Occidental Arts & Ecology Center

What Occidental Arts & Ecology Center does

Occidental Arts & Ecology Center (OAEC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research, demonstration, education, and organizing center operating on an 80-acre campus in West Sonoma County, California (Occidental, CA). Founded in 1994 by seven founders of the Sowing Circle intentional community, OAEC has operated continuously for over 30 years, with on-site land-based education stretching back to 1974 under predecessor organizations (Farallones Institute and Center for Seven Generations). Its core programs span five interlinked areas: Mother Garden Biodiversity (a living seed bank of thousands of heirloom and open-pollinated varieties plus a certified-organic plant nursery open to the public); Resilient Community Design / Permaculture (including the longest-running Permaculture Design Certification course in the Western United States); the WATER Institute (conservation hydrology, beaver coexistence, and the California Beaver Help Desk); Wildlands Restoration (Fuels to Flows low-tech process-based restoration and the Found Gully Model co-developed with the University of Chicago Data Science Institute); and Movement Building (group retreats and fiscal sponsorship). OAEC signed the United States' first permanent Organic Agricultural Easement in 1994 and operates under California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) certification.

OAEC generates revenue from a diversified mix of sources: course tuition (Permaculture Design Certification, Food Forests courses), paid group retreats (up to 32 overnight guests, accommodating 16-31 ideal group sizes with full catering, pricing by inquiry only), organic plant nursery sales (seasonal, Wed-Sat, April through October), consulting on regenerative design and ecological restoration, foundation grants (including 11th Hour Project), individual donations, and fiscal sponsorship administrative fees for emerging social-change organizations. Distribution is primarily direct: on-site at the Occidental campus, supplemented by free digital resources and DIY publications, webinars (Beaver Coexistence, Fuels to Flows), and a presence at conferences such as Bioneers and the Ecological Farming Conference. Customer segments concentrate on environmental and social-justice nonprofits and coalitions, public agencies, foundations, regional gardeners/farmers, watershed advocates, and individual change-makers pursuing permaculture training. OAEC is governed by an independent Board of Directors and led by founding Executive Director Dave Henson, with program direction distributed across co-directors and subject-matter leads; in January 2025 it added a senior Financial Controller, signaling professionalization of finance operations.

Name

Occidental Arts & Ecology Center

Legal name

Occidental Arts & Ecology Center

Website

https://oaec.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Occidental Arts & Ecology Center (OAEC) is an 80-acre nonprofit research, demonstration, and education center in Sonoma County, California, offering Permaculture Design Certification, a certified organic plant nursery, group retreats, fiscal sponsorship, and watershed restoration programs for environmental and social-justice organizations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Environmental Education and Ecological Restoration Services

NAICS

Nature Parks and Other Similar Institutions (71219), Environmental Consulting Services (541620), Landscaping Services (561730)

SIC

Hotels, Rooming Houses, Camps & Other Lodging Places (7000), Agricultural Services (700), Forestry (800)

akta.pro primary industry

Environmental Education, Capacity Building & Community Engagement (BPADALAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Agroforestry & Perennial Cropping Systems (EUABABAD), Sustainability Engagement, Training & Behavior Change Programs (On-site) (BPABALAK)

Keywords

• Permaculture design certification
• Ecological restoration services
• Watershed management training
• Certified organic plant nursery
• Community resilience education

Headquarters

HQ city

Occidental

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Supply Chain, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Group Retreats & Events: OAEC hosts organizations for retreats, workshops, and strategic planning meetings. Revenue comes from accommodation (up to 32 overnight guests), meeting facilities, and catering services. Groups include networks, public agencies, foundations, and social/environmental justice organizations.
2. Educational Courses: OAEC offers Permaculture Design Certification (PDC) courses (9-day residential), specialized courses like Food Forests (June 21-26), and various workshops generating course fee revenue.
3. Plant Nursery Sales: 100% California Certified Organic nursery selling open-pollinated perennials, heirloom varieties, edible landscaping plants, drought-tolerant ornamentals, and habitat plants. Open Wed-Sat, 11am-5pm.
4. Fiscal Sponsorship: OAEC provides administrative home to new social change organizations through legal, payroll, accounting, HR, tax, and insurance services. Revenue model unclear whether it generates fees or is service-provided.
5. Foundation Grants & Individual Donations: OAEC diversifies revenue through foundation grants and individual donors. Revenue pie chart indicates multiple funding sources including courses, fiscal sponsorship, consulting, grants, and donations.
6. Consulting Services: OAEC provides consulting to support other organizations in permaculture design, regenerative project implementation, and ecological restoration.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

OAEC operates an 80-acre living laboratory in Sonoma County, California, where it delivers hands-on environmental education, permaculture certification courses, group retreats, certified organic nursery plants, watershed and beaver coexistence programs, and fiscal sponsorship for emerging nonprofits. The center combines demonstration gardens, a wildlands preserve, retreat facilities, and applied research to train change makers and support communities in designing ecologically regenerative and socially just systems.

