Phil serves as the acting Executive Director for the CRG.  He currently uses his engineering and consulting background to help build relationships and facilitate change for community initiatives.  His focus is applying systems thinking and mapping techniques to increase community resilience.  Areas of work include local food systems, local economies, ecological literacy, and worldview transitions.

In November, 2018, we mourned the death of CRG founder and dear friend Philip Thomas. 

We’ve organized much of Philip’s published work to keep it accessible here

Philip brought extensive experience in the fields of conflict prevention, transformation, and peace building, and he was recognized globally for his work in Democratic Dialogue and multi-stakeholder engagement processes.

David is a professor in the Sociology, Social Work, & Anthropology Department of Goshen College. He has a PhD from the University of Missouri-Columbia, where he focused on rural community food systems. A published scholar, presenter, and researcher, he teaches courses in Sociology of Food and Agriculture, Environmental Sociology, and Methods of Social Research.

With majors in Sociology and Communications from Goshen College, Twila has a gift for sense-making and analysis in the context of complex social systems. A Goshen native, she helped start the Fellows program for the Community Resilience Guild and has managed a variety of surveys and mapping projects focused on community relations and local food.

Mark is a farmer, certified organic inspector, and food entrepreneur committed to building more resilient local food systems.  He holds degrees in Ag Education and Agriculture Studies from Iowa State University and has performed graduate work at Cornell University.  He is also a Certified Ag Education Instructor, commodity broker, and former Director and Sustainable Food Systems Coordinator for an international NGO.