CalCAN’s success is dependent on our strong, collaborative coalition.
Network Structure
Action informed by the field
CalCAN’s coalition member organizations decide on our policy positions, and we are accountable to the farmers and ranchers they serve.
Two advisory councils ground our work in sound science, best practice, and the experience of California’s farmers and ranchers.
To address agricultural harms and injustice, we listen to and consult on policy strategies with farmworker and environmental justice advocates.
We work in alliance on specific policy campaigns with environmental, farmworker, environmental justice, and food systems advocates to build our collective power and make systemic change.
CalCAN Coalition Members
California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF)
CCOF promotes and supports organic food and agriculture through a premier organic certification program, trade support, producer and consumer education and political advocacy.
California FarmLink
California FarmLink connects independent farmers and ranchers to the land and financing they need for a sustainable future.
Carbon Cycle Institute (CCI)
The CCI advances the carbon cycle as the fundamental organizing process underlying land management and on-farm conservation in our efforts to mitigate and adapt to the global climate crisis.
Center for Food Safety (CFS)
CFS is a non-profit public interest and environmental advocacy membership organization established for the purpose of curtailing industrial agricultural production methods that harm human health and the environment, and promoting sustainable alternatives.
Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF)
CAFF is a non-profit organization that advocates for California’s family farmers and sustainable agriculture. CAFF strives to build a movement of rural and urban people to foster family-scale agriculture that cares for the land, sustains local economies and promotes social justice.
Occidental Arts and Ecology Center (OAEC)
OAEC is a nonprofit organizing and education center and organic farm in Northern California’s Sonoma County. OAEC seeks to address the challenges of creating democratic communities that are ecologically, economically and culturally sustainable in an increasingly privatized and corporatized economy and culture.
Wild Farm Alliance (WFA)
Wild Farm Alliance promotes a healthy, viable agriculture that helps to protect and restore wild nature, and helps farms thrive by working with nature, and supporting farmers’ critical role in reversing biodiversity loss and climate change.
Farmer Advisory Council
Al Courschesne, Frog Hollow Farm
Contra Costa County, stone fruits
Bianca Soares Shapero, Star Creek Land Stewards, Inc. & Talbott Sheep Co.
Merced County, goats and sheep
Christine Gemperle, Gemperle Orchards
Stanislaus County, almonds
Cole Bush, Shepherdess Land & Livestock
Ventura County, goats and sheep
Ellee Igoe, Solidarity Farms
San Diego County, mixed vegetables and livestock
George Davis, Porter Creek Vineyard
Sonoma County, wine grapes
Greg Rawlings, Jacobs Farm/Del Cabo
Santa Cruz and Monterey County, row crops
Helen McGrath, Flying M Ranch/Ditch Ranch
Ventura County- avocados, citrus, row crops
Javier Zamora, JSM Organics
Monterey County, organic row crops
Judith Redmond, Full Belly Farm
Yolo County, organic row crops, nuts, fruit
Jutta Thoerner, Manzanita Manor
San Luis Obispo, walnuts, wine
Marisa Alcorta, Terra Firma Farm and Center for Land-Based Learning
Yolo County, row and tree crops
Matt Angell, Pacific Farming Co.
San Joaquin Valley, tree crops
Michael Evenson, Lost Coast Ranch
Humboldt County, grassfed beef
Rich Collins, Collins Farm
Solano County, mixed fruits
Russ Lester, Dixon Ridge Farms
Solano County, organic walnuts
Steve Fukagawa, Steve Fukagawa Farms
Kings County, organic stone fruit and grapes
Steven Cardoza, Cardoza & Cardoza Farming Co.
Fresno County, organic raisin grapes
Science & Technical Advisory Council
Adam Livingston, Director of Planning and Policy, Sequoia Riverlands Trust
Amélie Gaudin, Assistant Professor, Department of Plant Sciences, UC Davis
Arohi Sharma, Deputy Director, Regenerative Agriculture, Nature Program, NRDC
Cynthia Daley, Professor and Director of the Organic Dairy Program/University Farm, College of Agriculture, Chico State University
Devii Rao, UC Cooperative Extension Livestock and Natural Resources Advisor, San Benito, Monterey, Santa Cruz Counties
Lilian Thaoxaochay, Disaster Resiliency, Planning, and Policy Advisor, UCCE San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties
Liz Carlisle, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies, UC Santa Barbara
Marc Landgraf, Assistant General Manager, Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority
Martin Guerena, Sustainable Ag Specialist, National Center for Appropriate Technology (NCAT)
Qi Zhou, California Association of Resource Conservation Districts (CARCD)
Randi Black, Dairy Advisor, UC Cooperative Extension Sonoma County
Ruth Dahlquist-Willard, Director, Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Program (SAREP)
Sacha Lozano, Program Manager, Santa Cruz RCD
Stefanie Kortman, Agriculture Greenhouse Gas Research Projects Coordinator, California State University, Monterey Bay
Stephen Wheeler, Professor, Department of Human Ecology, UC Davis
Tapan Pathak, Specialist in Climate Adaptation in Agriculture, UC Merced
Timothy Bowles, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, & Management, UC Berkeley
Valerie Eviner, Associate Professor, Department of Plant Sciences, UC Davis
Wendell Gilgert, Working Lands Program Director, Point Blue Conservation Science
Wendy Millet, Ranch Director, TomKat Ranch and Educational Foundation
