Our team

Ali swapped the Colorado mountain scenery for the Chicago city skyline in 2019 shortly after she graduated with her bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Public Health from the University of Colorado Boulder. It was not long after Ali moved to the city of Chicago that she joined the AFHK team. As her first full-time position post-college, AFHK has given her the healthy, supportive, and fun work environment she always wanted.

As the Program and Field Coordinator at AFHK, Ali’s communication, organization, and creative skills allow her to streamline projects between all departments. You can also catch Ali on your computer screen via one of our many webinars or newsletters.

Nutrition and mental health have served at the forefront of Ali’s career interests ever since her work as a Health Coach for Denver Health’s Pediatric Lifestyles Clinic. As she dives deeper into the world of public health, Ali becomes more and more passionate about recognizing the importance of health as it pertains to the whole child.

In her free time, Ali enjoys singing tunes in her acappella group, scoring goals in her co-ed soccer league, and breathing deeply in her yoga practice!

I firmly believe that health is a human right and that our country does not act on that principle, which is why, as CEO of Action for Healthy Kids, I lead an incredible team that works hard to innovate and motivate schools, children, and families to make healthier choices.

It’s unacceptable that an entire generation of kids may live a shorter, less fulfilling life than their parents, so our work at Action for Healthy Kids, where I’ve been since 2008, is vital to changing the tide. I want to make the world a better place for kids, so I’ve held almost every job in the nonprofit sector and worked for many incredible domestic and international organizations that make a huge difference in people’s lives. I couldn’t be prouder to serve in this way.

My passion for kids starts with my own family, where I’m lucky to call myself “Dad” to three awesome kids: Caroline, Jackson, and Sadie. But it extends further to the kids in my community who deserve better opportunities, which is why I am an elected school board member and a coach for baseball and basketball. (My obsession with the latter started when I was a toddler, and I will happily share my thoughts on the excellency that is the Duke Blue Devils!)

Outside of work, coaching, and basketball, you can find me running, fishing, hiking, reading and spending lots of time with my kids and wife, Deb, who I met in the first grade thanks to Mrs. James, who sat us next to each other at Mohawk Elementary School surely not knowing how doing so would so greatly impact both of our lives.

I encourage anyone who is interested to connect with me to learn more about the nonprofit sector or join Action for Healthy Kids’ enthusiastic and far-reaching network of supporters and partners. There’s a lot of work to be done, and together we can improve children’s lives.

Allan was appointed Chief Operating Officer at Action for Healthy Kids (AFHK) in October 2018, bringing close to 25 years of non-profit leadership experience to his work. Prior to joining AFHK, he worked for local and national organizations where he specialized in managing health, recreation, and wellness programming and general management operations for Jewish Community Centers in Chicago, Milwaukee, and across the US. He most recently served as a national Vice-President of Community Impact at BBYO, a peer leadership organization that serves over 21,000 Jewish teens across the globe, where he led a team of staff in multiple communities across the US, scaling successful programming across the organization. Allan is also a Senior Fellow in the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation Executive Leadership program.

Allan has a master’s degree in Non-Profit Management/Human Service Administration from Chicago’s Spertus College, and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Indiana University.

Originally from Denver, Colorado, he has spent the past 25 years in Chicago, with his wife and now two teenage daughters. When he’s not busy at AFHK, he spends his spare time hanging with his family and close friends, cheering on his beloved hometown Denver sports teams, and likes to stay active and healthy walking his two loving dogs and running up and down the basketball court every week.

Paula Boyd M.S., B.A.  has been commended for excellence in innovation, creativity, organization, and grant writing. She possesses a unique ability to establish an ongoing rapport with students, parents, staff, and administration.

As a licensed/certified New York City health educator/facilitator she brings 37+ years of teaching experience to the table.  She has a unique gift and innate passion to educate individuals or groups alike on the many topics (functional knowledge) associated with the health and wellness curriculum.

Here thought-provoking open-ended question and answer sessions unequivocally leave the participants with a wealth of information. She continues to be the analyst by which she takes a creative yet confident approach to promote health education awareness.

Paula Boyd, is also the creator, designer of Project  A.D.A.P.T., a teen/youth program that was designed to provide knowledge and skills necessary to become responsible and productive citizens and to prepare them for the role of parenthood.

