Andalusia Farms is a project of Vita Nuova to train youth in self-sufficiency skills and to prepare them for sustainable lives and careers.
Established in 2002, Andalusia farms has graduated a number of interns who have gone on to successful careers in their chosen profession.
Some have continued to work for Vita Nuova in various capacities and some have worked solely for the farm. While Andalusia farms has seen over 50 interns come and go, below is a representation of those who worked here, prospered from their experience, and have “grown naturally” as we would like to say.
Steve Danyew
Steve Danyew
Steve was our first intern. Having a landscape maintenance background when he arrived, we first noticed him when he began cutting angles in the grass as if this were a big estate or corporate lawn. He went on to manage the office for Vita Nuova here in Connecticut and then virtually from Rochester, NY and helped found the Northeast Sustainable Community Workshop https://nscwonline.com/, which brings together professionals across disciplines in the tri-state area. It continues today as part of BCONE’s programs. He is now a Professor at Eastman School of Music and an accomplished composer. You can learn more about Steve’s career here: https://www.stevedanyew.com/. Working for Andalusia Farms and Vita Nuova allowed Steve to bypass the normal “work as an intern to a famous composer” and launch his own career working directly with clients around the country. The marketing skills he learned at Vita Nuova allowed him to promote himself and develop a fruitful career in the music business!
Gioia Connell
Gioia Connell
Gioia returned from the University of Edinburgh with a sustainability degree and began at Andalusia farms pruning apple trees. She spent four years with us off and on helping with the non-profit garden program and ultimately becoming a project coordinator for Vita Nuova. Before leaving Vita Nuova, she helped found the Redevelopment Institute www.redevelopmentinstitute.org. She is now completing her joint Masters degree in Architecture and Environmental Studies at Yale.
Brigid Rooney
Brigid Rooney
Brigid came as a summer intern from Boston College, working on the farm and in the office. She also had a big role in Pax in Terra, expanding our non-profit garden program and managing the development of the Eagle Street garden in Bridgeport, CT. Brigid continued after graduation as a project coordinator for Vita Nuova, working on multiple projects and working intently on area-wide planning projects in Dunkirk, Rochester, and especially Lorain, Ohio www.lorainharborawp.com. She is currently a student at Columbia in their environmental studies program and is preparing to start a new position at CodeGreen, a sustainability consulting firm focused on real estate.