Digital Media graduate Sebastian Crissey ’25 works at the crossroads of passion and purpose. Using food as a primary lens for understanding the world, he’s making a positive impact while furthering his studies in Boston University’s MA Gastronomy program. We sat down with Sebastian to discuss purpose-driven careers and how the skills he gained at Champlain contribute to his current work and long-term aspirations.
While Sebastian’s experience spans industries, they have always been grounded in his values around food justice. “Food justice is the basic concept that every person deserves access to food that’s healthy and nutritious for them and is produced ethically.” Food justice work includes everything from closing the hunger gap and advocating for food sovereignty to supporting ethical production and more. Being from an agriculturally rich area of Maine, these are concepts Sebastian was brought up on.
“There were lots of farms, lobstermen, and people working in the intersections of food. It was just pretty normal in the culture I grew up in,” he says. At Islesboro Central School, a K-12 school with a certified organic working farm, Sebastian found his professional and educational calling while working on the farm, gaining hands-on experience from production to preparation.
“When I was 17, I decided to gain experience through a program called WWOOF (Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms), which allows you to volunteer in more than 130 countries on small, family-produced organic farms. In exchange for housing and food, you get to learn their skills. I went to four different places in Ireland for three weeks each, learning all about how to run a sustainable farm. After WWOOF, I went into my professional winemaking adventure and did three harvest seasons: one in Bordeaux, France; one in Australia; and one in Napa Valley, California.”
In addition to giving him some of the best stories to share at a party, these experiences solidified his beliefs about the importance of local food systems. “A through line for me is the passion for being around people who are producing our food. I want my food to be grown by my neighbor, like I want to eat zucchinis that are made just right down the road rather than on a farm hundreds of miles away.”
Where Passion and Purpose Collide
Wanting to expand on these more insular experiences and build skills to effect change, Sebastian wanted to continue his education. But the right program would need to fit his lifestyle as a digital nomad. Then he found Champlain, which helped him connect the skills he was learning to the impact he wanted to make.
“The online modality allowed me to complete my BS in Digital Media while traveling the world and gaining hands-on experience. It grounded me with instructors and mentors who cared about my success and introduced me to new ideas,” he says.
The skills I’m learning can be directly funneled into the impact that I want to have.
“The program accelerated my passions to be really practical. I have all these ideas and values, and experience in food sovereignty, so by learning advanced skills in digital media and communications, I was able to distill my ideas, learn how to package them for an audience in a way that makes an impact, and essentially use it for advocacy.”
Shortly after graduating, Sebastian continued traveling and worked part-time remotely for Common Good Soup Kitchen, located on Mount Desert Island in Maine, doing communications and development. “All the skills I was learning from Champlain were applicable to my role at Common Good Soup Kitchen. The digital media skills are completely transferable to this job that is perfectly aligned with my passion for food justice.”
Sebastian’s seemingly magical moment, finding where his skillset supports his passion, isn’t a rare occurrence at Champlain. It’s what happens when experiential learning, an open mind, and professional opportunities come together in a way that helps students make these connections and tap into the “hidden job market.”
Learning By Doing
One aspect of Champlain’s approach to education that Sebastian valued most was something he experienced while working on the school farm: learning by doing. “It wasn’t just, ‘Okay, here’s some theory, and then let’s have a discussion.’ It’s ‘Here’s how to build a website, and we’re going to do that,’” he says. “It was not just learning what a future website might be. I was really building the infrastructure of a website that I now use for my career.”
Sebastian notes that his class assignments, such as building a website or pitching to media, have directly contributed to his career growth. “I’ve seen how many more responses I get since having a stronger personal brand. I’ve also had a lot of articles in my local news in Maine, and I did that all since being at Champlain College. Champlain taught me the power of PR, getting my name out there, and that when you put out the energy, the energy will come back to you.”
Beyond his work with Common Good Soup Kitchen, he’s put this into practice in many projects, including organizing a fair-trade fundraiser for Everyone’s Harvest in California, and writing and publishing articles in The Chronicle.
In talking about how he gets involved in so many projects and roles, it became clear that Sebastian doesn’t just wait for an opportunity to arise; he puts himself out there and creates them for himself. “I email people. I know how to email people really well, how to position myself, and use smart messaging when I reach out for opportunities,” he explains. “You can’t just be like, ‘Okay, I want this because this is who I am, and this is good for me.’ You have to empathize and really be in alignment with the organization.”
Networking in Education
In addition to passion projects and part-time work, Sebastian was recently selected for two national fellowships in food systems: the New Roots Institute Fellowship and the Menus of Change University Research Collaborative (MCURC) Fellows Program through Stanford Medicine and the Culinary Institute of America.
“The biggest thing for me right now is that it’s building my network of fellow advocates. I’m aligned with my values and connecting with people who I feel really in kinship with and who are helping me gain more confidence in myself as an advocate.” Driven by passion and purpose, Sebastian is making his mark and building a network that will serve him well no matter where he goes from here.
Just before parting ways, Sebastian shared one final message for the College:
“I think Champlain was one of the best decisions for me. It worked for me, my skill sets, my neurodivergence, my traveling life. And I just felt really encouraged by all of my instructors and really supported. I’m excited to continue my connection with the college.”
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