Jim Schenk grew up on a farm in southern Indiana in a family of 10 children. He spent 10 years in a Catholic seminary. After leaving, he finished his graduate degree in theology and followed with a master’s degree in social work. After directing Covington Community Center, an inner-city neighborhood center, for four years, he and his wife, Eileen became aware that most people in the culture are not happy. They concluded that it had to do with people buying into this culture of having stuff, rather than a culture of connection to people and the planet. They founded Imago, an ecological education organization, in 1978 (www.imagoearth.org), looking at how we would live if we held the Earth and Its people as sacred, as our most important priority. Jim was director of Imago for 28 years. He coordinated workshops with Thomas Berry, Jim Berry, Miriam Therese MacGillis, Dennis Banks, Dorothy McClain, John Seed and many other presenters with a focus on deep ecology. He also coordinated the EarthSpirit Rising Conferences. He has offered his own workshops on such topics as Organic Gardening, Simple Living, Health Financial Living, and the Passive Solar Greenhouse. He led the effort to create the Western Wildlife Corridor, Inc., a Land Trust preserving the hillsides along the Ohio River, west of Cincinnati. He also helped start Price Hill Will, a comprehensive community development organization in the larger community of Price Hill, Cincinnati. He is now the part time project coordinator for Imago.
Jim lives in, and was involved in the creation of, Enright Ridge Urban Ecovillage – now Hilltop Eco Community, looking at becoming a demonstration for sustainable living in our urban areas. He has been involved in the purchase of some 20 houses in the ecovillage and has coordinated their ecological rehab. His vision brought about the development of the eco-village urban CSA that uses backyards and lots as its farm. He now chairs the Ecovillage Green Group. He has just published the book “Creating an Urban Eco-village: A Model for Revitalizing Our Cities”. He also consults with individuals and groups interested in setting up an urban ecovillage.
rjamesschenk.org 