knowledge center
Food and Society Conference Speakers
(* Denotes Planning Committee Member)
Carol Adams, Secretary, Illinois Department of Human Services
Carol L. Adams is secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services. Appointed by Governor Rod Blagojevich in February 2003, this former executive director of Northeastern Illinois University’s undergraduate and graduate Center for Inner City Studies is a career public servant and public policy innovator who has, for more than 25 years, made substantial contributions to human services, community development, sociological research, and African American education and culture.
Nationally acclaimed for her expertise in developing programs that promote self-sufficiency, human capital development, and neighborhood revitalization, Adams was the first social scientist to guide the mammoth human services program at the Chicago Housing Authority as director of its Resident Services Division.
There she designed and implemented several highly successful, award-winning initiatives including mentoring sessions for teen mothers and fathers, a late-night sports program used to steer youth from crime, a drug prevention and treatment program expressly tailored for public housing residents, a consortium of Chicago’s major museums to mainstream public housing residents into educational and cultural programs; and the Mental Health Roundtable/Crises Response Team, which continues to provide counseling in low-income neighborhoods where recurring violence and tragedy significantly impact the collective psyche of its residents.
At Loyola University she directed the Department of African-American Studies, where she was spokeswoman on issues of diversity and urban affairs. Loyola students voted her one of ten favorite professors among a faculty of more than 1,100.
Adams has consulted for Illinois agencies and institutions including the Board of Higher Education, the Department of Corrections and the Humanities Council. The City of Chicago Department of Human Services, the Chicago Public Schools, and the Chicago Police Department have sought her counsel. Consultations with the federal government include: the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Agency for International Development.
Molly Anderson
Molly Anderson serves as interim director of the U.S. Regional Office of Oxfam America, supporting programs and policy that help poor rural communities in the United States. The US Program is guided by a vision in which “rural communities are able to access the means for sustainable livelihoods and actively participate in policy design and implementation, while preserving the values and traditions of their culture.” Anderson’s role in the US Program includes seeking common interests of farmers and agricultural communities in the North and South. Prior to joining Oxfam America, Anderson worked at Tufts University for 14 years as a professor, administrator, partnership builder, and researcher. She directed the Tufts Institute of the Environment (TIE), which coordinates environmental education and research across all departments of Tufts University. She co-founded and for five years directed the Agriculture, Food and Environment Graduate Program in the School of Nutrition Science & Policy at Tufts. She was a Faculty Fellow in the University College of Citizenship & Public Service, and served on the Steering Committee of the Mystic Watershed Collaborative, a partnership between Tufts University and the local community-based watershed organization. Anderson is currently on the Governing Board of the Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society and the Editorial Board of Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. She was a national Food & Society Policy Fellow between 2002 and 2004.
Brother David Andrews
Brother David Andrews, C.S.C., is a member of the Congregation of Holy Cross. He is the Executive Director of the 81-year-old National Catholic Rural Life Conference (NCRLC), based in Des Moines, Iowa. The NCRLC is a lead voice for the Catholic Church in the United States on food, farm, farm worker, and environmental concerns. It does outreach, advocacy, spirituality, and education. Andrews has his law degree from Loyola University in New Orleans. He serves as a consultant with the Domestic Policy Committee of the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops, the Governor of Iowa’s Food Policy Council. He was an accredited NGO representative at the Seattle WTO, the World Food Summit in Rome, and the Johannesburg Summit on Sustainable Development and the Cancun WTO meetings. He has visited Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe and Canada studying agriculture, trade, and development. He is a board member of the Organization for Competitive Markets, the Community Food Security Coalition, the Governor of Iowa’s Food Policy Council, and the Heifer Project International.
Axel Aubrun, FrameWorks Institute
Axel Aubrun, Ph.D., is a psychological anthropologist whose research and publications take an interdisciplinary approach to problems of communication and motivation. Aubrun has been a lecturer in cultural anthropology at the University of California.
*Larry Bain, Founder, Nextcourse
Larry Bain’s career has been dedicated to proving that businesses can “do well by doing good.” A 25-year veteran of the restaurant world, Bain combines his passion for restauraturing and his commitment to sustainability in his three ventures with Traci Des Jardins, Jardinière, Acme Chophouse, and Mijita Taqueria. Under his direction, Jardinière has enacted a “living wage,” subscribes to an Employee Assistance Program, and offers ESL classes for staff.
Bain has become an outspoken advocate for social responsibility in the restaurant industry. He has formed a consortium of like-minded restaurateurs that meet to discuss challenges faced in moving towards doing business in a different way and was appointed to the transition team for new San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, participating on his Health and Welfare Committee. Also, Bain has founded a nonprofit organization, Nextcourse, which offers nutrition and cooking classes to underserved communities.
Susan Bales, President, FrameWorks Institute
Susan Bales is president of the FrameWorks Institute and an integral contributor to the development of strategic frame analysis. She is also a visiting scholar at Brandeis University’s Heller School for Social Policy and Management. A veteran communications strategist and issues campaigner, she brings more than 20 years of experience in public interest research, communications, and project management to FrameWorks.
For six years, Bales served as director of strategic communications and children’s issues at the Benton Foundation, where she pursued a research agenda to explore and explain public attitudes on children’s issues to nonprofit policy and service organizations, as well as designing and managing several multimillion-dollar mixed media campaigns on children’s issues. She is the founding editor of www.connectforkids.org, an award-winning Web site on children’s policy issues, and the creator of the number-one-ranked public service advertising campaign in the nation in 1997.
At Benton, Bales studied the media practices of public interest organizations, creating and critiquing numerous national public education campaigns. She has initiated, supervised and reported on several national public opinion surveys which probe the public’s understanding of and support for children’s programs. These include Kids’ Clout (July 1990), State of the Child (January 1992), and Mandate for Children, for the National Association of Children’s Hospitals, and Great Expectations (1997).
Before coming to the Benton Foundation, Bales served for four years as vice president for communications at the National Association of Children’s Hospitals, where she established a national communications and advocacy network. For eight years, she served as president of Public Affairs Research & Communications, where she designed and managed communications campaigns for more than 75 nonprofit clients. Bales currently serves on the I Am Your Child Foundation National Advisory Group.
Bales graduated with honors from the University of California at Los Angeles, and received her master’s degree in literature and language from Middlebury College.
*Nicole de Beaufort, Headwaters Group
Nicole de Beaufort has spent a decade developing strategic communications programs for foundations, community-based organizations, corporations, and government agencies. De Beaufort’s varied experience allows her to apply cutting-edge marketing and communications practices across disciplines. This results in clients receiving best-in-practice communications and marketing solutions for their strategic programs. De Beaufort is currently developing a theory of practice for philanthropic communications.
Prior to working with Headwaters, de Beaufort worked with several communications firms in Washington, D.C. Her experience includes working to change the quality of our food as well as the social and economic issues plaguing where it is grown. Additionally, she has worked on environmental issues such as promoting cleaner cars and health issues, such as promoting clinical trials for cancer studies. She also has managed several consumer protection campaigns that aimed to educate consumers about identity theft, cybersecurity, and advertising scams. While working for a public relations agency in Washington, D.C., de Beaufort developed a media analysis division for business intelligence. By providing media intelligence to companies trying to bring their ideas to market, she helped ensure that these organizations obtained maximum media attention. Ms. de Beaufort has also been a health care advocate, leading breast cancer advocacy efforts in Vermont.
Daniel Block, Associate Professor, Chicago State University
Daniel Block is associate professor in the geography program at Chicago State University and coordinator of Chicago State’s Frederick Blum Neighborhood Assistance Center. He coordinates community research for the Chicago Food Systems Collaborative, a Kellogg Foundation-sponsored project, which is developing a community-owned supermarket in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago’s West Side. He is also the principal investigator for the Northeastern Illinois Food Security Assessment, a large-scale assessment of food access in the Chicago area, funded by the Chicago Community Trust.
*Hiram Bonner, Community Food Resource Center
Hiram Bonner is the director of programs at the Community Kitchen of West Harlem, a community dining facility, food pantry, and housing specialist program operated by the Community Food Resource Center (CFRC). Over the past 12 years, Bonner has worked with CFRC in a number of capacities. He has a broad range of academic and professional experience, including culinary studies at Cordon Bleu and French Culinary Institute as well as bionutrition research at Rockefeller University, and he served as executive administrator for former Mayor David N. Dinkins at Gracie Mansion. Bonner is currently pursuing his master’s degree in public health nutrition at Hunter College. As a contributing author of the curriculum for the Community Culinary Training Program and Kids Cook Too, Bonner believes that through education and skill building, organizations like CFRC are making significant strides towards improving community health and nutrition.
George Boody, Executive Director, Land Stewardship Project
George Boody is the executive director of the Land Stewardship Project (LSP), a nonprofit membership organization that works for environmental and social justice in rural America and is dedicated to implementing practical approaches that enhance environmental stewardship of farmland and agro-ecosystems, support family farmers who work the land, and assist consumers in finding healthful food.
Boody’s background includes a master’s degree in horticulture with a minor in human nutrition from the University of Minnesota and a bachelor’s degree in biology from the University of Minnesota. Prior to joining the LSP in 1990, he worked for the Minnesota Project; served as a private consultant to state agencies, agriculture entities, and rural life groups; and was a faculty member in University College at the University of Minnesota. He is a stakeholder member of the Minnesota Environmental Initiative’s Impaired Waters Policy Work Group. He also serves on the boards of the Food Alliance and the Minnesota Environmental Partnership.
