Our Team

Cate’s work has always centered on connecting people with farms and the communities behind them. With a background in hospitality, business, and hands-on farming, she understands both the visitor experience and the realities of farm life.

As co-owner of a family fruit farm and guest lodging in the Finger Lakes, she’s spent years managing orchards, welcoming guests, and running a seasonal farm stand. She’s also worked with Cornell Cooperative Extension and the Global Agritourism Network, helping share farmers’ stories and grow agritourism on a broader scale.

Through FarmStay, Cate brings all of this together, supporting farmers as they welcome guests, build sustainable income, and invite people into a more meaningful connection with the land.

Scottie Jones, the founder of Farmstay, is a farmer, farm stay operator, published author, and agritourism proponent for both working farms and ranches and the guests who want to experience farm life. She introduced the term ‘farm stay’ to the U.S. travel  world and continues to consult with Farmstay, sharing her valuable institutional knowledge and expertise.

Currently, Scottie holds the position of Chair for North America at the Global Agritourism Network. Her accomplishments have been recognized by Forbes in their series “Women Succeeding in the Travel Industry.”  She offers consulting services to others interested in launching or improving their own agritourism operations.

Bill is a tech leader in open source tooling and has most recently worked with AWS Open Search for Amazon and helped to make Stella Connect acquisition-ready for a $100M buyout. He was a co-founder for AlltheRooms.com and the CTO for Pitchup.com in the UK. Prior to this he was the innovation director for lastminute.com, a UK Travelocity brand. With all that travel industry background, he served on the board of the U.S. Farm Stay Association until the company reorganized in 2023 as the for profit Farm Stay USA (aka Farmstay).

As part of the fifth generation at White Oak Pastures in Bluffton, Georgia, Jodi Harris Benoit continues her family’s long tradition of caring for the land and livestock. As Director of Farm Experience, she oversees on-farm lodging, dining, tours, and educational programs that invite guests to connect deeply with regenerative agriculture and rural life.

Jodi’s work celebrates the intersection of hospitality and stewardship, making her a valuable voice in the growing farm stay movement. She’s also the proud mother of Hattie, Harris, and Haisten, the sixth generation growing up on the farm.

Lisa serves as CEO of Urias Communications, a multicultural advertising, digital, and public relations agency. They develop strategic campaigns for corporations looking to connect with today’s burgeoning markets – especially Latinx markets of the U.S. Southwest. She has spent the last 30+ years in marketing.

Elizabeth specializes in partnership building, media relations and design-forward thinking for start-ups and mission-driven enterprises in Italy and the US through her company Risotto & Steel. She is also the Marketing Coordinator for Tenuta San Carlo, an agriturismo and four-generation family-run organic farm in Tuscany. Her focus is on immersive events, digital communications and innovative marketing at the intersection of food and culture.

Karen is a native Montanan and a travel coordinator skilled at matchmaking ranch and traveler for the perfect experience at her Montana Bunkhouses Working Ranch Vacations LLC. She was a member of the U.S. Farm Stay Association and on its board for 10 years and currently lists on Farmstay. She has hosted The Travel Channel and National Geographic for filming on her ranches and looks for every opportunity to make sure guests get to try out the cowboy lifestyle.

In her retired life she is a ceramicist but as the coordinator for agritourism while at UC-Davis for over 15 years she worked statewide with University of California Cooperative Extension advisors and staff to provide resources, education and connections for California farmers and ranchers and others involved in California agritourism. She was a board member for the U.S. Farm Stay Association for 10 years.