Meet our 2025 Steward of the Year!
The Steward of the Year Award is one of Latter-day Saint Earth Stewardship’s favorite traditions. Each year, we give this ward to someone who has demonstrated exceptional earth stewardship in their community. Nominations come from LDSES members across the world. There are many people who inspire us with their small and mighty acts of environmental stewardship.
This year we are excited to announce that 2025’s Steward of the Year is Carolina Allen!
Carolina Allen blends her passion for education, family and environmental care by operating a small school and homestead called Mountain Vista Homestead. A few years ago she was looking for a place to work the earth, to house animals, and to feel connected to nature, and so began her journey of restoring both a house and a landscape to their natural beauty. Mountain Vista has since become a place of learning, nurturing, and growing and a place where Carolina, her family, and other children can feel spiritually whole. Chickens, ducks, hedgehogs, lizards, bunnies, and quail also call Mountain Vista home.
This past summer Carolina held a series of summer camps where kids learned about geology, soil science, composting, animals and how to honor living things. Carolina also runs a micro school during the school year where preschool and elementary-aged kids can come and learn about nature and have hands-on earth stewardship experiences while they also learn traditional academic subjects.
In addition to her personal efforts at Mountain Vista Homestead, Carolina is also the founder of Big Ocean Women, a maternal feminist organization that contributes to initiatives helping mothers and children across the world. Many of their projects also promote earth stewardship, for example a Big Ocean Women chapter in Dammeron Valley, UT has developed a 10 acre working community garden complete with medicinal, herb, and vegetable gardens, orchards, honey bees, chickens and rabbits. This became a community hub for gathering and educating children, as well as provided hundreds of pounds of organic food for the entire community.
Carolina is such a great example of earth stewardship. She lives it and she helps others to live it as well. Congratulations Carolina!
