Vivien joins MALT's Board of Directors
Vivien Straus: Bridging Past and Future, Agriculture and Urban Perspectives
The daughter of MALT’s late co-founder Ellen Straus, Vivien Straus comfortably straddles disparate perspectives, all of which she brings to the MALT board. She grew up on the family’s dairy ranch in Marshall, steeped in her parents’ dual passions for environmentalism and agriculture. She then spent many years in the big cities of New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, working as an actor and playwright — before returning to Marin as VP of marketing for Straus Family Creamery and creator of the California Cheese Trail. Vivien now manages the Straus Home Ranch, leasing organic pastures for grazing and silage, and offering various agritourism opportunities.
“I see serving on the MALT board as a continuation of what my mother wanted: perpetuating the vision to protect farmland from development, keep it in agricultural production and help farms remain viable,” she said. “MALT is a core shared resource as we deal with climate change, lack of water and how to support the next generation of farmers. MALT is able to extend help to everyone in the region without any other agenda except to help.”