Los Angeles, Calif.—UFW Foundation Board of Directors Chair Tanis Ybarra announced Diana Tellefson Torres has informed the board she is stepping down after 18 years leading the organization. The board voted to offer the position of chief executive officer to Erica Lomeli Corcoran, who has led the UFW Foundation in an interim capacity throughout 2024.

Lomeli Corcoran brings to her post nearly two decades of experience serving farm workers. She aims to lead the organization into a new chapter, continuing its mission of empowering communities to ensure human dignity. She began with UFW Foundation in 2007. Before becoming CEO, Lomeli Corcoran was on the executive team, directed UFW Foundation’s systemic change department, and served as interim CEO during Tellefson Torres’ sabbatical in 2024.

She has led and overseen some of the largest advocacy campaigns for farm worker rights at the national, state and local levels, focusing on issues such as immigration reform, pesticide and heat protections, and other worker safeguards. She was instrumental in implementing the USDA Food and Farm Worker Relief Program, providing much needed relief funds for agricultural and food workers suffering during the pandemic.

Lomeli Corcoran was born and raised in California and is the proud daughter of Mexican immigrants. Her father was once a Central Valley farm worker while her mother and extended family members worked in the food packing industry. She earned a degree in social science from the University of California, Irvine and a master’s in public administration with a focus on education and social policy from the University of Washington.

Tanis Ybarra, chair of the UFW Foundation Board of Directors:

"UFW Foundation has become a powerful force for change. It has also developed an impressive leadership team that continued guiding the organization during all of 2024 and will guarantee UFW Foundation’s continued growth and success. So, all of us on the UFW Foundation board join me in officially welcoming and congratulating Erica Lomeli Corcoran as our new Chief Executive Officer."

Erica Lomeli Corcoran, newly appointed UFW Foundation CEO:

“First, on behalf of the UFW Foundation, we wish Diana the best of luck in her future endeavors. We face unprecedented outside challenges as the new year begins under a second Trump administration. The people on whose behalf we advocate and serve will suffer greater attacks than ever before. The perils all of us confront are beyond our control. So we must balance these difficulties with a firm understanding of who we are and the mission to which we remain dedicated. The only certainty is that we will always be there to defend our communities, to fearlessly stand up for human dignity, which is our mission, and to keep on going.”

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The UFW Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, advocates for labor rights and protections for farm workers across the U.S. and provides educational outreach and critical services such as serving as one of the largest providers of immigration legal services to low-income rural California communities. For more information, visit https://www.ufwfoundation.org.