William Buchanan, Administrator, Outreach, Risk Management Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture
William Buchanan is the director of the Risk Management Agency’s Civil Rights and Community Outreach Staff. The mission of this staff is to ensure that small and limited-resource farmers and ranchers and other underserved entities have opportunities to fully participate in ALL RMA’s programs and benefit from its services. RMA’s outreach program is implemented through several cooperative agreements with community-based organizations, colleges and universities, state departments of agriculture, and other partners that share our mission to provide outreach and technical assistant to small and limited resource farmers and ranchers.
Born in Georgia, Buchanan received degrees in Agriculture from The Fort Valley State University and the University of Georgia. He also studied weed science at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. His career in the USDA includes experience as a soil scientist for Natural Resource and Conservation Service in West Virginia, an agricultural extension agent in North Carolina, a crop insurance underwriter, a program manager, and a hearing officer. He has been employed by the USDA for 30 years.
Fitzroy Bullock, Tennessee State University
In 1991, Fitzroy Bullock joined the University of Tennessee as an associate professor and extension weed specialist. Crops researched in Tennessee on small and large commercial farms were vegetables, fruits, soybean, nurseries, turf and ornamentals, roadsides, non-crop lands, pastures, and, to a limited extent, corn and cotton. In 1996, his responsibilities were changed to integrated pest management for small farms and landscapes. Bullock presently works on extension programming at both Tennessee State University and the University of Tennessee.
Stanley Collender, General Manager, Financial Dynamics Business Communications
Stan Collender is general manager of the Washington, D.C. office of Financial Dynamics Business Communications, the largest business public relations firm in the world.
Collender is one of the leading experts on the federal budget and congressional budget process. He is the writer of the very popular column “Budget Battles,” which has been published weekly by nationaljournal.com and govexec.com since 1997. He is also the author of The Guide to the Federal Budget, which was one of the most assigned texts on the subject during the 19 years when an annual edition was published.
Collender appears frequently on radio and television news programs, especially CNBC, CNN, Market Place on National Public Radio, and KABC in Los Angeles. He is often quoted by major newspapers and magazines and by all of the primary wire services.
Collender has been involved with the congressional budget process since 1974 and is one of a limited number of people who have worked for both the House and Senate Budget Committees. As a member of the House Budget Committee staff, he served as administrator of the Task Force on State and Local Government. For the Senate Budget Committee, he was responsible for analyzing defense spending. Collender also served as the administrator of the Task Force on the Budget of the Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition, a bipartisan group of representatives from the states in those regions.
Collender’s legislative experience includes service on the staffs of Representatives Fortney Stark, Jr., Elizabeth Holtzman, and Thomas Downey. He also served as the administrative assistant to the deputy assistant secretary for health planning in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
Before joining Financial Dynamics, Collender held senior positions in two other international communications firms. He was also director of federal budget policy for two major international accounting firms—Price Waterhouse and Touche Ross—and president of the Budget Research Group, a private Washington-based consulting organization.
Collender has received the Howard Award for lifetime achievement in federal budgeting from the American Society for Public Administration. He was also appointed by President Clinton to be a member of the presidential commission to study whether the United States should have a capital budget.
Collender holds a master’s degree in public policy from the University of California, Berkeley, and a bachelor’s degree from New York University.
Carolyn Cooksie, Administrator, Farm Credit Operations, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Carolyn Cooksie serves as deputy administrator for farm loan programs at the Farm Service Agency (FSA). The farm loan program area offers direct and guaranteed farm ownership and operating loans to farmers who are temporarily unable to obtain private, commercial credit. Cooksie’s area also helps established farmers who have suffered financial setbacks from natural disasters, or whose resources are too limited to maintain profitable farming operations. In addition, under her leadership, the farm loan program provides supervised credit, outreach, and technical assistance.
Prior to assuming this position in 1996, Cooksie was a 21-year veteran of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). She began her career in a Kentucky county office of the former Farmers Home Administration. She later moved to a district office and then to the state office, where she worked with the Multi-Family Housing Program. In 1984, Cooksie accepted a position as a rural housing loan specialist in Washington, D.C.
Cooksie holds a bachelor’s degree in communications and public affairs from Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Reverend Ralph James Crabbe, Faith-Based Fellow and Principal, Applied Urban Research Institute
The Reverend Ralph James Crabbe was born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, but was raised in Los Angeles, California. Crabbe has been a community activist since age 16, first involving himself in the civil rights movement in the United States. Since then his interests have evolved to include the issue of feeding economically challenged families. He received his higher education at California State University – Los Angeles, University of California – Los Angeles, St. Paul School of Theology, and Harvard University. At his first church assignment, he started a summer food program for poor children. He has also involved himself in the issues of housing, community and economic development, HIV/AIDS, and local, state, and national political advocacy. His current focus involves investigating of the faith-based initiative phenomenon and developing a strategic faith-based initiative at the Applied Urban Research Institute, where he is the Faith-Based Fellow. Reverend Crabbe has attended Harvard University, where he received a certificate for Faith-Based Community and Economic Development. Crabbe is an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. He is the immediate past chairman of the board for the National Community Builders Network, Inc. and a former president of the Concerned Clergy Coalition of Greater Kansas City. He currently serves as the pastoral counselor for St. James United Methodist Church in Kansas City, where the Reverend Emanuel Cleaver serves as the pastor and is the newly elected U.S. Congressman. He is currently attending graduate school at the University of Missouri – Kansas City. His ultimate educational goal is to obtain a Ph.D. in counseling psychology and to start a faith-based clinical practice. Crabbe is the recipient of the 2004 Kansas City, Missouri Citizen of the Year Award.
Nancy Creamer
Nancy Creamer is an associate professor in the Department of Horticultural Science and the director of the Center for Environmental Farming Systems at North Carolina State University. She received her Ph.D. from Ohio State University. Her areas of specialization include farming systems research, organic production systems, and cover crop use and management. She is also involved in developing innovative direct marketing approaches for farmers, thereby providing them with a way to capture a higher percentage of the food dollar.
Roger Crickenberger, Associate Director, North Carolina Agricultural Research Service, North Carolina State University
Roger Crickenberger is associate director with North Carolina Agricultural Research Service at North Carolina State University. In that position, he has major responsibilities for support personnel management; internal, state and federal research program planning; evaluation and reporting; outreach and external relations with commodity and other allied agencies and organizations; commodity organization funding programs; and administrative support for the college contracts and grants activities. Earlier, he served as a beef cattle nutrition and management specialist in animal science and department extension leader; and also as associate agriculture program leader, assistant director, and associate director with the North Carolina Cooperative Extension.
Leon Crump, State Director, Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund
Leon Crump was born the son of a sharecropper in Chesterfield County, South Carolina, where he first experienced farming. Crump is presently serving as the state director for the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land Assistance Fund in South Carolina. There, he has assisted farmers and landowners in the areas of economic development and social justice. Crump serves on the Executive Committee of the National Family Farm Coalition and is a member of the South Carolina Outreach Council. He conducted a weekly farm news segment, “The Friday Farm Report” on CBS affiliate WBTW-TV 13, that broadcasted to a viewing audience of over half a million people. He operates a small vegetable farm in Florence, South Carolina, and has started experimenting with organics, hydroponics, and aquaculture.
George DeVault, Pheasant Hill Farm
George DeVault owns and operates a 20-acre certified organic farm in Emmaus, Pennsylvania with his wife, Melanie. They raise a wide variety of vegetables, blueberries, and cut flowers, and are diversifying into pastured poultry and heritage breed pork.
Although frequently urged to attend markets in Philadelphia and New York City, the DeVaults prefer to stay close to home. From their farm, they have fed as many as 100 area families through a modified CSA. They also sell at a producer-only farmers’ market less than three miles from the farm.
The DeVaults were named Conservation Farmers of the Year in 2004 by the Lehigh County Conservation District. DeVault is a board member of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, and has been a volunteer firefighter since 1982.
A lifelong journalist, DeVault has been a farm editor at Rodale, Inc. since 1981. He was editor of The New Farm magazine for 10 years. Since 1991, he has managed Rodale’s Russian farming and gardening magazine in Moscow where he lived with his family in 1993-94.
DeVault was named a Food and Society Policy Fellow in 2002. He writes for numerous publications including Successful Farming, Farm Journal, The Mother Earth News, newfarm.org and Lancaster Farming, and is a frequent speaker at regional and national conferences on sustainable agriculture and direct marketing.
DeVault latest book, “How To Make $15,000 Farming 1 Acre,” is scheduled for publication October 10, 2005.
Johanna Divine, Food and Society Policy Fellow
Johanna Divine serves many roles in the food, farm, and agriculture community of Arizona. The writer, filmmaker, and manager of the thriving Flagstaff Community Market is also the founder and director of Flagstaff Youth Gardens, a summer employment program that involves local high school students in sustainable food growing and food production practices. Based on her work with the Flagstaff Youth Gardens, Divine was inspired to write, produce, and direct Young Agrarians, documenting the next generation of farmers and ranchers. The film and resource guide inspire young people to pursue their love of the land by building successful careers in agriculture.
Divine is currently the board president of Flagstaff Foodlink, Inc., and on the board of the Multinational Exchange for Sustainable Agriculture. She is a member of the Flagstaff Unified School District steering committee to develop an Action Plan for Physical Education, Health and Wellness in local schools. Her work with Flagstaff High School is transforming the school food policy of Flagstaff public food service, and has recently been supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Before settling in Arizona to complete her education, Divine worked on organic farms from Florida to Alaska. Following her various interests, she writes on food and agriculture issues and has worked as a grant writer for Northern Arizona University and several nonprofits. She is also co-founder of the Center for Associated Kitchen Enterprises (CAKE), a shared-use kitchen and small-business incubator to encourage entrepreneurship in Flagstaff’s Southside neighborhood.
