Place-Based Purpose
The Innovation and Education Campus
Collaborate with us for impact in food and agriculture.
Innovation and Education Campus RentalsInnovation and Education Center Grand Opening Ceremony
The Grand Opening Celebration for the Farm Foundation Innovation Education Center took place on Saturday, September 28, 2024, at 31330 N. Milwaukee Ave., Libertyville, Illinois. A photo gallery from the day can be seen here.
Groundbreaking Ceremony Speakers:
Shari Rogge-Fidler, Farm Foundation President and CEO
Dan Basse, Chairman, Farm Foundation Chairman
Honorable Michael Johanns, former United States Secretary of Agriculture
Ambassador Darci Vetter, Head of Global Public Policy, PepsiCo
Chancellor Robert Jones, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Our Mission Embodied in Place
Farm Foundation has created a unique campus in the Chicagoland area to establish a centrally located space for innovators in the food and agriculture industries from across the country to learn, debate, and work together as one to build a future for our farmers, our communities, and our world. The Innovation and Education Campus is a place not just to identify and discuss challenges, but to accelerate the momentum and action needed to solve them. It is our goal to lead food and agriculture forward from this innovative, purposeful space.
More than ever, we need live, in-person collaboration supported by the latest technology to achieve tangible results and make the biggest impact. Agriculture is facing big challenges and we need to bring everyone to the table. We need all voices to come together—farmers, policy makers, researchers, educators, industry executives, and consumers—to craft workable solutions. Farm Foundation’s Innovation and Education Campus is the go-to place for providing quality hybrid and in-person collaboration to the food and agriculture industries.
Farm Foundation Innovation and Education Center
The Innovation and Education Center is a state-of-the-art facility for supporting a variety of uses, including gathering program participants to collaborate; community building and engagement; connecting food and agriculture; accelerating learning through training, development and educational opportunities; content creation to engage with audiences digitally and in-person; providing unique and transformative event experiences that move people to action; and celebrating the Farm Foundation story, impact, and vision for the future.
Real Impact Begins Here
With more than 400 active food companies calling Chicago home, food and agricultural innovation is the heartbeat of this region. By building the first and only integrated food and agriculture center in Chicagoland, we will create a platform for local, regional, national, and even international impact.
Where the Past and Future Meet
Farm Foundation built the Innovation and Education Campus on part of the former Casey Farm in Libertyville, Illinois. Surrounded by the 5,000-acre Liberty Prairie Reserve, which includes 3,300 acres of protected land, this centennial farm is an ideal location to honor the history of farming in the region and create a space that continues to educate and inspire the community on the importance and potential of agriculture. This includes new local, national, and international programming on regenerative food and agriculture, experiential learning for young food and farm entrepreneurs, and accelerated training and educational opportunities in a fully tech-enabled space. The suburban Chicago location also provides ready access to major airports and transportation, making it easier for people from all over the world to convene and collaborate.
Project Details
New campus elements: Innovation and Education Center.
Preserved historic elements: existing barn, existing oak trees, cultural open space
Innovation and Education Center Groundbreaking: August 18, 2023
Grand Opening Celebration: September 28,2024
Design Architect: Kahler Slater
Project Manager: JLL
General Contractor:
Farm Foundation Contact: Todd Price, Vice President of Operations
Build With Us
Our history is long, but our future is just beginning! We are actively fundraising to support the design and construction of the Innovation and Education Campus. If you or your organization would like to support the Innovation and Education Campus, or if you have ideas for programs we could jointly deliver through this unique new space, please get in touch.
This is a projected timeline. Farm Foundation closed on the property in April 2022.