Edith Campa

As a Ventura County native, I was surprised at the number of new things I learned about our community through Ventura County Leadership Academy. This intense nine-month program allowed me to hear from distinct leaders from a variety of industries, and better prepared me to come together with my fellow cohort to solve issues facing our county.

My favorite session was when we visited the fields for our agricultural session. We learned about the agricultural business from a small local farmer’s perspective and that of a large agri-business.  We visited the berry fields of our county where I became nostalgic, as many of these farms have been harvested by my parents for over 50 years. As a daughter of these strawberry fields, I enjoyed walking the soil and feeling the plants and learning about how we can help the new generation of farm workers—definitely a full-circle experience.

For anyone interested in VCLA, I encourage you to do it. If you are a native, you will appreciate our community even more; If you are new to our county and join, as I have learned, you will bloom where you are planted and you won’t regret it!

Edith Campa (Cohort XXVII), Financial Inclusion and Education Manager, Ventura County Credit Union