Tanisha Bradley serves as our Family Connector in Upland, CA.  She is a mother of 4 beautiful daughters who keeps learning and on my toes.  She grew up in Pomona, CA and moved to San Bernardino where she attended California State University, San Bernardino (CSUSB). From there, she obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications (Radio & Television Broadcasting concentration).  Growing up she discovered her passion for communication by learning from others who spoke differently than her.  She developed an intrigue for learning and sharing with others through culture and language.  This attitude has kept her well-rounded and mindful around others.  She believes when we share our thoughts and opinions with one another, we expand our consciousness and raise the awareness needed to cultivate a fruitful environment.

In February 2021, she recently obtained a Master’s degree from Claremont Lincoln University in Organizational Leadership (concentrating in Ethics) and founded Stellar Youth Leadership Academy; providing training and development services for CAPS Expanded Services in the San Bernardino Unified School District.  She enjoys being an agent of change and helping others embrace the diversity in their lives.  She serves on the Shared Governance Board for the San Bernardino Policy Council, as well as the Vice President of Public Relations with Toastmasters International (The Articulates of Irvine, CA).  In her spare time, she enjoys listening to music, reading, cooking, dancing, and spending time with her family. She believes anything is possible, and families are stronger together!

Jennifer began sharing AFHK with her community through parent grants in 2015 and has ever since been hooked to the program. She is very excited to be a part of a team that focuses on family, health, and wellness of children within the community. As a mother of two, she has always been committed to community service and ensuring students and staff received the necessary support needed to be successful.

Jennifer is a proud member of Delta Sigma Theta Inc. and is a very active member of the PTA. When she is not busy saving the world, she is enjoying the “Marching Storm” marching band at Prairie View A &M University (where her daughter attends), Spending time with family and friends, and watching football with her husband, and son. Jennifer looks forward to making a difference and changing one community at a time!

Charlene Burgeson is Executive Director of Active Schools, a national movement to make 60 minutes of physical education and before, during and after school physical activity the norm in our nation’s K-12 schools. Active Schools is a collective impact initiative driven by over 90 health, education and private sector partner organizations and 36,000 individuals (“champions”) affiliated with more than 23,000 schools that serve over 12 million students.

Burgeson is a national leader for the promotion of children’s health and well-being through physical activity. For the past 25 years, she has provided national leadership as a Health Scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Executive Director of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), and Senior Director for Education and Health at Save the Children. The contributions she has made through these roles are grounded in her early career as a physical education teacher and youth sport coach.

Her personal passions include being a mom to her 19-year-old son and 16-year-old daughter, participating in many sport and recreational activities, traveling, reading, and volunteering.

Frances Brunson serves as our Family Connector in Raleigh, NC. Frances brings over 17 years of experience as a Medicaid/disability patient advocate. She has been working as a healthy living/fitness instructor since 2007, providing classes to children and adults. Frances started a nonprofit (Taking it to the Streets Fitness and Nutrition), which also does healthy living workshops within the community. Frances is glad to join AFHK as a Family Connector to be able to improve social and emotional well-being of students by connecting parents with resources. Frances’ goal is to help families and schools focus on the health of the whole child, mind, body, and spirit. 

Frances is also a certified youth conditioning and fitness instructor, personal trainer, life coach, Zumba instructor, herbalist, kickboxing/aerobic/fitness instructor, and is certified in yoga for chronic pain. She is extremely passionate about building strong healthy communities. In her spare time, France enjoys working out, gardening, cooking, dancing, watching old karate movies and listening to music. 

Natalie Camacho discovered her passion while coaching basketball for at-risk youth in Los Angeles. Until that point, she never intended to work with kids, but she quickly recognized the need for nutrition education, physical fitness, and social-emotional wellness in the communities in which she worked. At her own school, she revitalized the Healthy Behaviors Initiative and re-positioned the program as an HBI Learning Center in California. She lead a team of 15 that traveled to schools implementing curricula designed to increase inclusion, emotional support, and social emotional learning, addressing some of the youth’s toughest problems.

Additionally, Natalie has been able to work with educators at every level to diversify funding with the goal to meet the needs of the unique communities they serve. She is energized by building collaborations and partnerships that empower the communities around them. As an AFHK State Coordinator, her goal is to build capacity and bridge connections to schools, kids, and families to create healthier communities reflected in the wellness of individuals.

When not working, Natalie enjoys music, photography, and spending time with friends and family (she even spent almost 2 months living in the Brazilian Amazon doing volunteer work!). She also plans to witness in person at Cape Canaveral the rocket launch carrying the first woman to land on the moon.

