Change is in the Air
Rooted in the agricultural communities we serve, Kitchen Table Advisors’ directors have collaborated across our ecosystem to address institutional-level challenges our clients face related to capital, market access and land security. What began as a way to complement our one-on-one advising has evolved into a body of work that KTA believes is critical to the long-term financial viability of small-scale farms and ranches and our vision of a food system where those farmers and ranchers can thrive. We are excited to share that this work will grow out of KTA as a new venture by the end of 2021, with one of our directors, Anthony Chang, leading the charge.
Read on to learn more about this new venture, KTA’s leadership team and Anthony’s transition, in his own words.
Dear Kitchen Table Advisors Community,
First, I want to say thank you. Thank you to the incredible farmers and ranchers that I have had the honor and privilege of building relationships with, learning from and supporting over the last 8+ years. Thank you for the work you do everyday to steward the land, grow healthy food and build community; for the trust that you have had in me; for everything that you have taught me about the land and our ecology; for your grit and resilience in the face of many challenges; and for showing me how to hold the both/and of ecological responsibility and racial justice.
Thank you to the countless partners, donors, volunteers and champions who have so generously given their time, expertise, financial support and social capital to Kitchen Table Advisors. Our work supporting the economic viability, livelihoods and self-determination of sustainable farmers and ranchers would not be possible without you. The time we have spent together and the advice, insights, connections and moral support that you have offered have been so nourishing and a critical part of my leadership journey.
Thank you to the Kitchen Cabinet and team at Kitchen Table Advisors who are the heart and soul of this work. Your humor and resilience, as well as your experiences as farmers, farmworkers and the children of farmworkers, small business owners, immigrants and the children of immigrants, leaders in rural communities, social justice advocates and POC / women / queer leaders have taught me how to be a better leader and person. I am grateful for the opportunity to have done this work with you, and confident in your collective wisdom, experience and talents as you continue to advance the work of Kitchen Table Advisors going forward.
I know there is a lot to celebrate in this moment, including the incredible leadership of the staff and board at Kitchen Table Advisors, an exciting new body of work that I will be a part of carrying forward and more. Yet I can’t help but feel a tinge of sadness in getting to the last few pages of this chapter of my own journey. My colleague Paige Phinney has taught me that in any transition - even exciting changes like growing a team or starting a new venture - we can make space to grieve that particular moment, or constellation of a team, or chapter in an organization’s history. All of you in the Kitchen Table Advisors community - farmers and ranchers, staff and board, programmatic and funder partners, champions and advocates, the broader community - have felt like home the last 8+ years. And I am holding onto a bittersweet taste in this moment as I turn the page at the end of 2021.
And, as I imagine the future both within and outside of the organization, I am inspired. I’m inspired by the people who have stepped into leadership at Kitchen Table Advisors over the last few years. I’m inspired to advance a new body of work that invests in and supports Black, Indigenous and POC leaders focused on ancestral, indigenous, regenerative land stewardship and racial justice; leaders who are shepherding capital and wealth holders away from extraction and concentrated power and resources towards regenerative and just economies. I’m inspired to explore how this new collaborative work can advance collective goals with Kitchen Table Advisors and other values-aligned organizations. I’m inspired to build upon current relationships and explore potential new opportunities to partner with leaders I deeply respect like Kat Gilje at Ceres Trust, A-dae Romero-Briones at First Nations Development Institute, Mariela Cedeño at Mandela Partners and the Equitable Food Oriented Development collaborative, Rodney Foxworth at Common Future, Dana Kawaoka-Chen at Justice Funders and more.
I look forward to connecting with some of you individually over the coming months as I imagine that many of you will have advice, insights and lessons learned that can help me and Kitchen Table Advisors successfully navigate this transition.
With gratitude,
Anthony
PC: Natalie Ngo, Sarah Trent
