A member of the Executive Team at CCOF, Jessy Beckett Parr excels at bringing teams together to create positive change. At CCOF her team works to fund and advocate for a world where organic is the norm. The CCOF Foundation has re-granted over 10 Million dollars to farmers, students, and organizations. Jessy holds a Master of Science degree in Community Development from the University of California, Davis, a certificate in ecological horticulture from the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Sarah Lawrence College. Prior to joining CCOF in 2013, she spent five years producing a global documentary on agriculture, Symphony of the Soil.

Outside of the office, she enjoys sharing time and food with her family and community on their peri-urban homestead.

Emily Parker is the Executive Director of the Butterfly Equity Foundation. Ms. Parker is responsible for the overall administration of the Foundation, including identifying and vetting potential grantee partners, proposal evaluation, fundraising, and impact strategy and analysis.

She has over 10 years of non-profit experience, with a focus on fundraising, budget planning, grantmaking, and operations. Prior to joining the Foundation, Ms. Parker was the Director of Development for Food Forward, helping to scale its Southern California hunger relief and food recovery efforts through growing annual funds raised by over 400% during her tenure. Previously Ms. Parker worked in grants management and operations at Fundamental Inc., a Los Angeles-based philanthropic advising firm.

Ms. Parker serves as the Vice President of the board of directors of Safe Place for Youth and was formerly on the board of The Road Theatre. Emily is a Co-Founder of the LA Food Funders, member of the LA County Food Equity Roundtable, and serves on the Sustainable Ag and Food System Funders membership committee. Ms. Parker graduated from New York University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre.

Ian Simoy is the proud grandson of Filipino immigrants whose legacy as farmers and educators continues to shape his commitment to the care of land and people. As Program Officer at The Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, Ian stewards the Foundation’s health portfolio of grants in Hawai‘i focused on improving health care, strengthening local food systems, and supporting community leadership. Ian began his career as a high school history teacher and coach in Hawaiʻi before moving into nonprofit leadership, where he led teacher recruitment and development at a large charter school network. At KIPP Foundation, he worked to expand college and career pathways for youth across the country, including developing programs and pilots that supported young people to serve as teachers and leaders in their home communities. Ian earned a bachelor’s degree in History from Vanderbilt and a master’s degree in Public Policy from Harvard, and lives in Mānoa Valley on the island of O ‘ahu with his Australian cattle dog, Largo.

Olivia Watkins (she/her) serves as Co-Founder and President at Black Farmer Fund. Olivia
is a social entrepreneur and impact investor. For the past seven years, she has financed,
developed, and operated environmental and social projects across the US. She also serves
as a board member for Soul Fire Farm Institute.

Prior to founding Black Farmer Fund in 2017, Olivia worked in several production roles at
Soul Fire Farm Institute and Kahumana Organic Farms, leveraging her environmental
biology background to manage and grow environmentally regenerative and socially
impactful business operations.

Olivia has an MBA from North Carolina State University in Financial Management, and a BA
from Barnard College, Columbia University in Environmental Biology. She was also
recognized on the 2021 Forbes 30 under 30 Social Impact list and The Grist 50.