From Garden to Global Impact: Ciara’s Journey as a Female Leader

By Ciara Byrne

Co-founder & CEO of Green Our Planet

I co-founded Green Our Planet with my partner, Kim MacQuarrie, in 2013 — but this work has lived in me since childhood. I grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Dublin in the 1980s.  I struggled with anxiety and didn’t have the words to express that. But I knew one thing: when I was outside in the garden helping my parents grow potatoes, or walking the misty Dublin coastline, I felt calm. I felt alive. I felt connected to something larger than myself. Nature, very simply, made me whole.

I’ve always believed that the power of nature can do the same for every human being — if we’re given the chance. Yet today, many children grow up without gardens, without access to nature. A simple experience like pulling a potato from the earth — which expanded my world — is missing from so many childhoods. That understanding planted the first seed of Green Our Planet.

I came to the U.S. in my early twenties, wide-eyed and determined to contribute. While friends pursued corporate careers, I joined the New York Public Interest Research Group, knocking on doors to talk about whales and pollution. Even then, my instinct was to protect the planet and engage people in that mission. Later, I built a film production company in New York, creating documentaries and series for National Geographic, the BBC, PBS, and Discovery. I had achieved the American Dream — but not my dream. I still felt called to tell a deeper story: one about our connection to the Earth and to each other.

That calling became undeniable in Kenya, in the backyard of Dr. Richard Leakey, as Kim and I sat overlooking the Rift Valley discussing the Sixth Extinction. Dr. Leakey said something that changed my life:

“If people can fall in love with the Earth, they’ll want to protect it.”

That idea became our north star. At Green Our Planet, we help students fall in love with the planet by growing food — in school gardens and through hydroponics systems in classrooms. We train teachers to use gardens as living STEM labs where lessons come alive through soil, light, roots, and leaves. Math, science, engineering, nutrition, teamwork, and entrepreneurship suddenly become real ways to become hands-on in a joyful way. We focus especially on students living in food deserts and communities without access to green space, 

helping them see food not as scarcity but as possibility — something they can grow, share, and take pride in.

What began with one school garden in Las Vegas has grown into the largest school garden and hydroponics program in the United States. Today we serve more than 1,300 schools across 44 states, reaching over 500,000 students — and by 2033, we plan to reach 10,000 communities and 5 million young people.

Our programs don’t just grow vegetables — they grow confidence, curiosity, resilience, and hope. They grow future chefs, farmers, scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs. And maybe most importantly, they grow young people who understand that life on Earth is precious, rare, and worth protecting.

I am constantly inspired by the teachers who make this work real. Many email us long after the school day ends — researching lessons, troubleshooting hydroponics systems, dreaming up farmers markets for their students. Their dedication wakes me up every morning with gratitude and purpose.The truth is, I began this journey searching for belonging and connection. What I found is that when you give children a chance to connect with the Earth — to put their hands in soil, to grow something living — they begin to feel connected to themselves, to each other, and to their future. 

And that is how we grow a generation ready to heal the world, one seed — and one child — at a time.

Connect With Ciara

www.GreenOurPlanet.org

Instagram: @GreenOurPlanet

X: @GreenOurPlanet2

Facebook: Green Our Planet

LinkedIn: Green Our Planet