Job Creation
C N G FIn partnership with San Jose Evergreen Community College District – Workforce Institute, CNGF is developing seven resilient, ecologically-focused job tracks to equip rising professionals with the tools to solve the climate crisis.
Resilient Job Creation through Training
Each of these hands-on practicums will be taught by mentors who are experts in their fields, at a variety of sites, including the Environmental Lab for Sustainability and Ecological Education (ELSEE) at 76 Race St., Hester Farms at 1460 The Alameda, Freshness Farms at Coyote Creek, an 8-acre agritourism regenerative organic farm featuring restored riparian habitat, food forest and native edible plants, native gardens at selected San Jose underserved school districts.
Freshness Farms @ Coyote Creek: A Build 25 Initiative – Program and Features

Youth Core Members Volunteering at Hester Farm
Seven Job Tracks
1. Ecological Land Management
2. Playing with Intent: Nature Immersion and Food Pre-K Teachers
3. TeachIN Nature: STEAM Education in the Outdoor Classroom Teachers for 6-14 years
4. Regenerative Organic Agriculture (ROA)
5. Culinary Arts for a Plant Based Diet
6. Regional Ecologist
7. Ecological Engineering Technician
Connecting Theory to Practice
Ecological Land Management
Who: Contractors, park employees, and landscape professionals
Goal: Maintain native landscapes and protect local ecology
Topics:
- Soil, water, and waste management
- Year round stewardship practices
- Native plant communities
- Regenerative organic agriculture with native hedgerows
Field Study: Convert an existing lawn into an ecological garden, with the option of including a food producing component
Playing with Intent: Nature Immersion + Food in the Certified Outdoor Teaching Garden
Who: Teachers and directors of preschool classes
Goal: Teach nature immersion + food in a certified outdoor teaching garden
Topics:
- ELSEE certified teaching garden creation and maintenance
- Regional plant-based cooking and ecology
- Indigenous storytelling
- Art and movement
- Nature immersion theories and practices
- Regenerative gardening
- 50 lessons that connect native plants and animals
Field Study: Create elements of an ELSEE garden and teach using the Playing with intent model
Read more here.
TeachIN Nature
Who:
K-12th grade teachers
Goal:
Create and teach in outdoor STEAM educational certified gardens
Topics:
- ELSEE teaching garden creation and maintenance
- Regional plant-based cooking and ecology
- Indigenous storytelling
- STEAM education and Earth Heroes Badge Program
- Regenerative agriculture
Field Study:
Create elements of an ELSEE certified garden and update traditional STEAM assignments for an outdoor classroom
Read more here.
Regenerative Organic Agriculture
Who:
Urban farmers, land managers, contractors, teachers
Goal:
Create & manage an ROA training & research farm
- 40 technical components of ROA farms
- Soil, water, and waste management
- Native plant communities
- Client management and community outreach
- Stewardship practices and propagation
Field Study:
Convert existing lawn to an ecological food garden
The Evolution of a Teaching Garden
Meet Dr. Sanhita Dahta
Dr. Datta is a math and science division faculty member at San Jose City College. She has been working for several years with California Native Garden Foundation: The Lab for Nature-Based Urban Living. In the video, she portrays how her Environmental Science curriculum overlaps with CNGF.