Benneth Phelps is The Carrot Project’s Executive Director. She brings a deep and dynamic knowledge of Carrot's work from 12+ years of on-the-ground experience uplifting New England’s farmers, and a clear vision for building a just and resilient future for agricultural entrepreneurs.Benneth’s approach of repeatedly rolling up her sleeves to work alongside her clients and partners, while bringing deep listening, expertise and compassion, builds trust and achieves unique outcomes.Benneth has a long history with The Carrot Project. As Carrot’s first full-time employee, back in 2011, Benneth laid the groundwork for many of our current programs, earned the trust of hundreds of clients on their path to financial viability, and cultivated relationships with Carrot’s collaborators and supporters.

Benneth worked as the Director of Farmer Services at Dirt Capital Partners for seven years, developing the company’s organizational culture and infrastructure, and its approach to investing in farmland, farms and food enterprises. At Dirt, she developed a track record of making complex land acquisition and transition challenges both simple and achievable; crafted fair, long-term arrangements that allowed farms to expand securely; and provided defined pathways to ownership for every farmer partner. This approach results in impactful projects that would not otherwise happen through traditional financing means. Accomplishments: Managed client relationships and underwriting for farm and farmland investments across the United States. While at Dirt Capital, Benneth worked with over 300 clients and potential clients and increased the number of transactions 285%, impacting more than 4,650 acres and $22,142,000 in funds. Benneth refined Dirt Capital’s underwriting approach leading to successful project outcomes, improving investment and client performance, and supporting farmers to grow their enterprises and market opportunities. Joining with a limited project pipeline, Benneth raised the company’s visibility such that Dirt Capital now work with the best organic producers and processors of every stage and scale in the region and maintains a robust pipeline of projects. She also managed risk in the portfolio of projects, resulting in successful outcomes. Duties:Responsible for maintaining client relationships, bringing in new business, managing underwriting, maintaining a strong network of collaborative lenders and project partners, and providing business support to farm and food clients growing their operations through complex business moves and expansions.

Between 2011 to 2016, Benneth advanced from Program Coordinator to Loan and Business Assistance Manager at The Carrot Project, where she spent five years developing the portfolio of 79 loans and working with hundreds of farm and food enterprises such as Vermont Bean Crafters and Pioneer Valley Popcorn to plan for business growth and obtain successive rounds of financing.Duties: • Managed programs for farm and food enterprises in MA, VT, and the Hudson Valley serving 70-100 clients per year. Loan portfolio of $1,587,836 and 79 loans over the lifetime of the program, with 95% repayment. Provided business coaching on business planning, financial and management strategy and financing literacy• Responsible for program outreach & communications strategy, program budgeting, tracking impacts and maintaining relationships with lending partners and collaborators