Staff

Benjamin Webb, Executive Director

Benjamin Webb is an ordained Episcopal priest who has always been interested in people, land and community and what it takes to create a good society. His undergraduate work in environmental and agricultural studies and early work in farming led him to write for an agricultural journal, and then into the public policy arena of the Iowa Legislature where he worked on agricultural, energy, environmental and health issues in the region. He has since started non-profits, directed foundations, and knows fundraising and strategic planning.

Ben’s skills with people were honed while a parish priest for twelve years, in community and regional sustainable development initiatives, in the establishment of a community foundation with 1200 members, and in mentoring activists around the country.

He is a public speaker and conference organizer whose primary interests have been at the intersection between a regenerative culture, ecological and community health, the transformative role of religion and contemplative practices in society, and the change process. He also believes a good society and sustainable economy cannot be achieved without a regenerative culture, and that a regenerative culture cannot be sustained around us if it isn’t being cultivated inside us.

He has recently served on the board of Plains Justice, Iowa Interfaith Power and Light, and the Committee on Social Responsibility for the Episcopal Church USA. Ben has also been a participant in Whidbey Institute’s year-long “Powers of Leadership” program; served on the faculty for Island Institute’s annual Sitka Symposium; been a guest writer at Mesa Refuge in California; and a sabbatical recipient supported by Fetzer Institute.

He is also the author of Fugitive Faith: Conversations on Spiritual, Environmental and Community Renewal (Orbis Books), and has written articles and reviews for journals such as Interreligious Insight, Noetic Sciences Review, North American Review, Christian Century, and the Journal of Religion and Education.

Ben is on the staff of the Episcopal Diocese of Iowa where he directs the Center for Regenerative Society full-time.

Ben can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Hannah McCargar, Administrative Assistant

Hannah is providing administrative support to the Director around programs, development, and office systems as we develop a base of operations in Decorah, Iowa with outreach to the Driftless Area and Upper Midwest service territory.

She comes to the Center for Regenerative Society with Driftless region roots in Decorah, Iowa, and wider branches. From travels in western Europe, Central and South America, and work experiences on both coasts of the US, she has always felt drawn back to northeast Iowa where she was born and raised.

Her interests in environmental studies, sustainable community development, personal growth, and communication and conflict resolution have led her down a fruitful path. At Lost Valley Educational Center in Dexter, Oregon, Hannah assisted the Board president, archived 15 years’-worth of files and studied permaculture. During a long tenure at Oneota Community Food Co-op in Decorah she worked in six departments and also served as Wellbeing Coordinator during an expansion. At Earthdance retreat center in Plainfiled, Massachusetts, she assisted with event registration, hosting and meal preparation. In Decorah she has organized and assisted with several personal growth and organizational wellbeing workshops in partnership with the Heart of Now of Eugene, Oregon. Drawing on her interest and experience with horses, she also organizes “horsemanship through feel” training seminars with international trainer Leslie Desmond and national trainer Karen Musson.

With the Center for Regenerative Society, Hannah’s interest in nourishing social and natural resources within individuals and communities finds another outlet. She is excited to support the Center’s mission, and the leaders it serves, through tangible and vital administrative efforts. She values open communication, organization, collaboration and attention to quality and detail.

During her other waking hours, Hannah is also a Natural Hoof Care Practitioner undergoing certification with the Equine Sciences Academy, an avid student of contact improvisation, and co-cultivator of a rural homestead.

Hannah can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Gary Holthaus, Program and Development Consultant (and Humanist-in-Residence)

Gary Holthaus recently directed the Northern Plains Sustainable Agriculture Society, but has spent the past three decades directing and funding state humanities councils or private humanities programs in his belief that the humanities and arts can shape a better society. These include the Institute for the Humanities at Salado (Texas), the Anderson Center for Interdisciplinary Studies (Minnesota), the Center for the American West (Colorado), the Alaska Humanities Forum, and serving as regional program representative for the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Gary continues to provide consulting and workshops as principal of words into focus, has taught English in colleges and universities, and is a former Methodist pastor.
Holthaus is also a writer of poetry and essays who sees language and story as one of the keys to a spiritual self-cultivation that can help create a regenerative culture. This is not a new insight. From his work with Alaskan Native languages and his studies in historical theology, Confucianism, the pre-Socratics and Stoics, Holthaus has come to recognize that getting our language straight is one key to getting our social and spiritual lives straight.

Gary’s published poems can be found in books titled:
If You Were Here, I Would Have Hands
An Archaeology of Home
Traveling Alone: Eight Days in Autumn
Circling Back and
Unexpected Manna.

His non-fiction works include:
Learning Native Wisdom: What Traditional Cultures Teach Us about Subsistence, Sustainability, and Spirituality
From the Farm to the Table: What All Americans Need to know about Agriculture
Wide Skies: Finding a Home in the West
The Great Land: Reflections on Alaska
A Society To Match the Scenery
Alaska, Reflections on Land and Spirit
Alaska Native Orators, Storytellers and Writers
Handbook for Bilingual Education
Teaching Eskimo Culture to Eskimo Students

Gary can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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