Contact: ncamacho@actionforhealthykids.org.

Jerrica serves at the Family Connector in Sparta, TN. Jerrica is a hometown girl, born and raised in Sparta, TN. Sparta is located just between the Great Smoky Mountains and the Metro Nashville area. The small town of Sparta is located in the heart of White County whose population runs only around 26,800. White County is known for its bluegrass roots, family-owned operations, and welcoming atmosphere.

Jerrica is a mother and a wife of ten years. She graduated from South University in Savannah, GA with a bachelor’s in Criminal Justice. From there, she furthered her education at Tennessee Technological University by completing her Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction and an EDS in Leadership and Administration. She currently works for the White County High School as their Criminal Justice Instructor and Social-Emotional Learning Coordinator. In previous professional careers, Jerrica served as an advocate for many children in the Upper Cumberland through the MAC program at Omni Community Health. Later, Jerrica worked with Tennessee’s Office of Child Safety which led her to the teaching career she is currently pursuing.

Jerrica has since piloted a new Social Emotional Learning Program at White County High School with the help of an Action For Healthy Kids Grant. The grant has allowed the school to purchase an exclusive online curriculum through “Move This World”. The action plan that Jerrica created for WCHS states that the curriculum will benefit ALL students, faculty, parents, and staff members with the intent of building a stronger community. A healthy kid in a healthy home leads to healthy decisions, actions, and habits in the future.

Marketing Manager

From the time she could sit down and type in Notepad, Tishanna knew from a young age that she was creative and loved to tell stories. Though now more refined, this skill has stuck with her today. After completing a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication from Louisiana State University and various communications roles (like a marketing internship for Linkin Park or a social media coordinator job for mental health awareness organization NoStigmas), Tishanna realized she wanted to apply communication toward the greater good and obtained a Master of Arts in Health Communication from DePaul University, and then went on to work for a nonprofit organization in Fresno, CA. Now she returns back to Chicago as AFHK’s Marketing Manager.

When she isn’t working, she serves as a mentor to Chicago Scholars’ Youth Advisory Board, guiding academically-excelling students in low-income areas as they share their lived experiences of health disparities. She loves cooking, Pilates, playing the Sims, watching DC cartoons, shopping and spending time with her slightly anxious but very adorable Yorkie/Schnauzer mix rescue dog, Yogi.

Denise Dyer serves as a Family Connector located in Chicago, IL. Denise is a school volunteer and is very active in her community through her ability to build lasting relationships between schools, parents and the community.  
Denise earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in Human Resource Management from Robert Morris University. She also received a certificate in Parent Leadership from Chicago Public School’s Parent Leadership Institute. Denise has devoted much of her time trying to ensure children in underserved communities receive an equitable quality education. She believes for that to happen, we must use a whole child approach and address children’s physical and social emotional health.

Jennifer brings with her a life-long passion for improving communities through volunteerism and fundraising. To better her value to the organizations doing this hard work, she obtained a Bachelor of Arts from Cleveland State University and a Master’s of Public Administration from Ohio University with concentrations in nonprofit management and leadership.

For over 16 years, she has engaged with dozens of nonprofit organizations in areas of food insecurity, mental health, addiction recovery, homelessness, environmental protection, and many more. A lover of words, Jennifer also published a young adult fiction novel and taught English as a foreign language prior to joining the team. Today, you might find her providing emotional support as a counselor with Crisis Text Line or biking to raise money for children’s cancer research.

Jennifer enthusiastically believes in the power of working together. That’s why she joined Action for Healthy Kids in 2021 as the Manager of Development Partnerships. She was drawn to AFHK’s ethical values, collaborative culture, and successful history of improving the health and wellbeing of children across the U.S. In this role, Jennifer builds efficient development processes, manages relationships with donors and partners, and contributes to the overall funding strategy.

At home, Jennifer enjoys riding her bike, listening to music (especially on vinyl records!), and spending quality time with her fiancé and their pets.

Maribel comes to the AFHK family with immense joy as a Family Connector to promote the well-being of kids and share with families the importance of taking care of mind, body, and spirit. Maribel believes that when parents receive valuable information, they can apply it to their families and start seeing the changes that are integral to children’s development inside and outside the schools.  

