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Stewardship Council
ROC is governed by the Stewardship Council (formerly known as the ROC Council), made up of food system leaders. The Stewardship Council is currently expanding to 21 members selected from 13 sectors, which reflect the diversity of the population and food system in California.

The Stewardship Council grants funds. The Stewardship Council consists of the following members.

Stewardship Council Members

David Brubaker - is an agricultural consultant and author of the forthcoming book Factory Fresh: The Big Business of Meat.  He is involved in numerous agricultural projects in China and the US.  From 1982-1997 David served as CEO of PennAg Industries Association, a regional agribusiness trade association representing over 400 firms.  David is also former Director of the GRACE/Henry Spira Factory Farm Project, Center for a Livable Future. More recently, he has directed the Spira/GRACE Project on Industrial Animal Production at Johns Hopkins University and has served as a consultant to a variety of businesses, nongovernmental organizations and international agencies.  Thus he has experienced "modern" agriculture from a variety of perspectives. David  is a graduate of the following universities: Temple, Southern Illinois, Pennsylvania, and London Imperial College.  He resides in the small town of Lititz, Pennsylvania with his wife Marilyn and three cats.  He is the current world champion of the board game RISK.

Susan Clark - has been the Executive Director of the Columbia Foundation since 1979 and previously served as the executive director of the Mortimer Fleishhacker Foundation.  She is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley and Occidental College, served in the Peace Corps in Venezuela, and was a Coro Foundation Fellow in Public Affairs.  Columbia Foundation was established in 1940 by Madeleine Haas Russell  (1915-1999) and her brother, William Haas  (1916-1943) and is now governed by Alice Russell-Shapiro, Charles P. Russell, and Christine H. Russell  who serve as trustees. The foundation's current guidelines focus on sustainable communities and economies, human rights, and the arts.  Columbia Foundation has maintained an interest in sustainable agriculture and food systems since 1982 when the foundation awarded $250,000 to the University of California, Santa Cruz, to establish the Agroecology Program as an academic teaching and research program.

Jim Cochran - has been farming for over 30 years. He founded Swanton Berry Farm in 1983 with the goal of providing flavorful strawberries that were not grown at the expense of farm workers' health or dignity. Over the years, Jim has become an industry leader in developing organic methods for growing strawberries. The two foundations of Cochran's farming methods are soil building and crop diversity. Since 1987, researchers from the University of California at Santa Cruz have studied Jim's methods and reported them in various publications. As a lone pioneer in the early 1980s, Jim developed the technology and economics of farming strawberries using organic methods. Over the years, he demonstrated to a skeptical industry that it was possible to grow commercially successful crops of strawberries without relying on methyl bromide as a soil fumigant. Working with UCSC, he has shared his innovations with other farmers, resulting in over fifty other farms in California alone producing organic strawberries for a rapidly growing market. 

Paul Dolan -  held the position of President of Fetzer Vineyards since 1992, and has recently departed his post to serve as CEO of Mendocino Wine Company. Previously, Paul had been the Winemaster for Fetzer since 1977.  Paul was born and raised in Oakland, California, and attended college at Santa Clara University, earning a degree in business and finance.  After three years of service in the U.S. Army Infantry, Paul returned to school at the California State University, Fresno, and graduated with a Master's Degree in enology before coming to work at Fetzer.  Paul  inherited a long and distinguished tradition of California winemaking through his family and was involved in winemaking long before he received his degree.  In 1991, Paul was named "Winemaker of the Year" by Dan Berger, wine columnist for the Los Angeles Times.  An in-house barrel restoration program, Mendocino Cooperage, and continuing conversion of conventionally farmed grapes to grapes grown organically are two of Paul's most recent achievements.  He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Wine Institute and Businesses for Social Responsibility.  He is also involved in Global Partners, formerly known as World Runners, an organization that is improving basic quality of life for village communities in Tanzania and other parts of the world.

