Ildi Carlisle-Cummins is Director of the Cal Ag Roots Project at the California Institute for Rural Studies. Ildi holds an MS in Community Development from UC Davis, where she also worked as a researcher studying community food systems and California agriculture. Over the past fifteen years, Ildi has been a leader in various corners of the California food movement. She was Associate Director of Food, What?!, a youth empowerment and food justice program. She ran the Farm to School Program for Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) for 5 years, managing programs and staff across the state. She was president of the board of a school garden organization called Life Lab and she worked with Oakland Unified School District on a local food-purchasing program.