WATSONVILLE — Twenty community leaders have been selected for Class 30 of the Focus Agriculture program.
This “first-in-the-nation” program is designed for community leaders to learn about agriculture in Santa Cruz County and the Pajaro Valley. More applicants are received for this program every year, and the Agri-Culture Board of Directors selects 20 participants.
The program consists of once-a-month, daylong seminars, held over a period of nine months. The first session will be held on Friday, March 8.
Speakers range from farmers to elected officials to representatives from environmental groups. The sessions will cover such topics as ethnic groups in agriculture, new technology and diversity of commodities locally grown. In addition, there are many farm tours and hands-on experiences. The participants will also spend one day working on a farm.
“Community leaders will find this program beneficial and, in turn, growers who present information to the class will learn the public’s current perspective of local agriculture,” said Agri-Culture President Steve Bontadelli. “The program is designed to be a two-way learning process.”
The Focus Agriculture Class 30 participants are:
• Matt Bloom — Sales/Food Service Manager, Clover Dairy (Retired)
• Dan Brumbaugh — Director, Coastal Training Program, Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve
• Nicole Coburn — Assistant County Administrative Officer, County of Santa Cruz
• Francisco Estrada — Mayor, City of Watsonville
• Howard Feldstein — Assistant Director, Grey Bears
• Anne Hayes — Director of Development, Western Region, Climate Central, Inc.
• Dori Rose Inda — CEO, Salud Para La Gente
• Claire Kehn — Staff Accountant, UC Santa Cruz
• Otto Kramm — Loan Officer, American AgCredit
• Kayla Kumar — Development Director, Food, What?!
• Khaled Mabrouk — Operational Engineering Leader, Sustainable Productivity Solutions
• Katharine Minott — Master of Urban & Regional Planning, San Jose State University
• Casey Meusel — Associate Hydrologist, Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency
• Jessica Beckett Parr — Foundation Director, CCOF
• Lynne Petrovic — Executive Director, CASA of Santa Cruz
• Stephanie Raugust — Part Owner/Safety Officer, Whale City Bakery Bar & Grill/New Davenport Corporation
• Ava Reinhold — Retail Store Manager/Buyer/Craftbar Manager, Annieglass
• Marliese Ward — Creative Marketing Manager, Lakeside Organic Gardens
• Adam Weiss — Vice President/Relationship Manager, Santa Cruz County Bank
• Matthew Wetstein — President, Cabrillo College
