Douglas Foundation International

Help Build Berrytown’s Future of Food and Innovation

Established in 2007 by American diplomats and expatriates living and working in South Africa, The Douglas Foundation International, an IRS-recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, began with a commitment to education, youth development, and economic opportunity for underserved students.

The Foundation raised funds to send three students to the Piney Woods Country Life School in Mississippi, an independent, historically African American, coeducational college-preparatory boarding school focused on leadership through academic and experiential learning. In 2008, this work received recognition associated with the U.S. Department of State’s Avis Bohlen Award for meaningful service to American and host-country communities.

In 2015, the Foundation expanded its work to address food insecurity, health disparities, and neighborhood revitalization in Bronzeville, Columbus, Ohio. In partnership with Partners Achieving Community Transformation (PACT) and The Ohio State University–Franklin County Extension, it helped develop community gardens and urban-agriculture initiatives that increased access to fresh food and hands-on education.

In 2022, the Foundation helped establish the Berrytown Neighborhood Association and Berrytown Community Land Trust and began advancing affordable housing, urban agriculture, youth and workforce development, entrepreneurship, and community investment in historic Berrytown.

Today, the Foundation connects education, agricultural innovation, food production, workforce training, and sustainable community development to create pathways to opportunity.

Help Us Raise $25,000

Your Give for Good Louisville donation will help launch the first phase of the Berrytown Aquaculture Pavilion – Training & Production Facility at 1301 Heafer Road.

Funds will support site and engineering assessments, facility planning, water and utility preparation, a demonstration aquaculture system, water-quality technology, training materials, and safety equipment—the foundational investments needed to move the Pavilion toward implementation.

The goal is bigger than installing equipment. It is to build lasting capacity for food production, education, workforce training, agricultural innovation, and entrepreneurship in historic Berrytown.

From Microfarming to Smart Agriculture

The site already features two 30-by-72-foot high tunnels supporting seasonal growing cycles. Its semi-autonomous hydroponic microfarming system uses smart growing beds and water-based nutrient systems to produce crops efficiently in smaller spaces.

A planned Spectrum Business Wi-Fi network will provide the digital backbone for smart-farm technology, connecting sensors, irrigation and water-monitoring systems, security cameras, environmental controls, fans, and vents. Authorized staff will be able to monitor conditions, receive alerts, and operate connected equipment remotely.

The Aquaculture Pavilion will build on this infrastructure by bringing together aquaculture, hydroponics, water-quality management, controlled-environment agriculture, and smart-farm technology in a working training and production environment.

Why This Project Matters

Communities need more than access to fresh food. They need access to the knowledge, technology, infrastructure, and skills that create opportunity.

The Aquaculture Pavilion will give residents and students hands-on experience with technologies shaping modern agriculture. Participants will learn how water is managed, growing conditions are monitored, technology improves efficiency, and food-production systems can create pathways to careers and entrepreneurship.

The project will also reconnect historic Berrytown with its agricultural heritage while building infrastructure for long-term food production, workforce development, education, entrepreneurship, and community investment.

Help Build Lasting Capacity in Berrytown

Give today and help build the facility that will train future growers, technicians, entrepreneurs, and agricultural innovators.

Your investment will help move the Aquaculture Pavilion from planning to implementation and create infrastructure that can produce food, develop skills, and open doors to economic opportunity for years to come.

Build the capacity. Grow the opportunity.

Invest in the facility. Invest in the people. Invest in Berrytown’s future.