WHO ARE THE 2008 FELLOWS?

Labor Workgroup

Patricia Chang is the CEO of Feed the Hunger Foundation, working to provide individuals living in poverty with microcredit loans.  Patti is the former President & CEO of the Women’s Foundation of California which has awarded more than $20 million in grants and scholarships to more than 1,200 community based organizations throughout California.   Her passion lies in finding solutions to the economic, social and political barriers faced by low income individuals, particularly women and girls.  Patti has served on numerous community and philanthropic boards and commissions.

Alegría De La Cruz is the Directing Attorney for California Rural Legal Assistance's Migrant Farmworker Project in Fresno, California. Her work focuses on the unique issues facing California's farmworker community. Alegría provides advice and counsel, brief services, and administrative advocacy for her clients in the areas of wage and hour law, housing, civil rights and discrimination, and environmental justice, as well as litigating these claims in State and Federal courts. Alegría serves as a Director on the Boards of Fresno Metro Ministries and Centro Binacional por el Desarrollo del Indígena Oaxaqueño (CBDIO).  She received her B.A. in History from Yale University in 1997 and her J.D. from U.C. Berkeley's Boalt Hall School of Law in 2003.

Jennifer Hernandez holds a diverse background of campaign management, lobbying, coalition building and community organizing experience. Currently, Jennifer is a Partner with Cultivo Consulting, a firm aimed at helping nonprofits participate in public policy development. Prior to Cultivo, Jennifer was with the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (CRLAF) where she worked with local groups under the Poder Popular project, helping to develop their public policy agendas. Jennifer has worked in rural communities since 2002, when she joined the UFW political department. She then went on to work for political programs in Washington, DC at the AFL-CIO and AFSCME.  Jennifer received her Bachelor of Science degree in International Politics & Law from Georgetown University in Washington, DC and completed a Masters in Public Policy from George Mason University in Arlington, VA.

Brett Melone is Executive Director of ALBA, Agriculture & Land Based Training Association, based in Salinas, California.  ALBA promotes economic viability, social equity, and ecological land management among limited resource and aspiring farmers on California’s Central Coast. Brett grew up in agriculture in South Florida, where his father oversaw production of thousands of acres of avocados, limes and mangoes.  His bias for sustainable, family-scale agriculture developed when he experienced first hand the health risks associated with industrial agriculture, and saw the effects of this system on farm workers and their families.  Brett received his BA in international relations and Spanish at the University of San Diego, and then obtained a Masters Degree in International Environmental Policy and Spanish at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.  Before coming to ALBA in May 2002, Brett spent 3 years working in Chile on an organic family farm, and on a number of sustainable agriculture and microenterprise development projects.

Ron Strochlic is Executive Director of the California Institute for Rural Studies. He has a Master of Science in Rural Sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with a concentration in international development. Ron has been conducting research promoting improved farmworker conditions and a more sustainable food system at CIRS since 2002. Prior to joining CIRS, Ron lived and worked in Guatemala for seven years, where he was part of an effort to help landless campesinos obtain access to farmland. Ron is fluent in Spanish and has been conducting applied research on sustainable agriculture and food systems, farmworker health and well-being, natural resource conservation and rural development in the U.S. and Latin America since 1988. 

Hermila “Mily” Treviño-Sauceda is the Executive Director of Organización en California de Líderes Campesinas, Inc. (Líderes Campesinas) in Pomona, California since 1997.  Ms. Treviño-Sauceda was born in the state of Washington to an immigrant and migrant farmworker family.  She is the third of ten children.  Starting at age eight, she was an agricultural and migrant worker in Idaho and California.  In the 1970s, during her teenage years, she organized teenage groups through her church and became a United Farm Workers union worker (1975-1981).  As a farmworker and a supporter, she volunteered for the United Farm Workers union as an organizer from 1975-1990.

Health/Access Workgroup

Lena Brook is Senior Program Associate at the San Francisco Bay Area chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility. She serves as the Northern California coordinator of Health Care Without Harm’s Healthy Food in Health Care campaign, working to harness the power of the California health care sector to redefine the meaning of hospital food and accelerate the transition to a sustainable, community-based food system. Prior to joining SFPSR in July 2006, Lena directed a variety of environmental health and justice projects in California, including chemical policy reform, clean, safe and affordable drinking water, and Precautionary Principle implementation. Most recently, Ms. Brook served as the Associate Director of Clean Water Action and Clean Water Fund’s California office.

