abbey Piner

Abbey is based at the Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) where her focus is increasingly on supporting coalitions to become effective multi-racial teams. Abbey takes a particular interest in the work of white women to address power and whiteness so that a culture of interconnection is possible. Abbey has facilitated nonprofit and for-profit projects in strategic planning and internal systems design over the last 10 years. Abbey is certified in Visual Coaching, a practice that draws on right brain wisdom [creativity and art] as an important tool in dismantling systems of oppression and building liberatory structures. She brings these skills and her belief in holistic approaches and the importance of art in our collective journey into her work as a designer, racial justice advocate, and human being. A native of Eastern NC (Coree and Croatan Land), Abbey hails from a long line of fishermen, boat builders, and educators. Her work over the last decade at the intersection of food and community builds on her training in public health and community-engaged design. Abbey is passionate about designing systems and spaces that center humanity and liberation, and believes that this is necessarily both individual and collective work.