About LEI
Rooted in this region. Stengthening our community.
Lake Erie Institute teaches practical skills and systems thinking for a changing world.
A place to learn, build, and belong
Grounded in people, place, and possibility.
Lake Erie Institute is a Northeast Ohio–based nonprofit focused on practical education, community resilience, and regenerative local systems.
We teach hands-on skills, systems thinking, and collaborative problem-solving that help people and communities respond to ecological, economic, and social change with greater confidence and capacity.
Our work connects land-based learning, community projects, and local enterprise development to build pathways toward environmental restoration, stronger local networks, and shared prosperity.
LEI brings together learning, collaboration, and real-world projects to help communities build capacity for the future.
Stronger local systems
Rooted regional work
From ecological education to community resilience
Where we started
Ecological education and reconnection
LEI began with ecological learning, land-based experience, and the belief that reconnecting people with place matters. Early work emphasized relationship with the natural world, reflection, and community learning rooted in the Lake Erie region.
Where we are now
Skills, systems, and resilience
Today LEI focuses on teaching skills, strengthening local relationships, and helping communities build systems that are resilient, reciprocal, and grounded in place.
Our Mission
Lake Erie Institute strengthens communities by teaching skills and systems thinking for a changing world.
Through land-based learning, community projects, and local enterprise development, we help people build the knowledge, relationships, and confidence to act together — and rely less on systems that extract more than they return.
Our work creates real pathways to a healthier Lake Erie region, more resilient communities, and people who know how to take care of themselves and each other.
What guides our work
LEI is shaped by a place-based approach to resilience, stewardship, and community capacity.
Reciprocity over extraction
We believe healthy systems give back to land, community, and the people doing the work.
Practical learning
We focus on skills people can use, share, and build on in real life.
Systems thinking
We look beyond isolated problems to the relationships and structures that shape them.
Rooted in place
Our work is grounded in the Lake Erie watershed, and rooted in reciprocal relationship with the natural world.
Community capacity
We believe resilience grows when people know each other, work together, and build local capability.
Hope with substance
We take present challenges seriously and choose work that creates real, tangible alternatives to the current extractive system.
There are many ways to contribute
Some people give financially. Others offer tools, materials, time, skills, space, or partnership. However you’re able to contribute, each form of support helps strengthen the programs, projects, and shared work LEI is building.