Eleventh Annual Eccles Family Rural West Conference

David Mas Masumoto, Masumoto Family Farm

Mas Masumoto is an organic peach and grape farmer and the author of twelve books including: Epitaph for a Peach, Wisdom of the Last Farmer, Heirlooms, Letters to the Valley, Four Seasons in Five Senses, Harvest Son, Country Voices, and Silent Strength. He, along with his wife, Marcy, and daughter, Nikiko, published a family farm cookbook, The Perfect Peach in 2013. His newest books include Secret Harvests: A Hidden Story of Separation and Resilience on a Family Farm (2023 Red Hen Press), Changing Season, A Father, A Daughter, A Family Farm (2016, Heyday Books) and A Sense of Yosemite (2016 with Nancy Robbins, photographer, Yosemite Conservancy).

A feature documentary, “Changing Season on the Masumoto Family Farm,” about the theme of succession on a family farm, was featured at film festivals in 2015-16 and was nationally broadcast by PBS in May, 2016.

Masumoto is currently a columnist for The Fresno Bee and the Sacramento Bee. He was a Kellogg Foundation Food and SocietyPolicy Fellow from 2006-2008. His writing awards include Commonwealth Club Silver medal, Julia Child Cookbook award, the James Clavell Literacy Award and a finalist in the James Beard Foundation awards. Wisdom of the Last Farmer was honored as “Best Environmental Writing in 2009” by National Resources Defense Council. The Perfect Peach was named by USA Today as one of best summer cookbooks in 2013.

Masumoto received the “Award of Distinction” from UC Davis in 2003 and the California Central Valley “Excellence in Business” Award in 2007. He is currently a board member of the Central Valley Community Foundation, Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) and CalMatters. Previously, he served as the Chair of the PPIC, was a board member on the and James Irvine Foundation (2002-2014), and is the former chair of the California Council for the Humanities board. In 2013, President Obama appointed Masumoto the National Council on the Arts, the board for the National Endowment for the Arts where he served for 10 years. Masumoto (Mas is married to Marcy Masumoto, EdD, and they have a daughter, Nikiko, and a son, Korio.)

Surabhi Balachander, Oregon State University 

Surabhi Balachander grew up in Indiana, was a longtime staff member at Stanford University's Bill Lane Center for the American West, and earned her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan. 

Balachander's research and teaching interests bridge comparative ethnic studies and the environmental humanities in 20th and 21st century American literature. Her current book project seeks to define rural identity in American literature from 1920-2020, the U.S.'s first century as a majority-urban nation, and shows that rural America, in contrast to popular stereotypes, is best understood as multiethnic and cosmopolitan. Her work appears in ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment and Western American Literature.

David Shabazian, California Department of Conservation (retired)

David Shabazian's background growing up on a family farm in California’s San Joaquin Valley and earning degrees in agricultural economics and regional planning from UC Davis shaped his passion for land use and natural resource stewardship. During his 20 years of planning experience in the Sacramento region, he brought together diverse stakeholders to balance natural resource conservation and urban growth, creating tools to map and analyze strategies to enhance both environmental and economic resilience. As Director of the Department of Conservation from 2019 to 2024, David led initiatives to enhance watershed function, achieve carbon neutrality, reduce hazards, and promote sustainable economic development through his Natural and Working Lands Framework. His efforts support the California Jobs First initiative, emphasizing natural resources as vital to the economy and community wellbeing. David is now consulting to the Central Valley Community Foundation on the implementation of their Sierra-San Joaquin Jobs First initiative. David serves on several boards, including the California State Board of Food and Agriculture and the UC Davis College Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Dean’s Advisory Council.

