Classes & Events

Jess Rene is a Two-Spirit Indigenous Designer, Herbalist, Ethnobotanist, Ecologist, Architect, and Urban Planner specializing in sustainable design, food forests, and community-centered spaces. Rooted in food justice, cultural reclamation, and holistic care, Jess creates meaningful projects that foster equity, connection, and ecological stewardship.

As a self-taught nutritionist, Jess passionately advocates for nutrition as a foundational pillar of health. Embracing the belief that food is medicine, they integrate holistic wellness practices that reconnect communities with ancestral active-care and lifestyle wisdom—honoring the relationships among nourishment, land, body, and spirit.

Jess proudly honors their rich Indigenous heritage, embraced from both sides of their family.

On their mother’s side, their roots trace to the Nahua, Otomi, Zapotec, Mixteca, and Tarahumara peoples, alongside Amazonian and Andean roots. While Jess has not been formally claimed by these tribes, they deeply value the ongoing recovery of their roots and cultural traditions. Their Southwestern and Northeastern ancestry strengthens their connection to the land and to the care given to how plants are grown, tended, and prepared. Jess believes that we eat energy: the energy of the soil, the water, the hands, the intention, and the relationships that bring food and medicine to life.

On their father’s side, Jess descends from mixed First Nations heritage including Algonquin, Montagnais, Cree, Ojibway (Anishinaabeg), Iroquois (Mohawk), and Scandinavian Sámi ancestry.

Committed to honoring the land and promoting resilience, Jess specializes in sustainable landscape and ecological design. Their work includes planning and developing food forests, community gardens, and regenerative landscapes that support biodiversity and cultural plant relationships. Jess envisions community wellness hubs where natural elements and Indigenous stewardship unite to nurture healing environments. Sustainability, reciprocity, and respect for the Earth guide every project and class they lead.