She was a founding Board Member of Urban Sprouts, a garden-learning organization serving low-income middle and high school students in San Francisco and since 2008, has served as a Fellow with the Roots of Change Fund. She is an avid cook, urban gardener, and canning enthusiast with a passion for all things related to food. Ms. Brook holds a Master’s degree from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies and a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology from UC Berkeley.  She lives with her husband and two young daughters in San Francisco, CA, where she recently launched a parent advocacy campaign to reform school food programs at the San Francisco Unified School District.

Natalie Gluck, Program Associate at PolicyLink, works closely with community organizers and practitioners at the ground level on projects that identify challenges and highlight opportunities for communities of color. She is actively engaged in an initiative that addresses the multi-faceted challenges facing men and boys of color in crisis in California. In addition, Gluck has spent time developing strategies to create access to healthy food for people in underserved communities.  Previously, she was responsible for coordinating and drafting the bestselling Covenant with Black America and the Covenant in Action. Gluck earned her bachelor’s degree in American Studies with a concentration in Education and Public Policy from the University of California Berkeley, and then went on to study at the French Culinary Institute in New York.

Jennifer Gross began working with the Health Policy and Planning unit of the San Mateo County Health System in October 2006. She provides oversight to the implementation of the Prevention of Childhood Obesity Blueprint, participates in the farm to institution workgroup of the San Mateo County Food System Alliance, and co-facilitates a monthly diversity film series.  Jenn was selected as a Roots of Change Health Action Fellow for 2008-2009.  She has previous experience in planning, implementing and evaluating public health programs domestically and internationally. Prior to joining the Health System, Jenn served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Uganda where she worked as a Health Advisor to the Uganda Red Cross Society and an HIV/AIDS Programs Officer for a rural hospital. Jenn attended Emory University where she received her BS in Neuroscience and Behavioral Biology and MPH in International Health.

Elsa Ramirez-Brisson is CEO of Food FUNdamentals. An entrepreneur, community health professional and registered dietitian specializing in food services administration, education, health promotion and disease prevention in both public and private agencies. Food FUNdamentals will be celebrating 20 years on  the Central Coast in 2010 and 9 years at the present location at Sherwood Gardens Shopping Center. To celebrate a new recipe collection will publish hopefully in time for the holidays, Cocina Rusa: Basic Recipe Collection I, recipes everyone should know before leaving home. Her family roots, education and the opportunity to live and work throughout the United States, Mexico and Europe, provide her insight and great empathy working with individuals and groups of all ages and backgrounds. Elsa lives what she recommends as an avid gardener, hiker, cook and traveler along with her husband Jerry and daughter Irene. Irene lives in Harlem,  attends Columbia University and is a second year masters in Architecture student. Elsa’s current research areas are: the food habits of young children; and acculturation and predicting high weight in adolescents of Mexican descent.

Lisa Wasilewski is the Program Director for the HEAL Project (Health, Environment, Agriculture & Learning), an educational program on the San Mateo County Coastside. Lisa is also involved in the San Mateo Food System Alliance and the Get Healthy San Mateo County Task Force. Her work addresses human and environmental health issues, food systems change, sustainable practices and community building – and she is passionate about creating positive change in all of these areas.

Vanessa Zajfen is the Farm to Institution Program Coordinator at the Center for Food & Justice at the Urban & Environmental Policy Institute at Occidental College. Vanessa works closely with local farmers, distribution firms and other farm to institution practitioners to develop market-based solutions and local food programming opprotunities to increase access and flow of good food in low-income communities across Southern California. Vanessa has a BA from UC Santa Cruz, a MS in Sustainable Agriculture from Iowa State University and formally owned and operated, Beyond Organic Produce Company that specialized in sourcing and selling locally grown foods.

Agriculture Outreach Workgroup

Bill Burrows:  A fifth generation California Rancher, Bill Burrows’ family migrated to Northern California in 1848 and the family has continued to be active in agriculture and natural resources since that time. Trained at UC Davis, he devoted 35 years to developing the Agriculture and Natural Resources Program at Shasta College while operating a 3500-acre family ranch west of Red Bluff, California. Bill is the Coordinator for a 40,000-acre Coordinated Resource Management Plan (CRMP) in which 65 landowners and agency personnel have come together to develop a goal of making the chaparral belt land and associated areas more productive and safe for the social, financial, and environmental needs of the temporary stewards of the land. Trained in Holistic Management, Bill has been a keynote speaker and has given seminars throughout the Western United States and three countries in Africa. Many of these presentations have incorporated his seven grandchildren, who are involved on the family ranch.

