With Dr. Peter Kelly at the helm, Mercer Island-based nonprofit organization Grow Further brings a two-fold mission to the table.

It’s not only focused on helping developing countries’ crops grow stronger by supporting agricultural innovation, but aims to bring about personal growth through education and networking opportunities for people who are interested in engaging in food security issues.

“Donors have an opportunity to actually see grant applications before we approve them and meet the scientists and discuss which projects we should approve,” said founder and CEO Kelly, noting that Grow Further has funded four grants in Africa to help smallholder farmers improve their income and nutrition and adapt to climate change.

Delving further into the personal growth realm, the nonprofit will be gathering community members to discuss the vital topics of inflation, tariffs and the 2025 economic outlook during the initial installment of its free Coffee & Conversation series at 8:30 a.m. on May 22 at the Mercer Island Community and Event Center.

Kelly, an economist and social entrepreneur who has lived on the Island for 10 years, will host the event and said that the local interest is there as they prepare to launch the series.

“People have been bringing up these issues. It seems like a lot of people are concerned about instability in the economy right now. Not only jobs for people who are employed, but also retirement accounts for people who are retired. There’s just a lot of concern right now,” said Kelly, a former economics professor at Renmin University in Beijing who has a Ph.D. in agricultural economics and an undergraduate degree in agricultural science.

Mercer Island resident Jennifer Dine, who is Grow Further’s chief of staff, echoed Kelly’s reasons for bringing Islanders together for these thought-provoking conversations. The nearly 11-year local resident has heard people discuss and voice concerns about the topics on the event agenda.

“That’s where the idea came from. It’s just that people feel uncertain right now, and they’re talking in groups and through their friends and whatnot,” she said. “I thought, Peter’s always very knowledgeable and he has a background in this. Why wouldn’t it be interesting for him to kind of lead a conversation and answer some questions and create a community dialogue?”

Carrying a tagline of “connecting people and ideas for a food-secure future,” Grow Further plans to make this a monthly series with future topics focusing on the future of food, water and global resources; climate change and economic resilience; entrepreneurship and innovation for sustainability; and how individuals can align their actions, and investments, with long-term impact.

Last year, Grow Further hosted an event at Town Hall in Seattle that featured a speaker who survived the Rwanda genocide and then dedicated his career to food security and science, Dine said. Locally, Kelly and Dine spoke about “Food Security in the Face of Climate Change” at the Rotary Club of Mercer Island’s meeting on April 2, 2024.

Dine said that she feels motivated to contribute to Grow Further’s solutions-oriented mission.

“That was inspiring to me. I also have an interest in international development, so it all kind of collided,” Dine said.

For more information, visit the event site: https://tinyurl.com/335hk4h5