set an example of how to live harmoniously with your surroundings. Their wisdom reminds us that we live in an interconnected web of intelligence, one that is designed beautifully and beyond our comprehension, and that our responsibility as humans is to care for, protect, and serve life on Earth. 

This is what we call family consciousness.

Family consciousness is when we place ourselves in the web of life, and realize that the real currency for wealth is relationships. There is no such thing as independence. We are completely interdependent — that’s how it’s always been and how it will always be. When we recognize that we are all connected, instead of fighting for individualism, we accept our role as a family member on this Earth. We know that we belong.

The question then becomes “how can I contribute?” (instead of “what’s in it for me?”). It leads us to nurturing our most precious relationships through care and acts of service. It leads us to shift our priorities and learn new skills so we can be there for others. It leads us to see how much we receive from the Earth, and now it’s time to reciprocate. We believe that this shift in consciousness paves the path for a way of living that gives more than it takes. This is regeneration.

One Big Family exists to help people nurture relationships with all of life and learn essential life skills, so we can be the best family members we can be: attuned to the needs of our kin and able to show up in service. Together, and only together, can we create a culture that puts life first. Join us.

Our Vision for the New World We’re Collectively Creating

In this world, health and vitality are of the utmost importance, and people understand the connection between personal health and planetary health.

In this world, humans have the motivation, resources, and time to invest in their well-being.

In this world, people take care of each other, and abundance from locally-harvested food and medicine is shared with those who need it.

In this world, humans feel a sense of belonging in the web of life and take loving action to care for the aliveness of their local ecosystems.

In this world, people are grateful to be alive and honor and protect that which creates more life.

This is the groundwork we lay today and the legacy we leave so that future generations can be happy, healthy, and free.

Meet The Team

We’re a crew of permaculture lovers, world travelers, Earth children, creators and storytellers, holding this vision and inviting you to create it with us.

  • Mackenzie grew up in the Great Lakes region near Chicago, USA in a Jewish family with Irish, German and Russian ancestry. She was the co-founder of a community-based media company in New York for four years, until its acquisition in 2018 that prompted her to explore other ways of living. She solo traveled through Central and South America, learning from life in ceremony, with plant medicine from the wisdom shared by indigenous elders. This journey brought her to study permaculture, herbalism, regenerative leadership and business design. In 2021 she was guided to steward a piece of land near Lake Atitlan, Guatemala, which opened a new path of learning from the land and creating a community space for people to find joy and simplicity in life. One of Kenzie’s highest excitements is to connect cultures, people, and land, and she feels honored to support people in regenerating their lives through renewed relationship with Earth.

COMMUNITY WEAVER & DREAMER

  • At 18 Frankie left the UK to discover himself and alternative ways of living. While farming in Canada, Frankie learned about permaculture, which guided his light to the community of Punta Mona in Costa Rica. There, he deepened his love and practice for the whole process of food consumption — from planting and tending, to harvesting and creating original dishes to share with his community. Frankie has since led various workshops on the subject and has helped community organisers implement permaculture based systems. Frankie finds his purpose in bringing joy into everyday life through dancing, singing, the internal arts, breathwork and creating spaces to inspire a “new matrix” that opens up our way of viewing the world and its endless possibilities.

FOOD MAGICIAN & MUSIC MUSE

  • Growing up in a conventional modern lifestyle, Kelcie began to have a sense that something wasn’t quite right about this way of life. During her solo travels, she began to follow those threads of curiosity until she discovered permaculture and herbalism. From there, her world view began to change dramatically. With one foot dancing in corporate America and the other rooted in Earth based living, Kelcie weaves from two worlds and finds her purpose in guiding others from a modern lifestyle into a regenerative, holistic lifestyle through herbalism, permaculture, mythology, astrology, farming, gardening, foraging and whatever else ignites that curiosity. 

MODERN WITCH & HERB WHISPERER

  • Andy grew up in Northern New Jersey with New York City in her backyard. After many years of looking outside of herself for her “path,” she embarked on a year of subtraction, letting go of preexisting conditions in pursuit of her true purpose. It was during this time, she discovered her love of permaculture-based farming in Maui. There, she accessed a deeper sense of peace, quiet and satisfaction that revealed life’s simplest offerings for feeling alive — living fully immersed in the land, building with her hands and witnessing life grow all around her. After returning to New York, Andy constantly witnesses the systems that drive disconnected ways of living. Her greatest joy comes from helping others liberate their own sense of agency in attuning to themselves, living in reciprocity with the Earth, and building a more just and loving world.

SOULFUL ARTIST & DESIGNER

  • Born and raised in beautiful Guatemala, Natalia took a backpacking trip after finishing her studies in Taiwan. She landed in the outskirts of Chiang Mai, working at Pun Pun Farm; a place that gathered seed savers, herbalists, artists, engineers, people from all walks of life around the dinner table and the garden. This community planted the seed of curiosity and longing for a more abundant and interconnected way of living in her heart. From the food that nourishes the body to the rhythms that accompany lifestyle, Natalia is moved by the call to a rekindling with place. She finds meaning in being a part of the shaping of stories that support this relationship through language, art and multi media. Board games, cozy hugs, a good cup of cacao, the gathering of instruments and voices, dancing, pink-orange skies, martial arts, and majestic trees are just some of the things that make life joyous to her.

MULTI-MEDIA ARTIST & JACK OF ALL TRADES

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our deepest thanks and gratitude to the brave wisdom-keepers, the Original Peoples on this Earth who have been safeguarding essential practices and knowledge for generations, despite many battles to destroy them and their wisdom. We give thanks for their unwavering, fierce protection of the Earth, on behalf of all beings. We thank them for their generosity and trust in sharing their cultures and teachings during these times and for opening pathways of plant medicine for us to have our own direct experience with spirits of the land. The founding members of OBF have been able to find our way back home through the support of elders in the North, Central, and South Americas. We dedicate this work to them.