Focus Agriculture Class XXVII Selected

Twenty-One Community Leaders Named to 2017 Program

Twenty-one community leaders have been selected for Class XXVIII (28) 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.

Each year, nearly 50 applications are received for this program, and the Agri-Culture Board of Directors selects 21 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 10th. Speakers ranging from farmers to elected officials to representatives from environmental groups will address the class. 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 spend one day working on a farm.

In announcing the selected participants of Class XXVIII, Agri-Culture President Steve Bontadelli, stated, “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. The program is designed to be a two way learning process.”

The Focus Agriculture program received a national award for its innovated approach to bringing the public and the agricultural community together.

Focus Agriculture Class XXVIII (28)

• Georgia Acosta – Principal, I.O.I Furniture / PVUSD’s Area II Trustee
• Kathy Arola – School Leadership Development / Mentor for School Administrators, New Teacher Center, S.C. County Office of Education
• Michele Bassi – Vice President of Business Development, Lighthouse Bank
• Caitlin Brune – CEO, Pajaro Valley Community Health Trust
• Christina Cuevas – Program Director, Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, Cabrillo College Trustee
• Angela Farley – Executive Director, Teen Kitchen Project
• Emily Freed – Regional Production Manager, Jacobs Farm/del Cabo, Inc.
• Lyza Gianelli – Company Store Manager, S. Martinelli & Co.
• Peter Hansen – Sergeant, Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office
• Felipe Hernandez – City Councilmember, City of Watsonville
• Matt Huffaker – Assistant City Manager, City of Watsonville
• Nanette Michiewicz – President and CEO, Dignity Health Dominican Hospital
• Salina Nevarez – Administrative Assistant, UC Santa Cruz
• Michelle Overbeck – Marketing Manager, Big Creek Lumber
• Jaron Reyes – Relationship Manager, Santa Cruz County Bank
• Nikki Silva – Co-Founder / Co-Executive Producer, The Kitchen Sisters Productions
• Dylan Skybrook – Manager, Santa Cruz Mountains Stewardship Network
• Sven Stafford – Senior Administrative Analyst, County of Santa Cruz
• David Weber – Account Executive / Producer, McSherry & Hudson
• Teri Wempe – Owner – Stylist, Head Quarters of Aptos
• Michael Wieland – Director, Ancillary Services, Sutter Maternity & Surgery Center of Santa Cruz