Product overview

The Occidental Arts & Ecology Center (OAEC) operates as an 80-acre research, demonstration, education, advocacy, and community-organizing center that develops strategies for regional-scale community resilience. OAEC offers a diverse portfolio of interconnected programs and services rather than a unified software product: its core offerings include the Plant Nursery (100% Certified Organic plants), the Mother Garden Biodiversity Program (heirloom seed preservation), the Permaculture Design Certification (9-day residential course), Food Forests Course (5-day agroforestry immersion), Resilient Community Design methodology (permaculture-based facilitation), WATER Institute (watershed advocacy and education including Bring Back the Beaver Campaign and California Beaver Help Desk), Conservation Hydrology program, Wildlands Restoration Program (including the Fuels to Flows Campaign), Found Gully Model (data science tool for watershed restoration), Movement Building/Group Retreats (venue hosting for up to 32 guests), Fiscal Sponsorship Program, and an Internship Program. These offerings are service-based educational and ecological restoration programs, not commercial software products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Certified Organic Plant Nursery Physical retail nursery at OAEC's 80-acre campus selling 100% Certified Organic open-pollinated perennials, edible landscaping plants, rare and endangered food crops, drought-tolerant ornamentals, and habitat plants appropriate to the Northern California bioregion. Sales open to the public seasonally (April through October), serving regional gardeners, farmers, and landscapers.
• Permaculture Design Certification (PDC) Course A 9-day residential hands-on skills and design training course teaching foundational permaculture concepts and applications including food forestry, carbon farming, group facilitation, and community governance. Includes accommodation, meals, instruction, and a Permaculture Design Certificate. Serves aspiring and practicing permaculture designers, landowners, agency staff, and change makers.
• Food Forests Course A specialized 5-day immersive agroforestry course held at the 80-acre OAEC farm and demonstration site, covering hands-on learning about food forest design and implementation. Targets individual learners interested in agroforestry, perennial food systems, and whole-landscape design.
• Group Retreats Multi-day retreat venue hosting for networks, public agencies, foundations, and groups working toward social and environmental change. Includes meeting facilities, guest housing for up to 32 overnight guests, and food services, with an ideal group size of 16–31 and a two-night minimum.
• Fiscal Sponsorship Program Administrative services providing 501(c)(3) status, accounting, tax, HR, strategy, governance, and fundraising support to emerging social change and environmental projects. Serves nascent nonprofits and movement organizations that need an administrative home before they are ready to incorporate independently.
• California Beaver Help Desk Free online portal providing site assessments, technical resources, and landowner stipends to help California land managers and owners implement beaver coexistence. Delivers the WATER Institute's beaver-based watershed restoration support across California, including the first landowner stipend delivered along the Tuolumne River.
• Internship Program An 11-month (February–December) residential learning program that hires cohorts of six interns to live and learn at OAEC. Includes a $750 monthly stipend, private cabin housing, community meals, participation in the Permaculture Design Course, and use of all OAEC facilities. Targets aspiring land stewards and ecological practitioners.
• OAEC Consulting Services Consulting services supporting other organizations in permaculture design, regenerative project implementation, and ecological restoration. Led by OAEC staff with international consulting experience in permaculture and watershed restoration across multiple continents.
• OAEC Cookbook Cookbook titled "Fresh-from-the-Garden Recipes for Gatherings Large and Small," featuring recipes inspired by the OAEC garden, scaling tips for groups up to 40, and wild foods. Available for purchase through OAEC's online channels.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1000 acres of Bay Area land tended by Alliance for Land-based Mutual Aid (ALMA) network
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers17 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• California Process-Based Restoration Network (Cal PBR)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025In 2025, Cal PBR Network became an official Fiscally Sponsored Project of OAEC. Goal is to increase practitioner capacity for process-based restoration approaches to restore degraded ecosystems and build California's resiliency to drought, wildfire, and climate change.
• Pepperwood PreservecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional partnership with Pepperwood Preserve (3,200-acre ecological research institute in Sonoma County) to translate scientific findings into practical fire management resources for landowners and agencies. OAEC participates in this collaborative network including the Sonoma Ecology Center to support wildfire ecology, prescribed burning research, and regional fire resilience.
• University of Chicago Data Science Institute (DSI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFive-year collaboration developing the Found Gully Model, which co-locates eroded upland gullies with adjacent forests for gully stuffing restoration. The partnership is part of the 11th Hour Project grantee community and represents a unique academic-civil society collaboration.
