Fantastic February!

By CALF President and CEO Dwight Ferguson

At Ag Leadership, we aspire to help unite leaders to strengthen California agriculture so it can sustain its place as a supply leader to the world. Here are some ways we help realize this:

• Enabling communication, connection and collaboration amongst all our stakeholders, most notably our impactful core program alumni.
• Ensuring our capacity to deliver the absolute best leadership development curriculum there is.
• Expanding lifelong leadership learning opportunities.
• Building and maintaining a robust pipeline of program applicants, while continually improving the fellow selection process.
• Securing the foundation’s financial strength so it can support what we do for many years to come.
• Always living our values of excellence, integrity and respect. 

All this explains why February is one of the staff team’s favorite months! As evidenced by some of the highlights below, we get to focus on every one of our priorities in February. From regional gatherings that include applicant information sharing, to the distribution of our annual impact report, to multiple seminars (including Class 53’s national seminar), several fundraising events, CALF board and Alumni Council meetings...not to mention a legislative reception, a celebration dinner and a commencement (Class 52 did an awesome job). February provides us with so many opportunities to demonstrate the foundation’s reason for being. We grow leaders who make a difference - and February is an especially fantastic month for doing that!

Please read on for more details of what I’ve mentioned, and as always contact me at dferguson@agleaders.org or 831-585-1030 with any comments or questions.

Class 52 Commencement

Thank you to everyone who joined us as we celebrated the fellows of Class 52 on their commencement and welcomed them into the alumni community. Congratulations on your leadership journey!

The summer issue of Horizons will feature more on Class 52's commencement.

Applications Open for Class 54

Class 54 applications are available on the CALF website (click button below). Applicants should be mid-career growers, farmers, ranchers, horticulturalists, foresters and/or individuals working in other areas of California’s diverse agriculture industry who are emerging leaders with a passion for California agriculture. Alumni may find resources (PDF format) to assist in acting as ambassadors to potential candidates (click button below). Alumni interested in assisting with informational events or prospective applicants should contact their regional directors or Abby Taylor-Silva (45) at 831-585-1030.

APPLICATION DEADLINES

Phase one: April 17. Phase two: May 15.

SPREAD THE WORD!

Please share/repost our Class 54 applications post on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

CALF Welcomes New Board Members

The foundation is pleased to welcome Nikki Cossio and Sal Parra Jr. (46) to the board.

Cossio is the CEO and founder of Salinas-based Measure to Improve LLC. Parra Jr. is the director of farming for Burford Ranch and an owner/partner of Coyula Farms. He previously served on the Alumni Council as a member of the CALF Education Team.

Read more about them in the news release!

2024 CAX: Applications Available

APPLICATIONS ARE DUE FEB. 20

The application period for the 2024 California Educational Exchange Program (California Exchange) is open until Feb. 20. This experiential learning and leadership development opportunity brings together representatives from California regulatory organizations, nonprofits that work with agriculture, and California agriculturalists. 

California Exchange fellows gain a better understanding of how public policy affects complex and diverse agricultural systems and tools for collaboration that may lead to more opportunities for multi-benefit policy development and execution. California agriculture producers are provided an equally important opportunity to better understand the perspectives of regulatory agency managers and the unique constraints, pressures and concerns influencing their decision-making processes.

2024 DCX: Call for Nominations

Nominations are needed for the 2024 Washington D.C. Educational Exchange Program (D.C. Exchange), which will tour Regions 9, 10 and 11 in early fall 2024. 

Please forward names, along with emails, of qualified candidates to Judy Sparacino (HF). We will be conducting in-person interviews in D.C. and surrounding areas on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, March 4-6. For applicants who can only meet virtually, we will have some availability the week before to hold a limited number of interviews.  

Partial list of topics for the 2024 D.C. Exchange include: Water, labor/immigration, food safety, pest exclusion and management, animal husbandry, crop protection, trade, urban agricultural interface, conservation resources and environmental issues. 

I Grew with Ag Leadership

This month we feature Cornelio Blanco (52) in our campaign! Click the buttons to read the testimonial from Cornelio and other featured alumni. The campaign is also featured on Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn – like, share and follow!

Ag & Government Leaders Reception

DATE – TIME – LOCATION

Feb. 26 / 5:30 - 7:30 p.m.

The Senator Office Building / 1121 L St., Sacramento

RSVP BY FEB. 16

CALF Programs Manager Judy Sparacino (HF) / 831-585-1030

NEEDED: AG PRODUCT DONATIONS FOR DISPLAY

We are continuing the tradition of featuring a beautiful, large cornucopia display of California agricultural products at the reception, so the reception committee is seeking donations of products. Please click the event page button for the donation form. Thank you for your help!

First Fridays / March

BUILDING A CULTURE OF TRUST

March 1 via Zoom

Karen Timmins, senior vice president of human resources at Western Growers and a certified Arbinger Institute trainer (view bio), will share key factors for building a culture of trust in your organization. Learn critical tools for instilling confidence, providing clarity as a leader and empowering teams that thrive.

Alumni: We Can Use Your Help!

Watch your inbox next week for an email with new details about the Alumni Conference! Room reservations are now available at the Monterey Marriott; click the event page button for the link.

Please reach out to Abby Taylor-Silva (45) at 831-585-1030 if you are interested in volunteering – any role you sign up for will be helpful!

Leaders are Readers Book Club

The spring book club selection is "Hidden Potential: The Science of Achieving Greater Things" by Adam Grant. The book

offers a new framework for raising aspirations and exceeding expectations. Grant weaves together evidence, insights and storytelling to show that growth is not about the genius you possess, but about the character you develop. Grant explores how to build the character skills and motivational structures to realize our own potential, and how to design systems that create opportunities. For more information about the book club, contact Abby Taylor-Silva (45) at 831-585-1030.

Update Your Alumni Directory Listing

FIRST TIME on the alumni directory: Use your primary email and click on forgot password. You will receive an email to create your new password and receive your username. If you don't see the email in your inbox, check your spam folder.

RETURNING: To log in, use your username, NOT your email address. For assistance, contact Mia Mirassou / 831-585-1030.

Thank You!

We want to send a hearty thank you to everyone who has participated in this year's Mission 750 challenge and for all who have supported and attended the many events being held in recent weeks. Your time, talent and treasure is the backbone of Ag Leadership and it could not be done without your energy and generosity. Thank you for giving back and for paying it forward!