Brandi Dobbins, Vanguard Communications
Brandi Dobbins has successfully executed media outreach campaigns in top markets, securing national and local coverage of food and agriculture issues, including placement in the New York Times and the Seattle Times. Dobbins is an expert in the development and implementation of creative media strategies in the areas of food, health, nutrition, obesity, and family farming.
Otto Doering, Professor, Purdue University
Professor Otto Doering has teaching, research, and extension responsibilities in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University. He is a public policy specialist and has served the U.S. Department of Agriculture working on the 1977 and 1990 Farm Bills. In 1999 he was team leader for the economic analysis of the White House’s National Hypoxia Assessment, looking at the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. He has overseas experience with the Ford Foundation and the National Academy of Sciences, primarily in Southeast Asia. He has been a director of the American Agricultural Economics Association (AAEA) and chairman of the National Public Policy Education Committee. He has twice received the AAEA’s Distinguished Policy Contribution Award as well as its Extension Economics Teaching Award. In a previous life, he worked as a horse wrangler and a legal investigator. His recent publications include a book on the 1996 Farm Bill and a book on the effects of climate change and variability on agricultural production systems. Recent publications focus on economic linkages driving the response to nitrogen overenrichment, the rationale for U.S. agricultural policy, and integrating biomass energy into existing energy systems.
Robert Egger, President, D.C. Central Kitchen
Robert Egger is the founder and president of the D.C. Central Kitchen. At the Kitchen, food donated by local foodservice businesses is used to fuel the Kitchen’s nationally recognized culinary arts job training program, where unemployed men and women learn marketable skills while donations are converted into balanced meals. Everyday, the Kitchen safely recovers almost two tons of food and prepares and delivers 4,000 meals, helping nonprofit partners save millions of dollars annually. Since opening, the Kitchen has distributed 16 million meals and helped over 500 men and women gain full-time employment.
In addition, the Kitchen operates two businesses, Fresh Start Catering and Contract Foods, which employs graduates and generates income that underwrites a portion of the training program.
Robert is also the founder of Kitchens in National Cooperation, which allows 75 independent “community kitchens” to share entrepreneurial strategies via the Web (www.kitchensinc.org), as well as providing startup information to any interested community. The Kitchen’s newest program, the Campus Kitchen Project (www.campuskitchens.org), operates similar community kitchen programs in high school and university dining halls and cafeterias, utilizing student volunteers to cook and distribute meals.
Robert’s work and the work of the Kitchen have been recognized both nationally and internationally. He is the 2004 recipient of the James Beard Foundation’s Humanitarian of the Year award, as well as having been named an “Oprah Angel,” a Washingtonian of the Year, and one of the “Ten Most Caring People in America” by the Caring Institute. He is also a 12-gallon donor to the American Red Cross.
Robert’s book on the nonprofit sector, “Begging For Change: The Dollars and Sense of Making Nonprofits Responsive, Efficient and Rewarding For All,” was released this year by HarperCollins Business.
Jill Nichols Euken, Iowa State University Extension
Jill Nichols Euken is a 20-year veteran of Iowa State University Extension Service. She currently serves as the leader of the bio-economy team for ISU Extension/CIRAS; is interim executive director of BIOWA Development Association; and as part of management team for the Iowa Value Chain Partnerships for Sustainable Agriculture (a WKKF-funded program). Euken’s background includes developing producer-owned, value-added businesses in southwest Iowa. She served as a member of Iowa Governor Vilsack’s Agricultural Policy Work Group in 2001 and is currently serving on the Iowa Value-Added Task Force and the Iowa BioScience Alliance.
Frank A. Fear, Michigan State University
Frank A. Fear is a professor of community, agriculture, recreation, and resources studies and a faculty member in the Liberty Hyde Bailey Scholars Program at Michigan State University. His specialty is extraordinary change in higher education with emphasis on university-community engagement. Frank’s work has been published recently in About Campus, Innovative Higher Education, and Encounter – Education for Meaning and Social Justice, and he is a frequent contributor to the Journal of Higher Education Outreach and Engagement. He is a consultant with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, most recently in conjunction with the Food Systems Higher Education-Community Partnership initiative.
Andy Fisher, Executive Director, Community Food Security Coalition
Andy Fisher is the executive director of the Community Food Security Coalition, a North American organization of social and economic justice, environmental, nutrition, sustainable agriculture, community development, labor, anti-poverty, anti-hunger, and other groups. The Coalition has 325 organizational members in 41 states, four Canadian provinces, and the District of Columbia. CFSC is dedicated to building strong, sustainable local and regional food systems that ensure access to affordable, nutritious, and culturally appropriate food to all people at all times. It seeks to develop self-reliance among all communities in obtaining their food and to create a system of growing, manufacturing, processing, making available, and selling food that is regionally based and grounded in the principles of justice, democracy, and sustainability.
*John Fisk
John Fisk is a consultant in food systems and organizational development and has worked with various organizations and institutions in Michigan. Since 1996, he has consulted with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation on the Integrated Farming Systems Initiative as well as the Food and Society Initiative. He also serves as president of the Governing Council for Michigan Integrated Food and Farming Systems, a statewide not-for-profit organization working to foster community-based food systems by expanding local markets, building entrepreneur capacity, and working in partnership with Michigan’s food and agricultural institutions to inform how those institutions can better serve the needs of small and medium farms and food entrepreneurs. Fisk holds a Ph.D. in crop and soil sciences from Michigan State University, a master’s degree in agronomy from University of Missouri – Columbia, and a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from University of California – Santa Cruz.
*Brenda Foster, Vanguard Communications
Brenda K. Foster specializes in communications strategies that get results. She has planned and managed numerous national and local campaigns related to sustainable agriculture, rural education, economic development, maternal and child health, environmental protection, and sprawl.
Rick Foster, Vice President for Programs, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Rick Foster is vice president for programs at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek, Michigan. His programming duties include guiding Foundation efforts in food systems, rural development, and leadership. Foster also serves on the Executive Team that provides overall direction and leadership for the Foundation. Specific programming initiatives for which he is responsible include: Integrated Farming Systems, Food Systems Professions Education, Managing Information with Rural America, Mid South Delta Initiative, People and Land, and the Kellogg National Leadership Program.
Foster joined the Foundation in 1991 as a visiting professional while on sabbatical leave from the University of Nebraska, where he served as a professor of agricultural education. Prior to joining the Foundation as a visiting professional, he worked in international development activities at the School of Agriculture for the Humid Tropics (E.A.R.T.H.) in Costa Rica. Foster was selected for a staff position as a program director in 1992 and appointed vice president in 1995. Previously, Foster taught at Iowa State University, the University of Idaho, and the University of Nebraska in Lincoln between 1976 and 1992. He also was a Group VIII Kellogg National Fellow from 1987 to 1990.
Foster received his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in agricultural education from Iowa State University in Ames. He has received many awards and honors, including the E.B. Knight Award from the National Association of Colleges and Teachers of Agriculture for outstanding scholarly publication (1990–1991). He was recognized with the Distinguished Teaching Award (1987) and the Outstanding Young Professor (1990) at the University of Nebraska. He was cited as the Outstanding Student Advisor at the University of Idaho (1983). He has received distinguished service recognition from the National FFA organization, the Iowa State University Alumni Association, the National Board on Agriculture, and the College of Education
Tom Gardner, Professor, Westfield State College
A veteran journalist and public relations practitioner, Tom Gardner has spent his career educating students, policymakers, and the public about issues important to social betterment. His career has brought him from the front lines of the Southern civil rights movement, to political journalism, and on to public affairs and communications outreach.
As the managing director for the Media Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in western Massachusetts that produces educational resources to foster a media-savvy citizenry able to engage in a vibrant democracy, Gardner helped to build the organization into the nation’s leading producer and distributor of educational videos on media and culture.
A graduate of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University with a master in public administration, Gardner was an award-winning senior political reporter, columnist, and city editor at the Pulitzer-prize winning Montgomery Advertiser where he wrote a weekly column on state government. Gardner also served as the communications director for the Union of Concerned Scientists, public affairs officer and editor of Harvard Divinity Bulletin for Harvard Divinity School, and senior editor at the Harvard Institute for International Development. A native Southerner, Gardner became a leading activist in the Southern civil rights and peace movements of the sixties and seventies. His work in that arena is documented in the recently published “Struggle for a Better South” by Gregg Michel.
Tom is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of Massachusetts – Amherst, his research focusing on the mass media’s role in framing social justice issues and media literacy education. He is co-producer of the video “Framing an Execution: The Media and Mumia Abu-Jamal.” He also serves as an assistant professor of communication at Westfield State College, Massachusetts, where he teaches persuasion, advanced public relations, political communication, and communication law.
Jim Gerrish, Grazing and Ranch Management Consultant, American Grazing Lands Services
Jim Gerrish is an independent grazing lands consultant from east-central Idaho providing service to farmers and ranchers on both private and public lands across the United States. His past experience includes over 22 years of pasture-based research and outreach while on the faculty of the University of Missouri, as well as 20 years of commercial cattle and sheep production on his family farm in northern Missouri. His research encompassed many aspects of plant-soil-animal interactions and provided the foundation for many basic principles of management-intensive grazing. Gerrish typically speaks at 30 to 40 producer-oriented workshops and seminars each year across the United States and Canada.
