Sometimes important ideas are right in front of us, yet we are not ready to recognize them. Researchers call this phenomenon latent readiness: the idea that we may be prepared to learn something, but only become aware of it once we have the language to make sense of it.
That is how I feel about the growing interest in regenerative practices.
An increasing number of scholars and practitioners are helping to define and advance this field. Their research, writing, and examples are giving shape to ideas that many people have been intuitively pursuing for years. As a professor who teaches social entrepreneurship and directs a graduate program in social innovation, I am encouraged by the emergence of this language and scholarship. It offers new ways of thinking about how organizations, communities, and economies can address the complex challenges facing our planet.
I am grateful to the community of practitioners, and to scholars such as Christopher Marquis, Erinch Sahan, Carol Sanford, John Fullerton, and Steve Evans, whose work is helping to expand our understanding of what regeneration can mean in practice. Equally important are the philanthropists, policymakers, business leaders, and community advocates who are translating these ideas into action.
Language matters. It helps us notice patterns, connect ideas, and recognize possibilities that may have been present all along. Timing matters as well. Sometimes a concept emerges precisely when we are ready to understand it.
Let me share an example.
For more than 85 years, Rancho La Puerta in Tecate, Mexico, has quietly embodied many of the principles now associated with regenerative practice. Founded by the remarkable Deborah Szekely, now 104 years old, and her late husband, Professor Edmond Szekely, this family-owned enterprise is now led by their daughter, Sarah Livia Brightwood. Throughout its history, Rancho La Puerta has viewed stewardship of people, place, and community as central to its mission.
From growing organic food and championing farm-to-table dining long before it became fashionable, to recycling materials, composting organic waste, stewarding water resources, supporting employee well-being, and strengthening the surrounding community, the ranch has been practicing forms of regeneration decades before the term became widely used.
Tres Estrellas, an organic farm providing fresh, seasonal produce for the ranchโs farm-to-table food.
A visit to the ranch’s organic farm reveals just how deeply these values are embedded in daily operations. Rancho La Puerta has been growing much of its own food since the middle of the last century. Its lighting follows DarkSky International guidelines, many of its buildings are constructed with energy-efficient materials such as double-brick walls and straw-bale insulation, and its landscapes emphasize native species. Pest management relies primarily on natural approaches, including herbal sprays and neem oil.[2]
Perhaps most impressive is the ranch’s long-standing partnership with the city of Tecate to transform untreated wastewater into high-quality irrigation water. The treatment plant does not generate waste. Instead, it relies on biological, passive processes and operates at net-zero energy use. Sewage flows by gravity into anaerobic biodigesters, where methane is captured and converted into electricity. The plant meets California Title 22 standards for tertiary treatment and disinfection, among the most rigorous recycled-water standards in the world.[1]
It is a remarkable model of regenerative design. Rather than treating wastewater as a problem to be managed, the system transforms it into a valuable resource while minimizing energy consumption and environmental impact. Even more striking, the facility brings beauty to a process that is typically hidden from view, noisy, and energy intensive.
Rather than treating water as a resource to be consumed and discarded, Rancho La Puerta demonstrates how thoughtful design can restore and regenerate local ecological systems while creating value for the broader community.
And, unlike the Tijuana river, the Tecate river (which flows into Tijuana), is not paved in concrete – thanks to the Ranch’s efforts!
The same philosophy can be seen throughout the property. Materials are recycled, organic waste is composted and returned to the soil, and operational decisions are guided by a desire to work with natural systems rather than against them. The result is not a collection of isolated sustainability initiatives but a coherent approach to stewardship that touches nearly every aspect of the enterprise.
Looking across the ranch as a whole, it becomes clear that these efforts are not isolated projects. They reflect a way of thinking about enterprise that seeks to create conditions in which people, communities, and ecosystems can flourish together.
The practices were already there. What changed was not Rancho La Puerta. What changed was my ability to recognize what it had been teaching all along. Perhaps that is what latent readiness means: sometimes we need new language to see what has been in front of us for decades. The Szekely family did not wait for the language of regeneration to emerge. They simply practiced its principles long before many of us had the words to describe what we were seeing.
[1] California’s Title 22 Water Recycling Criteria establish rigorous public-health standards for recycled water. Water meeting Title 22 tertiary treatment standards can be used for applications such as food-crop irrigation, parks, playgrounds, and other settings involving direct public contact, making it one of the most highly regulated water-reuse systems in the world.
[2]. Modeling Regenerative Practices for Over 85 years. (2025). Rancho La Puerta.