Alita Kelly, Founder & Alchemist at Jade Rabbit

“Sustainability is our way to preserve humanity’s legacy of love, hope, and evolutionary adaptation. I do this work because being in the right relationship to the Earth brings out the best in all of us and making sure we all have access to that feeling is the heart of environmental justice and my heart’s calling.”

Kelly is a serial entrepreneur with several businesses under her belt including a strategic planning firm (Jade Rabbit), grocery store (South East Market), farm-to-table catering company, and more. The 2020 MiSBF Future Sustainable Business Hall of Fame honoree, Kelly is currently revitalizing a 10-acre apple orchard in Northern Michigan and leads several agricultural initiatives involving but not limited to mutual aid programs for farmers, farm-to-school initiatives, and urban agriculture projects such as the MLK Freedom School in Grand Rapids.  South East Market was the 2022 West Michigan Sustainable Business of the Year.