His research and outreach efforts have been recognized with awards from the American Forage and Grassland Council, Missouri Forage and Grassland Council, National Center for Appropriate Technology, USDA-NRCS, the Soil and Water Conservation Society, and Progressive Farmer.
Frank Gilliam, Director, University of California, Los Angeles Center for Communications and Community
Frank Gilliam is the professor of political science/policy studies and founding director of UCLA’s Center for Communications and Community. He has recently accepted the post of associate vice chancellor for community partnerships at UCLA, a newly created position within the office of the executive vice chancellor. In this position, Gilliam will develop a new Institute for University Partnerships, which will bridge community needs with UCLA research, teaching, K-12 outreach programs, health services, and cultural activities. He has been collaborating with Susan Bales on the development of strategic frame analysis for more than a decade and is a major contributor to FrameWorks’ research in the area of media effects testing. Gilliam received his bachelor’s degree from Drake University and his Ph.D. from the University of Iowa. He has also taught at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Grinnell College, and the University of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Most recently, he has taught with former Vice President Al Gore at Columbia University, Fisk University, and Middle Tennessee State University. Gilliam has served as the Research Director for the California Commission on the Status of African American Males and as Chair of the bachelor’s and master’s programs at the Center for African-American Studies, UCLA.
Gilliam is the author of “Farther to Go: Reading and Cases in African-American Politics” (Harcourt Brace) and, with Shanto Iyengar, the forthcoming “Race, Television News, and American Politics: Script-based Reasoning About Crime and Welfare” (Princeton University Press). Gilliam has also published in the American Political Science Review, American Journal of Political Science, Social Policy Report, Urban Affairs Review, Journal of Politics, Nieman Reports, Harvard International Journal of Press/Politics, Social Science Quarterly, Public Opinion, Legislative Studies Quarterly, Government and Policy, Sociological Inquiry, Public Opinion Quarterly, Political Psychology, Ethiopian Review and The Source. His paper with Seth Masket was voted the best paper in black politics at the 2000 meeting of the Western Political Science Foundation.
Over the last five years, Dr. Gilliam has consulted on a wide range of projects focusing on race and media for groups such as the Aspen Institute, the National Funding Collaborative for Violence Prevention, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the W.T. Grant Foundation, the Youth Law Center, the MacArthur Foundation, Children Now, the Council on Foundations, the National Governor’s Association, and the Charles S. Benton Foundation. Dr. Gilliam serves on the Board of the National Funding Collaborative for Violence Prevention.
Jerry Glover, Agroecologist, The Land Institute
Jerry Glover was raised on a farm and ranch in Southeastern Colorado. Following a 1996 research internship at The Land Institute, during which he studied soil quality of organic cropping systems and native tallgrass prairie, Glover completed a bachelor’s degree in soil science in 1997, a bachelor’s degree in philosophy in 1998, and a Ph.D. in soil science in 2001. His graduate work at Washington State University involved assessing the impacts of apple production systems on soil, crop, and environmental quality, disease and pest management, and financial performance. Glover currently oversees The Land Institute’s agroecology and native prairie research programs and is the director of The Land Institute’s Graduate Research Fellowship program.
Pat Gray, Executive Director, The Food Project
Pat Gray, executive director of The Food Project, has worked for the last 13 years creating a multicultural community of youth and adults committed to creating a sustainable local food system. The Food Project develops teens’ capacities through engaging them in all aspects of urban and rural agriculture, in food enterprise, and in running workshops and trainings. Most recently, The Food Project, through BLAST, is engaging young people around the country in these issues. Gray serves on the Boston Public Market Board and the Community Food Security Coalition Board. She has a background in education and in grassroots political organizing. She holds a bachelor’s degree and a Graduate Certificate from Boston College.
Isaac Grody-Patinkin, National Organizer, United Students for Fair Trade
Isaac Grody-Patinkin is currently the national coordinator for United Students for Fair Trade and is completing his bachelor’s degree in community development and globalization at NYU. His passion for both of these issues was heightened when he was a teaching intern in southwestern Ecuador with Projecto Minga, an organization for which he subsequently served as development director and international coordinator. A native of New York City, Grody-Patinkin has also spent time in Washington state and Colorado, working with the interfaith community and student social justice organizations. When he is not supporting mobilizing efforts around the country, he is an EMT in New York.
Maggie Haase
Maggie Haase is director of the Center for Food and Justice, a division of the Urban and Environmental Policy Institute, at Occidental College. Haase oversees multiple projects and campaigns to address urban food access issues. Activities include pilot and demonstration projects, grassroots organizing and coalition building, and research, evaluation, and policy analysis. She is a registered dietitian, holds a master’s degree in public health nutrition, and completed master gardener training through University of California Cooperative Extension, Los Angeles County.
Allen Hance, Senior Policy Analyst, Northeast Midwest Institute
Allen Hance is a senior policy analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute, a Washington-based, nonprofit and nonpartisan research organization dedicated to economic vitality, environmental quality, and regional equity for Northeast and Midwest states. Hance directs the Institute’s Agriculture Policy Program, which researches federal agriculture programs and related legislation, analyzes trends, and distributes information to educate and inform congressional staff, state legislators, policymakers, and other stakeholders on a variety of agriculture-related issues, including conservation and sustainable agriculture policy. He also directs the Institute’s River Basin Program, which informs and educates policymakers in about a wide variety of scientific and watershed management, restoration, and protection issues affecting the 18-state region.
Ben Handzo, The Food Project
Ben Handzo recently graduated from Princeton, where he studied photography. He is sad to be nearing the end of a year-long fellowship at The Food Project, working on the BLAST national program. While he is new to work on food and sustainable agriculture, he has found a home in the movement for community-based food systems.
Maureen Hellwig
Maureen Hellwig is program coordinator of the Policy Research Action Group (PRAG), a coalition of Chicago-based higher education institutions. She combines her academic expertise with 25 years of working with community-based organizations on neighborhood issues to carry out PRAG’s mission to promote university-community collaboration. Hellwig is the editor of PRAGmatics, a journal of community-based research published three times a year, and serves as graduate program director for Loyola University’s Chicago Studies Master’s Program.
*Oran Hesterman, Program Director, Food Systems and Rural Development, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Oran Hesterman is program director for food systems and rural development programming at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek, Michigan. In this role, he provides primary leadership to the Food and Society Initiative. His key responsibilities include domestic planning and development, reviewing and assessing new proposals, and managing active projects.
Previously, Hesterman researched and taught forage and cropping systems management, sustainable agriculture, and leadership development in the Crop and Soil Sciences department at Michigan State University in East Lansing. From 1987-1990, he was a fellow in the Kellogg National Fellowship Program (KNFP). Hesterman was a fellow at the National Center for Food and Agriculture Policy in Washington, D.C. In the area of sustainable agriculture, Hesterman has authored or co-authored more than 400 reports and journal publications.
Hesterman earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of California – Davis in plant science/vegetable crops and agronomy, respectively. He received his doctorate in agronomy and business administration from the University of Minnesota in St. Paul.
Ferd Hoefner, Policy Director, Sustainable Agriculture Coalition
Ferd Hoefner is the policy director of the Sustainable Agriculture Coalition (SAC) and has worked for the Coalition since its inception in 1988. SAC is an alliance of national and grassroots organizations that together take common positions on critical federal food, agricultural, environmental, and rural policy concerns, working toward a food and agriculture system that is economically profitable, environmentally sound, family-farm based, and socially just.
With over 25 years’ experience in federal agricultural and environmental policy, Ferd has worked on many farm bills and related legislative campaigns. In his work with SAC, he has been closely associated with efforts creating such programs as the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, the Beginning Farmer Down Payment Loan Program, the Wetlands Reserve Program, the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, the Fund for Rural America, the Organic Certification Cost-Share, Value-Added Producer Grants, and the Conservation Security Program, among others.
Prior to his work with SAC, Ferd consulted on federal policy reform campaigns for a wide variety of national and state public interest and faith-based groups and also worked for nine years as an agriculture and development advocate for the Interreligious Taskforce on U.S. Food Policy and its successor, Interfaith Action for Economic Justice. Hoefner started his policy career as a Congressional intern on food and agricultural policy and as an intern with the world hunger program of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society.
*Gail Imig, Program Director, Food Systems and Rural Development, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Gail Imig is program director for Food Systems and Rural Development at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan. In this capacity, Imig develops and reviews programming priorities and initiatives related to food systems professions education and leadership development for institutional change in higher education, evaluates and recommends funding proposals, and administers projects. In addition, she provides leadership for initiatives, conducts on-site evaluations of proposed projects, and maintains professional contacts in the areas of higher education, human development and family studies, and rural and community development.
Prior to joining the Foundation, Imig was associate vice provost at Michigan State University in East Lansing. Earlier, she was director of Michigan State University Extension. In these roles, she chaired the National Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP), served on the National Association of State Universities and the Land-Grant College Commission on Outreach and Technology Transfer, and contributed to a Michigan State University Interdisciplinary Rural Family Poverty Research Team and Social Capital Interest Group.
She earned her doctorate from Michigan State University with a major in family ecology and a minor in higher education and administration. From the same university, she earned a master’s degree in family studies and sociology and a bachelor’s degree in home economics and biology education. Among her professional affiliations are the American Home Economics Association, Epsilon Sigma Phi, Gamma Sigma Delta, and the National and Michigan Councils on Family Relations. Imig has been awarded numerous grants in support of her work with youth and families, university outreach, and community development, and is the author of many professional papers and publications.