Logan Robertson Huecker, Sequoia Riverlands Trust

Dr. Logan Robertson Huecker joined Sequoia Riverlands Trust (SRT) in 2020 and was appointed Executive Director in October, 2021. Logan has worked for more than two decades in the nonprofit and education sectors in California, Guatemala, and Honduras. Her work at SRT leverages her professional experience and expands upon her deep commitment to the natural and agricultural legacy of the Sierra foothills and Central Valley. She has experience leading non-profit organizations and publicly funded programs; managing staff teams, spearheading collaborative initiatives, and implementing federal, state, and local policies. Throughout her career, Logan has worked to identify and secure government and foundation funding sources, cultivate new donor relationships, and foster connections with current supporters. She holds a PhD in Education from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and has served on the faculty of the Bard College Master of Arts in Teaching Program, as well as non-profit boards. Logan lives outside of Three Rivers with her family. 

Roman Rain Tree, S2J2 - Sierra San Joaquin Jobs Tribal Liaison 

Ashley Swearengin, Central Valley Community Foundation

Moderator 

Ashley Swearengin is president and CEO of the Central Valley Community Foundation, a charitable foundation serving the six counties of Central California that has helped secure over $600 million in philanthropic and public investments to over 950 civic organizations over the last five years. As CEO, Ashley is responsible for supporting the CVCF board, staff and partners in pursuit of the organization’s vision of a Central Valley with “no barriers; just opportunity; all people.” She has over 25 years of experience in community and economic development in California's Central Valley, serving as mayor of Fresno from 2009 through 2016. As mayor, she focused her efforts on improving distressed neighborhoods, revitalizing the downtown and urban core, promoting local businesses, securing the city’s long-term water supply, addressing chronic homelessness, and stabilizing the city’s financial position. In addition, Swearengin led Governor Schwarzenegger’s Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley, Fresno State’s Office of Community and Economic Development, the Fresno Regional Jobs Initiative, and the Central Valley Business Incubator. She serves on numerous regional, statewide and national boards of dedicated to inclusive economic growth, promoting democracy and civic engagement, and fulfilling America’s promise, including New America, the Urban Institute, the College Futures Foundation, California Forward, the James B. McClatchy Foundation, and Power Forward. Swearengin holds MBA and BS degrees from California State University, Fresno and lives in Fresno with her husband Paul and their son, Sam, who is a college student studying to be an accountant. Their daughter, Sydney, is a Pepperdine alum and aspiring opera and musical theater performer who is finishing her graduate degree in the greater New York City area.

Celina Scott-Buechler, Stanford University

Celina Scott-Buechler, from Tucson, Arizona, is pursuing a PhD in environment and resources at the Emmett Interdisciplinary Program at Stanford School of Earth, Energy, and Environmental Sciences and a JD at Stanford Law School. She graduated summa cum laude from the honors College Scholars program at Cornell University, where she also earned her master's in atmospheric science. Celina is excited to continue her work on environmental justice, federal policymaking, and climate action at Stanford. Specifically, she aims to address the global need to remove past greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere by developing strategies for progressive, equitable carbon removal at the gigaton-scale. Celina has worked as a legislative staffer for Senator Cory Booker, policy director for the Center for Environmental Peacebuilding, and consultant to the UN. She is currently co-chair of the research consortium Ocean Visions' marine circular bioeconomy taskforce, and serves on the board of directors of the Telluride Association, an education-democracy non-profit. Celina has been awarded the national Knauss, Truman, Udall, and NOAA Hollings scholarships.

Tyson Eckerle, California Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development

Tyson Eckerle serves as Senior Advisor for Clean Infrastructure and Mobility in the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) and Chief Government & Strategy Officer for the Alliance for Renewable Clean Hydrogen Energy Systems (ARCHES). In these roles, he collaborates with multiple stakeholders to streamline California’s efforts to accelerate our transition to a clean energy ecosystem, building on his experience as GO-Biz’s first Deputy Director of Zero Emission Vehicle Market Development. Tyson holds a B.A. in Biology from the University of California, Davis and a Master of Environmental Science and Management (MESM) from the Bren School of Environmental Science and Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Elizabeth Betancourt, California Department of Conservation 

