ALUMNI COUNCIL UPDATE
Get to Know Alumni Council Liaisons and New Leaders BY ABBY TAYLOR-SILVA (45), CALF EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
OUR ALUMNI COUNCIL (AC) IS VITAL TO THE CALIFORNIA AGRICULTURAL LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION (CALF). IT PROVIDES CRITICAL FEEDBACK TO OUR BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND STAFF TEAM ABOUT THE LIFELONG LEARNING INTERESTS OF OUR ALUMNI, KEEPS OUR ALUMNI CONNECTED WITH ONE ANOTHER AND FACILITATES CRITICAL RECRUITMENT EVENTS WHICH GUIDE AND WELCOME THE NEXT GENERATION OF FELLOWS. CRUCIAL TO THE AC ARE THE LIAISONS WHO KEEP INFORMATION AND COLLABORATION FLOWING. WE HIGHLIGHT SIX OF THOSE LIAISONS IN THIS ISSUE OF HORIZONS AND INTRODUCE YOU TO THE AC’S NEW CHAIR AND VICE CHAIR.
Manpreet Bains (43) Alumni Council Education Team Liaison Partner, Manseena Orchards, Four Leaf Farms and Far Horizon Insurance Sacramento Manpreet Bains joined the CALF Education Team as the Alumni Council liaison in early 2021, where she plans to focus on improving communication between the Alumni Council and the Ed Team in an effort to build trust, transparency and collaboration through the amplification of all stakeholder voices. Bains and her sister, Sureena Thiara, created Manseena Orchards when they took over operations of their parents’ farm where they grow walnuts and prunes. She is also in a partnership with her parents and sister in Far Horizon Crop Insurance, a family business her parents established in 1986 when the crop insurance program was just beginning to roll out for specialty crops in California. She is also a partner in Four Leaf Farms, a new partnership, among both family and friends, where they grow almonds and walnuts. Days are quite varied for Bains due to work, volunteer activities and personal life, but the constants in her days include reading through a few newspapers and starting the New York Times Spelling Bee in the morning, which she tries to finish every night with a perfect score. Depending on the season and day, she travels to Yuba City to her family’s office, where she regularly sees her sister and her parents, who are in their 80s, but still in the office every day. “While the four of us together don’t always make for the most productive work environment, we do have a good time and I am grateful that as a family we have all committed to meeting each other where we are in order
14 HORIZONS MAGAZINE SPRING 2021