David Isaacs, President, Clearing Communications
David Isaacs is president of Clearing Communications, an organizational and strategy company. He has served as a line executive managing crisis and transition and as a personal coach and “thinking partner” with business leaders and leadership teams, accompanying them as they embrace the challenges of unprecedented change and transformation.
Corporate clients have included AlphaGraphics International, Baxter Laboratories, Ericsson, Hewlett-Packard, Intel, Kraft, Lego, Procter & Gamble, Sanofi-Aventis, Scandinavian Airline Systems, Skandia International, and Wells Fargo.
Isaacs has worked in national community development projects with Common Cause, the Fetzer Institute, the Institute of Noetic Sciences, Shambhala Institute, the Society for Organizational Learning (SOL), and the Irvine Foundation, and as a consulting CEO to Wheaton Franciscan Health Systems.
With partner Juanita Brown, Isaacs co-founded the World Café Community Foundation. Their book, “The World Café: Shaping Our Futures Through Conversations That Matter,” will be published by Berrett-Koehler in April 2005.
Isaacs has served as a senior affiliate with the MIT Organizational Learning Center, an associate of the Norwegian Center for Leadership Development (Oslo), and a director of Wellness Associates, Inc. He has also been active in projects related to global sustainability with SOL, the World Business Academy, and the Natural Step, Sweden.
He is engaged in teaching, coaching, and mentoring with innovative learning programs with University of Texas – San Antonio Business School (Executive MBA), St. Mary’s University (MA Leadership), and the Kaos Pilots University (in Denmark and the United States).
Paul W. Johnson, Oneota Slopes Farm
Paul W. Johnson’s distinguished public service career includes three terms in the Iowa State Legislature (1984–1990), during which he co-authored the 1987 Groundwater Protection Act, the 1989 Resource Enhancement and Protection Act, and the 1990 Iowa Energy Act. Paul served as chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service at the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1993 to 1997, and as director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources from 1999 to 2000. Johnson ran for Congress in Iowa’s 4th District in 2004 on a platform of sustainable agriculture and renewable energy.
Additional service includes two terms on the National Research Council’s Board on Agriculture and participation on numerous foundation boards, including the Aldo Leopold Foundation. He was the recipient of the prestigious Hugh Hammond Bennett Conservation Award from the Soil and Water Conservation Society of America.
Johnson holds a bachelor’s degree (1966) and a master’s degree (1969) in forestry from the University of Michigan and an honorary doctorate from Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. His international experience spans Peace Corps service and forestry teaching in Ghana, West Africa; doctoral research in tropical forest ecology in Costa Rica; and numerous educational and research visits to countries such as Sweden, England, and the former Soviet Union.
Since 1974, Johnson and his family have owned and operated Oneota Slopes Farm near Decorah, Iowa. Their farm has included dairy, corn, soybeans, hay, beef cattle, sheep, and Christmas trees. Recently, the tree farm has expanded to provide fresh cut, sustainably grown Christmas trees to businesses and co-ops in Iowa and Minnesota.
Hugh Joseph, Tufts University
Hugh Joseph has spent his career developing community-based food, agriculture, and nutrition programs at the local, regional, and national levels. He is a founder and active with several food system and food security networks and coalitions, including the Northeast Food System Partnership, the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, the Community Food Security Coalition, the New American Farming Initiative, the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project (NESFP), the Northeast Network of Immigrant Farming Projects, and the National Immigrant Farming Initiative. He holds a master’s degree and a Ph.D. in nutrition from Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy where, within his current position in the Agriculture, Food and Environment Program, he directs the New Entry Sustainable Farming Project, which assists immigrants in entering farming in Massachusetts.
Eugene Kahn, Principal, The Robin Hood Center
Eugene (Gene B.) Kahn was named vice president of sustainable development for General Mills in January 2000 after leading Small Planet Foods and Cascadian Farm for 33 years.
Kahn is an internationally recognized speaker and educator on issues relating to organic and sustainable agriculture. Kahn served as chair of the Crop Standards Committee on the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Organic Standards Board in the mid-1990s and was instrumental in developing the proposed national organic standards recently released by the USDA. He also led the development of consistent organic standards in his own state, resulting in the Washington State Organic Certification Program.
*Loni Kemp, Senior Policy Analyst, Minnesota Project
Loni Kemp is a senior policy analyst at the Minnesota Project, a nonprofit organization working for strong local economies, vibrant communities, and a healthy environment. From her rural Canton office, she specializes in agriculture and water policy, with a focus on the federal farm bill and the Conservation Security Program. Kemp was a Food and Society Policy Fellow from 2002 to 2004. She is a member of the board of the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture, which she co-chaired for seven years, and is active in the Midwest Sustainable Agriculture Working Group. She served on the board of the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, the Citizens Board of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, and the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources. Kemp holds a master’s degree from the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota and graduated summa cum laude from Macalester College in St. Paul.
Kemp serves as co-chair of the National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture, and is active in the Midwest Sustainable Agriculture Working Group. She is on the steering committee for the Clean Water Network’s Feedlot Workgroup. She served for six years, including three as chair, on the board of the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, a joint venture between the University of Minnesota’s College of Agriculture and the Sustainers Coalition. She previously was an advisory member of the Sustainable Agriculture Task Force of the President’s Council on Sustainable Development, a member of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Citizens Board, and the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources.
Gawain Kripke, Senior Policy Adviser, Oxfam America
Gawain Kripke is the senior policy adviser on international trade policy with Oxfam America, based in Washington, D.C. With his diverse experience as an advocate, spokesperson, and author, Kripke heads the policy work of the organization’s Make Trade Fair campaign, which aims to change the rules of international trade so that trade becomes a powerful force for reducing poverty across the globe.
Prior to joining Oxfam, Kripke worked as director of economic programs at Friends of the Earth, an international environmental non-governmental organization, and as a freelance journalist and researcher. Kripke earned a bachelor’s degree in government from Harvard College.
Anna Lappé, Food and Society Policy Fellow
Anna Lappé is the co-author of “Hope’s Edge” and a founding principal of the Small Planet Institute. An award-winning author, Anna’s articles and op-eds have been widely published in the U.S. and abroad, appearing in The Washington Post, The San Francisco Chronicle, The Los Angeles Times, and The International Herald Tribune. Her second book, “Grub: Ideas for an Urban, Organic Kitchen,” with recipes by Bryant Terry and a foreword by Eric Schlosser, will be out in spring 2006. Lappé is a Food and Society Policy Fellow of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.
Karen Lehman, Minnesota Project
Karen Lehman currently consults for the Minnesota Project in an effort to increase the availability of sustainably produced local foods in Minnesota. She has worked on food systems for more than two decades. Beginning with an award-winning documentary on women in farm movements for the PBS series “Matters of Life and Death,” she expanded her work to encompass policy and practice in local, national and international arenas. She held the Endowed Chair in Agricultural Systems at the University of Minnesota, consulted for the Ford and Communitas Foundations on peasant agricultural development in Mexico and Central America, and developed recommendations for national and global agriculture policy for the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. She is the co-founder and current board member of the Youth Farm and Market Project, an urban youth-based food system program supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Community Food Projects Grants. Lehman was awarded a Bush Leadership Fellowship in 2001 to focus on local food system development. She has a bachelor’s degree in Third World Studies from Macalester College and a master’s degree in Public Administration from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. She has done advanced coursework in public health.
*Erika Lesser, Executive Director, Slow Food USA
Born and raised in Boston, Erika Lesser graduated from Brown University with a bachelor’s degree in Italian studies and art history. After a few years working in the New York art world of museums, auction houses, and corporate collecting, Lesser returned to school to change her focus by studying food. She earned a master’s degree in food studies from New York University, where she also taught at the undergraduate level and worked in various capacities for the food and nonprofit sectors, including consulting, research, and event management.
Lesser took her final internship when she signed on to work for Slow Food USA’s national office, founded in March of 2000, and has stayed with Slow Food ever since. More recently, she spent a year living in Bra, Italy, the hometown and international headquarters of Slow Food, where she worked for the new University of Gastronomic Sciences. She returned to New York in May 2004 to take on the responsibilities of Executive Director of Slow Food USA. She currently serves on the Conference Planning Committee for the Kellogg Foundation’s Food and Society Conference and on the Advisory Board of The Agrarian Adventure in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Toni Liquori, Director of Food and Nutrition Policy, FoodChange
Toni Liquori is the director of food and nutrition policy at FoodChange (formerly Community Food Resource Center) in New York City. Liquori has focused on the quality of foods available through publicly funded programs in schools and emergency food programs. Responsible for the development of several initiatives that feature cooking as a touchstone of community engagement, Liquori has most recently been involved in establishing market relationships between regional farms and food purchasing institutions. She teaches in the graduate nutrition and education program at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Dr. Matt Longjohn, Executive Director, Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago’s Children
A graduate of Kalamazoo College, Matt M. Longjohn received his doctorate and master’s in public health from Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana. Longjohn completed his internship in internal medicine at Evanston Hospital (Northwestern University) in 2001, and he is currently the executive director of the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago’s Children and a research assistant professor and lecturer in the departments of pediatrics and preventive medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine. He instructs medical and public health students at Northwestern University and the Medical College of Wisconsin in courses such as “Violence as a Public Health Problem,” “Public Health Advocacy,” and “Physician Leadership.” Longjohn also lectures to medical residents and community groups on topics related to physician advocacy, gun injury prevention, physical activity promotion, and the role of public health advocacy in transportation planning.
