Expert Resource Directory

she created the Baltimore Food Policy Initiative, an inter-governmental collaboration that aims to increase access to healthy affordable food in food deserts in Baltimore City.  Using a multi-sector perspective, Freishtat addresses policy barriers, facilitates new partnerships, and leverages funding to implement innovative solutions to address food access issues in Baltimore. She is a key advocate at the city, state, and federal level for policies to enhance availability of healthy affordable food in Baltimore’s food deserts. Freishtat has spent over a decade working on food issues in a variety of contexts, experiences that have provided her with an understanding of the food system from the perspective of a nutritionist, an educator, and a farmer. Previously, through Washington State University King County Extension, Freishtat founded CHANGE – a farm-to-school program – and developed the program’s gardening and cooking nutrition curriculum. Freishtat’s perspective on the food system is also influenced by her experience working in the agricultural sector. As the Agricultural Marketing Director for Skagitonians to Preserve Farmland, she developed a farm-to-healthcare pilot project that provided healthy, seasonal foods to hospitals and retirement communities while creating new markets for farmers. She also worked as the Community Food System Coordinator for the Lopez Community Land Trust, where she coordinated the development of the first USDA-inspected mobile slaughter facility in the country, providing consumers with direct access to local beef, pork and lamb. Freishtat has a Masters of Science from Tufts University in Food Policy and Applied Nutrition. She was a member of the 2007-2008 Food and Society Policy Fellows.

focuses on how the food and agriculture system impacts public health, environmental sustainability, and community well-being. Shortly after joining the Cornell faculty, Wilkins conceptualized and developed the first regional food guide in the United States, the Northeast Regional Food Guide. This food guide promotes health, sustainability, and local food systems. She was a member of the 2004-2006 class of Food and Society Fellows.

her central leadership, PolicyLink has developed into a national voice for access and opportunity for all people — particularly low-income people and communities of color. Bell oversees efforts to develop and advocate for an array of equitable policies, including those focused on improving health and infrastructure. Bell helped create the Promise Neighborhoods Institute at PolicyLink, an independent, nonprofit resource for communities applying to the federal Promise Neighborhoods program. She has also led PolicyLink in pushing for a national Healthy Food Financing Initiative to improve access to healthy foods in underserved communities. She continues to engage in efforts to change policy at the national, state, and local levels and is also a regular speaker, trainer, and media voice on these issues. Prior to joining PolicyLink, Bell was director of the West Coast regional office of Consumers Union, where she focused on changing public policies to promote greater access to health care, financial services, and low-cost auto insurance.

Fitness, where she is committed to creating sustainable systems to ensure the optimal health and quality of life for all and residents. Her strong commitment to social justice and passion for addressing health inequities is why she has remained committed to the creation and continued work of the BCFF. Spiller brings with her over twenty years of experience in program development and training, resource development, health education, health promotion and health care research. Previously Karen was a Program Manager for Jump Up & Go! ®, a multidimensional campaign addressing childhood obesity, conducted through Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts. Karen is a graduate of Western Michigan University and has begun graduate study toward a Master's Degree in Public Health at Boston University.

Program (I CAN) for the past five years. I CAN employs paraprofessional educators in urban and rural counties to teach a series of hands-on nutrition classes to limited resource adults and youth. The program encourages and supports participants in their adoption of desirable behaviors in the areas of nutrition, food safety, food preparation and food resource management. In addition, Kari has developed a variety of innovative educational media, including videos, CD-ROMs and curricula. These materials are used around the country with class participants as well as in training nutrition educators. The majority of these materials are available in Spanish, and many are also available in Navajo. Prior to her employment with the NMSU Cooperative Extension Service, Kari worked in a variety of non-formal education settings in the U.S., Africa and Latin America. She was a member of the 2001-2003 class of Food and Society Policy Fellows.

health consulting firm based in Alabama. She works with corporate, philanthropic and advocacy organizations on resource management, communications, strategic planning and cultural competence issues. Dr. Harris is a former National Spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association and an American Marshall Memorial Fellow of the German Marshall Fund. She is an alumnus of Iowa State University and the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She has held teaching appointments at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in the School of Public Health and in the Journalism School at the University of Missouri. She has been recognized as Young Dietitian of the Year for the American Dietetic Association and received the Helen LeBaron Hilton Award from Iowa State University. She serves on the advisory board for Girls Inc.’s Body + Mind initiative and other national committees focused on wellness. Dr. Harris was recognized by the Birmingham Business Journal as one of its 2010 Top 40 Under 40. She was a member of the 2001-2003 class of Food and Society Fellows.

