Austin Allan

Austin Allan fell in love with gazpacho during a study-abroad program to Madrid. After finishing his degree in marketing at Washington University in St. Louis, he returned to Spain, where he lived and learned for three years. He then worked in finance in Washington and New York before a field-organizer job on Barack Obama’s 2012 presidential campaign brought him to Miami. Allan started making the chilled soup at night using a buddy’s industrial kitchen and giving the results to friends. When the response was positive, he formed an LLC on a shoestring budget and began to sell Tio Gazpacho at farmers markets. Allan now concentrates on marketing and has bottles filled in a certified organic plant using a high-pressure cold-pasteurization process to retain nutrition.

Chip Paillex

Mr. Paillex is the President and Founder of America’s Grow-a-Row, a garden project he created in 2002 and formally converted into a farming non-profit in 2008. His responsibilities include: strategic development, organizational planning, operations, distribution logistics, volume and spend management, public relations, benefactor relationship building, volunteer recruitment, and fundraising. Mr. Paillex has received considerable recognition for his work, including the 2010 Russ Berrie Making a Difference Grand Prize Award, the 2011 Bank of America Neighborhood Excellence Initiative Local Hero Award, and the 2012 Edible Jersey Non-Profit Local Hero Award. In 2010 Mr. Paillex was recognized as a New Jersey Hero at the Inaugural Swearing in Ceremony for Governor Christie and in 2011 was appointed by Governor Christie to the New Jersey Hunger Prevention Advisory Committee. In 2014, he was nationally recognized with both the CNN Hero and the Ford Motor Company Go Further Everyday Hero awards. In 2015, Chip was invited to be a TEDx Morristown Presenter and in 2016 he was a Farm Credit Fresh Perspectives honoree.

Prior to entering the non-profit arena, Mr. Paillex spent 17 years in Sales and Marketing and Customer Development for the North American Unilever Foods Corporation. Mr. Paillex was presented with several top sales awards recognizing his ability to motivate and manage his sales teams.

From 2008 through 2011, Mr. Paillex was employed by PNC Reverse Mortgage, a division of PNC Bank. In 2009, 2010, and 2011, Mr. Paillex led the national PNC Reverse Mortgage Division in both Unit and Dollar Sales.

Mr. Paillex earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from Kutztown University and studied abroad at Buckinghamshire College in the United Kingdom.

Summer Sanders

At the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Summer Sanders emerged as the most decorated U.S. swimmer, winning four medals – two gold, a silver, and a bronze. Following retirement from swimming, Sanders pursued a career in television appearing on a multitude of programs as correspondent and host. Highlights include eight years co-hosting “NBA Inside Stuff”, the first female game-show host on Nickelodeon’s “Figure It Out”, Olympic analyst and host for NBC, Today Show special contributor, and hosting Fox’s hit show “The Sports List”.

Sanders also worked as a sideline reporter for the NBA, WNBA, and US Open and has contributed to Good Morning America, The Rachael Ray Show, and NBC’s Universal Sports Network. She hosted Yahoo! Sports award winning web series Elite Athlete Workout and their 2012 Olympic Games swimming coverage. Currently, Sanders can be seen on CBS Sports Network’s all female roundtable sports show, “We Need To Talk.”

Sanders is also a health and fitness advocate, producing articles, tips and workouts for various outlets; she is an active Right to Play Ambassador and she is currently filming new projects with her production company, Black Line Media. She is also volunteering her time as a spokesperson for John Wayne Cancer Foundation’s “Block The Blaze” campaign after surviving three melanomas. Summer loves the balancing act of athletics, carpool for her daughter & son, and being in front of the camera.

Alina Zolotareva, RDN

Alina Zolotareva, a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), leverages her background in nutrition science and public health to translate nutrition science to consumers, playing a key role in AeroFarms’ mission to combat food deserts and bring fresh, local, nutritious leafy greens to all communities. In addition to marketing & sales, Alina also leads product development, working on the cutting edge of leafy greens innovation in flavor and nutrition.