Crissie McMullan, Founder, University of Montana Farm to College Program
In the past few years, Crissie McMullan co-founded and coordinated the UM Farm to College Program, served as volunteer coordinator in community gardens that also provide food for food assistance programs, and performed across Montana in a local food comedy theatre troupe. McMullan currently works full-time for a brand new statewide coalition, Grow Montana, working on state food policy issues, and is helping form Missoula’s Food Policy Council.
Wayne C. Mellor, Center for Agriculture Development and Entrepreneurship
Wayne C. Mellor has been a management consultant for 17 years, with the majority of his work being business planning, business development, marketing research, and financial analysis. Recent projects include business development for a renewable energy power turbine manufacturer in Virginia, marketing research and planning for a photovoltaic education and training program for a Western New York state educational institution, marketing research and financial analysis for three Otsego County, New York manufacturers in partnership with Otsego County Economic Development, marketing research and planning for a research farm in the Hudson Valley of New York state, business development for an integrated food processor in Western New York state, strategic and business planning for the Watershed Agricultural Council in Delhi, New York, and several marketing and business development projects for small-scale, sustainable food businesses for the Center for Agricultural Development and Entrepreneurship in Oneonta, New York.
Mellor is also minority shareholder in an organic dairy business that markets organic milk and yogurt in the Northeastern United States.
Mellor has held positions in marketing research and product management at two Fortune 500 corporations and sale service and sales management for a small manufacturer. He was a lecturer in economics and business at the State University of New York College at Oneonta for eight years, and served as the director of finance and personnel for a large nonprofit with 200 employees.
Mellor graduated with a bachelor’s degree in physics and chemistry from St. Lawrence University and received a master’s degree in marketing and finance from Columbia University.
Ken Meter, President, Crossroad Resource Center
Ken Meter, president of Crossroads Resource Center in Minneapolis, has 34 years’ experience in community capacity building as an administrator, researcher, journalist, and educator. His pioneering study of the farm and food economy of Southeast Minnesota, “Finding Food in Farm Country,” helped form a collaborative of 50 food producers, and led to the creation of a regional investment fund. It also serves as a national model for analyzing rural economics. His innovative tool for measuring financial assets in low-income communities, the “Neighborhood Income Statement and Balance Sheet,” helped spark development of a Latino Mercado in South Minneapolis and has been adopted by other communities nationally. Meter teaches the economic history of U.S. agriculture at the University of Minnesota, and has taught economics at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he also received a master’s degree in public administration under a mid-career Public Service Fellowship. In 1999 he was named finalist for the prestigious Bush Foundation Leadership Fellowship covering a four-state area in the Midwest. He has also taught at Metropolitan State University and the University of Minnesota school of journalism. Meter has also served as evaluation consultant to Stanford University’s Haas Center for Public Service.
Diane Moody, Director, Community Seafood Initiative
Diane Moody is director of the Community Seafood Initiative program in Astoria, Oregon. She has over a decade of market and product development experience, and over 10 years of experience in the community and economic development field. For the last eight years, Moody has worked for ShoreBank Enterprise Pacific, assisting rural businesses in natural resource-based work to develop and implement market strategies, establish new product lines, and broker sales relationships for value-added market opportunities.
Sue Moore
Sue Moore is the meat forager at Chez Panisse Restaurant in Berkeley, California, working with farmers and ranchers to supply the restaurant with local, sustainably-raised, genetically diverse meat and poultry. She is also a certified public accountant and for the last 20 years has worked with chefs on an individual basis as well as numerous restaurants and nonprofit entities, such as the Edible Schoolyard in Berkeley. This work has given her valuable insight into how the commitment to serve sustainably raised foodstuffs can be economically sustainable. She has worked closely with the Kellogg Food and Society planning team and the National Conference Center’s Food and Beverage Department to bring local, seasonal, and delicious food to this year’s conference.
Michael T. Morrissey, Professor, Department of Food Science and Technology, Oregon State University
Dr. Michael T. Morrissey is director of the Oregon State University (OSU) Seafood Laboratory and professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology. He has published more than 75 articles about seafood processing, safety, quality, and byproduct utilization and has an active research program in innovative technologies for seafood, such as high pressure processing, product development, and seafood safety. He is a member of the advisory board for SEAFOODplus, a 15-million-Euro project funded by the European Union that involves 17 countries and 55 institutions. Michael has been recognized with the Oldfield-Jackman Team Award (1996) for Pacific whiting research and the Earl P. McPhee Award (1999) for his contributions to seafood science, elected as an Institute of Food Technologists Fellow (2003), and awarded the Briskey Award for Faculty Excellence in the College of Agricultural Sciences at OSU (2004). He has been editor-in-chief of the Journal of Aquatic Food Product Technology since 1998.
Steve Morse, Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture
Steve Morse is a Senior Fellow at the University of Minnesota. In 2003 he was appointed to the School of Agriculture Endowed Chair in Agricultural Systems at the University of Minnesota. The focus of his work is to launch the Green Lands, Blue Waters initiative, a multi-state consortium of universities, nonprofits and community members to promote the development of and transition to a new generation of agricultural systems that integrate more perennial plants and other continuous living cover into the agricultural landscape. This long-term effort is designed to reduce agricultural runoff, increase economic options and profitability for farmers, improve wildlife habitat, reduce flooding potential, strengthen the vitality and quality of life in rural communities, and enhance human health. He also consults privately on agricultural and environmental policy and finance issues.
He served as Deputy Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) from 1999 to 2003. His responsibilities included providing leadership, management and guidance across the 3,000-employee regulatory and resource management agency.
Prior to his appointment to the DNR, Morse represented Southeast Minnesota in the Minnesota State Senate for 12 years. During this time, he served as chair of the Senate Environment and Agriculture Budget Division, the Legislative Commission on Minnesota Resources, and the Legislative Water Commission. He also served as Environmental Policy Committee Chair for the National Conference of State Legislators State/Federal Assembly.
Morse’s initial occupation was manager of his family’s apple orchard and cider operation, located along the Mississippi River in Southeast Minnesota.
Helene Murray, Executive Director, Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture
Helene Murray is the executive director of the Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (MISA). The purpose of MISA is to bring together the interests of the agricultural community in a cooperative effort to develop and promote sustainable agriculture in Minnesota and beyond. She holds an master’s degree in horticulture and a Ph.D. in crop and soil science from Oregon State University, and a bachelor’s degree in fruit science from California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo.
*Mortimer H. Neufville, National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges
Mortimer H. Neufville, Ph.D., assumed the position of director of federal relations/food, environment and international affairs at the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC) on January 2, 1997. On January 3, 2000, he was appointed to the position of executive vice president.
At NASULGC, Neufville provides leadership for federal relations activities and is responsible for internal management operations. More specifically, Neufville coordinates the activities in food, agriculture, natural resources, environmental affairs, human sciences, forestry, and international affairs for the land-grant and affiliate member institutions.
Prior to joining NASULGC, Dr. Neufville held a number of positions at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) (1983–96), including vice president for academic affairs (1994–96), associate director of the Maryland Agricultural Experiment Station (1989–1994), acting vice president for academic affairs (1993–94), associate vice president for academic affairs (1991–93), 1890 research director (1983–95), and Dean of Agricultural Sciences (1983–91). During his tenure at UMES, Neufville, was the project manager for the Cameroon Root and Tuber Food Crops Research Project (1986–94), funded by USAID and the government of the Republic of Cameroon, where UMES served as lead institution. At the time, this was the largest grant awarded by USAID to a historically black college or university, and Neufville provided the leadership in securing the funds.
Before joining UMES, Neufville was associate dean of the College of Applied Science and Technology and the Cooperative Research and Extension Programs at Lincoln University, Missouri (1978–83). He also served as a faculty member and head of the Animal Science Program at Prairie View A&M University (1974–78).
He is currently the chair-elect of the CGIAR/IITA Board of Trustees and project leader for the Cameroon Root and Tuber Crop Research Project.
Neufville received his bachelor of science degree from Tuskegee University and his master’s degree and Ph.D. in animal science from the University of Florida, Gainesville. He was awarded the Honorary Doctor of Science degree by Tuskegee University on February 4, 2001 and the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of Florida on December 15, 2001.
Kay Palan, Associate Dean, College of Business, Iowa State University
Kay Palan is interim associate dean in the College of Business at Iowa State University. Her work has been published in Journal of Marketing, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Psychology & Marketing, Marketing Letters, and Case Research Journal. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in strategic marketing management and consumer behavior, and has also taught promotions, new product policy and strategy, and experiential learning courses. Dr. Palan has received numerous teaching awards, including the First-Year MBA Student Outstanding Instructor Award (1995); the Iowa State University Foundation Award for Early Achievement in Teaching (1998); and the Iowa State University College of Business Teaching Effectiveness Award (1999). She is former chair of the ISU Center for Teaching Excellence Advisory Board.
Carlo Petrini, President, International Slow Food Movement
Born in Bra, Italy, on June 22, 1949, Carlo Petrini studied sociology at Trento University and afterwards became involved in local politics and association work. He began to write about food and wine in 1977, contributing to major Italian newspapers and periodicals. He also began to plan and organize cultural events.
In the 1980s, as an active member of the national board of ARCI (the former Communist Party’s recreational association), Petrini laid the foundation for Arcigola, an association whose aim was to promote the culture of conviviality and good food and wine. With the passing of the years, Arcigola developed and broadened its scope to an international level, eventually becoming the International Slow Food Movement. On December 9. 1989, at the Opéra Comique in Paris, the Manifesto of the International Slow Food Movement was signed by over 20 delegations from all over the world. Petrini was elected president, an office he still holds.
