About Sweet Virginia

We educate K-5 students on the wonder and need to conserve honeybees.

Our Mission

The Sweet Virginia Foundation is creating a happier, healthier planet – one bee and one student at a time. By teaching kids about the humble honeybee, Sweet Virginia inspires children to engage with the natural world, appreciate Mother Earth’s symphony of life, and grow into stewards of the environment.

Our children are the future, and by teaching them about the beauty and power of honeybees, our kids can save the world.

Dan Price

Founder & CEO

Over the past 25 years, Dan has served as Founder, Chairman, Chief Executive, Board Member and Advisor to multiple technology startups that created hundreds of jobs and hundreds of millions in revenue. Now he’s turned his attention to education, focusing on opening young eyes to the beauty and order in nature.

Dan believes that today, separated more than ever from the natural world, we must consciously foster in children love and appreciation for the symphony of life in nature. Dan graduated summa cum laude from the University of Maryland and earned an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Meet the team

Say Hello to Our Staff!

Jennifer Sieber

Strategy Consultant
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    Jen is dedicated to creating innovative educational opportunities for people of all ages. After spending three years building academic partnerships as the head of academic affairs at the Israeli Consulate in Boston, she joined the Sweet Virginia team to drive new strategy and program development. She graduated from Brown University with degrees in History and Education.

Ian Aranza

Beekeeper
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    Ian spent many years in the Philippines keeping honey bees, but was met with few opportunities to pursue this passion professionally upon his arrival in the U.S. Luckily, his love of bees never left him, and he came upon the Sweet Virginia apiary by chance. He immediately knocked on Dan’s door, eager to get involved, and shared his story with Sweet Virginia’s founder. The rest is history, and Ian has been our dedicated beekeeper ever since.

Jacqueline Hogg

Coordinator, Community Outreach and Engagement
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    Jacqueline is a dedicated naturalist and ecologist who grew up in Northern Virginia. She has worked at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences and its Prairie Ridge Research Facility, and has conducted research in a range of topics from ecotourism in Costa Rica to invertebrate diversity. She is excited to be educating future generations about the issues bees face, why they’re important, and what we can do to help. Jacqueline graduated magna cum laude from Salem College and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies-Conservation Ecology.

What We Do

Sweet Virginia offers teachers an exciting and interactive Hive Alive Curriculum designed to bring to life the magic of honey bees for elementary school students. Teachers can access our lesson plans and Ask a Beekeeper online forum for FREE on our website. There they will find guided activities, step-by-step instructions, background information and links to resources.

In the coming year, we will be launching an interactive Virtual Reality honey bee experience in classrooms across the country! Building off of the Hive Alive Curriculum, the Sweet Virginia team will be hitting the road in our brand-new Bee Liner, a traveling bee-mobile, giving kids the opportunity to imagine life as a bee and to develop a new appreciation for the role they play in our world. We look forward to driving the Bee Liner to your neighborhood soon!

Our Board

Dianne Azzarelli

President
Florida Association for the Gifted

John Eisenhart

Partner
Nixon & Vanderhye, P.C.

Dan Simmons

Owner
Founding Farmers Restaurant Group

Karla Eisen

Master Beekeeper
Prince William County Beekeeper Association

Lance Rougeux

Co-Founder, Purple Feet Foundation
Vice President, Discovery Education

Dan Simmons

Chief Executive Officer
ILM Capital