Ten CDFA staff members graduated last week from the agency’s Coaching for Personal and Professional Effectiveness Program, a course that provides improved communication skills for work and life and prepares employees to take on leadership positions.
With 24 percent of agency employees at retirement age, and another 12 percent within five years of retirement eligibility, CDFA is prioritizing succession planning programs like this.
The course curriculum included group and individual learning, various personality and behavioral assessment tools, and customized one-on-one professional coaching sessions. Graduates commented the course provided practical skills for talking through difficult conversations, learning the power of saying less through thinking before responding, public speaking, and setting up the framework for leading staff.
Congratulations to this year’s graduates!
Deborah Ayala, Citrus Pest and Disease Prevention Division
Andrea Cano, State Organic Program
Sarah Cardoni, Inspections Services Division
Carmen Carrasco, Farm Equity Office
Lizzy Elliott, Farm to School Program
Leslie Fernandez, State Organic program
Jennifer Harmon, Fertilizer Research and Education Program
David Ko, Division of Marketing Services
Pamela Lee, Farm to School Program
Samantha Moran-Defty, Feed, Fertilizer and Livestock Drugs Branch