Today we’re excited to announce new leadership here at Community Alliance with Family Farmers and the Farmers Guild, with Paul Towers assuming the role of Executive Director. We offer our heartfelt thanks and bid farewell to Diane Del Signore who led our organization during this past fruitful decade, as she hands over the reins of our 41-year legacy of supporting family farms to the next generation of California food system change-makers.
Paul’s previous experiences includes an education from UC Davis and work with the Sacramento Food Policy Council, California Food & Farming Network, Sacramento Urban Ag Coalition, Pesticide Action Network, the Farmer Justice Collaborative, and the California Endowment’s Healthy Food for All Collaborative.
Paul brings to our organization a deep commitment to keeping sustainable agriculture viable and to supporting the hardworking communities on farms across our state. His experience ranges from promoting agricultural diversity through seed access and education in New Mexico to promoting progressive food and farm policy reform in Sacramento, successfully advocating for such initiatives as the Farmer Equity Act, urban agriculture and healthy rural communities.
“We’re at a critical juncture,” says Rich Collins, farmer and former CAFF board chair, “where our agricultural community, consumers and our environment will all need a food system that can deliver better results under increasingly complex constraints. Paul will be instrumental in leading that effort.”
In addition to strengthening our current programs—from Climate Smart Farming to Food Safety—Paul comes to this new position with an increased focus on lifting up voices that rarely get heard in Sacramento or D.C.. From small-scale farms to California Ag’s diverse cultures and geographies, Paul hopes to unite farmers with consumers, city with country, food advocates with land stewards.
“As a young farmer, I’m thrilled,” says board member Gowan Batist. “Paul’s vision for our food system places farmer equity at the center.”
We welcome Paul to our community and look forward to many more years of growing more resilient family farms, communities and ecosystems. Paul Towers can be reached at paul@caff.org