Elizabeth Betancourt joined the Department of Conservation as Natural and Working Lands Policy Advisor in 2021. A trained scientist, Elizabeth has spent most of her two decades of work on California’s resource challenges in policy and planning. Working with stakeholders as varied as Tribes, business, local government, and advocacy groups, Elizabeth has integrated a passion for cross-sector innovation and science-based discovery with natural pragmatism and a proclivity for community-based solutions to chart a path forward in challenging resource decisions. From spearheading one of the first water purveyors’ reporting to the California Climate Action Registry (now The Climate Registry), to negotiating prioritization strategies in Integrated Regional Water Management Groups; from integrating Tribal rights and sovereignty needs into a regulatory process, to advocating for legislative allocations to upland resources commensurate with the value of these landscapes to our entire state; Elizabeth has worked with a diverse and dedicated network of co-conspirators to move California resource policy to better reflect the reality of our interconnected world and the holistic perspective that climate adaptation demands.Elizabeth comes to the Department of Conservation from previous posts in local, state, and federal government, as well as with private and non-profit entities. She has an MS in Watershed Science (Colorado State University) and BS in Environmental Biology and Management (UC Davis). To stay busy, she owns a small farm with her husband, old dog, four cats, Soay sheep, and 40-ish chickens up in Shasta County, where they operate educational programs for underserved youth.

Samir Sheikh, San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District

Moderator 

Samir has over 25 years of experience in developing air quality improvement programs. Samir leads the largest air district in the state of California with some of the most complex air quality challenges in the nation. Serving a region facing severe economic and public health challenges, the Valley Air District has implemented amongst the most innovative and stringent air pollution control strategies in the nation through cooperative stakeholder and community engagement. Samir has worked with a wide range of stakeholders to form a variety of successful coalitions to bring significant resources to the Valley for clean air programs and strategies, with over $7 billion in public/private clean air investments administered by the Valley Air District to date. With a staff of over 350 air quality professionals, Samir has made employees’ welfare, wellbeing, and empowerment a top priority, with overall focus on improving public health and providing excellent customer service to the public.

Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, President, California State University, Fresno

Dr. Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval serves as the ninth President of Fresno State, where he held previous appointments as Provost and Dean of Arts and Humanities. Prior to administration, Dr. Jiménez-Sandoval taught at Fresno State for almost 15 years in his areas of expertise: Spanish and Portuguese poetry. 

As a national leader in higher education, Dr. Jiménez-Sandoval has served on the AASCU Board of Directors and chaired the AASCU Hispanic Affinity group. He has served on the MLI Executive Steering committee, USDA HACU Leadership Group, and the LEAD CA Executive Board. In his current role as President, he remains connected to students as a MSI Aspiring Leaders Presidential Mentor. Within the California State University system, he has chaired both CSU-Water and the CSU BioTech committees, and holds appointments on the CSU Technology Steering Committee, CSU Financial Sustainability Workgroup and the CSU Black Excellence/Student Success Working Group. 

Dr. Jiménez-Sandoval received dual B.A.s (cum laude), in History and in Spanish, from the University of California, Irvine. His M.A. and Ph.D. are in Spanish literature, also from UC Irvine. He has roots in Fowler, a city 15 minutes south of Fresno. His commitment to California’s Central Valley region and higher education forms his personal mission to promote its economic and cultural ascendency, bolstering the vitality of Central California as a preeminent hub in agriculture and the arts.

 He and his wife, Dr. Mariana Anagnostopoulos, happily make Fresno their home with their two sons, Arion and Leo.

Bruce Cain, Stanford University

Bruce Cain is an expert in U.S. politics, particularly the politics of California and the American West. A pioneer in computer-assisted redistricting, he is a prominent scholar of elections, political regulation and the relationships between lobbyists and elected officials. Prior to joining Stanford, Professor Cain was director of the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley from 1990-2007 and executive director of the UC Washington Center from 2005-2012. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2000 and has won awards for his research (Richard F. Fenno Prize, 1988), teaching (Caltech, 1988 and UC Berkeley, 2003) and public service (Zale Award for Outstanding Achievement in Policy Research and Public Service, 2000). He is currently working on state regulatory processes and stakeholder involvement in the areas of water, energy and the environment. 