Maria Elena Durazo - is the current Executive Secretary-Treasurer for the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO. The daughter of Mexican immigrant farm workers, Maria  learned the importance of hard work and determination at a very young age.  As a child, she traveled from Oregon to California with her parents and nine siblings to work in the fields. Before leading the federation, Maria  was President of the hotel workers union UNITE-HERE, Local 11, and became the first Latina elected to the Executive Board of HERE International Union. Her election to the Executive Board was followed by her 2001 election as General Vice-President of HERE International, a position that lead her to represent approximately 250,000 workers in the hospitality industry from the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada. In 2004 Maria served as Executive Vice President of the newly formed UNITE-HERE International, leading her to represent more than 440,000 active members and more than 400,000 retirees throughout North America. As Executive Vice President of UNITE-HERE she represented a diverse membership, comprised largely of immigrants and including high percentages of African-American, Latino, and Asian-American workers in sectors such as: apparel, textile manufacturing, apparel distribution centers, apparel retail, industrial laundries, hotels, casinos, foodservice, airport concessions, and restaurants. A resident of Los Angeles, Maria  is the mother of two, Mario and Michael and the widow of former Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO Executive Secretary-Treasurer, Miguel Contreras. Maria  is a graduate of St. Mary's College in Moraga and earned a law degree from the People's College of Law in 1985.

Maria Echaveste - joined University of California Berkeley's Boalt Law School and the Goldman School of Public Policy as a Lecturer after co-founding a strategic and policy consulting group, serving as a senior White House and U.S. Department of Labor official, and working as a community leader and corporate attorney.  From 1998 to 2001, Maria served as assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff to President Bill Clinton. In this capacity, she managed domestic policy initiatives that focused on education, civil rights, immigration and bankruptcy reform.  As a long-time community leader and Assistant to the President and Director of Public Liaison at the White House from February 1997 to May 1998, Maria built an extensive network of relationships and contacts with diverse organizations and communities throughout the country. She was the Administrator of the U.S. Department of Labor's Wage and Hour Division from 1993 to 1997.  After leaving the White House, she founded the Nueva Vista Group, a consulting firm based in Washington, D.C., that works with nonprofit organizations, associations and corporations on such issues as immigration, health care, telecommunications, labor and finances.  Maria  is also a non-resident fellow of the Center for American Progress.  She is also currently a member of the Board of Directors of:  People for the American Way, The American Prospect magazine, CARE (a humanitarian organization fighting global poverty), as well as serving as a member of the Advisory Board of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Mexico Institute.  Maria received a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology from Stanford University in 1976. In 1980, she received a Juris Doctor from the University of California at Berkeley.
 
Steve Gliessman - is the Alfred E. Heller Professor of Agroecology at the University of California Santa Cruz. Steve is the author of the first college agroecology textbook, Agroecology: Ecological Processes in Sustainable Agriculture, which now appears in four languages (English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Farsi).  His research is carried out within the framework of ecological interactions in agroecosystems and the conversion of conventional agricultural systems to ecologically based alternative management.  Steve is active in tropical agroecology and agroforestry. He is also actively involved in international training programs in agroecology. Currently he is working on a project to help coffee growing communities from Mexico to Costa Rica develop alternative markets for their products.  He is also investigating the sustainability of organic strawberries and vegetable farming systems on the central coast of California. An analysis of the agricultural system as an ecosystem will aid in the establishment of an agroecological basis for the long-term sustainability of agricultural productivity.  Steve holds a B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Bruce Hirsch - is the founding executive director of the Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation in San Francisco, where he has worked since 1990. The foundation focuses its grantmaking on environmental quality and human health, environmental and arts education, and music. Bruce chaired two programs at Northern California Grantmakers, the Emergency Fund Committee and the Aids Task Force, where he was a founding co-chair. He is a member of the steering committee of Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems Funders, a national foundation affinity group, and a co-founder of the Roots of Change Fund. His recent paper, "How to Do Things with Food: A Plea for Multiple Ontologies," is included in Nature's Edge: Boundary Explorations in Ecological Theory and Practice, published by SUNY Press in 2007.

Sylvia Drew Ivie - is currently the Director of The Steering Committee On The Future Of The King/Drew Medical Center at The California Endowment (TCE). Her work evolved into development of approaches for place-based projects in South Los Angeles to address racial and ethnic disparities in health specifically targeting the need for nutritional support systems.  Sylvia previously served as Executive Director of To Help Everyone (T.H.E.) Clinic, a non-profit primary health care facility in Los Angeles that serves primarily African American, Latino, and Asian Pacific Islander patients and their families.    Prior to her work at T.H.E. Clinic, Sylvia practiced poverty and civil rights law as Executive Director of the National Health Law Program in Los Angeles, Staff Attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in New York and Director of the U.S. Office for Civil Rights in the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, D.C. during the Carter administration.  Through participation with the Kaiser Family Foundation Commission on the Future of Medicaid and the Uninsured (1991 to present), President Clinton's Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry (1997), the Institute of Medicine's Studies of Unintended Pregnancy (1998), the Institute of Medicine's Quality of Care Oversight in Federally Financed Programs (2001-2002), and the California Women's Health Council, Sylvia has continued to work on health policy analysis and reform. She recently served on Center for Disease Control's Blue Ribbon Panel, evaluating efforts to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in health care.  Recently, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appointed Ms. Ivie to the City Civil Service Commission, where after six months she was elected President.