Before AeroFarms, Alina had worked for a culinary nutrition foodservice consulting company based in NYC focused on improving health through great tasting and sustainable food. She was responsible for collaborating with their chefs and nutritionists to develop compelling products and services for leading restaurants and retail/food service operations. She has also spent time in nutrition and marketing at Unilever and other local food brands.

Alina is a graduate of Cornell University and Presidential Research Scholar with a B.S. with Honors in Nutrition Sciences and Dietetics. She is passionate about all things food and wellness, and believes that the only way great health can be achieved for all people is through food that tastes great–like AeroFarms delicious baby greens!

Amina Bahloul

Amina hails from Michigan, where she grew up cheering on the Spartans. Prior to Edible Schoolyard NYC, Amina worked as a Nutrition and Garden Educator through the Michigan Fitness Foundation and served as Healthy Lifestyles Project Coordinator with the Capital Area Health Alliance. Amina brings to her work a degree in Nutrition, a love of trying new things, and a passion for connecting kids to real food.

Angela Cristini

Angela Cristini received her Ph.D. in Biology from the City University of New York. She is a Professor of Biology at Ramapo College of New Jersey and is the Assistant Vice President for the Office of Grants and Sponsored Programs.

Dr. Cristini is involved in science education; she has been the project director for grants from the National Science Foundation and the New Jersey Department of Education including being the Principal Investigator on a NJDOE funded – Math Science Partnership grant with Paterson BOE. Angela and her team deliver STEM learning to over 30,000 students from K-12 schools in NJ at the Meadowlands and Wayne Environment Centers. The team has developed partnerships with more than 45 school districts that involve working with educators and administrators on STEM curriculum development.

Ben Hoyer

Ben Hoyer is the founder and director of Downtown CREDO, a social-enterprise focused on improving quality of lives by cultivating networks of meaning, impact and community and the President/COO for Rally, the Social Enterprise Accelerator.

CREDO has established four name-your-price coffee shops; leveraged strategic partnerships to become a stakeholder and a valuable grassroots organizer in the neighborhoods of the Parramore Corridor; established a co-working society to convene Orlando’s creative class and facilitated a social enterprise accelerator. The net effect of these efforts is a burgeoning network of people from all levels of affluence taking up lives of meaning, impact and community.

Rally is an accelerator for Social Enterprises launched in 2017. It is a collaborative effort with Rollins College, Central Florida Foundation and CREDO.

Finding himself in the social-enterprise world almost by accident, Ben has followed where the CREDO has led him. It’s a statement of conviction that is calling folks to action and improving their Quality of life.

Carolyn Taylor

Carolyn Taylor is the director of the New Jersey Agricultural Society’s Learning Through Gardening program, which has been establishing vegetable gardens in preschools and elementary schools throughout New Jersey for 15 years. Learning Through Gardening grants supply the materials to build the gardens and provide teachers with workshops and curriculum that enable them to use the gardens as outdoor classrooms where they can teach everyday lessons in any subject, including math, science, social studies, and language arts. You can access the Teacher Toolbox of garden-based lesson plans at www.njagsociety.org.

Carolyn is a former elementary school teacher certified by Rider University with seven years of classroom experience. She is also a Hunterdon County Master Gardener, where she is team leader for children’s programs. In her free time, you can find her up to her elbows in soil in the backyard.

Cassidy Cabrera

Cassidy Cabrera – or simply “Ms. Cassidy” – serves at Philip’s Academy Charter School as a FoodCorps Service Member. Cassidy is a 2016 graduate of the University of Vermont where she studied Anthropology specific to food and culture. Her passion for these subjects led her to this work of connecting kids to healthful foods in schools. You can always find Ms. Cassidy on the run between the dining room, teaching kitchen, and the rooftop garden typically with her journal in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other.

Catkin Flowers

Catkin Flowers’ passion for farm to table education stems from her Pacific Northwest childhood and her experiences on her mother’s farm and in her father’s restaurant. After working in garden-based education programs throughout New York City, Catkin brought her expertise to Philip’s Academy Charter School (PACS) where she now serves as Director of Programming for EcoSpaces Education. Her mission is to empower teachers, students, parents, and staff to connect with healthy food and how it is grown. Catkin is a mother of two teenagers, both PACS alumni. In addition to her certification as a teacher of Biological Sciences, she is board-certified in Acupuncture.

