• Jennifer M. Yezak- Director of Intergovernmental Affairs
• Oscar Gonzales- Deputy Director of Intergovernmental Affairs
• Carol Clifford- Senior Advisor for Labor Affairs

Jennifer Yezak serves as Director of Intergovernmental Affairs. Yezak most recently served as a consultant to the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA). Before that, Yezak served as director of legislative and regulatory affairs at NASDA as well as serving as Vice President of AgSource, Inc, where she served as a consultant to the United Soybean Board on research and biodiesel issues. Yezak also has previously worked for USDA from 1993-2000 where she worked for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; served as a confidential assistant to the Under Secretaries for Marketing and Regulatory Programs and Research, Education, and Economics; and was the executive director of the National Commission on Small Farms, an advisory committee to then Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman. Yezak also served as a legislative assistant to U.S. Senators Lloyd Bentsen and Bob Krueger of Texas. She also held positions at the Texas Department of Agriculture and the Committee on Agriculture and Livestock of the Texas House of Representatives. Yezak is a native of Bremond, Texas and earned her B.S. in Agricultural Education and a Masters of Agriculture in Agricultural Development from Texas A&M University.

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Oscar Gonzalesserves as Deputy Director of Intergovernmental Affairs. Gonzales most recently served as Associate Director of the UFW Foundation, a farm worker advocacy organization based in East Los Angeles. Before that, Gonzales held the role as the California Director for the National Hispanic Environmental Council. Gonzales has also served as Deputy Appointments Secretary to former California Governor Gray Davis and as a Field Representative for then California Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa. In addition, Gonzales was the Latino GOTV Director for the Obama/Biden campaign in Colorado as well as working on Congressman McNerney’s successful campaign, Kerry/Edwards campaign, and the DNC Convention Committee in 2000. Gonzales earned his B.A. in Political Science from UC San Diego and an A.A. from East L.A. College.

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Carol Clifford serves as a Senior Advisor for Labor Affairs. Clifford has spent her career as a specialist in labor and employment law and policy. A member of the Obama-Biden Presidential Transition Team, she has most recently served as a consultant and independent contractor specializing on labor and immigration matters. Before that, Clifford practiced law for over 17 years as Assistant General Counsel for the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union and was adjunct faculty at the George Meany Center for Labor Studies - now the National Labor College - in Silver Spring, Maryland. Clifford received her J.D. from Catholic University of America, in Washington, D.C., and her B.A. in political science from the University of California, Riverside