As Life Lab’s new executive director, Whitney Cohen, who served as the organization’s director of education for 17 years, will help the Santa Cruz-based nonprofit refocus on its decades-long mission of training garden educators nationwide after a difficult summer that included nearly 30 layoffs due to the loss of a key contract with the Pajaro Valley Unified School District and other funding sources.

In June, Cohen told Lookout that Life Lab was “financially overwhelmed as major contracts expired and philanthropic support for program expansion failed to materialize.” She said the board and consultants are helping the organization reduce staff and make program changes and would provide the community with updates soon.

On Tuesday, Life Lab announced that Cohen would take the reins and oversee the organization’s $1.2 million budget and seven staff members.

In an interview with Lookout about her new role last week, Cohen said the layoffs have been a very difficult time for the Life Lab community and she looks forward to leading the organization as it gets back on its feet.

“This experience has really made our board and management recommit to long-term success and sustainability,” she said. “Our board is now working very closely with me, with the support of an outside consultant, to develop clear, enhanced governance protocols that will ensure a sustainable future.”

She added that Life Lab has hired a finance director and an accountant to assist her and the board.

The local nonprofit has about 45 years of experience in garden-based learning, developing curriculum for elementary-aged children and training garden educators. Although it is not part of UC Santa Cruz, Life Lab’s main office and gardening classroom are located at the farm on the university’s campus.

For the past decade, Life Lab and PVUSD have worked together to bring Life Lab teachers to their elementary schools to create gardens and educational programs. After the district did not renew a proposed $2.2 million contract with Life Lab for 2024-25 due to budget cuts, the organization was forced to restructure its programs and lay off staff who were part of the district’s gardens.

However, the school district was able to hire ten of those employees to run garden education programs at elementary and middle schools, according to Cohen. Cohen said seven of them work as garden teachers, two as classroom teachers and one is in charge of yard gardening.

“The district places a lot of value on these school gardens and the garden educators, so they have institutionalized this,” she said.

Cohen, 46, grew up in Laguna Beach and moved to the Santa Cruz area in 1999. She first taught for two years in the San Mateo Outdoor Education program east of Pescadero before enrolling at UCSC to earn her teaching credential. There, she took a science education course with Robbie Jaffe, Life Lab’s founding director, and was introduced to the organization.

However, it wasn’t until she was about fifth year teaching middle school science in Pescadero after graduating from UCSC that she applied for the position of Director of Education at Life Lab. She held that position until she was recently named Executive Director. As Director of Education, she led curriculum development and conducted over 30 professional development workshops for over 700 garden educators annually.

Cohen said she will help the organization refocus Life Lab’s mission on this work: training garden educators, as well as trainers who train garden educators for organizations and schools across the country and, to some extent, internationally. As of July of this year, Life Lab has trained nearly 1,000 garden educators and trainers and estimates it has reached more than 5 million students nationwide.

The number of educators Life Lab trains varies each year, depending on whether it hosts a summit every two years. In 2022, it began co-hosting a summit with national grocery chain Sprouts’ Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation. Cohen said Life Lab will be able to train larger numbers during the conferences: “In 2024, 2026 and 2028, our numbers should keep pace.”

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