Chris Leishear

As general manager of GreensdoGood, Chris is looking forward to driving the environmental benefits of vertical farming while creating social good with green collar jobs and supporting the mission of the Reed Academy, Reed Next, and Reed Foundation.

Chris has been gardening for as long as he can remember. Formally, he has an undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia in Environmental Science and Archaeology and an MBA from Arizona State University focused on Marketing and International Business.  Most recently, he received a Masters of Science in Global Affairs, from NYU, concentrating in Environmental and Energy Policy.

Professionally, he worked for IBM in a variety of management and project management roles across their services portfolio.  Over the course of 19 years with Big Blue he developed a knack for team-building, turning around troubled projects and excelling at building client relationships.

Chris is also the founder and Head Suburban Farmer of Farmburbia, a backyard vegetable garden design and installation company that has taken his passion for gardening, DIY, and the outdoors to new levels.

Photo Credit: ©LNPhotographie by Helene McGuire

Evelyn Fuertes

Evelyn Fuertes is a Nutrition and Dietetic Technician, Registered (NDTR), Holistic Health Coach, and a Rutgers Cooperative Extension Certified Master Gardener. She is active in the community and has worked as a Community Nutrition Educator for Rutgers University. As a Health Coach, Evelyn gives nutrition workshops and works with clients on an individual and group basis. Her passion for sustainability, community, holistic health and wellness shape her practice and her lifestyle. Evelyn is a graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and graduated with honors from the Middlesex County College Dietetic Technology Program. She also has a certificate in T. Colin Campbell’s Plant-Based Nutrition from eCornell. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking with her husband, cuddling with her rescue dogs, reading historical fiction and is always looking for ways to make the world a better place. She is currently the Nutrition and Culinary Educator for Whole Cities Foundation, a foundation of Whole Foods Market. Evelyn runs the foundation’s Let’s Talk Food Nutrition and Culinary Education Program in Newark directed by Dr. Akua Woolbright.

Hannah Joseph

Hannah grew up in Washington State, following her mom around the kitchen and exploring the great outdoors. After graduating from Whitman College with a degree in environmental studies and biology, Hannah found her way to Thailand and the education world, as an field instructor for a study abroad organization. She merged her love of food and environmental studies as a FoodCorps Service Member with Edible Schoolyard NYC in the South Bronx and now teaches in the Edible Schoolyard NYC kitchen classroom at PS 216, where she loves bringing people together around the table. She believes in the power of sharing food and digging in the dirt to build relationships and spark kids’ understanding of the world around them.

Jae Zimmermann

I am an organic farmer-turned-educator who believes that healthy food starts with healthy soil, and that a healthy future for everyone starts with healthy children. I have Bachelor’s degrees in Environmental Studies and Sustainability from Wellesley College.

In 2016, after working for several years, I was selected for and completed a year-long intensive apprenticeship in organic agriculture in Maine. Now I am serving my first year with FoodCorps through Philips Academy. I am originally from Maplewood, NJ and am happy to be back home after many years living and working in New England, where my father’s family has been for generations. My mother’s family hails from Iraq and I love bringing these two parts of my heritage together in my cooking, farming, and teaching.

I am honored to be working with the 4th and 5th grade students, teachers, and families at Mount Vernon Elementary School in Newark this year.

Janet Celi

For 20 years Janet worked with a contract food service management company. Starting out as the Nutritionist for the company she managed to work her way up the ladder to Vice-President.

Janet now has had her own consulting business, “TOP OF THE CLASS” Food Services. She has had her own business for 17 years. She conducts many workshops on school food service topics such as food production records and USDA regulations.

For ten (10) years she has also coordinated New Jersey’s Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) for the New Jersey Department of Agriculture. She has a passion for promoting fruits and vegetables.

Janet wants to continue to expand her horizons by learning from others in the industry. She believes that the minute you stop learning ——- LIFE STOPS!