Maribel is originally from Zamora, Mexico; in 2011, she came to the United States to start a family. Now her family of five works every day to achieve their goals and be good people. In her hometown, she had the opportunity to practice teaching at the elementary level, participate in the local media communications, and be a modern and folkloric dance teacher. These skills have been helped her to engage and share with Fresno, CA community parents for the past few years.  

Maribel believe in the value of finding one’s passion and looking for activities that foster development in all directions—activities she can enjoy individually and with her family. As a mother, she always tries to continue evolving, which has led her to study and learn an effective nurturing method for parents based on respect and love. In recent years, she has been active in the community with parent workshops offering support to transform parenting through love. She discovered that as parents, continuous learning and listening to our inner wisdom will lead us to enjoy life every day through our children.  

Colleen Gonzalez serves as a Family Connector in Orlando, FL. Colleen is the mother of two teens and graduated from Rollins College with a BA degree in Organizational Behavior. For over ten years, Colleen worked in the field of human resources. During her professional career she worked in the hospitality and medical industry as a generalist, manager, and director. 

When Colleen’s children were in elementary school, Colleen learned about the cross-country running program at other schools and questioned why her children’s school did not participate. Colleen was informed that teachers must volunteer their time and fund their running teams. Simply put: no volunteers, no funds, no program. She knew that there had to be a way to take action for the kids in her community.  

In 2009, Colleen put together an action plan to ensure her children’s school could have a cross country running team and had amazing success. In 2014, Colleen became involved with AFHK as a charity runner for Chicago Marathon. Over the years, with the support of AFHK, Colleen has led and mentored over 40 schools to improve health and wellness programing to include running clubs, health based family engagement programs, school gardens and youth engagement.  

In her free time, Colleen enjoys time at the beach or running with family and friends. 

Kimberley Harris serves as a Family Connector in Jacksonville, FL. In her role as Family Connector, she strives to bridge the gap between families and school staff to build trust and support. Her goals are to creating lasting partnerships that will  improve the health of children through physical activity, nutrition, and social-emotional health.  

Kimberley knew she wanted to work for a non-profit from an early age. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology along with a Minor in Human Development and Family Studies from Auburn University. Having suffered from childhood health problems, she is thrilled to return full circle in helping kids live healthy and fulfilling lives.  

In her free time, she enjoys creating all types of visual arts such as painting, sculpting, woodwork, or even refinishing furniture. 

Amber’s passion for holistic health and nutrition is what attracted her to AFHK, taking on the position of Project Coordinator in 2021. A Chicago native, she knows the ins and outs of the community and has served the community for nearly five years, working as a Community Affairs Specialist and Nutrition Educator at UIC.

Amber has a BS in Biology from Saint Xavier University and is currently in the process of completing a certification in holistic health. In her spare time, she loves to meditate; travel; collect essential oils; try new restaurants; and spend time with her friends, family, and her yorkie, Zayn.

Nicole King has the heart to change the narrative of health in the lives of many. As a wife and mother of two, she has seen the impact health can have in a home and family when you have the knowledge and resources to make better choices.

As a stay-at-home mom and health coach, she was looking for an opportunity to serve her community and be present with her school-age daughter. AFHK provided the perfect opportunity to serve AND educate others on the importance of health.

Nicole’s heart is after every family who desires more, who doesn’t know where to begin, and is looking for a solution. This journey is just the beginning and the mission behind AFHK gives Nicole hope in the beautiful future that is coming for families across the world!

Active Schools Manager

Nick Kline joined the Action for Healthy Kids team in 2021 as the Active Schools Manager. He brings over 20 years of experience in the fields of physical education and physical activity. Nick began his career at the Cortland County Family YMCA where he had a variety of roles including Childcare Director, Program Director, and Associate Director. In 2005 Nick transitioned to the role of physical education teacher and coach in the Cortland Enlarged City School District. During this time, he was awarded and managed a 3-year PEP Grant that provided valuable resources and support for physical education teachers throughout Cortland County. He simultaneously pursued and received his National Board Certification. In 2015 Nick left teaching to support comprehensive physical activity at a national level as a member of the OPEN Development Council and as an OPEN National Trainer. He continues his work with OPEN while also continuing his role as an educator at SUNY Cortland as a lecturer in the Physical Education Department.

Nick received his bachelor’s degree from Ithaca College where he double majored in physical education and business. He received his master’s degree from SUNY Cortland focusing on teaching students with disabilities. His education and experience have fueled his passion to be an advocate for quality physical education and increasing physical activity opportunities.