Alex Sherriffs, UCSF, Fresno

Dr. Alexander Sherriffs, M.D., holds a BA degree from Yale University and earned his medical degree from the University of California, Davis, followed by completion of the Family Medicine Residency Program at UCSF Fresno. He volunteered for two years with the Indian Health Service in Northern Michigan and ran a half-time rural private practice for 34 years. Dr. Sherriffs is the past president and former chair of the Public Health Committee of the Fresno-Madera Medical Society.

Dr. Sherriffs has overseen the geriatric and nursing home experiences for family medicine residents, provided training in vasectomy procedures, and coordinated the community medicine month for interns. A Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, Dr. Sherriffs also serves as the Co-Director at the UCSF Fresno Alzheimer's and Memory Center. In 1999, he was honored with the California Academy of Family Physicians’ Barbara Harris Teaching Award. Appointed by Governor Brown in 2011 to serve on the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District Board (SJVAPCDB)and the California Air Resources Board, serving on the latter until 2024. He has been reconfirmed by the State Senate for the SJVAPCDB in 2012, 2016, 2020, and 2024. 

Trinidad Solis, Fresno County Department of Public Health 

Trinidad Solis, MD, MPH is the Deputy Health Officer for the Fresno County Department of Public Health. Her duties include guiding Fresno County’s health response to disease outbreak and assisting with health programs that promote chronic disease prevention. She also helps coordinate the department’s Rural Mobile Health Program, which makes healthcare access more equitable for farmworkers and for people living in the region’s rural areas.  Dr. Solis’ leadership has been recognized in many ways. She received the ‘Physician of the Year’ Award by the National Hispanic Medical Association in 2023. In addition, Dr. Solis was selected for the de Beaumont Foundation’s 40 Under 40 in Public Health Class of 2023. The de Beaumont Foundation recognizes leaders whose creativity and innovation are strengthening communities across the country. 

Dr. Solis completed her undergraduate degree at Stanford University. She then earned her medical degree at the University of California, San Francisco and later trained as a resident in family medicine at UCLA Medical Center. She also obtained her master of public health degree from Johns Hopkins. 

Tekoah Kadara, Allensworth Progressive Association

Recognized among the "22 Black Leaders to Watch in 2022," Tekoah Kadara’s work is driven by a profound dedication to community empowerment. With a passion for service rooted in both his family legacy and the advancement of the Allensworth community, he continues to be a powerful advocate for change.

As a visionary leader with over a decade of expertise in sales, operations, and management, complemented by a formal education in Business Administration and Management, he has excelled in fostering organizational growth and social responsibility. As the CEO of Time Exchange Investments Corp. (TXI Corp.), he has championed the success of BIPOC and women-owned businesses. His entrepreneurial journey, which includes founding and self-funding a successful retail brand, has significantly impacted his leadership in both private capital ventures and corporate operations.

In his capacity as Co-Associate Executive Director of the APA, alongside Dezaraye Bagalayos, he carries forward the legacy of his family—especially his grandmother, Nettie Morrison, and his mother, Denise Kadara—both renowned leaders in Allensworth. Their transformative work in the community focuses on climate-adaptive initiatives, such as regenerative agriculture, clean water technologies, the creation of a community resiliency center, and youth sports programs. These efforts are part of a broader vision to position Allensworth and the Tulare Lakebed region as models for rural climate resilience and sustainability. He emphasizes collaboration, building relationships across the region, state, and nation with subject matter experts and those serving overlapping populations, knowing that true progress requires collective effort.