Jennifer Papa

Jennifer Papa is the Founder and Executive Director of City Green, a non-profit organization dedicated to facilitating the establishment of urban farms and gardens in northern New Jersey’s cities to create increased access to healthy, local food while cultivating education in food systems, nutrition and the environment. Jennifer was also a founding Board Member of Eat Local, Inc., a non-profit promoting local and sustainable agriculture through education initiatives and a Farmers’ Market in her home community of Ringwood, NJ. Jennifer completed the LEAD NJ Fellowship in 2013, a cross-sector leadership program exploring cutting edge issues facing NJ. Jennifer is the recipient of The Garden Crusader Award, the Andrew Goodman Foundation’s prestigious Hidden Hero Award, a Russell Berrie Make a Difference Award and a Jersey City Urban Innovation award for her efforts to facilitate urban revitalization through community based farming and gardening projects.

Jenny Schrum

Jenny Schrum is the Director of Youth Programming at City Green. The department educates children and youth PreK-12th grade through hands-on garden education both in and out of school. Jenny studied Community Nutrition at Rutgers University. Afterward she moved to Washington D.C. to work at Horton’s Kids where she helped establish their successful health and wellness programming. While there, she completed her Master of Public Health degree at The George Washington University, and worked with multiple non-profits to create sustainable and impactful programs for both children and adults.

Jessie Tartanian

Jessie didn’t know that her four years of mandatory agricultural tech classes in school would come in handy. Now with a Master’s in Public Health and nearly ten years of designing, leading, and training others to lead edible education programs with young people, she is delighted to be measuring impact and helping Edible Schoolyard NYC find new ways to make a difference in our school communities. She and her husband are new parents!

Judith Symonds

Judith Symonds cares deeply about food especially vegetables and fruit. In fact, she eats them every day, and carrots and cabbage are her latest obsession. Judith comes from a long line of storytellers and in fact, got her master’s degree in Folklore after her undergraduate studies in Anthropology and Chinese Language. She has owned a cottage industry of unique handmade clothes. Judith has also been a bookbinder, artist, weaver and knitter since before she was born. She has worked in the public schools for almost 20 years.

Lea Madry

Lea Madry serves as Development Director for the National Farm to School Network. Lea’s passion for farm to school comes from her belief that all kids deserve access to healthy food and communities and farmers alike thrive by emphasizing local food sourcing.

Prior to joining the National Farm to School Network, Lea worked in development at several nonprofit organizations that support low-income communities, most recently the United Way of Metropolitan Chicago and Bottom Line. Lea has also advised some of the nation’s largest nonprofits on development, marketing, and strategy during her time as a nonprofit consultant at Plenty.

Earlier in her career, Lea was a finance attorney at the Chicago office of a large national law firm. She ultimately left the legal profession to pursue her commitment to social justice and empowering low-income communities by leveraging her development experience. An Ohio native, Lea is a proud first-generation college graduate who has a BA in sociology from the Ohio State University and a JD from the University of Chicago Law School.

Luke Sellers

Luke is a co-founder of Chops Snacks, one of the fastest growing meat snack companies in the country. Launched in early 2016, Chops Snacks began as an idea between Luke and his two other co-founders Aaron and Dusty. Since then, Chops Snacks has been a member company of the Yale Entrepreneurial Institute Summer Fellowship, was chosen as one of six inaugural food companies for the Chobani Food Incubator out of over 500 applicant companies with finished products, and has secured launches in some of the nation’s largest retailers like Albertsons/Safeway, Kroger, Meijer and many others. On top of that, Chops Snacks currently holds the top-rated spot on several categories on Amazon, the nation’s largest retailer, with titles such as top rated meat snack and top rated in “best gifts” in food.

He graduated from Yale College with a B.A. in History in 2017 moved the company to New York City. He has experience in several key consumer goods areas specific to brick-and-mortar sales, online marketing, logistics, and in-store promotional planning.