In his personal life, Nick takes great pride in his roles as husband and father. In his free time, Nick enjoys being outdoors, cooking, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Ashley joined the Action for Healthy Kids team in 2018. As Senior Program Manager, Social-Emotional Health, Ashley provides expertise, vision, leadership, and management for the strategic direction, implementation, and growth of social-emotional learning and health as a key element of the Action for Healthy Kids program model and AFHK’s overall approach to programmatic digital resources and learning sessions.

Prior to joining Action for Healthy Kids, Ashley spent her time with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society focusing on program implementation and community engagement. One of her favorite parts of this role was co-directing a week-long Youth Camp, for children with a loved one impacted by MS – where she learned for the very first time how to play gaga ball! An Ohio transplant, Ashley earned a Bachelor of Science in Public Health from Kent State University and is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling followed by a Master of Science in Child and Adolescent Psychology. In a previous life, Ashley was a preschool teacher where her creativity and a love for learning filled her classroom. Having completed her trauma-informed yoga teacher training, Ashley spends her time on and off the mat finding ways to empower others to build capacity and be their best self!

When not working, you can expect her to be off exploring with her wife, Caroline, their two cats (a brother and sister pair who think they are dogs) and dog (who thinks he’s a cat).  In her free time, Ashley is often scouting new coffee shops, perfecting her waffle game, or opting to be outdoors – tackling a new adventure!

Candace comes to the AFHK family with an extreme passion for the health and wellness of children, community, and family. Candace serves as a Family Connector in Jacksonville, FL. Her belief is that health is holistic; thus to aid one in achieving optimal health, best practice is to focus on emotional, spiritual, and physical methods. She uses a holistic approach when serving her birth support/doula clients to give the baby a healthier jump start at life. 

Ending an almost 15 year stint with corporate America, Candace received her BS in Social Sciences with a minor in Psychology from Jacksonville University. She was fortunate to use her love of arts and creativity as the Arts Director with Boys & Girls Club while in school and decided connecting with underserved children and their families would remain in her mist. Merging her passion for advocacy, health equity, and being a birth support person/doula, she received her MA in Maternal Child Health from Bastyr University. She’s been an avid school parent volunteer, DCF Guardian ad Litem volunteer, Healthy Start Community Liaison, and specialist for a non-profit that’s dedicated to offering scholarships ensuring all children receive a quality education. 

Outside of serving kiddos, her community, and schools, Candace takes pride in being a wife for 24 years, and a mom to three amazing daughters who have honored her with being “granny” to ten (twelve as of Spring 2021) even more amazing grandchildren. She loves doing renovations and creating home decor for her family’s hangout, “The Bird’s Empty Nest.” During her free time, Candace can be found enjoying dance parties, breaking it down to her favorite R&B/Hip Hop oldies, or cooking up some love in the kitchen.  

Danielle began sharing AFHK with her community through parent grants in 2017, when she became one of California’s first Parent Ambassadors. She is thrilled to join the Family Connector team, serving as the Family Connector for Los Angeles, CA!  

As a mother of four, Denise enjoys learning new ways to incorporate healthy foods and activities to help everyone feel their best. After becoming a UCCE Master Gardener in 2019, Danielle’s mission to sow seeds of health was reinforced both indoors and outdoors. Danielle works to positively impact her community and surrounding neighborhoods. Her commitment to community branches out in many directions. She serves as a board member for non-profit organization RuckusRoots, which provides sustainable arts programs to underrepresented communities throughout Los Angeles. She is also honored to sit as a Commissioner for Hawthorne, California’s Community Services Department. In her spare time, she enjoys yoga, hiking, sunsets, trying new recipes and foods, a cup of tea with family, and playing board games. 

Monserrat Mendoza joined our team as a Family Connector in Aurora, CO in March 2021. Family and community mean everything to Monserrat, who grew up in Mexico and lived there for 31 years before immigrating to Colorado, where she has lived for two years. She is married with two sons who are 9 and 19 years old. Monserrat has been a teacher for eight years at elementary, middle, and high school levels. She loves teaching Spanish language to others. Monserrat also volunteers in different nonprofit organizations located in Denver, Colorado. She understands the importance of communication and connectedness in families and in education. During her free time, Monserrat enjoys spending time with family, cooking Mexican food, and exploring nature. She is excited to help build family-school partnerships as a member of the Action for Healthy Kids team and is looking forward to what lies ahead for families in Aurora, Colorado.