Sarah Sharpe, Central California Asthma Collaborative

Moderator 

Sarah Sharpe is returned to CCAC as the Deputy Executive Director in 2023 with more than 20 years of commitment to environmental justice, equity, diversity and inclusion demonstrated while working in the public sector as well as in community-based organizations and academia.  Most recently, she served as Chief of Staff to the US Environmental Protection Agency's Regional Administrator for Region 9, Martha Guzman.  Region 9 includes California, Arizona, Nevada, Hawai'i, 148 federally recognized tribal nations and Pacific Island territories.  Some of Sarah's priority projects there included advising on development of Carbon Capture and Sequestration policies, implementing Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, and drinking water issues in Coachella Valley.  Prior to EPA, Sarah served 4 years of state service at the California Public Utilities Commission where she was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown in January 2018 to serve as Senior External Advisor to Commissioner Martha Guzman Aceves. During her tenure as advisor, she collaboratively drafted the agency’s first ever Environmental and Social Justice Action Plan, spearheaded the Interagency Solar Consumer Protection Taskforce, and coordinated the San Joaquin Valley Affordable Energy Options proceeding.  Before state service, she served in leadership positions at the Central California Asthma Collaborative, the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health Children’s Health and Air Pollution Study and Fresno Metro Ministry. Sarah served on many community boards and committees during her years of advocacy including the Central Valley Air Quality (CVAQ) Coalition’s Steering Committee, the Citizens Advisory Committee for the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District representing environmental groups of Fresno County, Californians for Pesticide Reform Steering Committee and the Central California Environmental Justice Network’s Unity Council (CCEJN).   Sarah began her career as an organizer in labor where she learned the fundamentals of organizing and environmental justice with the United Farm Workers, AFL-CIO where she coordinated the Farmworker Safe Drinking Water Program.  

Sarah has a bachelor’s degree from the University of California, Santa Barbara in both Communication and Latin American/Iberian Studies and a master’s degree in teaching Spanish from City University of New York, Brooklyn (aka Brooklyn College).  She lives near Fresno High with her family, including 3 boys and she enjoys swimming, yoga and her book club. 

Poetry Reading 

Joseph Rios, Poet Laureate of Fresno, California, 2023–2025

Joseph Rios was born in the San Joaquin Valley in 1987. He is a Xicano writer and the author of Shadowboxing: Poems & Impersonations (Omnidawn, 2017), winner of a 2018 American Book Award. 

A Wallace Stegner Fellow in Poetry at Stanford University, Rios is the recipient of scholarships and fellowships from Community of Writers, CantoMundo, Letras Latinas, and the California Arts Council.

Rios lives on Yokuts land in Fresno, California, where he serves as poet laureate. In 2024, he received an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellowship.

Featured Speaker

Mark Arax, Author and Journalist

Mark Arax has been called a “21st Century John Steinbeck” for his books that pry open the soul of California. A writer of essays, history, biography and journalism, he is a two-time winner of the California Book Award and a recipient of Stanford University's William Saroyan International Prize for Writing.  His most recent work, "The Dreamt Land: Chasing Water and Dust Across California," a national bestseller, has been hailed by critics as one of the most important books ever written about the West. The New York Times has named the “The Dreamt Land” and one of Mark’s previous books, the “King of California: J.G. Boswell and the Making of a Secret American Empire,” to a short list of California’s best literature over the past 150 years.

M. Anne Visser, UC Davis, Department of Human Ecology

Dr. Anne Visser is a Professor of Community and Regional Development at the University of California, Davis, where she leads research initiatives focused on labor, automation, and economic development in agriculture. Her expertise lies in building resilient economic systems for rural and agricultural economies, particularly in response to disruptions like technological change, disasters, and economic downturns. Over the past five years, her research has concentrated on the impact of digital and autonomous agricultural technologies, including AI, on workforce development and economic systems. Dr. Visser's work aims to help agricultural industries adapt to emerging technologies while ensuring equitable growth. She has served on numerous advisory boards and received funding from organizations such as the NSF, USDA, and the Department of Labor. She holds a B.A. in Anthropology, Political Science, and Deaf Education, an M.A. in Political Science, and a Ph.D. in Economics and Public Policy.

