Panax cultivates the intersection of botanical science, cultural arts, and women's leadership — providing fiscal sponsorship, resources, and sanctuary for those building a greener, more equitable world.
Panax is dedicated to the curation of botanical cultural arts — serving as a fiscal sponsor and resource hub for women entrepreneurs in the arts, writing, and research, and for those creating botanical gardens and sanctuaries around the world. We believe plants hold the panacea to healing our communities: mentally, spiritually, and physically.
We celebrate the ancient and evolving relationship between plants and human culture — through art, literature, ethnobotany, and living gardens that tell the stories of the Earth.
As a fiscal sponsor and umbrella organization, we provide the infrastructure for women entrepreneurs in the arts, writing, and botanical research to flourish without bureaucratic barriers.
We actively support the creation of botanical gardens and green sanctuaries worldwide — living archives of biodiversity, healing, and ecological memory.
Panax was founded in 2020 by Dr. Susan Leopold, a botanist and ethnobotanist whose life's work sits at the intersection of plant science, cultural heritage, and advocacy.
The name "Panax" comes from the genus of ginseng — a medicinal root whose Latin name means all-healing. It is this philosophy — that plants are a panacea offering endless solutions to human wellness — that animates everything Panax does.
From fiscal sponsorship for women-led projects to the restoration of historically significant botanical spaces, Panax grows where the need is greatest.
Panax (genus) — from Greek panakeia, meaning "all-healing." The root of ginseng, used across cultures for millennia as a tonic for mind, body, and spirit. A fitting name for an organization that believes plants hold answers to the world's deepest questions.
Panax serves as a fiscal umbrella for women-led projects in botanical arts, environmental writing, and ethnobotanical research — providing 501(c)(3) status, administrative support, and credibility to emerging initiatives that share our mission.
We actively resource and advocate for individuals and communities creating botanical gardens and plant sanctuaries worldwide. Whether in a backyard or a bioregion, we help living collections become lasting legacies.
Supporting women artists, writers, and researchers whose work centers the natural world — bridging the aesthetic and the scientific in ways that transform how communities relate to plants and place.
Panax champions rigorous, community-centered research into plant-human relationships — from traditional ecological knowledge to contemporary conservation science. We fund, connect, and amplify the voices doing this critical work.
Panax recently acquired the Buckeye Bend Schoolhouse — a historic two-room schoolhouse in the heart of West Virginia, restored to honor its remarkable literary and botanical heritage.
The building was immortalized by West Virginia's poet laureate, Louise McNeill, in her memoir The Milkweed Ladies, which recounts her childhood in the pioneer town of Buckeye. Her father, G.D. McNeill, authored The Last Forest — a vivid chronicle of pioneer life and the wilderness of the Cranberry Glades and Williams River.
This architectural and literary treasure is being thoughtfully restored as a gathering place for botanical arts, local history, and community learning — a living root of the Panax mission.
Support the RestorationDr. Leopold and the Panax team offer personalized consultation for organizations and individuals working at the intersection of plants, culture, and mission-driven nonprofit work.
Get in TouchEvery gift to Panax plants seeds — in women-led projects, in living botanical spaces, and in the communities they serve around the world.