Greg Kieser - FOunder
Greg first and foremost sees the creation and running of Reforesters as his purpose in the 2020s, not because of divine intervention or other magical means, but because of a unique set of experiences, knowledge and interests that made him believe Reforesters has the potential to be the best expression of who he is and what he has to offer others.
Losing both parents as a child and a sister and brother long before their time has given Greg perspectives regarding loss, addiction, suicide, homelessness, healing, love and community that he desires to socialize and iterate on with the support of his communities.
His education in the natural sciences, work in technology and self-study of complex systems led him to develop the Reforesters framework for personal, societal and planetary healing. To consider that framework, one can direct their attention to Reforesters’ Intention here.
Further, after spending a decade “investing” the money of others in social programs with the goal of alleviating poverty in New York City, he believes he has an understanding of the systemic lever points of human suffering and healing that is worth sharing.
Lastly, recognizing the position of extreme privilege that he occupies thanks to the myriad of benefits that come with his nationality and race, he believes it is his duty to contribute to creating a world with less disparity in privilege.
He recognizes, most notably, that the Reforesters framework and approach is likely rife with biases and blindspots emerging from his privilege and upbringing. He invites his communities to point those out.
He wrote this bio in the 3rd person. Kinda weird that we do that, right?
Relevant publications: American Spaz, Dear Machine: A Letter to a Super-Aware Intelligent Machine.
Seeking Collaborators
Reforesters is currently operating with a team of collaborators, mostly functioning as consultants, both on the farm in Bloomville and in the space in Williamsburg. As we ready these locales for participants, we are seeking others that feel aligned with the Reforesters thesis and mission to help us build something beautiful and of value.
ON THE FARM IN BLOOMVILLE, NY:
Along with other partners in the agroforestry space, Reforesters Farm is seeking enterprising, hardworking individuals who wish to develop one or more perennial farm products (think berries, asparagus, chickens, eggs, mushrooms), which, through their development and sales, encourage the cultivation of ecosystems on the farm(s) while cultivating local economic stability. Contact us if intrerested.
IN THE LABORATORY IN BROOKLYN, NY:
In mid 2024 Reforesters Laboratory will open to the public. Central to its offering will be a very high fidelity 16 point spatial sound system that incorporates subwoofers that can provide full body healing vibration unlike that which many people have experienced. We are inspired by the work of the Spatial Sound Institute in Budapest, artist Stephanie Edgedy and Stretch Metal among other emerging experimental individuals and organizations.
In the rear sound studio space at Reforesters Laboratory we see an opportunity to intermingle breathwork and meditation with deep listening on a spatial sound system and deep bass vibration to create powerful healing sessions. With the cafe/ shop in the front we see an opportunity to provide our participants with coffees, teas, adaptogenic drinks, edibles, gut friendly foods and supplemental compounds that may stimulate their mind and body yet further. It will also be a place to celebrate new product lines that support the Earth and Economic healing potential of agroforestry in Northeast United States. While Reforesters will mostly be an experience space, that operates much like a yoga studio from 7am to 10pm with sessions ranging from 20 to 90 minutes, we may have occasional discussions about the various modalities we employ as well as about our work to bring agroforestry economies to NYC. Longer form listening sessions will be curated and special. It will promote the idea that we are all on a journey together as **one** and thus will not be overly reliant on the concept of guru, or that any of us are on a higher plane than the next person.
As far as we are aware, this combination of interventions doesn’t exist anywhere in the world so are excited to be pioneers.
To prepare for our opening in the summer, we are seeking a few individuals to help as consultants for a handful of hours per month pre-opening and for facilitating sessions post opening. Consultancy hourly pay is up for individual discussion but pay for facilitation of sessions once we open will likely be consistent with that of yoga studios. Your wisdom and humanity will be helpful in seeing Reforesters Laboratory’s introduction to New York City!
While we encourage different views and experiences, we feel fairly confident the contexts and mission we called out, while not exhaustive, give a fairly good overview of the relevant dynamics of the world we are emerging into and how we will shape our programs. Those interested should review those for an “alignment” check. Further, we see the limited, holistic use of animals on the farm can provide unparalleled support for the cultivation and healing of the natural ecosystems there (soil, forest, etc). We call this out as we understand many stand firmly against such use of animals. So prospective helpers would be wise to consider if that is a deal breaker for their involvement.
Still interested? Reach out here!