Heidi serves as the Director of Programs and Field Operations for Action for Healthy Kids. In this role, Heidi oversees a team of program and field staff that support districts and schools in their efforts to create healthy environments that foster student physical and mental wellbeing.

Heidi received a bachelor’s degree in Dietetics from the University of Georgia and a Master of Public Health degree from Indiana University. As a former bilingual (Spanish) elementary school teacher, Heidi has experience working in urban school districts with diverse student and family populations. She has experience training school health teams on school wellness policies and school health/wellness best practices, as well as evaluating the coordinated school health model in urban and rural schools.

In her free time, Heidi enjoys exercising, reading, traveling, being outdoors, and spending time with family and friends.

Stephanie has been involved in the compassionate service field for 5+ years and has developed a strong passion for the work. Her focus has been low-income, underresourced communities, and her experience has ranged from agricultural farm worker rights, mentorship, ESL & ELL advocacy, parent-teacher engagement and more. Growing up, Stephanie’s parents were immigrant farm workers who settled in Grand Island, Nebraska, and that came with several challenges. Every day, professionally and personally, is a reflection of what Stephanie experienced from her early home life. That encourages her to advocate and empower families in similar situations.

Living in Denver, Colorado for 15 years has been a unique journey for Stephanie. She has graduated high school and college (University of Colorado Boulder/Denver – go Buffs!) close to her suburban home. Upon moving here, she was able to witness how slowly but surely Denver has diversified and grown on its own in rural and urban communities! Stephanie is a LatinX/Hispanic 1^st generation daughter of immigrants, multi-ethnic/cultural, bilingual, and a first generation Latina college graduate. Finding inclusive space to share her experience and story in Colorado was challenging at first. However, seeing how Denver is rapidly growing to become a more diverse community that intentionally holds space for all sorts of folks motivates her to use her voice and platform in an empowering way for herself and others. Joining Action For Healthy Kids as the Family-School Parent Project Coordinator for Denver is perfectly aligned with her community vision and mission.

Outside of engaging with the Denver community, Stephanie loves to cook and explore all the sciences and cultural stories of food (she’s pursuing a M.S. in food science), gardening, taking care of her house plants, sci-fi movies, HIIT workouts, reading, the occasional hike, interior and fashion design, coffee shops, spending time with her nieces, empowering the LatinX community through freelance writing and podcasting, and documentary binging!

Sofia joined Action for Healthy Kids in September 2018 in her role as Database Manager. As a certified Salesforce Administrator and with over 10 years of working in the Nonprofit sector, she is passionate about using technology to create positive change in our communities. At AFHK, she works side by side with staff to maintain a database that facilitates successful programming and fundraising efforts which ultimately leads to more healthy kids across the country.

Sofia received her B.S. degree in Biology from St. Edward’s University in Austin, TX and her M.S. degree in Conservation Biology from Antioch University in Keene, NH. She works remotely from New Hampshire, where she enjoys kayaking and camping in the summers and snowboarding in the winters.

Kristen is the District Wellness Project Coordinator serving El Paso County and parts of southern New Mexico. In this role, Kristen supports area school districts in strengthening district wellness policies and school level implementation of district policies to promote student wellness.

Prior to joining AFHK, Kristen conducted a network analysis of the Borderland Out-of-School-Time Network serving the Paso del Norte region of West Texas, Southern New Mexico, and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. Her experience coordinating public health programming in diverse communities has focused on advancing health equity by improving the environments in which we live, learn, work, and play so that all people have a fair and just opportunity to reach their full health potential.

A native El Pasoan, Kristen received her Bachelor of Health Promotion and Master of Public Health with a Hispanic and Border Health concentration from the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). She loves being from the borderland community, and, when not being out at a UTEP basketball or Chihuahuas baseball game, Kristen enjoys planting native desert plants and hanging out with her family! Go Miners!

As Director of Research and Evaluation, Jillian develops and manages the design and implementation of effective evaluation activities for AFHK programs. She is passionate about creating equal opportunities for all children to eat well and be well, and loves AFHK’s collaborative, community-centric approach to school health. Jillian received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of South Florida and a Master of Public Health in Epidemiology from Emory University. Prior to joining AFHK, Jillian was an evaluation manager with the Arizona Department of Health Services Bureau of Nutrition and Physical Activity.

When she’s not working, Jillian enjoys traveling, hiking, music, and exploring Chicago.

