Jose Sanchez is the founder and CEO of Ecogistix, serving on the Board of Directors and
executive staff. An entrepreneur who started as an intrapreneur, he brings his passion for taking
risks with innovative product development and processes to Ecogistix.

Jose grew up in Southern California as a first-generation United States citizen. At 18 years of
age, he joined the U.S Army and is a combat veteran who served in Iraq. While in the military he
embraced the leadership, skills imparted — putting others first and doing what was needed for
the benefit of the team. This selflessness and service drove him to help both military and
civilians during his deployment and created some of his fondest memories of that time in his
young life.

This same giving spirit is what motivates Jose to bring Ecogistix to market, to provide a platform
that will support small- to mid-sized growers, enabling them to compete with larger farms and
thrive as a successful enterprise.

In the technology sector since the late 90s, Jose has worked with both startups and large
companies. It was in these diverse environments that he was able to discover, explore and
refine what would become his own leadership style. He imagined starting a company where he
could use this experience, leverage a diverse and knowledgeable network of people he built,
and make a positive change in an industry. He has created just that in Ecogistix.

Jose lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife Laura and their three children,
Samantha, Joseph and Anthony.

Mr. Jessen recently retired from Rayne Water, a dealer network providing softwater & drinking water to the residential, commercial and light industrial markets.  Prior to Rayne, he held positions with USFilter as Sr. VP, Water Resources & Government Affairs, Regional VP & GM responsible for all operations in the southwest US, and Director of Sales & Marketing at US Filter Recovery Services providing wastewater treatment, water recycling & resource recovery.  USFilter owned Culligan & was intimately involved when CA established their current policy on water softeners.  Prior to the private sector, Jessen served as President & CEO of the Freshwater Foundation, a national non-profit organization based in MN and worked in parks & natural resource management. 

 Mr. Jessen has served on the Board of Directors of the Water Quality Association (WQA) and as Chairman of the WQA Government Relations Committee.  He is a Past President of the Pacific Water Quality Association (CA WQA), and past Board Member of the AZ Water Quality Association.

 Mr. Jessen has held elected office & served in a variety of positions in government.  He has held appointments from 3 governors (MN & CA).  He was a founding member and officer of Great Lakes Protection Fund, a $100 M publicly funded endowment to protect the Great Lakes ecosystem.

Born and raised in Ireland, Tom acquired a bachelor’s of engineering degree and a master’s in business from University College Dublin then spent a decade working at Glanbia Nutritionals where he rose from process engineer to director of project management. But in 2015, toward the end of a large capital-investment program, Tom saw an opportunity to pursue his executive MBA. After completing his Berkeley degree in 2017, he joined Delicato Family Vineyards in California’s Central Valley as vice president of engineering and maintenance. Delicato’s operation includes four wineries that collectively produces about five percent of the U.S. wine supply—more than 10 million cases a year.

Federico Castillo is an Environmental/Agricultural Economist with a PhD and undergraduate degrees from the University of California, Berkeley.  Federico’s research is centered on technology transfer and innovation, economic valuation, the socio economic impacts of climate change, the economic aspects of protected areas and migration. He is a member of a multidisciplinary team that is developing a research agenda on climate change, agriculture and population issues in the Berkeley Campus.  He is currently engaged in research with scholars from The Tropical Agricultural Research Center (CATIE), the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), The Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL) and the University of California, Davis in projects dealing with ecosystem based adaptation to climate change, the socio economic impact of weather extremes in California agriculture and climate change impacts on migration from Mexico to the US.  Federico has taught courses related to migration to the United States, natural resource economics, economics of climate change and sustainable business practices.

Mr. McLaughlin is an expert in the area of biochar properties, biocarbon processing, chemical
manufacturing processes and chemical process safety. He has many years of experience
developing new processing technologies and implementing those technologies on a commercial
scale. From 2009 to 2013, he served as Director of Biocarbon Research for Alterna Biocarbon,
Inc., while maintaining his consulting practice at a reduced scope due to corporate obligations.

Sylvia Flores is an award-winning entrepreneur and engineer with years of experience. She founded several startup companies and is knowledgeable of the U.S. Hispanic market. In 2003, she worked with the former President of Mexico Vicente Fox to establish a technology incubator for Mexican entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. Prior to her career in startups, Sylvia held various engineering positions at IBM.

She has also served as the Regional National Vice President for the Society of the Hispanic Professional Engineers. She was awarded the ‘Entrepreneur of the Year’ award in 2003 from Latino Style Magazine. She earned a Chemical Engineering degree from San Jose State University. 

Experienced Advocate, Organizer, Policy Analyst with a demonstrated history of working in the civic, social & policy sector. Skilled in Nonprofit Organizations, Corporate Social Responsibility, Grassroots Organizing, Government, and Facilitation. Strong innovative entrepreneurship professional with a Bachelor of Arts focused in Chican@ Studies, Emphasis in Public Health from University of California, Berkeley.

Tim Pelican. A native of Coleville, Wash., Pelican was raised in an Air Force family, spent his formative years in Iowa and graduated from high school in South Dakota. He enlisted in the U.S. Army and, during his three-year enlistment, worked as an operating room technician. He figured he’d go into nursing but, by the time he got out, decided it was not the career for him. He attended South Dakota State University and, in 1983, graduated with a degree in biology, with an emphasis in horticulture. His first position out of college was with a nursery in Huron, S.D. He worked for a few other companies and was self-employed for a time as a landscape designer.

He moved to California in 1997 and worked as a contract forester for Pacific Gas and Electric Co. He later joined the agricultural commissioner’s office in Tuolumne County. Not a big farming county, he got a lot of experience with weights and measures and also worked on gypsy moth control around Sonora Pass, in the High Sierra off Highway 108, and Hetch Hetchy Reservoir in Yosemite.

