Will Allen, CEO of Growing Power Inc., is an urban farmer who is transforming the cultivation, production and delivery of healthy foods to underserved, urban populations.

Will Allen, CEO of Growing Power Inc., is an urban farmer who is transforming the cultivation, production and delivery of healthy foods to underserved, urban populations.

 In 1995, while assisting neighborhood children with a gardening project, Allen began developing the farming methods and educational programs that are now the hallmark of the non-profit organization Growing Power, which he directs and co-founded.

Guiding all is his efforts is the recognition that the unhealthy diets of low-income, urban populations, and such related health problems as obesity and diabetes, are largely attributable to limited access to safe and affordable fresh fruits and vegetables.

Rather than embracing a “back-to-the-land” approach, Allen’s holistic farming model incorporates cultivating foodstuffs and designing food distribution networks in an urban setting.

The internships and workshops hosted by Growing Power engage teenagers and young adults, often minorities and immigrants, in producing healthy foods for their communities and provide intensive, hands-on training to those interested in establishing similar farming initiatives in other urban settings.

Will Allen received a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Miami in 1971. After a brief career in professional basketball and a number of years in corporate marketing at Procter and Gamble, he returned to his roots as a farmer.

He has served as the founder and CEO of Growing Power, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, since 1995 and has taught workshops to aspiring urban farmers across the United States and abroad.