CalCAN Stewardship Council

Arohi Sharma is a Senior Policy Analyst with eight years of experience advocating for policies that promote sustainable agriculture to fight climate change, grow healthy food, and protect water and biodiversity. She has previously served as a legislative staffer on Capitol Hill for the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee and Senator Cory Booker. She holds a bachelor’s in political science from UC San Diego and a master’s degree from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Ellee Igoe is co-founder of Foodshed Cooperative in San Diego, which aggregates local produce from small, regenerative farms and distributes the products to people committed to food justice and/or negatively impacted by inequities in our food system. A farmer herself, Ellee has co-owned Solidarity Farm since 2012. Mother to three, her career background also includes leading outdoor expeditions with young people, urban planning, and co-creating the refugee food and farming program at the International Rescue Committee.

Helen McGrath is a 5th-generation member of the McGrath farming family. She was born and raised in Ventura County and returned in 2013 to support her family’s citrus and avocado farming business when her father, Tom McGrath, was battling cancer. She has worked in the agriculture sector for over 14 years, supporting mutual water companies, Fillmore Basin Pumpers Association, Ag Innovations, CalCAN, Pacific Coast Farmers Market Association, and more. Helen took part in the California Ag Leadership Program and is a member of their Alumni Council. She lives in Ventura with her husband and two sons.

Jo Ann Baumgartner has served as the Executive Director of Wild Farm Alliance since 2001, working with farmers to achieve healthy, viable agriculture that protects and restores wild nature. She has authored many publications on biodiversity conservation and agriculture, including several on beneficial birds and insects, the conservation mandates of the National Organic Program, and the co-management of food safety and conservation. She was also an organic farmer for over a decade.

Leonard Diggs is the Director of Farmer & Rancher Opportunities at Pie Ranch, with oversight of the Cascade Farm Regenerator Program, a 418-acre incubator farm in Pescadero. Leonard instructed agricultural classes at the Santa Rosa Junior College, where he also served as farm manager at the college’s Shone Farm, a 365-acre self-sustaining diversified farm. He has also owned or managed four other organic vegetable farms in Lake and Sonoma Counties, including a three-acre demonstration farm at the California State Fair. He has won numerous awards and took part in the California Agricultural Leadership Program and Castanea Fellowship Program.

Miguel A. García has led bilingual education, technical assistance, and applied research that support soil health, water stewardship, and climate-smart agriculture across California. His work empowers farmers and farmworkers to adopt regenerative practices and build resilience. He has a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences and a B.S. in Chemistry from UC Riverside and he is also a Certified Crop Adviser. He is currently with the Napa Resource Conservation District and previously with the Coachella Resource Conservation District.

Thomas Nelson is Director of Ecosystem Building at Kitchen Table Advisors. A longtime Capay Valley resident, he founded Capay Valley Farm Shop and has led numerous food and farm initiatives. With an MBA from UC Davis, Thomas brings decades of experience in coalition building and social enterprise to strengthen sustainable farming communities and has worked with many organizations, including Community Alliance with Family Farmers, Community Food Security Coalition, Capay Valley Vision, and UC SAREP.

Torri Estrada is Executive Director at the Carbon Cycle Institute and directs its policy and climate justice work. Torri has worked to advance solutions to social and environmental justice, climate, and environmental issues for over 30 years.  He served as program officer for nearly a decade at the Marin Community Foundation, Environmental Grantmakers Association and the Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program, focused on environmental justice, climate and civil rights. Torri was the co-founder and a senior policy fellow with the Environmental Justice Coalition for Water (where he helped advance the Human Right to Water in CA) and Program Director at Urban Habitat. He holds an MS in Natural Resources Policy and Environmental Sociology from the University of Michigan.

Stewardship Council members serve as individual advisors to CalCAN, and do not represent the positions or perspectives of their employers.

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
George Davis, Porter Creek Vineyard
Sonoma County, wine grapes
Greg Rawlings, Jacobs Farm/Del Cabo
Santa Cruz and Monterey County, row crops
Javier Zamora, JSM Organics
Monterey County, organic row crops
Judith Redmond, Full Belly Farm
Yolo County, organic row crops, nuts, fruit
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
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