mothers of color, author of The Mocha Manual™ series of books and founder ofwww.MochaManual.com, a daily parenting and lifestyle destination and blog for African American moms and moms-to-be. Her life’s mission is to help women become powerful parents and to live a life of endless possibilities. She is also a fiercely committed and highly respected advocate in the fight to reduce the high infant mortality and maternal mortality rates and increase the breastfeeding rates in the African American community. In addition to her popular blog on MochaManual.com, Kimberly blogs about the African American parenting experience for MomLogic.com, Babycenter.com, is a regular commentator for Essence.com and is the multicultural moms channel leader for LiftetimeMoms.com. She also serves as editorial director of the Black Maternal Health Project of Women’s eNews, a project of the Kellogg Foundation and is an advisory board member of the Bravado Breastfeeding Information Council. Her first book, The Mocha Manual to a Fabulous Pregnancy (Amistad/HarperCollins) a hip, funny and informative pregnancy guidebook for women of color put her on the map as a pregnancy and parenting expert with real-deal insights. The book was nominated for an NAACP Image Award and later turned into The Mocha Manual to a Fabulous Pregnancy DVD, available at Walmart.com. A divorced mom of 10-year-old Kayla and six-year-old Michael-Jaden, Kimberly left her successful 15-year career as an award winning journalist to transform her life and launch her own business. he had a vision to create a multi-media brand for the underserved market of women of color and even on the brink of single motherhood, she just couldn’t find a good enough answer to the “Why Not?” question that kept circling in her head. Since then, she launched a “mocha-flavored” maternity and new Dad tee shirt line sold at www.MochaManual.com and expanded her book series, writing The Mocha Manual to Turning Your Passion into Profit—How to Find & Grow Your Side Hustle in Any Economy (Amistad/HarperCollins) and then The Mocha Manual to Military Life—A Savvy Guide for Wives, Girlfriends and Female Service Members, both released in 2009. Kimberly and The Mocha Manual™ brand have been featured on various national and local media outlets including CNN, the Tom Joyner Morning Show, Fox News, U.S. News & World Report, Essence, Black Enterprise, Pregnancy and various web outlets, including Celebrity Baby Blog and The New York Times. A card-toting native of Queens, New York and graduate of New York University and Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, Kimberly most recently served as a senior editor at Essence magazine. Her previous positions include serving as a staff writer for Fortune magazine, a business columnist for the New York Post, and as a business writer for The Times of London. She is a member of the 2011-2013 class of IATP Food and Community Fellows.

In this role, she participates in the development of programming priorities, reviews and recommends proposals for funding, manages and monitors a portfolio of active grants, and designs and implements national grants initiatives and multi-year projects. Specifically, Ms. Doctor helps guide Foundation programming in Food, Health and Well Being and in its home state of Michigan. Previously, Ms. Doctor was deputy director for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Allies Against Asthma Program housed at the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She also directed the Division of Prevention at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, where she provided leadership for statewide health promotion and prevention programs and interagency initiatives. She has worked in substance abuse prevention including managing a national training and technical assistance system supported by the federal Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. Ms. Doctor has had leadership roles in several professional associations including the Prevention Network and the Association of State and Territorial Health Promotion Directors, and is a member of the American Public Health Association and the Society of Public Health Education. Ms. Doctor received her Masters degree in public health from Boston University School of Public Health. She received her Bachelor of Science in social work from the University of Cincinnati, College of Community Services.

writer and speaker. She has written her trademarked weekly "Food Sleuth" column for the Columbia Daily Tribune since 1989, and it now appears in a variety of publications nationwide. The "Food Sleuth" mission is to "digest" nutrition research, expose diet fraud and help consumers think beyond their plates. Melinda's launch into media work began when she learned that most consumers receive their nutrition and health information through the media. She developed (and for 15 years directed) the Nutrition Communications Center at the University of Missouri, where she wrote a nationally distributed newsletter, conducted hundreds of media interviews annually, and instructed dietetic and science journalism students. After leaving the University in 2002, Melinda received a certificate in adult weight management through the American Dietetic Association, and began a career as a nutrition and health communications consultant. She works on a variety of projects for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, as well as for Robert Wood Johnson's Active Living and Healthy Eating by Design grants. She also works on media literacy projects with the Center for Character and Citizenship at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. In 2005, she began production of "Food Sleuth TV," a 30-minute, monthly program that includes documentaries and interviews on consumer food and health issues. Topics range from biotechnology to water safety to endocrine-disrupting plastics. Her program is broadcast on public access television channels in St. Louis and Columbia, Missouri. Melinda is a member of the American Dietetic Association's Hunger and Environmental Nutrition Practice Group, the Society for Nutrition Education, and the Missouri Association for Social Welfare's Hunger Task Force. She is also a new member of the Association for Health Care Journalists, and an affiliate member of the University of Missouri's Center for Health Policy. She was a member of the 2004-2006 class of Food and Society Fellows.