Marnie Wood

Marnie is the program manager for the Guardian Network and is enthusiastic about her work in public mental health, community programming, ag communication, research and policy development. Marnie’s ground-up agricultural experience began as a participating member of a dairy farming family. Her love of cows started early and her passion for agriculture grew quickly! Marnie attended the University of Guelph and received a bachelor’s degree in sociology and rural extension. In 2017, Marnie completed a graduate program at the Toronto Centre for Counselling and Psychotherapy Education and became a registered psychotherapist with the College of Registered Psychotherapists of Ontario. At the same time, she and her partner began a dairy operation and is thrilled to be farming in the Durham Region. Becoming a registered psychotherapist was Marnie’s way of turning her lived experience into empathic, informed support for others who often feel they must carry everything alone.

“My interest in supporting the agricultural community is deeply personal, rooted in my own life as a dairy farmer who has lived the rhythms, pressures and profound rewards of farm life. I understand firsthand how the weight of responsibility, isolation and generational expectations can quietly erode one’s well-being.”