Center for Land-Based Learning Gets Big Grant

Center for Land-based Learning Awarded $25,000 Bank of America Grant

Grant will support General Operating Funds for the Growing Non-profit

Bank of America has awarded $25,000 to the Center for Land-Based Learning, based in Woodland, to support General Operating Funds for the growing non-profit.

Bank of America has long been a supporter of the Center’s work, with previous grants funding its Green Corps program and a multi-year Neighborhood Builder project. The current funding undergirds the Center’s mission to inspire, educate, and cultivate future generations of farmers, agricultural leaders, and natural resource stewards, through educational programming, job creation, and workforce development efforts.

Lori A. Rianda, Senior Vice President and Local Market Executive for Bank of America Greater Sacramento, remarked of the partnership, “The work that Center for Land-Based Learning does in our community around workforce development within the ag industry and environmental stewardship is truly impactful. We are pleased to partner with CLBL, a true model for what an effective, sustainable community-based organization should be.”

This grant, in providing General Operating Support to the Center, would directly support Workforce Development, specifically through the FARMS Program and California Farm Academy. The Center directly engages in job creation through the internship portion of the FARMS Program, aimed at helping youth ages 16 through 24 to enter the fields of agriculture and natural resource stewardship. The Center also partners with local partners to create and manage paid internships for youth interested in entering these fields professionally.

Mary Kimball, CEO of the Center for Land-Based Learning, expressed her appreciation for the support: “We are thrilled to be funded by the Bank of America Foundation again through this grant. We value our long-term partnership and the investment that the foundation makes in the economic and social well-being of our region through its philanthropic giving.”

California Ag Today2021-07-21T16:59:44-07:00July 21st, 2021|

Center for Land-Based Learning Increases Growth

Center for Land-Based Learning announces Unprecedented Organizational Growth

As the need for new farmers, agricultural leaders, and natural resource stewards continues to increase, the Center for Land-Based Learning is announcing its unprecedented organizational growth in response to this need.

The Center, which started offering its FARMS program in 1993, has remained committed to inspiring, educating, and cultivating future generations of farmers, agricultural leaders, and natural resource stewards in California over the long haul.

In 2017, the Center set forth a multi-year strategy plan to, among other goals, “build a new home in a new place.”

In May 2020, the Center moved to Woodland, after a successful capital campaign. The Center for Land-Based Learning’s Headquarters at Maples Farm is a 30-acre campus that houses their new offices, the Best Classroom where they will hold in-person classes when it is again safe to do so, and productive farmland and associated infrastructure. Beginning farmers in the Center’s California Farm Academy Farm Business Incubator Program can lease plots of farmland on Maples Farm or in West Sacramento, to grow their nascent agricultural ventures.

“We have been overwhelmed by the incredible support and the ability to propel innovative new programs and services at our new facility”, says Jeana Hultquist, Chair of the Center’s Board. “This also meant aligning our leadership with comparable forward-looking non-profit organizations.”

In the fall of 2020, the Board promoted Mary Kimball from Executive Director to CEO. Mary was the first employee hired to work with the Center back in 1998 and has served at its helm since 2003. Under Kimball’s leadership, the move to Maples Farm positions the Center for growing success for another 25 years.

The Center has also created several new positions in recent months. These include their new Director of Operations, filled by Jesus Zavala since December, their West Sacramento Urban Farm Program Coordinator, filled by Heather Lyon since April, and their Beginning Farm and Ranch Management Apprentice, filled by Erin Morris since April.

California Farm Academy Director, Dr. Sridharan (Sri) Sethuratnam, added, “At the Maples Farm, we have access to quadruple the amount of land, and dramatically improved infrastructure and equipment. The land and infrastructure provide us with the capacity to better support the beginning farmers in the region and will eventually contribute to growing the next generation of farmers that our country needs.”

To learn more about the Center for Land-Based Learning, or to give to their mission, please visit landbasedlearning.org.

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The mission of the Center for Land-Based Learning is to inspire, educate, and cultivate future generations of farmers, agricultural leaders and natural resource stewards.

California Ag Today2021-06-18T08:37:57-07:00June 17th, 2021|

Union Pacific Railroad Donates to Center for Land Based Learning

Union Pacific Helps Supports Center for Land-Based Learning’s FARMS Leadership Program

The Center for Land-Based Learning was awarded $22,000 from Union Pacific Railroad’s Community Ties Giving Program to support its San Joaquin Valley FARMS Leadership Program.

The FARMS Leadership Program, the flagship program of the Center for Land-Based Learning, introduces high school students interested in agriculture and environmental science to the college and career opportunities available in these fields. Students gain valuable knowledge by visiting farms, ranches, community gardens, agribusinesses, and colleges and universities with majors in agricultural and environmental sciences. They attend monthly field days throughout the school year to learn about possible educational and career pathways in these fields.

Francisco Castillo, Senior Director of Public Affairs with Union Pacific Railroad, attended a virtual FARMS field day of the 2020-2021 school year over Zoom on March 26. He presented a FARMS Leadership Lesson on his own career journey, and the importance of building a personal brand and network, demonstrating his own as well as the Union Pacific commitment to workforce development in the region.

Castillo commented, “Through our Community Ties Giving Program, we seek to make a positive impact on the communities we serve. We are especially invested in Community Spaces, Public Safety, and Workforce Development throughout our network. We are committed to STEM education – for example, the programming that the Center for Land-Based Learning provides.”

The Community Ties Giving Program has long been a supporter of the Center for Land-Based Learning. They contributed $15,000 in 2018, $20,000 in 2019, and this $22,000 in 2020 to the FARMS Leadership Program for the 2020-2021 school year.

Mary Kimball, CEO of the Center for Land-Based Learning, noted, “We are appreciative of the ongoing, significant support that the Community Ties Giving Program has provided us over the years. Our youth programs depend on the generosity of local advocates, and visionary leaders like Union Pacific know the value of investing in workforce development for the next generation.”

Participating schools in the San Joaquin Valley FARMS Leadership Program include:

Health Careers Academy, Historic Durham Ferry, and Langston Hughes Academy.

California Ag Today2021-03-31T19:19:20-07:00March 31st, 2021|