Raised just outside Bakersfield in the small agricultural town of Wasco, Beti Tapia was familiar with Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers as a child. The mother of two adult children now works as FIELD’s Student Services Manager, overseeing the nonprofit’s education services, such as the adult high school diploma and ESL programs. Beti…
Mondragon is one of the world’s best-known worker-owned co-ops. Started by five engineers committed to empowering their workers, the Mondragon experiment now boasts 80,000 workers across 240 businesses and 110 cooperatives working in a profitable and democratic environment created by and for the workers in a collective enterprise. Recently President & CEO David Villarino and a key…
FIELD is excited to share with you the latest progress that is being made with our renovation project at our Union Ave facility in Bakersfield, CA. We anticipate that we will have interior renovations completed in the next few weeks. After that, we will begin site improvements. Our solar carport is officially complete and we…
Tamar Asatryan has worked in various positions in FIELD leadership for the past eight years, and now heads up the organization’s Strategic Initiatives. After receiving her Doctorate in Education from California State University-Fresno, Tamar brought her academic knowledge and teaching experience to FIELD, where she has made a difference in the lives of its students. …
Apr. 22, 2024 – FIELD is happy to announce that Chief Executive Officer David Villarino is taking a six-month research sabbatical to help the organization realize its mission. The sabbatical will take effect immediately. “After 24 years of steadfast devotion as FIELD’s Chief Executive Officer, the Board of Directors has approved my request for a…
It’s been a little more than three weeks since our wildly successful 8th Annual Chavez Legacy Breakfast and we’re still floating on Cloud 9. This year we had a record sold-out crowd of 600-plus attendees filling the ballroom to the brim with joy, love and hope for the future. We’re already talking about needing a larger…
With a record 600-plus people filling the hotel ballroom to capacity, FIELD’s 8th Annual Cesar Chavez Legacy Breakfast brought the entire Kern County community together to honor the life and legacy of the labor icon on what would have been his 97th birthday. This year, six distinguished community leaders were honored, offering stirring tributes to FIELD, as…
FIELD was honored to host California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond on a recent tour of FIELD’s Union Avenue facility that is being redeveloped to accommodate our growing footprint in the state. FIELD CEO and President David Villarino acted as tour guide to the whole complex. He pointed out the new dorms under construction…
In April, FIELD sent a delegation of corpsmembers and staff to Sacramento for Government Education Day. There, they joined together with corpsmembers from across the state to talk to elected officials about the important conservation work they do, how the program has positively impacted their lives, and ensure ongoing funding vital to its mission. FIELD…
Following a decade as a Trail Crew Foreman and Logistics Officer with the National Park Service and USDA Forest Service in the Sierra Nevada, then another decade as a college English professor in the Bay Area, Chris Blood joined FIELD in the Summer of 2022, bringing his considerable experience in education to the organization. He…