Founder · Builder · Northern California

I'm not an educator by training.
I'm a builder by nature.

I didn't follow a path into this work. I built one — on three acres in rural Northern California, with four kids, a working farm, and a vision for what school could actually look like.

Niki Harris, Founder of Farm School Collective
Meet Niki Harris

"Nobody handed me a roadmap for this. I made it."

I came to education sideways — through entrepreneurship, economic development, and a decade-plus of building funded institutions in rural Northern California. Before Farm School, I spent eleven years raising over $15 million in grants and creative funding across regional economic development projects. I co-founded Siskiyou Farm Co and helped launch Discover Siskiyou — both born out of a deep belief that rural communities deserve infrastructure and investment, not just good intentions.

When I founded Pasture Raised Kids and launched Farm School on our working ranch in Scott Valley, I applied everything I knew about building real organizations — governance, funding, legal structure, community trust — to the problem of reimagining what school could be. For eight years, it worked.

Now I'm building the next layer: a national brand, a founder resource ecosystem, and a model that other educators and families can actually use. The Farm School Collective and Field-Tested are the result of that work — distilled, documented, and ready to share.

The Work

Fifteen years of building things
that actually hold.

2013–2024

Regional Economic Development

Eleven years at a regional Economic Development Council, raising $15M+ in grants and creative funding mechanisms across federal, state, and private sources. Co-founded Siskiyou Farm Co as a project of Siskiyou EDC — funded through multiple federal and state grants. Helped launch Discover Siskiyou, a regional tourism brand funded through TBID assessment dollars.

2020–Present

Pasture Raised Kids — Nonprofit Founded

Founded Pasture Raised Kids, the nonprofit arm of the Farm School model. Secured early backing from the McConnell Foundation, Ford Family Foundation, Nancy Driscoll Foundation, Dairy Council of California, and Raley's. Currently in strategic planning for the next phase.

2018–2026

Farm School — Eight Years of Operation

Founded and operated Farm School on California Heritage Farms in Scott Valley, Northern California. 100+ students served. 4,800 lbs of produce grown by students. 26,000+ scratch-cooked meals. Supported in partnership with VELA, the Tribal Child Care Association of California, and the CA Department of Food & Agriculture Farm to School Incubator Grant Program.

2026–Present

Farm School Collective & Field-Tested

Launched the Farm School Collective — a national brand and online community for farm-based educators and families. Published Field-Tested, a PDF toolkit and Google Drive Founder's Vault built from eight years of real operational knowledge. The model that held is now available for founders who are building.

Funded & Supported By

This work didn't happen in a vacuum.
Here's who believed in it.

$15M+ raised across grants and creative funding mechanisms over fifteen years.

VELA Tribal Child Care Association of California CA Dept. of Food & Agriculture Siskiyou Economic Development The McConnell Foundation The Ford Family Foundation The Nancy Driscoll Foundation Dairy Council of California Raley's
Off the Resume

"The ranch is not a backdrop. It's the whole point."

I live and work on a working farm in Scott Valley, Siskiyou County with my husband Richie and our four kids. The land isn't incidental to this work — it's the source of it. Everything I know about how children learn, how communities hold, and how to build something with staying power came from being embedded in a real place with real stakes.

I came to all of this through an entrepreneurial path — private business, economic development, grant work — not a credentialing system. That's deliberate. I built Farm School because I believed in it, not because someone told me I was qualified. If you're reading this and wondering whether you have what it takes to build something like this: you probably do. The roadmap is what most people are missing. That's exactly what I'm building now.

In the Press
"Fall and Farm School Come to California Heritage Farms" — Edible Shasta Butte, Fall 2019

Ready to build something real?

Field-Tested is the toolkit I wish I'd had when I was building. Eight years of contracts, systems, and frameworks — documented and ready to hand off.

Get Field-Tested — $297 Join the Collective