Blessed with a knack for anticipating events in the fields of food, agriculture and eco-gastronomy (a neologism he coined himself), Petrini has played a decisive role in the development of Slow Food, inventing and promoting its projects, which have now acquired great international visibility.
The publishing activity Petrini encouraged through Slow Food Editore has received major accolades: For example, in 1999, “Vini d’Italia,” the wine guide published in conjunction with Gambero Rosso, was named best book in the “wine and spirit” category by the International Association of Culinary Professionals. In December 2001, the journal Slow: The International Herald of Tastes won the prize for best design at the prestigious Utne Reader Alternative Press Awards 2001 in the United States; in 2003 it won the coveted Jacob’s Creek Gold Ladle for best international gastronomy periodical in Adelaide, Australia. Petrini’s journalistic activity is still as intense as ever. He has contributed regularly to La Stampa of Turin since 1999.
On October 30 2000, Petrini received the Communicator of the Year Trophy at the International Wine and Spirit Competition (IWSC) in London. In November 2002, the president of the EU Commission, Romano Prodi, presented Petrini with yet another significant award – the Sicco Mansholt Prize, set up by the Dutch foundation of the same name – for Slow Food’s activity in defense of a new model of agriculture. On July 10 2003, the Istituto Universitario Suor Orsola Benincasa of Naples presented Petrini with an honorary degree in cultural anthropology. In October 2004, Petrini was named an “Innovator” in the list of European heroes drawn up by Time Magazine. The award ceremony was held at the Royal Society of Arts in London on October 26. Finally, on November 16 2004, Petrini received the Eckart Witzigmann “Science and Media” Prize offered by the Deutsche Akademie für Kulinaristik in Stuttgart.
Rich Pirog, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture
Rich Pirog has been with the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University since 1990, the past four years as program leader for the Center’s Marketing and Food Systems Initiative. Pirog also recently served as part-time associate director for Practical Farmers of Iowa. He is project director for the Value Chain Partnerships for a Sustainable Agriculture (VCPSA) initiative and serves on the Iowa Food Policy Council. Pirog’s work on food miles and eco-labels has been cited in magazines and publications across the United States, and is used in college courses that focus on sustainable agriculture. He received the Iowa Sustainable Agriculture Achievement Award from Practical Farmers of Iowa (2003) and the Iowa State University College of Agriculture Award for Outstanding Achievement and Service (2004).
Jack Potter, President, New Hampshire Farmers’ Market Association
Jack Potter and his wife Eva retired from the Air Force in the late 1990s, bought property in New Hampshire’s lake country, turned it into a bed and breakfast, and operate it as a small farm: growing vegetables in a raised-bed garden and raising milk goats to make soap and cheese.
In 2001, Potter organized a small summer market, trying to help the town of 2,500 preserve its rural character. The market just kept growing. It now invites not only local farmers but bakers and even coffee roasters from across the state.
Potter, an Arkansas native, now serves as president of the New Hampshire Farmers’ Market Association. The association and local farmers’ markets have generated financial and other resources to promote an increase to 57 farmers’ markets in the Granite State in 2005, compared with 23 markets in 2001.
*LaDonna Redmond, Food and Society Policy Fellow
LaDonna Redmond is the president of the Institute for Community Resource Development (ICRD) in Chicago. ICRD is a nonprofit organization that works on the development and implementation of local food systems in urban communities. ICRD is currently working on securing vacant lots for urban farming, expanding the local farmers market, and building a community-owned grocery store. ICRD builds upon the assets of community. The organization motto is that every community has the intellect to heal itself.
Susan Roberts, Director, Food and Society Policy Fellowship
Susan Roberts is committed to developing strategies for healthier, safer, more sustainable food systems catalyzing greater health among individuals, environments, and nations. Roberts seeks to integrate extensive professional expertise and education of food, agriculture, health, and law through a variety of avenues with institutes, non-governmental organizations, public health organizations, and law firms.
Roberts received her Bachelor of Science degree in dietetics, food and nutrition from Iowa State University, her dietetic internship and Master of Science degree in preventive medicine and environmental health from the University of Iowa College of Medicine, and her Juris Doctorate of Law with honors from Drake University School of Law with special certificates in both food and agricultural law and legislative practice.
Roberts is the Director of the Food and Society Policy Fellowship funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation through the Thomas Jefferson Agricultural Institute and Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. The fellowship works to enhance communication regarding food, food systems, agriculture, and health to affect national policy. Roberts also works on staff at the Drake University Law School Agricultural Law Center analyzing food policy as it relates to food security, sustainable agriculture, and health. Roberts is the principal in Roberts Law Firm, P.L.C., and in Sue Roberts Health Concepts, a health and wellness consulting firm specializing in obesity policy.
Roberts has worked as a research dietitian developing, executing, evaluating, and publishing medical research. As the director of public health nutrition for the Iowa Department of Public Health, Roberts directed state nutrition programs such as the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program.
Roberts is the recipient of the 2003 National Environmental Nutrition Award, the 2004 Iowa Public Health Nutrition Advocate Award, and the 2004 Association of State and Territorial Public Health Nutrition Directors’ National Award for Nutrition Advocacy.
Allie Robbins, National Organizer for Development, United Students Against Sweatshops
Allie Robbins is the national organizer for development at United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS). She began working at USAS in May of 2004, after receiving her undergraduate degree in international affairs from George Washington University. Robbins’ involvement in the anti-sweatshop movement began during high school, and her awareness of the myriad issues facing workers worldwide grew throughout her time in college. Robbins was very involved in the USAS chapter at George Washington University for her four years there, working both in solidarity with workers serving her campus from all over the world, as well as with workers on her campus and around her community.
Jeanne Ryer, Program Specialist, Endowment for Health
Jeanne C. Ryer has worked for more than 25 years to improve the health of the people of New Hampshire. As a program specialist with the Endowment for Health, she manages a portfolio of grants, projects, and policy initiatives addressing economic and geographic barriers to health.
Before joining the Endowment, Ryer served as senior program officer for the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation (NHCF), managing the grants programs of two of its regional divisions and covering health issues statewide for the Foundation. She also served as senior staff for the Lakes Region Charitable Foundation, a regional division of NHCF. Prior to working for the NHCF, Ryer founded a consulting firm specializing in community health and human services planning and primary health care access focusing on the needs of the underserved in rural areas. She is author and co-author of several books, including titles on clinical improvement and accessing medical information online. Ryer received her bachelor’s degree from the University of New Hampshire and her master’s degree in health policy from the Center for Clinical Evaluative Sciences from the Dartmouth Medical School at Dartmouth College
Roberto Salazar, Administrator, U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service
Roberto Salazar was named by U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman as administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) on April 22, 2002.
Salazar oversees 15 domestic nutrition assistance programs, including the Food Stamp Program, the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs, the Child and Adult Care Food Program, and the Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). FNS has a budget of $40 billion and a staff of over 1,600 across the country.
Salazar was director of USDA’s Rural Development State Office in New Mexico prior to his appointment as FNS Administrator. As state director, he was responsible for federal financial investment programs for business, housing, and utilities.
From November 1998 to March 2001, Salazar served as director of science and technology for the state of New Mexico, where he was instrumental in creating an economic environment that encouraged technology-based industry. He served as policy adviser to Governor Gary Johnson, working to advance the telecommunications infrastructure in New Mexico.
From March 1995 to January 1998, he was director of the New Mexico Human Services Department Child Support Enforcement and Income Support Divisions, where he administered the Food Stamp, Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC), and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) programs.
Salazar has held senior management positions with the New Mexico Economic Development Department and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Minority Business Development Agency. From January to November 1998, he was executive director of the Hispanic Radio Network, where he supervised the development, production, and syndication of educational radio programs to over 160 stations in 18 countries.
Salazar holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in management and finance from New Mexico Highlands University.
*Ricardo J. Salvador, Iowa State University
Ricardo J. Salvador is associate professor of agronomy at Iowa State University. He has taught sustainable agriculture nationally and internationally and was chair of the nation’s first program offering Master of Science and Ph.D. degrees on this topic. He is currently the coordinator of an endowed initiative on Global Agricultural Science and Policy at ISU. In addition, he is a 2002–2004 Food and Society Policy Fellow. Salvador is originally from Oaxaca, Mexico.
Gus Schumacher
Gus Schumacher, Jr. is the former undersecretary for farm and foreign agricultural services at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Schumacher was responsible for the domestic commodities, insurance, and farm credit operations of USDA. In addition, he was in charge of USDA’s international trade and development programs. Prior to his appointment in August 1997, he was the administrator of the Foreign Agricultural Service for three years. Before coming to USDA, Schumacher served as the Massachusetts commissioner of agriculture and at the World Bank. From a farm family in Lexington, Massachusetts, Schumacher attended Harvard College and the London School of Economics and was a research associate in agribusiness at the Harvard Business School.
Bill Shepard, Principal, Mindgarden Group
Bill Shepard is a creative marketing problem solver. Shepard has a 25-year track record of energizing and focusing, through an engaging and collaborative approach, people at struggling companies into high performing teams that become recognized leaders of innovation and best practice in their industries. Shepard’s experience includes senior marketing director responsibilities at packaged goods companies such as Ralston Purina and Bumble Bee Seafood’s as well as vice president of marketing and sales at Cascadian Farm, the nation’s leading organic food company. He served as chief operating officer at Fantastic Foods and was chief marketing officer at e-markets, an agricultural dot-com that managed over a half a billion dollars of agricultural commodity transactions. Shepard was the driving force behind the creation of the groundbreaking Food and The Environment studies conducted by The Hartman Group under a Kellogg Foundation grant through the Food Alliance.
