Jillian is a wholistic permaculturalist, who has been working creatively and collaboratively with others since the early 1990s. She supports people in applying whole systems principles to catalyse regeneration in the environments they are in. This has manifested in a wide range of projects, from urban balconies, to entire ecovillages, in over 35 countries.
Jillian founded and ran The Sustainable Living Network in Toronto, helped to found the Ecovillage Network of The Americas, and has served with a variety of other organizations like the Society for Ecological Restoration, and several Committees of Council of the City of Guelph and bioregional watershed studies, which gave a strong environmental frame for hundreds of millions of dollars of ore sustainable development.
Jillian holds a B.Sc. in Agriculture, which was enriched by doing a PDC in 1996, and has completed all but her final project for a Masters in Environmental Design. Jillian has consistently pursued education in personal growth to support herself and others in her work, and is known for her wholistic processing abilities and emotional intelligence, which she applies to her work facilitating community processes, coaching, and mentorship.
In addition to her consulting practice, Jillian designs and delivers integrative learning experiences in Permaculture and Ecovillage design. She has taught at institutions such as the School of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley, as well as the eco schools of Ecosa and Yestermorrow, and bioregional learning communities such as The People’s Coast in West Africa.
Jillian is committed to supporting the emergence of a more holistic and regenerative way of being the world, so that we can become more effective permaculturalists, and have the skills to bring more of our visions to manifestation. Jillian also has Native American heritage, and is now returning to North America to support the next stage of learning from traditional teachings, and bringing them to life in permaculture projects with native peoples in their communities.
2018 Convergence Workshop: Emotional Literacy & Reading Human Landscapes, International Permaculture Slideshow Odyssey, Intentional Communities Panel, Building Indigenous Relations: A BioRegional and Social Permaculture Perspective Panel