In July 2013, ILR leaders were contacted by the Rodale Institute (a nonprofit dedicated to pioneering organic farming through research and outreach) to devise a curriculum to further develop the knowledge for the interns of a new program that the Rodale Institute created; the program takes in applicants who have an interest in learning about sustainable organic farming techniques. The goal of the ILR-Rodale program is to teach the interns about various topics in Business (conducting Market Research, Competitive Analysis, Financial Projections, creating Mission Statements, etc.) so that they can fully make use the Organic Farming skills learned from the Rodale program to pursue a living. 

    This will be ILR-Rodale’s fourth year of operation. Each year we recruit students from Lehigh and place them on teams led by the Rodale interns. Through immersive learning from a specially developed curriculum taught by several professors of Lehigh, students gain exposure to several topics in Business, experiencing first hand what it’s like to consult on a team. They also get to see the fruits of their labor, as several interns have gone on to creating Businesses ranging from CSA’s to Organic Cafés to Farms.