Bill Shore, Founder and Executive Director, Share Our Strength
Bill Shore is the founder and executive director of Share Our Strength, a national nonprofit that inspires and organizes individuals and businesses to share their strengths in innovative ways to help end hunger. Shore is also the chairman of Community Wealth Ventures, Inc., a for-profit subsidiary of Share Our Strength that provides consulting services.
Shore founded Share Our Strength in 1984 in response to the Ethiopian famine and subsequently renewed concern about hunger in the United States. Since its founding, Share Our Strength has raised over $180 million to support more than 1,000 anti-hunger, anti-poverty groups worldwide.
In 1997, Shore launched Community Wealth Ventures, Inc. to provide strategic counsel to corporations, foundations and nonprofit organizations interested in creating community wealth (resources generated through profitable enterprise to promote social change).
From 1978 through 1987, Shore served on the senatorial and presidential campaign staffs of U.S. Senator Gary Hart (D-Col.). From 1988 to 1991, Shore served as chief of staff for U.S. Senator Robert Kerrey (D-Neb.). His transition from politics to innovative community service and his prescription for community change are documented in his first book, “Revolution of the Heart” (Riverhead Press, 1995). Shore’s second book, “The Cathedral Within” (Random House, 1999), profiles a new breed of community leaders who are tapping every sector of society to improve community life. Shore’s most recent book, “The Light of Conscience,” published in February of 2004, explores how acts of conscience can and have changed the world.
A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Shore is 49 years old. He earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania and his law degree from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He currently serves on the board of directors of The Timberland Company. Shore teaches a class on social entrepreneurship at New York University’s Stern School of Business as an adjunct professor and has been a guest lecturer at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business.
Anim Steel, The Food Project
Prior to joining The Food Project as associate director last year, Anim Steel was a community development consultant with the Economic Development Assistance Consortium. He has also served as the coordinator of a new employment program for homeless adults in New York City and as assistant director of admissions at Williams College. Steel holds a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and was a 1996–97 Coro Fellow in Public Affairs. He is currently helping to coordinate The Food Project’s Urban Office and BLAST initiative.
Michael Thompson, Oregon Sea Grant Extension
Michael Thompson is an Oregon Sea Grant Extension agent and an assistant professor in the College of Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences at Oregon State University. He is located at the University’s seafood laboratory in Astoria. Currently, Michael is working on quality issues in the Albacore tuna fishery and on tracability to improve quality assurance and marketing of seafood products. He holds a master’s degree in Marine Resource Management from Oregon State University.
Amy Trubek, Executive Director, Vermont Fresh Network
Amy Trubek is the executive director of the Vermont Fresh Network, a small nonprofit dedicated to nurturing direct partnerships between farmers and chefs. She also teaches at the University of Vermont. Amy was a 2002-2004 Food and Society Policy Fellow.
Trubek has an advanced certificate from the Cordon Bleu Cookery School and a Ph.D. in anthropology from University of Pennsylvania. Prior to coming to the Vermont Fresh Network, she taught at New England Culinary Institute. She is the author of “Haute Cuisine: How the French Invented the Culinary Profession,” and has published articles in numerous publications, including the Boston Globe, The Art of Eating, and Gastronomica.
Dr. Nguyen Van Hanh, Rural Refugee Initiative, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Dr. Nguyen Van Hanh has been director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement since September 2001. He is experienced in refugee assistance management at national and state levels, teaching environmental protection and economic development at universities, writing technical papers, and participating in international conferences. From 1991 to 1993, Van Hanh was deputy director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement.
From 1985 until his current appointment, he was a part-time faculty member at California State University in Sacramento, where he taught environmental science, engineering economics, and socioeconomic adaptation of refugees from Southeast Asia. He has published papers and made presentations at international conferences on Southeast Asian refugees’ adaptation, economic development, and international environmental issues. He also has been manager of various units responsible for market analysis and development and a member of the Environmental Technology Certification Program, California Environmental Protection Agency (Cal/EPA). In 1990 he served as representative of California Governor Deukmejian on community relations, and earlier had managed various programs as senior economist for the State of California in water resources programs.
From 1976 to 1981 he was director of the Office of Refugee Affairs, California Health and Welfare Agency, where he also served as coordinator of the Governor’s California Refugee Task Force.
Prior to 1975, he was the director general of planning for South Vietnam, in charge of economic development. After returning from the United States in 1965, he joined the Nuclear Research Institute in Dalat, South Vietnam to conduct research on radiation biology.
Over the past decade, Van Hanh has received joint CSUS-UCD teaching recognition and numerous awards and certificates of appreciation from the California Legislature, the Department of Social Services, the U.S. Departments of Energy and Agriculture, professional associations, and community based nonprofit organizations nationwide.
Van Hanh holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California at Davis, with specialization in public finance, economic development, and international trade. Earlier, he received a Bachelor of Science degree with high honors from the University of Florida and a Master of Science degree in agricultural science from the same university.
As a presidential appointee, Van Hanh is a member of the Senior Executive Services of America.
*Arlin Wasserman
Arlin Wasserman consults on strategic planning, economic development, and marketing strategy with foundations, food businesses, and nonprofit organizations. Wasserman is also a co-founder of The Robin Hood Center, a not-for-profit organized to create and manage branded food enterprises for the benefit of charities focusing on the alleviation of hunger and poverty.
Wasserman holds a Master of Science degree in natural resources and a Master of Public Health, as well as a Bachelor of Arts degree in political economics, all from the University of Michigan. He currently serves on the Michigan Department of Community Health’s Cardiovascular Health and Active Living by Design task forces, which are both working to improve public health through better public policy. Wasserman is a past recipient of a national Food and Society Policy Fellowship, through which he explored new agricultural business models that create value through evoking a “taste of place.” His presentations and articles on the connection between location, flavor, and economic development have reached public health professionals, agricultural interests, culinary professionals, policymakers, and the popular press. In 2003, Wasserman was invited to speak before the European Union Parliament on industry and consumer trends in the U.S. food system and world trade negotiations. When living in Michigan, he also served on state commissions overseeing Brownfield redevelopment regulations, pollution prevention initiatives, and, most recently, the Governor’s task force on cardiovascular health.
Prior to receiving the Food and Society Policy fellowship, Wasserman served as the policy director for the Michigan Land Use Institute, where he directed programs on land use, transportation, agriculture, and sustainable economic development. In recent years, his involvement has ranged from developing alternative transportation plans for several northern Michigan communities to work with state lawmakers on a variety of smart growth and public lands management initiatives. Prior to being the director of the Institute, he was its founding president.
Before joining the Michigan Land Use Institute, Wasserman was a risk management specialist for Environmental Solutions in Traverse City and also the managing member of Site Redevelopment Enterprises, L.L.C., where he oversaw the development of several northern Michigan foundries and mines. He has been on the staff of several local governments in Michigan, including as solid waste manager for Grand Traverse County, director of environmental services for Ypsilanti Township, and chief administrator for the City of Ann Arbor’s recycling program.
Wasserman grew up in Philadelphia working in the family produce business before moving to Israel after high school. He has worked as a musician, a cook in a Chinese restaurant, a computer consultant, and a lecturer in the University of Michigan’s women’s studies program.
Ali Webb, Communications Director, Leadership and Food Systems and Rural Development Programming, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Ali Webb is communications manager for leadership and food systems and rural development programming at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan.
Webb manages communication and marketing projects in support of these areas. This includes working with program staff to plan and design activities and products – print, video, and electronic – that communicate the knowledge gained by Foundation-funded projects. Additionally, Webb develops marketing strategies for targeting program-related products and messages to a wide audience of citizens and policymakers.
Webb has more than 18 years of communications experience with nonprofit and governmental organizations. Previously, she was director of communications for The Nature Conservancy, an international conservation organization, where she managed a staff of 17 and had oversight for an award-winning magazine, as well as a Web site, media relations, and a video and TV production unit. She also launched an Animal Planet Channel TV show on birding and developed Wild Minutes, a weekly television news feature reaching 2 million viewers.
Previously, Webb served as director of communications for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C., where she managed a 150-person staff and a $9 million budget. Prior to that, she worked as associate director for the League of Conservation Voters in Washington D.C. and as press secretary to the then-mayor of Los Angeles, Tom Bradley.
As an instructor, Webb has taught graduate-level courses at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She received her bachelor’s degree in journalism at Stanford University in California, and a master’s degree in public administration from Harvard University.
Jennifer Wilkins
Jennifer Wilkins, Ph.D., R.D., is a senior extension associate in the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University, where her extension and applied research program focuses on consumer issues related to community food systems. She initiated the Cornell Farm to School Program, for which she received a Dannon Institute Award for Excellence in Community Nutrition in 2003. She conceptualized and developed the first regional food guide in the United States, the Northeast Regional Food Guide. She is the immediate past president of Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society, has served on the board of Directors for the Society for Nutrition Education, and is currently a Kellogg Food and Society Policy Fellow. She is the 2004 recipient of the environmental nutrition award from the Hunger and Environmental Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group, American Dietetic Association. Jennifer graduated in 1978 from Huxley College of Environmental Studies (BS), Western Washington University. She received her Master of Science degree (1981) in nutrition education from Teachers College, Columbia University. She earned her Ph.D. (1991) from Washington State University in nutrition and consumer studies.
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