Our Staff

Who We Are

MONICA IBACACHE

ALEXANDRA BELLO

MAUREEN LOHRE

KLARA K. IBARRA

Monica Ibacache, BOD Founder, Executive Director

A native of Chile, Monica is a New York City–based community organizer, sustainability educator, and ecological designer since 2007. An avid gardener as a small child with her grandparents in Chile, she rekindled her passion for growing food as an adult while living in southeast Alaska.

Monica is committed to improving food systems while advancing social and environmental justice globally. She has dedicated her life to working with diverse and marginalized communities in education and local development in the U.S. and abroad. Monica has advanced certifications in Permaculture Design and Teaching and serves on the Board of Directors for the Institute of Permaculture for Children (IPEC), Permaculture Institute of North America (PINA), the International Permaculture Convergence Committee (IPCC), the Indoor Gardening Society (IGSA), and the Permaculture Association of the Northeast (PAN).

Maureen Lohre, Communications Consultant
Rachel is fascinated by the science of how things work and is passionate about child and adult education. She received her Certification in Permaculture Design in New York City, as well as her Permaculture Teaching Certificate with Jude Hobbs. She also possesses a B.S degree in Middle School Science Education and a M.A. degree in Educational Administration.

Before her work at BOD, Rachel was Co-director of Educational Activities at an organic permaculture farm in Austin, Texas, and organized various educational and summer camp programs with New York City nonprofit organizations. Rachel currently incorporates her love of environmental education, social justice, and natural design into her work at BOD, and currently serves on the Northeast Womyn in Permaculture SEED team.

Kayla Torrey, Education Coordinator

As an educator Kayla’s goal is to instill curiosity, a love of the world and solutionary thinking into young people. Currently Kayla serves on BOD’s curriculum development team, working closely with our founder to devise creative and engaging lessons for our students.

Kayla graduated from Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts at The New School in 2022 with a BA in theater, minoring in Environmental Studies and Food studies. Kayla's Thesis was a collection of practices inspired by permaculture, designed to encourage communal design. Kayla spent two spring to summer growing seasons volunteering at Tig Susah Farms. Received their PDC at the Findhorn Foundation in August of 2019. Kayla also volunteers with Full Circle Compost, in Topanga California as a compost steward.

“My goal as an educator is to inspire wonder; I want to share my stories and knowledge with the most important people on this planet: our kids! I am grateful for Beyond Organic Design allowing me to invest in and teach our future inventors, farmers, artists, and activists. Together we will cultivate our love of the natural world and preserve it for future generations."

Alexandra Bello, Operations Coordinator

Alexandra has a B.A. in International Studies, dedicated to Human Rights defense in diverse social organizations in Venezuela, she works with educational projects.

She started studying her first Permaculture Design Course in 2022. She's comitted with climate change research in Venezuela, and environmental issues that happen in Venezuela territory.

Dedicated to project management and to serve the society, she seeks to support BOD through her expertise to manage the operations of our organization.