Tanya joins the AFHK family believing that “it takes a village to raise children.” Tanya is a Family Connector from San Luis, Colorado. Her mission is to provide children with the stepping stones to achieve health and wellness of the mind, body and spirit to guide them through their educational aspirations and life goals. She is dedicated to working with children, families, and the community through the youth sports program to foster unity and healthier lifestyles. 

After 18 years working in city and county government and obtaining her BS in Accounting from Colorado Technical University, Tanya took an interest in working in higher education. Tanya currently works with students to meet their financial obligations while obtaining their degrees. Her strong passion for all children/students to have the same, equitable opportunities is what drives her to bond and create genuine relationships with children, students, schools, families and other community members.  

While Tanya enjoys working full time and volunteering on committees and boards, her ultimate pride and joy is her family. Tanya has been married for 28 years and is a proud mom of four wonderful children: three girls and one boy. Tanya is thankful and blessed with the love and support from her husband and children as she takes on new adventures and journeys. Tanya and her family enjoy spending time outside. They spend time camping, fishing, exploring new places, and vacationing together. Oftentimes, they can be found rocking out or dancing their souls out at concerts and meeting new people along the way. 

Kitty joined Action for Healthy Kids in 2018. In her role as Office Manager/Office Assistant, her primary duties are to assist the Chief Executive Officer, Vice President of Finance and Administration, and Board of Directors and serve as office assistant and receptionist to the entire staff. She has over 30 years of experience working with nonprofit organizations.

Kitty enjoys traveling, music, dancing, and board games.

Luz serves as a Family Connector located in Orlando, FL. She has an associates degree in occupational therapy and has been an occupational therapy assistant for the last 16 years. Within the last three years, she has found herself passionate about health and fitness, where she is finishing up her studies to become a certified health coach. Luz also volunteers as a coach for her daughter’s cross country team and helps to distribute sneakers to families in need. She has also been able to effectively operate a food pantry and distribute food to families in need at her daughter’s school. Luz sits on the student advisory committee board (SAC), along with the PTA board for her daughter’s school and is passionate about school health and wellness.  

Rich has over 30 years of experience working with nonprofit and governmental entities and brings that experience to Action for Healthy Kids in his role of Vice President of Finance and administration. He is responsible for all financial reporting, budgeting and day-to-day operations.

Prior to joining AFHK in 2015, Rich worked with the National Dairy Council and as a consultant to AFHK for seven years. As the father of three girls, he has personally seen how establishing healthy habits with kids when they are young will stay with them through their college years.

Rich enjoys all sports but mainly football, basketball and baseball (especially the Cubs). He also enjoy working on his garden and landscaping projects and going for walks with his family and their dog, Tilly.

Michelle Smith is a marketing and research consultant who became active in marketing for school health when she became a parent. She is currently the State Coordinator for Texas Action for Healthy Kids and is Director for the Southern Obesity Summit, a 16-state working conference on obesity prevention.

In 2012 Michelle completed a project for Action for Healthy Kids with a goal of engaging middle school parents in wellness activities in schools. Currently she is working with National PTA and Action for Healthy Kids on a new parent engagement project, Parents for Healthy Kids.

Michelle is an active advocate for school health issues on a state as well as a local basis, serving as chair for the Partnership for a Healthy Texas for two legislative sessions. She also has served as parent chair on her local school health advisory council where she has served for over 15 years, as well as serving on the Texas Action for Healthy Kids Steering Committee, previously as Vice Chair since 2002.

Michelle was named the 2016 Texas Health Champion by the Michael and Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living. She has also been recognized as a CATCH champion, received John P. McGovern Award from the Texas School Health Association and the Distinguished Service Award from the Texas Association of Health, PE, Recreation and Dance. She was named a Healthy School Hero by the Action for Healthy Kids in 2004 and 2006. When she is not working on wellness initiatives, she is spending time with her family, reading and taking LOTS of pictures, her secret passion.

Contact: msmith@actionforhealthykids.org.

Sean loves connecting people to causes they’re passionate about and finding ways to keep them engaged in the work. In his position as manager of volunteer initiatives, he provides leadership and strategy over all volunteer opportunities within the organization, including corporate partner/employee volunteer programs, school health champions, and Every Kid Healthy Week.

