The Kansas Rural Center’s Food and Farm Conference is coming to the Springhill Suites in Lawrence, KS.

Join farmers, organizations, and community members for a powerful day of collaboration, connection, and vision-building. Together, we’ll explore how to strengthen our communities and support each other in changing times.

Programming will include:

Keynote: Alex Stone, Executive Director of CooperationWorks!

Alex Stone is the Executive Director of CooperationWorks! and has been deeply involved with cooperatives for over a decade. She entered the world of cooperative models through housing co-ops as an undergraduate and spent time as both a house-level manager and a board member. In 2009, she co-founded the Berkeley Student Food Collective and, in 2010, became the store's first Operations Manager. During this time, she helped the store develop its market, refine its business plan, and grow it into a sustainable business. Alex also co-founded the Cooperative Food Empowerment Directive (COFED). During her time with CW, she has overseen the redevelopment of the organization's flagship cooperative developer training program, coordinated ongoing collaborative projects among CW members, and strengthened the partnerships with other national organizations. She is passionate about the potential for cooperatives to radically transform entrenched systems of inequality and inequity in our society and to create just, joyful, and sustainable communities.

Policy and Advocacy: What constituents need to know and how to advocate for the health of our land and people.

Farm Business Strategies: Practical sessions on infrastructure planning, funding opportunities, leasing, and succession planning.

Food Systems in Action: From grassroots community initiatives to food hubs that deliver nutritious food across Kansas.

This is your chance to add your voice, share your power, and help shape a resilient food and farming system that is economically viable, ecologically sound, and socially just for generations to come.