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Janelle Osteen

Janelle has called many places home throughout her life (Wisconsin, Nebraska, Florida, and more) but is thrilled to make roots in Los Angeles with Food Forward. Since completing her undergraduate degree in Molecular Environmental Biology in 2019, she has always…

Jim Berliner

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Jim Berliner is currently the Chairman of Westmount Partners, a wealth management firm he co-founded in 1990. Based in Century City, Westmount manages approximately $5 billion on behalf of its clients. Westmount primarily serves the investment and planning needs of individuals, families,…

Pam Schwartz

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Pamela Schwartz, MPH, is executive director of community health for Kaiser Permanente. She leads the organization’s national food-security strategy and other social health priorities, including ensuring that social health interventions are integrated seamlessly into care and services provided to Medicaid members and…

Jorge Santa Cruz

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Jorge was born in Zacatecas, Mexico but grew up in sunny Whittier in California. After completing high school, he began to work at a fast-food restaurant for over 12 years. After that, he began working for a trucking company as…

Alden Herrera

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Alden found Food Forward while looking for outdoor volunteer opportunities in community gardening and agriculture. She studied biology at the University of Chicago and has since explored a careers in reproductive healthcare and science writing. From Southern California, Alden grows…

Stevie Shandler

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Stevie Shandler, 31, is a fifth-generation member of LA-based wholesale distributor Shapiro-Gilman-Shandler Co, SGS Produce, and General Manager of SoCal Grubmarket. In her roles, she honors her family and company legacy while forging new paths for the future through industry involvement and advocacy focusing on food loss prevention and landfill diversion. As co-chair of the IFPA Food Waste and Food Loss Working Group, Stevie is actively creating accessible sustainability resources for the produce industry with an emphasis on connecting companies throughout the supply chain to food waste prevention strategies. Through her passion for cross-industry communication, Stevie strives to push the ‘highest utilization’ produce conversation forward toward action while maintaining the core mission of feeding people. Stevie’s favorite things are her adorable rescue pups and experiencing different cultures through travel.

Lisa K. Johnson, Ph.D.

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Lisa K. Johnson, PhD is a leader in on-farm food loss research, serving as an Independent Consultant. Her projects focus on in-field measurement, estimation and analysis of food loss, in fruit and vegetable crops. She provides collaborators with technical assistance…

Franchesca Ruiz

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Franchesca grew up in Rancho Cucamonga, California before making her way further inland to UC Riverside for college. After receiving a BA for Global Studies, she immediately put that degree into use by joining Peace Corps Panama for two years. She served as an Environmental Volunteer working with community members to install household solar panels, implement sustainable agricultural systems, and integrate more environmental education in the local school curriculum. She returned to the US in 2019 and moved to Los Angeles in 2020. Committed to community outreach and sustainability, she worked for the Los Angeles Conservation Corps as a Crew Supervisor and then Universal Waste Systems as a Zero Waste Specialist. Through these experiences and her volunteer work at grocery distributions, food pantries, and compost hubs, Franchesca became increasingly interested in food waste diversion and ensuring that nutritious food is being used to feed people and not landfills. Franchesca is excited to work with Food Forward in their mission to fight food waste. In her free time, you can usually find Franchesca in nature hiking or camping with friends and family or looking for a cute coffee shop to lollygag in.

Ayden Mallory

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Ayden is East Coast born and bred, having lived in Boston and New York. She studied the intersection of Politics and Entrepreneurship at NYU with a focus in non-profits. Ayden committed most of her summers to working with her hands—either…

Nancy Hsu

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Nancy Hsu has more than 16 years of experience as a nonprofit fundraiser. She brings a depth of knowledge and passion to development work and is thrilled to support Food Forward’s mission. Nancy subscribes to the philosophy that the true…