Gracie Pekarcik holds a joint role in the Smith Center for International Sustainable Agriculture as the Study Abroad Coordinator for Herbert College of Agriculture and Program Manager for the Agricultural Leaders of Tomorrow (ALOFT) Farmer-to-Farmer Program in Southeast Asia. Pekarcik earned her Master of Science in Agricultural Leadership, Education and Communication from the University of Tennessee in 2022. Her thesis focused on scaling sustainable agricultural technologies to smallholders in Cambodia, specifically through knowledge transfer from school garden to home farm.

Pekarcik is committed to the fostering of participatory practices and sustainable resource management to address global issues related to agriculture and food security. To do this, she believes there is a distinct need to bridge gaps between communities, cultures, and disciplines to better understand one another and work together to assure our world can provide for current and future generations. She views international education and knowledge transfer as a key path forward toward achieving these goals and increasing the cross-cultural capacity and global mindset of the next generation.