Farmer. Teacher.
Speaker.

Where it began

Jay Smith is a farmer, teacher, speaker and facilitator. He teaches people how to turn their hardest seasons into fertile ground, and how to ask the question that matters most: what seeds do you desire to plant?

His journey began in the kind of soil most people try to avoid. By the time he was sixteen, he had attended seven different high schools and spent time in youth custody with the Youth Services Bureau of Ottawa. The weight of those years nearly cost him his life.

The farmer

It was on a small hobby farm, hands in the soil, watching what was dead become nourishment, that Jay found the framework that shapes everything he does. Today he farms and keeps bees at Thunder Gardens, a regenerative community farm in rural Ottawa, where people come to grow food and grow themselves.

The teacher

The young man who never finished high school became a college professor. Jay taught for many years at Algonquin College as a professor and program coordinator, and he holds a Master of Adult Education from St. Francis Xavier University. He designs learning the way he grows food: create the right conditions, and growth follows.

Among his many ventures, Jay currently serves as a Digital Learning Strategist, providing his expertise to the Canadian Police College and Public Safety Canada.

The speaker and facilitator

His TEDx talk, What Nature Taught Me About Healing, brought Jay back to the Youth Services Bureau, this time as a farmer and facilitator. He now runs farm based programming with young people in YSB’s Youth Justice Services, and trains the staff who support them.

He brings the same work to organizations as a speaker, corporate trainer, team builder and coach, for clients that include General Dynamics Mission Systems, Calian and Innovation Realty.

At a glance

• EducationMaster of Adult Education, St. Francis Xavier University
• TeachingFormer college professor who now teaches people to grow on his farm
• Digital learningDigital Learning Strategist, Canadian Police College and Public Safety Canada
• SpeakingTEDx speaker, What Nature Taught Me About Healing
• Government supplyRecognized supplier under the ProServices supply arrangement
• OwnershipOwner, Thunder Gardens and the Community Growing Collective
• FarmingGrows food and flowers, raises poultry and keeps bees at Thunder Gardens