• Robinson Rancheria of Pomo IndianscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative watershed restoration training featuring low-tech process-based restoration methods from OAEC's Fuels to Flows toolkit. Represents tribal partnership in ecological restoration and knowledge sharing.
• Tribal EcoRestoration Alliance (TERA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFive-year partnership through OAEC's fiscal sponsorship program. TERA achieved independent 501(c)(3) status after growing through OAEC's support. Continues collaborative work on tribal eco-restoration across California.
• Federated Indians of Graton RancheriacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership honoring the legacy of Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo land stewardship practices. OAEC acknowledges its site is located on the historical territory of these peoples and works to continue their land stewardship legacy.
• Alliance for Land-based Mutual Aid (ALMA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOAEC is one of seven founding community organizations in this bioregional network of Bay Area land-based projects. ALMA members tend over 1000 acres of land and include Black Ag Tech, Movement Generation, North Bay Jobs with Justice, PODER, Shelterwood Collective, and The Cultural Conservancy.
• FEED Sonoma CooperativeminorOthersLocal food distribution cooperative from which OAEC sources produce and ingredients for kitchen operations.
• Andy's Produce MarketminorOthersLocal produce source for OAEC's kitchen operations.
• Sonoma County Meat Co.minorOthersEthical meat supplier for OAEC retreats and courses.
• Bodega PasturesminorOthersOrganic meat supplier for OAEC's occasional ethically-sourced meat offerings.
• RE-volvminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSolar energy nonprofit partnership for OAEC's solar array installation project.
• Beaver InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborates with OAEC's WATER Institute on beaver coexistence field training, tours, and workforce development for California's Central Valley and Eastern Sierra Nevada.
• Connected EcologycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Beaver Coexistence Field Training and Tour program, focusing on California land managers and owners.
• California Department of Fish and WildlifeminorOthersFunded the Beaver Coexistence webinar through the Nature Based Solutions: Wetlands and Mountain Meadows Grant Program.
• Sonoma Land TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-signed the United States' first permanent Organic Agricultural Easement over OAEC's gardens and orchards in 1994, ensuring all future farming operations remain free of synthetic chemicals.
• California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF)minorOthersCertification body for OAEC's organic farming operations.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Pepperwood Preserve: 3,200-acre ecological research institute in Sonoma County focused on fire ecology, prescribed burning, and conservation research. Listed as an OAEC partner and the most direct regional peer in combining scientific research, education, and on-the-ground land stewardship.
• Regenerative Design Institute: Bolinas, CA-based nonprofit offering Permaculture Design Certification courses, ecological design consulting, and a working demonstration farm. Directly comparable to OAEC in permaculture education mission, residential course format, and Northern California Bay Area focus.
• Quail Springs Permaculture: Ojai, CA nonprofit offering Permaculture Design Certification courses and regenerative design education on a multi-acre demonstration site. Closely aligned with OAEC on residential PDC delivery, demonstration-site model, and permaculture methodology.
• Audubon Canyon Ranch: Sonoma County-based conservation nonprofit operating nature preserves with research, education, and stewardship programs. Listed as an OAEC retreat client and operates at greater scale with comparable mission on ecological research, education, and demonstration.
• Beaver Institute: Oregon-based nonprofit specializing in beaver relocation, coexistence training, and watershed restoration. Listed as an OAEC partner on the Beaver Coexistence Field Training program and the most direct peer to the California Beaver Help Desk.
• Sustainable Settings: Colorado-based nonprofit operating a working demonstration farm that delivers permaculture education, regenerative agriculture courses, and ecological design consulting. Comparable to OAEC in combining a demonstration site with permaculture training and on-site consulting services.

Regional players

• Sonoma Ecology Center: Sonoma-based nonprofit working on restoration, environmental education, and community-based conservation. Comparable to OAEC's Wildlands and watershed programs and active collaborator through the Sonoma County fire ecology network.

Broad incumbents

• Esalen Institute: Large California retreat and educational center offering workshops, residential programs, and integrated education across multiple disciplines. Comparable to OAEC's retreat hosting and workshop programming at much greater scale, serving similar movement and professional audiences.
• Tides Foundation: Large fiscal sponsor and philanthropic intermediary providing 501(c)(3) infrastructure to social change and environmental projects. Comparable to OAEC's fiscal sponsorship program at substantially larger scale and with a national footprint.
• California Native Plant Society: California nonprofit focused on native plant conservation, education, and habitat restoration. Employed OAEC staff in field ecology roles and overlaps with OAEC's drought-tolerant plant nursery and wildlands programs at significantly larger state-wide scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/theOAEC
• Instagraminstagram.com/the_oaec
• Xx.com/theoaec

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles23 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Occidental Arts & Ecology Center