Hazon Detroit

Wren is passionate about the outdoors and living sustainably. She grew up on a small animal farm in Southeastern Massachusetts where chickens and turkeys roamed free, and the woods, lakes, and cranberry bogs were her first playgrounds. She learned to organic farm between the pine trees and has continued the practice for over 30 years. Hence, coming to Hazon completes a life circle. She sharpened her horticultural instincts while managing greenhouses, and her love of natural healing was fostered in the health food industry and honed while raising her children, Maggie and Aaron. Education was a natural next step for Wren; she spent the next chapter of her life working in Waldorf and Jewish experiential education. Thus began her Jewish professional journey: she progressed from teacher to Director of Education at a Reform/Renewal synagogue to Director of the Berman Center for Jewish Education at a Conservative Synagogue to Senior Director of Adult Jewish Engagement at the Jewish Community Center.
Having recently completed building an eco-friendly house in Milford, you can find her in her off time protectively watching over her bees and seedling trees as she learns the ways of her land and her tractor. She is beyond excited to be working at Hazon – blending her love for Judaism, her talent for active community collaboration, and her passion for living sustainably.

Rabbi Nate DeGroot is the Hazon Detroit Associate Director and Spiritual & Program Director. In this role, he is helping the Detroit Metro Jewish community to reconnect with their own inherited earth-based Jewish spirituality and reinvest in their historic relationship with the Detroit community around its transformative environmental justice work. He was ordained at Hebrew College in Boston, where he also received a Masters in Jewish Education. He most recently served as the inaugural Jewish Emergent Network Rabbinic Fellow at IKAR in Los Angeles, and before that founded a grassroots cooperative Jewish community in Portland, Oregon. He is a lover of the wild and is excited to bring his passion for all things sacred to his work at Hazon.

Hannah engages the Detroit and Metro Detroit community in conversation, education, action, and advocacy as it relates to climate justice. She previously worked in environmental consulting and has lived and worked on organic farms across North and South America. A transplant to Detroit from the metropolitan area, Hannah has fallen in love with the city’s deep sense of community, especially as it relates to food and environmental justice. Hannah attended Wayne State University where she earned a B.S. in Biochemistry and Chemical Biology. When not getting her hands dirty she can be found exploring, cooking, or planning her next trip.