Edith Jessup - is currently the Project Coordinator of a Food Security Project with Fresno Metro Ministry. Fresno Metro Ministry is an Interfaith and Ecumenical organization that advocates for Health Care Access, Food Security, Cultural and Religious diversity and understanding, and helpful human services. Through a Community Food Project Grant from USDA, a project called ‘Fresno Fresh Access" was formed to: complete a County Community Food Assessment, increase federal nutrition programs in the Valley, and develop a Food Policy Council and School Nutrition Policy that emphasize access to fresh local produce and culturally appropriate nutritious food availability in low income neighborhoods.  In March, 2006, Fresno Unified School District adopted a comprehensive Healthy Schools Environment Wellness Policy, the first comprehensive policy in the state.  Edith co-chaired the community collaboration that developed the policy aimed at preventing obesity and chronic disease by diet. In March of 2006, she became Director of the Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Project for Fresno County, in partnership with the Fresno County Department of Community Health, and California State University, Fresno where she began forming the Fresno County Food and Built Environment Policy Council, as well as providing technical assistance to 6 other counties on community involvement in environmental change. Edith participates actively on a number of state and regional committees, including: Central California Regional Obesity Prevention Project; California Department of Health/Cancer Prevention & Nutrition Section- Joint Steering Committee Executive Committee; Food Resources and Nutrition Action Team Co-Chair; California Food Policy Advocates (Regional Staff); California Hunger Action Coalition; Community Food Security Coalition; EBT/Farmers Market Regional Staff; Interfaith Alliance of Central California; and the Unitarian Universalist Social Justice Committee.

Evan Kleiman - is the Owner and Executive Chef at Angeli Caffé in Los Angeles, which opened in December of 1984.  A contemporary Italian restaurant on Melrose Avenue designed to serve "simple rustic food in a modern environment," Angeli Caffé offers light and simple food that is both stylish and affordable.  Over the past two decades, Evan has written several best-selling cookbooks, including Cucina Fresca, Cucina Rustica, and Cucina del Mare.  Evan is host of the weekly radio food show "Good Food" which is heard each Saturday morning at 11am on KCRW 89.9fm, the second largest NPR station in the country. Evan has recently started a series of video podcasts in which she demonstrates cooking with ingredients from the Santa Monica Farmers Market.  She was the founder of the Los Angeles chapter of Slow Food and continues her commitment to educating the public on food sustainability issues through her appearances and her radio show.

Peter Liu – is the Initial Founder and Vice Chairman, New Resource Bank.  In November 2006, Peter helped found New Resource Bank, an innovative community bank in San Francisco that focuses on financing sustainable and efficient resources. Peter also serves on the Clean Technology Investment Advisory Boards of the California Public Employees Retirement System and the California Teachers’ Retirement System and is a member of San Francisco’s Mayor’s Green Building Task Force. Peter has also been an engineer for the Chevron Corporation and the California Air Resources Board.  Peter did his undergraduate studies in Chemical Engineering & Materials Science at UC Berkeley and graduate studies in Public Affairs at Princeton.

Maricela P. Morales – is the Mayor of City of Port Hueneme, and Associate Executive Director, Central Coast Alliance United for A Sustainable Economy (CAUSE). Maricela oversees CAUSE’s Health Coverage Expansion and Women’s Economic Justice Projects, as part of the nonprofit’s dedications to collaboratively realizing a healthy, just, prosperous and environmentally sound reality for all people on the California Central Coast.  In response to the need for diversity among elected public decision makers and as a voice for economic, environmental and social equity, she was the youngest and first Latina elected to the Port Hueneme City Council and the first Chicana to serve as Mayor in the Central Coast Tri-Counties region. As Mayor and Council Member, she has prioritized the issues of violence prevention, family strengthening, and civic engagement.

