“Food is culture. Culture is people. People are stories.” So says Ashley Swearengin, the CEO of the Central Valley Foundation and former mayor of Fresno, who joins Dennis Donohue and Candace Wilson on this episode of Voices of the Valley to share her visions, goals and accomplishments about building a bridge to a brighter future.

Whether the goal is to stem groundwater depletion, halt runaway sprawl, or promote innovation, one component comes up throughout her message: comprehensive partnership. Change for the better happens when people make a point to gather and work together.

Her work to bring everyone to the table has carried over from her accomplishments as mayor to her work with The Future of Food Innovation (F3) program. “The whole point of F3 is to set a table big enough for every aspect of the food economy to have a seat at the table and work together to particulate on a 20-year vision of how we make all of these things work together," she says.