Doug Lipton
Board member since 2015, Doug is an environmental scientist who founded Lipton Environmental Group after serving for years as a Principal Scientist at a large environmental consulting firm. He received his doctorate from U.C. Berkeley in environmental chemistry and did postdoctoral work at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories. Doug, his wife Cindy, and their sons moved to Healdsburg 20 years ago to start a organic/biodynamic farm in Dry Creek Valley. They opened Healdsburg SHED, a modern interpretation of the old time Grange that supports local farmers and producers and brings community together. Doug also serves on the board of the Russian Riverkeepers and Sonoma County Open Space District’s Advisory Group and Agricultural Task Force.
Sandi McCubbin
Sandi is a seasoned influential policy professional on a broad range of issues. She advocated for many interests at both state and local government. She was a registered lobbyist for many years, specializing in telecommunications, energy and transportation. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin, Madison, prior to receiving her masters from the University of California, Davis. She has served on many boards. While living in San Francisco, she served on the boards of the San Francisco Conservation Corps and Creative Growth in Oakland. Since her move to Healdsburg, she has served on the boards of Coastwalk and Sonoma Master Gardeners. In addition to Farm to Pantry, she currently serves on the board of the Sebastopol Center for the Arts.
Kathy Taylor
Kathy Taylor has lived in the Bay Area for over 30 years. For the past 18 years, Kathy has been an executive recruiter with her own firm, Taylor Executive Search. Her firm had a primary focus on Silicon Valley startups. She has worked with several Venture Capitalists to fill out their executive teams. Prior to her recruiting career she worked in Media to include CBS, as well as other national networks.
She has served on the Steering Committee of Citizens Climate Lobby, an all-volunteer non-profit with a focus on Climate Change from the Congress. Her efforts with CCL consisted of lobbying Congress over the past 5 years urging them to take action on Climate Change by passing a Carbon Fee and Dividend.
Kathy sits on the board of the Healdsburg Jazz, promoting music and music education throughout Sonoma County. She also sits on the board of Upwardly Global, a non-profit focused on helping legal immigrants in the US, to find gainful employment. She is a graduate of the University of Nebraska. In her down time, she enjoys cycling and yoga.
Tucker Taylor
Board member since 2017, Tucker grew up gardening in Florida. With a BS in Business and Agriculture focused in Environmental Horticulture from the University of Florida, he honed his craft designing and managing certified organic farms outside Portland and Atlanta and then headed to California to redesign the culinary garden at The French Laundry in Napa Valley. After five years of growing specialty produce for Chef Thomas Keller's restaurants, he moved to Healdsburg and accepted a position as the Director of Culinary Gardens at Jackson Family Wines. He recently became a UC Master Gardener of Sonoma County in hopes of sharing his gardening experience with others. In addition to growing for many chefs in the San Francisco Bay Area, Tucker promotes the value of fresh food and "growing your own" and loves helping nourish the community through Farm to Pantry.
Lou Preston
Lou has been an adored farmer, wine grape grower and winery owner for the past 50 years in Healdsburg's Dry Creek Valley. He is a graduate of Stanford University (undergrad) and the Business School (MBA Program) so many years ago that there were no personal computers! He underwent alternative education in the Defense Language Institute, learning soldiering and Czech. Aspiring to be a professional student, he went to UC Davis to study Viticulture and Winemaking. Lou co-directed a family dairy on the Russian River, which set him on a course of various paths that culminated in his stewardship—with his wife Susan—of their farm in Dry Creek Valley. In his farming career, Lou segued from obsession with terroir-driven grapes and wine to concerns for environmental sustainability, staff wellness & security and ecological balance. Lou is one of the early adopters and adherents to Organic farming in his area, becoming first certified in 1988. Diversification and conversion of his vineyards to general food production, including animal culture, began in 2000. His participation in the local Farmers’ Market and involvement with the Ecological Farming Association as a presenter began at about the same time. Lou has served on the Boards of the Dry Creek Valley Association and the Healdsburg Farmers’ Market, and he was also the founding President of Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley. His passion and purpose are to further farming as a keystone of the Healdsburg community for its contributions to health, ecology and the environment. The trajectory of his interests and passions ultimately peaked his interest in Farm to Pantry’s efforts with respect to food waste, access and justice.
