Grassroots advocacy has played a significant role in many social and environmental movements, including the organic sector, yet engaging in advocacy often feels intimidating or out of reach for many organic shoppers. Learn how to become an effective advocate by hearing from the Oregon Organic Coalition, the Organic Farming Research Foundation, and the Organic Trade Association. Organic advocacy has been a cornerstone of the industry’s growth at the state and federal levels, helped maintain the National Organic Program and other critical organic funding, and will continue to be important as organic-specific programs and general USDA functions are at risk.”

Amy Wong

Amy Wong is an Oregon attorney who is the Coalition Director of the Oregon Organic Coalition. Amy moved to Portland in 2010 to attend law school, where she earned a certificate in Environment and Natural Resources Law, with a focus on sustainable agriculture. Prior to joining the OOC, Amy served as the Policy Director for Friends of Family Farmers. Amy also was the Chief of Staff to Oregon State Senator Jeff Golden and advocated on behalf of a coalition of nonprofit organizations seeking legislative and agency protection for Oregon’s vegetable specialty seed industry. Previously, Amy worked as a travel and food writer, which took her all over the globe. Amy is a beginning seed saver and ceramicist and sits on the Board of the Karuna Foundation.

Dominica Navarro

Dominica Navarro has worked with organizations championing public health, diversity in higher education, pesticide reduction, and organic and climate-smart farming practices. She has devoted much of her professional career to nonprofit management, finance, administration and strategic development. She graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz with majors in both Environmental and Community Studies and has worked on various sustainable agriculture projects in the US and abroad. Dominica is a current board member of Rogue Farm Corps and also serves on the Advisory Boards for Re:Wild Your Campus and Oregon Climate and Agriculture Network. Dominica lives in Central Oregon on the sovereign nation of the Warm Springs, Wasco and Northern Paiute tribes and loves stewarding land, hanging out with her family, cooking, sailing, hiking and traveling.

Scott Rice

Scott Rice has over 20 years of experience in the organic space, currently serving as OTA’s Senior Director of Regulatory Affairs, where he is the lead on issues related to organic certification, accreditation, and material review. Prior to joining OTA, Scott was at the Washington State Dept. of Agriculture Organic Program, where he worked in the many aspects of organic certification. Scott served a 5-year term as the certifier representative on the National Organic Standards Board, as chair of the Accredited Certifiers Association, and presently serves on the board of the Organic Materials Review Institute.