Marissa Guggiana is President of Sonoma Direct Sustainable Meats. She is a leader with Slow Food Russian River. Marissa is also a writer that has published most recently in many Edible Community magazines, Meatpaper Magazine, The Snail and online with Saveur and Culinate. She is working on a book about the American butcher due out Fall 2010.  

Gar House received his PhD from the University of Georgia’s Institute of Ecology, where he pioneered research on nutrient cycling within agroecosystems.  Gar House has since actively pursued agroecosystem advocacy through his involvement in research and production of sustainable agriculture within the urban and suburban environment.  As founder and president of Building Sustainable Communities (BSC), Gar directs the organization with support from a broadly-based, interdisciplinary staff of dedicated individuals.  Building Sustainable Communities is active in the San Diego County area promoting sustainable practices based upon ecosystem concepts and principles.  Gar assists the organization in providing leadership and guidance for local communities and organizations with special emphasis on educational outreach promoting sustainable practices.

Michele Laverty is the Director for the National Ag Science Center, an interactive science and technology center being constructed in Modesto.  Michele oversees all aspects of this $30 million project. Michele is a graduate of San Jose State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Public Relations and a minor in chemistry. Michele is active in many areas of the agricultural industry and the community. She is a graduate of the California Agricultural Leadership Program. She is member of Omega Nu and is co-president of the Stanislaus Union School District Foundation. Michele is also active in her church, a regular volunteer for her children’s school and a Cub Scout leader.  Michele and her husband, Philip, live in Modesto with their two sons, Kenneth and Matthew.

Kate Magruder studied theatre before moving to rural Mendocino County in the early 1970s.  Grounded there, she co-founded Ukiah Players Theatre and married Mac Magruder, a fourth generation rancher in Potter Valley.  Together they have raised two daughters, Grace and Martha.  While Mac transformed the ranch from a conventional cow/calf operation to a burgeoning business based on grassfed beef and pasture pork, Kate cultivated a connected, creative community through original theatre projects rooted in local stories and issues.  She is currently working with local government, business and cultural organizations on a pilot program for a nationall initiative to story-map the Ukiah community through interactive public programs in order to better understand who we have been, who we are and who we want to be.  Meanwhile, Kate and Mac's daughter, Grace, has returned to live at the ranch with her fiance; together the family is re-imagining the possibilities for the ranch, focusing on integrating sustainable agriculture with educational and creative programs that connect people to the land, their stories, each other and their own true selves.  

Regional Food Systems Workgroup

Temra Costa has a decade of experience advocating for sustainable food systems. She came to California after earning a Bachelor’s of Science in International Agriculture from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, to work for the Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) in 2003.  Her work has included projects of Farm-to-School, Sacramento Valley food systems planning, farmers’ market implementation, regional distribution research and evaluation as well as implementation of Buy Fresh Buy Local campaigns. Her current work as Director of Buy Fresh Buy Local is creating a stronger local food economy for the state by linking farmers with new markets, educating consumers about where their food comes from (www.buylocalca.org) and by providing marketing tools to indicate food as locally grown throughout the food chain.

Timothy Galarneau works as an education and research program specialist on social issues for the Center for Agroecology & Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS) focusing on farm to institution, higher education, and local food movements. Mr. Galarneau also serves as a statewide advisor to the California Student Sustainability Coalition Foods Initiative that is organizing students and stakeholders across CA higher education to change their food systems. From a systems approach in food policy to elevating the potential for farm to institution and sustainability within higher education, Mr. Galarneau is a passionate advocate and resource for food based transformation.

Alethea Marie Harper is the Coordinator, Oakland Food Policy Council - Food First. Alethea holds a Master's degree in Landscape Architecture and Environmental Planning from the University of California, Berkeley; her thesis on regional food systems and access to healthy food in low-income communities received an Honor Award from the American Society of Landscape Architects. Alethea recently returned from a research trip to Latin America, where she studied food systems and urban agriculture. Alethea is also co-founder of Hungry Goat, a mapping website for edible plants in the public landscape.