Pietro Parravano - is a commercial fisherman and the owner/operator of the commercial fishing vessel Anne B. He harvests salmon, Dungeness crab, and rockfish. Pietro has served as the President of the Pacific Coast Federation Fishermen's Associations since 1992. PCFFA is composed of 22 commercial fishing associations and represents community-based fishing families. In 1994, he started the Institute for Fisheries Resources to promote, sponsor, and advance the recovery and protection of fisheries and their supporting habitats. Pietro now serves as the President of IFR. He is also currently on the Board of Directors of the Marine Fish Conversation Network, a coalition composed of 95 organizations that was instrumental in the enactment of the Sustainable Fisheries Act and oversees its implementation. Pietro serves on the Bay-Delta Advisory Panel that provides guidance on long-term solutions to the problems affecting San Francisco Bay, the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Estuary and its watershed. He serves as Commissioner of the San Mateo County Harbor District. Since 1997, he has been one of two U.S. delegates to the World Forum of Fish Workers and Fish Harvesters. He also serves as a commissioner on the Pew Oceans Commission.  Pietro earned a B.S. in Chemistry and an M.S. in Biology from Eastern Michigan University. He taught chemistry, physics and earth sciences before becoming a fisherman. His father is Giuseppe Parravano, a world-renowned professor of chemical engineering. He lives with his wife, Joan, in Half Moon Bay, California.

Richard Rominger - served three years, 2002-2004, as an Advisor on Production Agriculture to four California universities, evaluating whether California's university programs were adequately meeting the needs of California agriculture. Previously, he served as U.S. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture from 1993 to 2001, working to improve farm policy and programs and serving on the President's Council on Sustainable Development as co-chair of the Sustainable Agriculture Task Force. He headed the California Department of Food and Agriculture from 1977 to 1982 under Governor Jerry Brown.  Richard also serves on the boards of the American Farmland Trust, U.C. Davis Agricultural Sustainability Institute, and the Agricultural Advisory Committee of the California Commission for Economic Development.  He recently completed six years of service on the University of California President's Advisory Commission on Agriculture and Natural Resources, and a term on the Board of Regents of the University of California representing alumni.  He has also served on the advisory board of the University of California Agricultural Issues Center.  He owns a fifth generation farm outside of Winters, California, that is farmed by his children.  He is a frequent contributor and presenter at local and international agricultural conferences and throughout his career has received numerous awards including Agriculturalist of the Year at the 1992 California State Fair and the Distinguished Service Award by the California Farm Bureau Federation in 1991.  Richard received a Bachelor of Science Degree in plant science summa cum laude from the University of California at Davis and is a member of the agricultural honorary societies of Alpha Zeta and Gamma Sigma Delta.  He lives with his wife, Evelyne, on the farm near Winters.

Larry Yee - has been an academic staff member of the University of California Cooperative Extension since 1976.  In 1986, he was appointed Director of the Ventura County office.  He provides leadership for applied research and extension education programs in agriculture and natural resources, family and consumer sciences, and youth development.  Larry is also the founder and a board member of the Hansen Trust, a multi-million dollar University of California endowment established to sustain and benefit agriculture in Ventura County.  In 1995, Larry was the co-coordinator of a statewide leadership development program for the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources.  He has been a Kellogg Foundation Fellow at the Resources for the Future Institute (1987) and is a graduate of the National Extension Leadership Development Program (1994).  Larry currently serves on the boards of Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, Community Alliances of Interdependent Agriculture, Center for Earth Concerns, Ojai Valley Library Foundation, and is a member of the President's Council for Project Food, Land, and People.  Larry received his B.S. in biological sciences from UC Davis in 1969 and an MBA from the University of Santa Clara in 1983.  Larry is married, has two children, and resides in Ojai, California.

  Advisors
  • Diana Cohn -   Managing Director, Panta Rhea Foundation
  • Leonard Diggs - Farmer and educator, Leonard Diggs Farms and Shone Farm, formerly Santa Rosa Junior College
  • Diana Donlon - Program Consultant, William Zimmerman Foundation
  • Ann Evans - Formerly, California Department of Education; former Mayor of Davis, California
  • Joan Gussow - Author and Mary Swartz Rose Professor Emeritus of Nutrition and Education, Teachers College, Columbia University
  • Martha Guzman - Legislative Advocate for the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, United Farm Workers of America; technical manager for the Farm Worker Safe Drinking Water Project, California Water Commission; member of the California Agricultural Leadership Program
  • Desmond Jolly - Former Director, Small Farm Center, University of California
  • Jose Montenegro - Founder and former Executive Director, Center for International Sustainable Development (CIDERS); former Executive Director, Rural Development Center
  • Nell Newman - President and founder of Newman's Own Organics
  • Alice Waters - Founder, Chez Panisse

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