He left Tuolumne County in 2008, following his boss, former Tuolumne County Ag Commissioner Gary Caseri, to Stanislaus County. “It was a totally different world,” he said. In Stanislaus, he was a deputy agricultural commissioner and managed the pest detection and exclusion, and the fruit and vegetable standards, programs. In 2014, he was hired as commissioner for San Joaquin County.

Margarita has held executive leadership positions in the private, public and non-profit sectors. She is a former White House Fellow and has served twice as a senior political appointee in Washington D.C. As a former entrepreneur, she is familiar with the hurdles facing start-ups. She has an exceptional ability to network with all stakeholders and to assist emerging companies to expand their footprint. She has a diverse network and is skilled at leveraging resources and creating a body of knowledge to support growing organizations. She was the first female National President of the Society of Professional Hispanic Engineers (SHPE). She has been the recipient of numerous awards and has been written about multiple times for her pioneering work. She has a degree from the School of Engineering at Stanford. Most recently, she was named a Delegate by CA Governor Jerry Brown to the Global Climate Action Summit.

John has worked in Silicon Valley since 1982. He  started at Intel, working on technical, marketing and management  positions on the 386, the 486, and the Pentium microprocessors. He’s been working in tech startups since 1993, and has done 1 IPO and 2 private acquisitions as part of the management team. He specializes in writing business plans, validating new business with initial customers, and fund raising.

Martha Montoya is at the forefront of the dialogue regarding diversity contracting with corporate America, particularly in the food and agricultural industries. She leads several national initiatives to advance the position of Minority owned businesses. Present and past board member of various leading organizations including the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, HACR (Hispanic Corporate Responsibility), United Fresh Produce Association Grower-Shipper Board, NHLA (National Hispanic Leadership Agenda), Latino Food Industry Association and several more. Through her work, Martha has forged relationships with Corporate, State and Federal leaders in United States and countries overseas to understand and bring to the table candid conversations to find solutions for the small, minority and women business advancement.

With over 25 years of worldwide agricultural experience and traveling throughout many countries doing business, taught Martha cultural sensitivity, business practices and negotiating skills while delivering projects beneficial for everyone on the supply chain across 4 continents. Martha’s commitment has always been to sustainability with a commitment to excellent product quality and attention to the environment and social issues throughout the delivery process.

As a child born to educators for working and rural families, in Bogotá, Colombia, Martha began her professional career as a teacher of Chemistry, Biology and English in her native country. Upon arriving to the United States, Martha integrated herself into the educational system, having taught in both the public and private school systems in California. Besides Martha’s formal education in Colombia she has earned a certificate from the University of Chicago and has pursued post graduate business courses at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, Stanford Entrepreneurial on Scalability and UC Davis Food, Ag & Health Entrepreneurship.

Alvaro Ramirez is the founder and CEO of eHarvestHub, serving on the Board of
Directors and Executive staff. An inspired entrepreneur and passionate leader,
eHarvestHub is the latest achievement in his 20-plus years of building
businesses, engaging employees and serving customers and clients.

Alvaro’s first experiences were forged in Nicaraguan war zones. At the age of 12
worked for his friend’s dad harvesting potatoes during the summer. From ages 13
to 14 worked loading his older brother Carlos’ truck with 100 pound sacks of fresh
produce and coffee to be delivered to the produce terminal and coffee mills until at just 15 years of
age, his parents made the difficult decision to send Alvaro to the United States instead of seeing him
drafted as a soldier for the communist regime. In the U.S. Alvaro lived with two older brothers, one
of whom left high school to work and provide for his younger brother. These deep and resonant
experiences shaped him to be industrious, resourceful — a leader — and it is what drives him to
respond to challenges and deliver meaningful products and services to market, as well as to bring
positive change to the world around him.

Driven to help others in unique and innovative ways Alvaro co-founded HRA, a Residential Mortgage
Backed Securities (RMBS) risk mitigation startup created to connect homeowners and investors
directly, avoid foreclosures. ensure positive outcomes for both parties and decentralize the need of
mortgage servicers (Banks). As Managing Director, Alvaro led business development and managed all
government relations at the local, state and federal levels.

Inspired to use technology in the service of those in need, Alvaro found eHarvestHub, a set of tools
that connect small farmers to retail buyers and carriers — the Uber of local food — and a
marketplace that will change how that food reaches our tables. Alvaro currently lives in Discovery
Bay California surrounded by some of eHarvestHub Sweet Corn Farms. In his free time, Alvaro is
either coaching his kids’ basketball or soccer team or reading and hiking

Christina Fugazi is serving her second term as City Councilmember, representing District 5. She was elected in November 2014 for the 2015-2018 term of office and again in November 2018 for the 2019-2022 term, after having served eight years as a City of Stockton Planning Commissioner.

Councilmember Fugazi served as Vice Mayor from 2015-2016.

Christina has deep roots and long family history in the community. Her family settled in Stockton in 1880 and helped create the deep-water channel that, to this day, is vital to the growth of trade and agriculture. The original family home was 14 blocks south of where she now lives. 

Proud of her family’s history in Stockton and very passionate about this city and the people who live here, she wants to continue the family tradition of working together and giving back to the community.  Christina is committed to putting Stockton back on track and on a road of opportunity and prosperity.  

As a teacher of science, Christina believes it is important to follow the process in addressing the issues we face, as well as being fair and inclusive. She has dedicated her professional life to educating the youth of Stockton, especially in science. Christina cares deeply for her students and their futures and wants to ensure Stockton is a safe, family-friendly city where people can work, play, and pursue their dreams.