Denise Cagley-Jefferson

MIU student Denise Cagley-Jefferson got her first taste of volunteering when she accompanied her mother to the local soup kitchen in Waterloo, Iowa. That experience, Denise said, shaped her future and led her on a service-oriented career path.

 

For 25 years she has worked in non-profit management, international development, and humanitarian assistance with organizations such as Volunteers of America and the Peace Corps. For the past five years, she has coordinated international humanitarian efforts for USAID in war-torn and disaster areas, including Syria and Venezuela.

Denise is also a yoga teacher and has known about MIU and its Consciousness-Based℠ approach to education for a long time. After purchasing her land, she wanted to learn about becoming a farmer. When searching online, she discovered MIU’s new online master’s in Regenerative Organic Agriculture Program and applied the same day.

 

She learned the Transcendental Meditation® technique in Jamaica and found it helpful in her sometimes stressful job. “I have noticed that I have more calmness in conflict and in tense situations,” she said. “I am not getting emotionally affected.”

 

Through her classes at MIU, Denise has had the opportunity to learn more about the tropical fruits in her orchard, and met a farmer in Florida who volunteered to mentor her. She has also applied for a fall internship with the Rodale Institute.