Farmer Resource Navigator

Andi Kaffai is an agricultural professional with a B.S. in Agricultural Science from California Polytechnic State University, specializing in sustainable and regenerative farming practices. With experience managing operations at regenerative/organic farms and community gardens, she has developed expertise in farm logistics, customer relations, and educational program development. Andi offers grant writing assistance, strategic grant application planning, as well as loan readiness and application services to help farm businesses secure the funding they need. Fluent in both English and Spanish, she is committed to making financial resources more accessible to underserved small family farmers.

Data Analysis Technician

Growing up in San Diego, Alex developed a passion for local food systems—a passion she now combines with her data analytics background to support local farms. With over six years of experience in project management and building effective data systems, she specializes in leveraging historical data trends to guide future decisions. Alex holds a data certification with specializations in Excel, Google Sheets, and Tableau and can assist by making data-driven insights accessible to small farms.

Farmer-to-Farmer Mentor

Hernan co-founded Solidarity Farm in 2012 and has grown diversified specialty crops, eggs and chickens for more than a decade. In 2020, he was recognized as California’s Climate Smart Farmer of the Year. He has mentored more than 50

aspiring farmers and provided one-on-one production troubleshooting to Foodshed’s network of farmers over the past 6 years. He specializes in small farm solutions, conservation planning and production planning.

Soil Health Technician

Sarah is an experienced soil scientist with a B.S. in Environmental Science and Management from the University of California, Davis, where she gained extensive field experience and education in agricultural soil. As a certified Carbon Farm Planner trained at California State University, Chico, Sarah specializes in writing carbon farm plans to support climate-smart agricultural practices. Her work bridges soil health and regenerative practices to promote resilient landscapes.tion goes here

Beginning Farmer Specialist

Mae is an educator and farm manager with 10 years of experience in educational agriculture. She has managed crop production, volunteers of all ages, internships, and farm crews on diversified fruit, flower and vegetable farms. She has certifications in Urban Agriculture, has completed 3000+ hours in the California Farm Academy’s Farm Management Apprenticeship Program, completed the Fairshare CSA Coalition Leadership Training and Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training course.

Climate Resilience Specialist

Bea has been part of Foodshed since its inception in 2020, working directly with farmers to oversee Soil Health Assessments and support the implementation of resilient farming practices. As a certified Permaculture Designer and Carbon Farm Planner through the Carbon Cycle Institute, she brings a systems-thinking approach to soil health and farm planning. Bea is currently advancing her expertise through the Technical Service Provider Professional Course Series at CSU Chico’s Center for Regenerative Agriculture.

Grant Writing Specialist

Ellee has 20 years of experience writing grants for food and farming projects with a success rate over 90%. She draws on experience as a commercial farmer, director of Solidarity Farm School, co-founder of Foodshed Cooperative and the national advisor for Food and Farming Programs at the International Rescue Committee. She specializes in pairing the right project with the proper funding source, developing feasible and scalable project designs and aligning objectives with a viable budget.