Joshua McEnaney, Nitricity

Dr. Joshua McEnaney, originally from upstate New York, has spent the last decade in California advancing climate-tech, ag-tech, and power-to-X technologies. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Penn State, where he developed novel nanocatalysts for electrochemical green hydrogen production, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in Chemical Engineering at Stanford, focusing on nitrogen fixation and CO₂-to-fuels conversion. As President and CTO of Nitricity, which he co-founded, Dr. McEnaney leads efforts to produce fast-acting, climate-smart nitrogen fertilizers using air, water, and carbon-free energy, aiming to attack the 7% of GHG emissions that come from nitrogen fertilizer while providing farms with an ideal product to maximize their yields and minimize waste. With Nitricity now a post-Series A startup, the company is set to build its first commercial plant this year in California’s Central Valley, bringing sustainable and organic nitrogen solutions to agriculture. Driven by a passion for solving climate challenges and developing practical solutions to help people, he continues to push the boundaries of tech innovation and opportunity development at Nitricity.

Reza Ehsani, UC Merced 

Dr. Ehsani earned his Ph.D. in Biological and Agricultural Engineering from the University of California, Davis, in 2000. He previously served as a faculty member at the Ohio State University and the University of Florida before joining UC Merced in 2017. Currently a professor of Mechanical Engineering at UC Merced, his research focuses on agricultural engineering systems, automation, and intelligent machines for high-value crop production and postharvest processes. His expertise includes precision agriculture, sensor technology for plant stress detection, mechanical harvesting, and robotic systems for fruit and nut tree harvesting.

Leigh Bernacchi, VISTA F3, UC Merced

Moderator 

As the executive director of VISTA, Bernacchi brings together university, industry and community partners to solve the greatest challenges of our time: climate change, food systems, water, and well-being. Since 2015, Bernacchi has coordinated diverse interdisciplinary teams on multi-million dollar programs at the University of California, Merced. As Farms, Food, Future Innovation Initiative gear lead, Bernacchi is building the entrepreneurship ecosystem to enable good ideas to flourish into opportunities for climate-ready agritech and economic development. UC Merced launched the Experimental Smart Farm to serve as the Agricultural Experiment Station facility, for which Bernacchi co-developed the faculty visioning. Bernacchi holds a doctorate from Texas A&M University and conducted post-doctoral research at the University of Idaho with a focus on agtech adoption, climate change adaptation, and water resources management. Her scholarship is on environmental communication, media representation and access, and she published a guidebook to Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks.

Don J. Cameron - California State Board of Food and Agriculture

Don is a graduate of California State University, Fresno with a degree in Biology.  He is married with two adult children.  Since 1987, Don has been the Vice President and General Manager of Terranova Ranch, Inc. located 25 miles southwest of Fresno, California.  Terranova farms approximately 7,500 acres, in addition to 1,500 acres custom farmed for other clients. The farm has a mix of conventional, organic and biotech field crops.  Over 25 different crops are grown on the farm. Don also owns and farms Prado Farms located in Fresno County. Don serves on the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Environmental Farming Act Science Advisory Panel since 2011.  Since 2014, Don has been serving on the California State Board of Food and Agriculture and is currently president.  He currently serves as chairman for the California Cotton Alliance, director and past chairman for the California Tomato Growers Association, chairman for McMullin Area Groundwater Sustainable Agency and director of the Raisin City Water District. In the spring of 2020, Don was appointed to the Governor’s Task Force For Business and Jobs Recovery; Operations Committee and served on the DPR Sustainable Pest Management Task Force.   

