POLICY

Nelson holds over 13 years of experience in small diversified farms working with fruits, vegetables, gourmet mushrooms, cannabis, chicken eggs, freshwater fish, honeybees, and vermicomposting. In 2018 he founded We Grow Urban Farm in West Sacramento, CA. His farm cultivates one acre of seasonal vegetables and fruits for their summer farm stand, community supported agriculture program, local restaurants and food distribution programs. Nelson earned a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems from UC Davis with a minor in ecology. His passion has led him to create ecologically focused farms that play an important role in building a strong regenerative local food system. Nelson currently serves on the Racial Equity Farmer Advisory Committee at the California Department of Food and Agriculture(CDFA) and is part of the 2022 Political Leadership Fellowship with the National Young Farmers Coalition, in addition to serving on the CAFF Policy Committee. Nelson is committed to inspiring and empowering the next generation of farmers of color.

Gowan Batist was born and raised on the Mendocino Coast into an agricultural family. She studied metal fabrication and sustainable agriculture in college, and farmed in Portland, Oregon on a 150-acre farm before returning to Mendocino to manage the Noyo Food Forest, Fort Bragg Unified School District’s farm-to-school program. During her three seasons as manager of the Noyo Food Forest program, she began composting spent grain from North Coast Brewing Company as a hobby. The hobby became a mission and a career, and Fortunate Farm was founded on 40 acres co-owned by North Coast Brewing Company in 2014.

Lilian is a first-generation Hmong American born and raised in Fresno, CA. Her family has farmed in the Central Valley for over 30 years. Lilian completed her MA in Cultural Anthropology at UC Santa Cruz and has a BA in Medical Anthropology and Asian American Studies from Stanford University. Her background has included community work combating racial/ethnic health disparities and advocating for cultural competency in medical education. Her current interests include the histories of Hmong agriculturalists in Southeast Asia throughout the 20th century, refugee farming in California, and the futures of small-scale growers in the Central Valley. She is currently a Small Farms Community Educator with the UC Cooperative Extension in Fresno County’s Small Farms and Specialty Crops Program. In her spare time she's an avid reader, amateur photographer, and the co-founder of maivmai, an online publication for budding Hmong American writers.

Alexis Koefoed is a California farmer in Solano County. Soul Food Farm has been in operation since 2000. We focus on no till principals to grow olives for oil, flowers and lavender added value products. We also run a farm store that supports the work of over a dozen small family farms. We are committed to regenerative agricultural as the foundation of our farm.

Emma Torbert is the Market Garden manager for the Student Farm and started in September 2020. Before the Student Farm, Emma was one of the founding members of the Cloverleaf Farm, an organic fruit farm, and worked there for 10 years. She received her masters in Horticulture and Agronomy from UC Davis and worked for the Century Project at the Russell Ranch Sustainable Agriculture Facility for seven years after graduating. She worked on organic farms throughout the US and South America, is committed to creating more equitable land access in the US and dreams of starting a co-housing farm one day.

Judith Redmond is an emeritus member of the CAFF Board. She spends her days as a farmer at Full Belly Farm in northern California, and as a volunteer for a number of community organizations including CAFF. She is currently involved with organizations like California Climate and Agriculture Network; U.C. Davis Ag Sustainability Institute; and AGree (Transforming Food and Ag Policy). She is a Fire Commissioner with the Capay Valley Volunteer Fire Department and on the steering committee of the Annual Hoes Down Harvest Festival hosted by Full Belly Farm.

Chris currently farms at the African American Farmers of California(AAFC) demonstration site in Fresno, California where he grows fresh vegetables for families in the Fresno area. Chris' full-time position is with the Fresno Irrigation District as a Water Systems Operator where he has worked for the past 7 years. He has the responsibility of delivering water through the canal systems in Fresno. Chris also enjoys serving the community through various non profits and is the founder of Jesus Is Our Shepherd Ministry Inc, where they offer Transitional Housing to men and women.

Josefina was raised in the Salad Bowl of the United States, the Salinas Valley. She has a graduate degree in Public Administration, from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. Through her work and volunteerism, she has served communities locally and internationally with social justice, equity, and love being at the root of it all. She is passionate about creating stronger connections between people, and is currently working on getting her farm off the ground.

Dawnie Andrak, board chair, is co-owner of Local Roots Food Tours, offering culinary diplomacy experiences. She graduated in 2017 with a Master of Arts, in the inaugural class of University of the Pacific’s Food Studies program. Dawnie is also a graduate of our Food Literacy Academy, as well as a graduate of the Center for Land Based Learning’s Farm Academy, a program for beginning farmers. Dawnie also founded and currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for Capitol WebWorks, LLC, an internet consulting firm specializing in political, governmental, association and nonprofit, and public affairs communications.

Steve has spent 30+ years in nonprofit management, public policy research and advocacy, and management consulting. He's also a real estate agent, with a special interest in the Sierra foothills near Sacramento (where he hopes to have his own small farm someday!)