Kelly Shea Dougherty launched the Majeure Foundation in 2017 to combine her passions for food and farming with her faith. The name comes from “Force Majeure” meaning “An Act of God.” Our non-profit partners with individuals and organizations that are integrating faith-based values with sustainable farming practices, fostering resilient communities and a healthier planet.
When the company Kelly worked for was acquired, she received a payout from her stock. This was the seed money to fulfill a dream. A single mother that at times had worked three jobs to care for her children, Kelly believed that access to healthy food and clean water, farming in cooperation with natural principles, caring for our forests and our lands, and supporting small local businesses were issues of social justice and to be supported. She has for many years operated what she calls her “meals ministry,” cooking for and delivering homemade meals and homemade baby food to in need families in her area. Since receiving its non-profit status in 2019, the Majeure Foundation has given to many causes including ecological endeavors, churches, orphanages, community gardens, disaster assistance, and support for small holder farmers in the United States, the Philippines, the Middle East, and Africa.
Kelly was raised by a “Prevention magazine” mom and learned first-hand the benefits of growing your own food using good compost, saving seeds, sharing produce with your neighbors, packing cheese at the local co-op for a 15% discount, and making homemade bread, yogurt and canned goods. During a 30-year career in agriculture she traveled the world, and was struck by the obvious, in every country people worked hard for the same things: the love of their family and the ability to care for them. She saw situations where, through no fault of their own, people didn’t have basic necessities and lived on lands that were being degraded. She also met many farmers whose care for the soil, teaching their children the family trade, and love for their neighbors was an inspiration.
In 2025, after funding Majeure herself since its inception, Kelly has opened the opportunity to others to join in the work. Majeure is carefully curated initiatives and awesome people around the world who have the same goal, as articulated by Thomas Jefferson, “agriculture … our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals & happiness.”