Rocio Rodriguez, Co-Chair
With a Master’s degree in Public Health and a certificate in Public Health & Humanitarian Action from Columbia University, Rocio is currently applying her education and skill set as the Healthe Equity Manager for the County of Sonoma. She has held volunteer positions with the U.S. Southern Border Action Group, Global Response Management in Mexico, the American Red Cross and most recently as a mentor for youth in the On the Margins Dale! Program. She’s passionate about community-based public health and health equity through housing, education, social support networks, food access and neighborhoods.
Maclan Cung, Co-Chair
Maclan was born in Vietnam and raised in Salinas, California. She attended Sonoma State University and graduated with a BA in Environmental Science. In 2006, she relocated to Healdsburg and started working at Love Farms to learn about farming organically. She assisted in tending the land and selling what was seasonally-grown at the local farmers’ markets. This fueled a passion for eating locally and seasonally. Now, she never misses a chance to seek out a farmers’ market at home or abroad on her travels. Currently, she works at Jackson Family Wines as a Culinary & Garden Operation Specialist. Maclan has 13 years of experience in the Hospitality & Restaurant industry. She first joined Farm to Pantry as a gleaner in 2015. Inspired by the organization’s mission, she was compelled to become a board member and help expand its outreach.
Katie Rosson
Katie Rosson’s human resources and communications experience spans 35 years. She has held senior leadership positions in large global organizations, including Charles Schwab, Gap, Inc. and most recently Ariat International. Katie is known as someone who understands both the business and personal side of organizations Her work has included developing strategies for achievement of critical business objectives and organizational growth, providing leadership coaching, developing individuals and teams, and creating strategies and methodologies for internal and external corporate communications.
In addition to working with Farm to Pantry, Katie currently serves as a board member of Reach for Home and on the Vestry of St. Paul’s - Healdsburg. She also serves as the Chair of the Equal Voices Advisory Council of the National Democratic Institute in Washington DC. Katie has recently retired and is living with her wife in Northern California.
Mike Neil, Secretary & Treasurer
Mike Neil was born and raised in Portage, Michigan and attended the University of Michigan College of Engineering. Mike spent 32+ years working in the technology industry and retired at the end of 2021. His first job out of college was with Apple which brought him to California where he developed his passion for food and wine and hones his skills as an avid home chef. After two valley startups, his company was acquired by Microsoft where he spent 19 years of his career building products used worldwide and building impactful teams across the globe. A balance of technical, business and organizational skills allowed Mike to grow effective teams across the thousands that worked for him over his career. Setting vision and strategy, defining objectives, planning, growing organizations, mentoring people and building great solutions to complex problems are his passion and forte. Mike and his wife Lisa built their retirement home in St. Helena and have been enjoying getting back to nature with their own garden and giving back to the community with their time and resources. From a young age, Mike would help his mother and father tend their farm (grapes, wheat and corn) as well as the family garden and has returned to those roots gleaning and becoming involved with Farm to Pantry to help fight food insecurity.
The closing of a chapter for Farm to Pantry...Melita Love, the entrepreneur, founder & Board Chair hung up her gleaning gloves in November 2022.
"Your vision launched new farms dedicated to nourishing our community, minimized waste in farming and provided meaningful volunteerism across Sonoma County. Over gleaning, long-term friendships are made, conversations are honest, laughter is heard and TONS of nourishing food is brought to those in need. May your next chapter...be as meaningful and rewarding; we know it will. Thank you from all of us!" - Carol Beattie, Healdsburg Forever Board Member
Melita Love
Farm to Pantry founder and board member, Melita has more than 20 years' leadership experience in nonprofits and educational facilities. Melita started Farm to Pantry in 2008 with only three volunteers and has grown the organization to over 60 strong. She holds a Masters in Business Administration from New York University and an undergraduate degree in education from the College of William and Mary. Melita is a 2014 Fellow of the Leadership Institute of Ecology and the Economy. She lives in Seattle, Washington now, close to dear family.
A Wistful Send-Off Video for Melita.