Melissa Almendinger

Melissa Almendinger is the Community Garden Coordinator at Duke Farms in Hillsborough, NJ where she has been growing food and inspiring the garden community for three years. She teaches a full garden curriculum in both the classroom and field. She also runs a Junior Gardeners program, piloted an accessible garden area in 2017 and will begin growing organic produce for the Duke Farms Café in 2018. Previous to her work at Duke Farms, Melissa served as the Founding Executive Director of the NJ Invasive Species Strike Team and was the Stewardship and Education Director of the Upper Raritan Watershed Association. At her home, Melissa also has flourishing vegetable, fruit and native plant gardens and is a mom to 2 daughters, 1 cat, 1 fish and 7 happy hens.

Michal Levison

Michal Levison is a seasoned cook who is passionate about helping people get into the kitchen. The building of family through food is central to her way of life. The preparation of a meal encompasses so much – shared stories, learning and fun. Michal’s food is seasonal and easy to prepare but unique and different.

An Israeli living in America, her food reflects the bold flavors of her culture as well as her travels. She connects the traditional with the modern and puts a little twist on each dish she undertakes.

Michal graduated from Tufts University with a BA in History and Drama. She worked at Korff Enterprises, Ogilvy and the Coalition for the Homeless before setting out on her own. Michal created and writes a modern-day parenting blog called Bump to Bean as well as Seasoned Moments which focuses on building family and community through food. To that end, she develops simple, nutritious and delicious recipes and gives cooking demonstrations.

Michal teaches cooking workshops and is equally at home in the kitchen, at the piano and on a trapeze. She loves to have fun and constantly looks for new challenges.

Rachel Terry

Rachel leads The Common Market’s growth and expansion into New York City and North Jersey. She builds relationships with foodservice leaders, community members, and food justice advocates to create access and build capacity for local food procurement. Prior to her work with The Common Market, Rachel served with FoodCorps in Newark, New Jersey, and helped launch FoodCorps New York. Rachel graduated from the University of Michigan with a B.S. in Biopsychology. Outside of her work, you can undoubtedly find Rachel in the kitchen, cooking delicious meals for friends and family.

Sarah O’Leary

Sarah O’Leary came to Greater Newark Conservancy in 2009 with experience in botanic gardens, landscape architecture offices, and perhaps most importantly, at home as a mother. As an education program coordinator and horticulturist for the Conservancy she works with schools to design, develop, cultivate and program school gardens. Sarah’s love of the land has grown from the varied environments of the places she’s lived. She earned her BS in horticulture at the chilly University of Minnesota, her Master of Landscape Architecture at the temperate University of Virginia, and was fascinated by the varied urban and rural ecosystems she explored during a Fulbright Fellowship year in Israel.

Sarah O’Leary is the manager of youth and family education at Greater Newark Conservancy. She planted her first garden at age 12 for her mother’s birthday. After working in urban design for Olin Partnership in Philadelphia, she came back to the garden with her own children at Playhouse Nursery School. Her goal: every child munching something fresh from a garden they had a hand in growing.
Sarah’s love of the land has grown from the varied environments of the places she’s lived.

Greater Newark Conservancy supports garden-based and food-focused education programs in schools. Their Urban Environmental Center invites learners of all ages to learn about growing in the urban ecosystem, and cooking and eating for a lifetime of good health.

Tinia Pina

Tinia Pina accepted her Bachelor of Science degree from the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 2006. She began her career in sustainability as a former student pursuing a Masters of Science degree at Columbia University prior to becoming the Chief
Executive Officer and Founder of Re-Nuble, Inc., a waste-to-resource company headquartered in Brooklyn, New York. A strong advocate for sustainable waste management, regenerative agriculture, and urban resilience, she has been involved in management and business development roles within the sustainability industry for six years. Her professional interests focus on using unique and distributed technologies to extract the optimal value from organic waste streams for upcycling into value added products.

In addition, Tinia currently serves as a Board Member of Wild Gift, a non-profit that creates national fellowships for social entrepreneurs using wilderness programs that teach leadership and business skills to build lifelong connections and is the Treasurer of the New York City Agriculture Collective. She was recently honored with the American Express Emerging Innovator Award, the American Entrepreneurship Award and the 2017 Innovator of the Year Award for her contributions to innovation in the field of science and sustainability.