Felicia Marcus - Stanford University 

Felicia Marcus has a long career as an organizational manager, a federal, state, and local government policymaker, and as a non-profit leader. She is currently the Landreth Visiting Fellow at Stanford University’s Water in the West Program and is an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and the American College of Environmental Lawyers. Felicia was most recently Chair of the California State Water Resources Control Board after having served as Regional Administrator of the U.S. EPA Region IX and as head of the City of Los Angeles’ Department of Public Works in addition to senior leadership in national non-governmental organizations (Trust for Public Land, Natural Resources Defense Council). She has experience as a private and public interest sector attorney and has worked on issues across the West spanning water supply, water rights, and water quality in addition to experience in other sectors like energy, toxics, and land use. She is also a member of the Water Policy Group, an international network of former and current high-level water official policymakers and is also one of the three US members of the Joint Public Advisory Committee of the North American Commission on Environmental Cooperation in addition to serving on many boards and advisory committees. She also currently serves as a Board Member for the Western Electricity Coordinating Council, which supports the reliability of the bulk electricity transmission grid for the western United States and parts of Canada and Mexico. Felicia graduated cum laude from Harvard College (East Asian Studies), has her JD from New York University School of Law, and attended Hong Kong University (Rotary Fellowship).  

Lauren D. Layne - Baker Manock & Jensen, PC

Lauren Layne is a Shareholder at Baker Manock & Jensen, PC in Fresno where she chairs the firm’s Business Department and leads the firm’s Water Law and Public Agency practice groups. Her law practice focuses on general water and environmental law, including CEQA and NEPA compliance, and includes various business transactional matters in the areas of water rights, water quality, public agency law, agribusiness, and real property. She also assists clients with land acquisitions and eminent domain proceedings. In addition to representing private farming clients, she serves as general counsel to various irrigation and water districts, flood control districts, and a number of Groundwater Sustainability Agencies.  Lauren attended California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, where she majored in Soil Science, and earned her J.D., with distinction, from McGeorge School of Law. 

Lauren is a native of Porterville and has an agricultural background that includes farming and raising sheep. She was very involved in both 4-H and FFA, is a past 4-H Leader, and received her American FFA Degree.  She is currently serving as Vice Chair of the Dean’s Advisory Council for the Cal Poly College of Agriculture Food and Environmental Sciences and as Past President to both the Cal Poly Alumni Association and the McGeorge School of Law Alumni Association.  She is the Chair of the Association of California Water Agencies (“ACWA”) State Legislative Committee and serves on the ACWA Legal Affairs Committee.  Lauren is co-chair of the Fresno County Bar Association Ag Law Section and is a member of Fresno County Farm Bureau.  

Thomas Holyoke - California State University, Fresno

Moderator 

Dr. Thomas Holyoke is Professor of Political Science at California State University, Fresno, where he specializes in interest group politics and western water policy. In addition to nearly 50 peer articles and book chapters on these topics, he is also the author of Water Politics: The Fragmentation of Western Water Policy (Routledge, 2023) and Interest Groups and Lobbying: Pursuing Political Interests in America, 3rd edition (Routledge, 2024).

Toni Atkins, Former California State Senator

Toni Atkins grew up in rural Appalachia, where her family struggled financially. Despite these challenges, she worked hard to become the first in her family to attend college, graduating from Emory & Henry College. She moved to California in the 1980s to help her sister and stayed to serve others, particularly through reproductive health care and advocacy for women's rights. Toni's political career began in San Diego, where she passed the city’s first living wage law and served as acting mayor. She was later elected to the state Assembly, becoming Speaker in 2014, the first openly lesbian person to hold the position. She continued to rise in politics, becoming Senate President pro Tempore in 2016, the first woman and openly LGBTQ person to do so. She has championed issues like climate change, health care, workers’ rights, education, affordable housing, and protections for vulnerable populations. Toni's personal experiences and values drive her commitment to public service, and she is running for Governor of California in 2026, emphasizing the importance of opportunity and support for everyone, regardless of wealth.