John-Paul Maxfield is the Founder of Waste Farmers. He comes from a family of agricultural pioneers. His grandfather and personal hero was nominated as an “Agricultural Citizen of the Century” by the The University of Wyoming American Heritage Center (AHC).  He was a genuine Wyoming rancher who taught him the value of hard work and a deep appreciation for the land.

This is the way Paul Worley, Head Chef at Colorado Academy, describes our Founder: “John-Paul is something of a mad scientist, in a good way. His vision is out there, realistic, and he is making things happen. John-Paul is the guy you will one day see on the cover of Time magazine. He isn’t going to be on the map, he is the map.”

Prior to starting Waste Farmers, John-Paul founded the “The Inspired Economist” in 2005, a blog focused on covering the people, places, ideas, and technologies inspiring positive change and redefining capitalism.

In addition, John-Paul served as an Associate at MBH, a private equity group specializing in small to mid cap service companies. In this capacity he focused on planning, forecasting, budgeting, and performance evaluation of the firm’s designated subsidiaries. Prior to joining MBH, John-Paul was an analyst with Alvarez and Marsal where he spent the majority of his time on a team that aided Louisiana’s Recovery School District with the restoration of public schools in the aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.

John-Paul is active in the Colorado community, serving on the Board of the Rocky Mountain MS Center. In 2007 he was selected as one of the “Fifty for the Future” by the Colorado Statesman and is a graduate of the inaugural class of Impact Denver. John-Paul holds a BA from the University of Colorado.

In 2011, John-Paul was appointed by Denver Mayor Michael Hancock’s administration to serve on Denver Seeds, a strategy to support small businesses, create jobs and shift food production away from large out-of-state industrial operations toward local growers. Denver Seeds promotes the use of regionally grown food by creating a network of physical greenhouses and urban farms located throughout Denver. The network will create a controlled growth environment that maximizes productivity while achieving energy neutrality, food safety, and the reduction of water runoff and consumption. The network will also help raise awareness about sustainable food practices and the importance of fresh produce. Denver Seeds will increase the availability of fresh produce in all of our neighborhoods and potentially put millions of dollars back into the Denver metro economy.