The FARMpreneurs Strategic Sprint is a week-long, in-person executive education boot camp for community based farmers. We guide participants through a demanding and innovative curriculum developed from decades of experience designing and delivering food systems entrepreneurship courses in leading MBA programs 

The program enables and encourages farmers to develop a 3-5 year strategic plan, grow their entrepreneurial and leadership skills, and unlock their abilities to realize their goals while becoming food systems change makers. 

The FARMpreneurs Strategic Sprint guides community based farmers to…

• Develop a strategic plan to create and capture value from your farm

• Articulate a clear long-term vision with concrete steps to successfully achieve it

• Practice and integrate key principles of mission-driven, values-centered entrepreneurship

• Engage in peer learning and collaboration with inspiring FARMpreneurs alumni 

• Learn proven collaboration methods that build and foster robust partnerships that mitigate risks and support sustainability 

• Explore meaningful models of farmer-led food hub collaborations

• Identify unmet needs in a region's farming ecosystem, and identify how to create long-term value from those business opportunities

• Review and analyze product/market fit and distribution- know what to stop doing

• Develop and implement an organizational plan to grow your team and its capacity

• Design a charismatic, financially-viable business plan to attract and engage stakeholders: employees, partners, landowners, community leaders, lenders, investors

• Present your plan to our panel of accomplished farmers, investors and food system experts who will give valuable, constructive feedback and networking opportunities 

• Continue beyond the strategic sprint, with monthly peer-learning cohort conversations and mentorship and continuation course opportunities

Applicants must:

• $100k+ gross sales looking to grow

• Looking to move from seasonal employees to full-time or year-round and provide real jobs for the community

• Looking to scale up, out, or deep in regards to acres, impact, or value-add

• You see your work as connected to something bigger than your farm

• People who are interested in developing as a leader 

• Have a defined growth mindset 

• See money and capital as tools needed to make a more significant impact.

• Want to develop a CEO mindset that does not conflict with the farmer mindset. 

In an effort to maximize impact and the number of farms that we reach through this program, we ask that no more than one participant from a particular farm apply.

The FARMpreneurs faculty team includes Will Rosenzweig or Elaine Hsu as faculty leads, along with a FARMpreneurs alum who brings lived experience and context to the teachings.

Learn more about the faculty here.

Participants leave with a “strategic playbook”, in digital form, that outlines their farm’s mission, vision, and values that will guide their impact upon returning home. This playbook codifies their goals into a clear and concise strategy that can be easily communicated to key stakeholders in their business; whether it’s their business partner, private investors, land trusts, or employees.

Over the course of the week they will create a 3-5 year strategic plan, grow their entrepreneurial and leadership skills, and unlock their abilities to realize their goals while becoming food systems change makers. 

In the final days of the course participants will make a brief presentation of this strategy to a panel of experts and entrepreneurial leaders who provide feedback and suggestions to the farmers about how they can refine their strategy and introduce potential partners and resources. 

Throughout the program, we make a conscious effort to support participants in sharing their learning with their business partners and teams during and after the program. On completion of the program you will have created a strategic business plan to share with key stakeholders.

Each strategic sprint curriculum is built to meet the needs of its participants taking into account what challenges and opportunities they each are facing, what crops the farmers grow, and what region of the country the program is being held.

Each cohort covers core social entrepreneurial topics covered, including: mission vision and values alignment, entrepreneurial mindset, communication strategy, ecosystem cultivation, team growth and management, market assessment, value creation and human centered design. 

This curriculum is not a "how-to" experience - this is a "do-now" experience. Each of these topics is applied directly to the participants current circumstances and then workshopped with the entire group. There is nothing general about this work. Participants work on their goals and strategy in real time, applying the entrepreneurial skill set to the growth they want to achieve. 

Peer integration is also a key to this formative experience. After completion of this course, alumni will stay connected virtually, continuing to collaborate and supporting each other.

Curriculum focus varies in each region. Examples of focus topics may include:

• Institutional Relationships with: Education K-12 , University, Hospitals and Prisons 

• Regional Food Hub Cooperatives

• Financial Literacy

• Diversified farm enterprise

• Value-added product development

• Different forms of capital and risk

• Succession planning

This program is free for farmers to attend. 

This program is generously funded by both individual and foundational support and comes at no cost to farmers. The true cost of this program is $10,000 per farmer.

We are working hard to keep it this way by leaning into philanthropy and grant sources to fund the operational costs of this program. 

Farmers must cover the cost and logistics of their travel to and from the host farm.

This week-long program offered during the slow months of winter invites farmers to be rejuvenated and workshop individual growth plans, refine strategies, and identify and implement resources into an actionable plan that can transform their operations and livelihoods.

Our definition of Regenerative Agriculture includes farming practices that focus on healthy soil and community wellbeing. We focus on smart economical practices which include transitioning acres from conventional to regenerative, reducing tillage, reducing the dependence on herbicides and fertilizers, and seeing farming as a way to support planetary health.  We seek further businesses that are invested in community wellbeing, ensure regional food security and planetary stewardship.