2019 Scholarship Awards
Land-Based Learning’s California Farm Academy
In February 2019, the Sacramento chapter of LDEI awarded scholarships of $2000 each to Susie Gagliardi and Aleksa Davila to attend the Center for Land-Based Learning’s California Farm Academy.
The scholarships cover 50 percent of the tuition at California Farm Academy, which provides beginning farmers with the knowledge, technical skills and business know-how to run a farm.
Aleska Davila works in the hospitality industry and recently completed a volunteer exchange program at Lincoln Hills Farm in Lincoln. Aleska would like to start a small farm and raise a family there with her partner.
Susie Gagliardi is a biologist and research associate for Combes Lab–Harvard University at UC Davis. She has worked on an apple farm in Maine and as a herd manager on a horse farm in Germany. With both a strong scientific background and a love of farming, Susie dreams of starting an heirloom orchard on her parents’ land in Maine.
Court of Master Sommeliers Americas Scholarship Winners
In April 2019, the Sacramento chapter of LDEI awarded scholarships of $595 each to Taylor Davy, Elizabeth Kester and Kaitlin McPhee to attend the Master Court of Sommeliers Americas Introductory Course and Examination. The scholarships cover 100% of the Introductory course fee which is the pre-requisite for undertaking study for the Advanced and master Sommelier levels.