Sean received his bachelor’s degree in History from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (go Illini!). He then spent a year as an AmeriCorps member running after-school programs and has worked in the non-profit sector ever since. After moving to Chicago in 2008, he worked for a variety of organizations, including Habitat for Humanity and Chicago Cares, managing volunteer programs and events and developing strategies to connect people within their communities and help them stretch their comfort zones to try something new. As someone who has always loved being active and outdoors, Sean was drawn to AFHK’s mission and is excited about helping create more opportunities for kids to be active and play.

Sean spends much of his non-work time with friends and family, playing rec sports and dodging dirty looks from Cubs fans as a proud St. Louis Cardinals fan in Chicago.

Amy serves as a Family Connector in Ft. Morgan, a town in northeastern Colorado. She and her husband Derek are teaching their girls, Cami and Carli, how to farm. Their family grows both corn and alfalfa, a type of cow feed. Agriculture has been a part of Amy’s entire life as her parents continue to run a family farm and ranch. Wheat harvest is her favorite part of farming! It’s a time for hard work and time with family, and it’s rewarding for the fact that they get to harvest what they sowed. 

Amy’s other occupation is education. She has taught several subjects and age levels in a local public school located in Wiggins, Colorado, for the past 15 years. Her current position is elementary physical education, and her favorite game is kickball. Some of her favorite pastimes are going on bike rides, cruising side-by-side around farm roads and mountain trails, and hanging out with family and friends. Summertime is her favorite time of the year; nothing is better than shorts, flip-flops and spending time playing with the kiddos.

As the Senior Program Manager for Monitoring and Evaluation and Youth Risk Behavior Prevention, Brean is responsible for providing expertise, vision, leadership, and management for the strategic direction and implementation of program monitoring and evaluation, and for youth risk behavior prevention as key elements of the Action for Healthy Kids program model.

Brean received a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from Bucknell University. While completing a joint Master of Arts degree at Tufts University in Child Development and in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning, she focused her studies on school and community-based obesity prevention for children in at-risk neighborhoods. Since then, Brean’s experiences have included program development and implementation to promote healthy eating and active living to children, as well as public health research including school-related nutrition policies, nutrition marketing, and the role of the built environment in community health. Before moving back home to the Portland, Maine area, Brean worked in public health throughout the northeast, including Boston, New York and Philadelphia. By bringing together communities, schools and families, Brean believes in the value and importance of giving every kid the best (and healthiest!) foot forward.

In her free time, Brean enjoys trips to the beaches throughout New England, cooking, running and exploring new neighborhoods with her husband, Joe, and their two kids, Evie and Sam.

CEO
Famer

Rich Abend is a twenty year sports, health & fitness, wellness executive with strong track record in new business development, sales, consulting, media and sponsorship. He’s recently established a new expertise in software sales and b2b development in the corporate wellness and technology market.

Abend is considered one of the top health, fitness and wellness professionals in the country with 13+ years of dedicated experiences of direct consulting and the development of business programs in the space.

He spent 7 years at the Active Network, the leading sports technology and online registration engine that power over 200,000 events for 25MM health-minded, active-lifestyle consumers. First, as the VP of Integrated Sales, leading a team of high-level, client direct business developers who sell media, marketing and sponsorship programs to Fortune 500 accounts. In his last 2+ years, he launched Active’s Workplace Wellness platform and led development on partnerships in healthcare space and with enterprise-wide customers like Starbucks, Disney and Capital One.

Abend was key part of an executive team that helped concept and create Aetna’s first-ever direct to consumer product through Aetna Everactive (www.aetneveractive). Aetna Everactive is a strategic alliance between Aetna and Active to help people become more physically active through a social community that brings virtual health and fitness resources directly to employees to participate in real-life local events/activities. He also acted as Chief Revenue officer for Aetna Everactive product – responsible for developing strategic alliance partnerships to help drive revenue, new membership and sales of products, goods and relevant services.

Before that, Abend spent 4 years as a partner of The Squires Sports Group, a sports and entertainment marketing consulting firm where he lead all sales and business development efforts. He lead a team that worked directly with Rodale Press (Men’s Health, Prevention, Runner’s World magazine) where worked with over 70 sales reps to drive new business and revenue.

Corporate Philanthropy & Social Impact Professional

Julie Bosley has extensive experience in strategic development and execution of philanthropic initiatives, community relations programs and communication strategies.

Most recently, Julie was director of philanthropy at Kellogg Company, providing leadership for its global signature cause platform, Breakfasts for Better Days. In that role, she was responsible for strategic execution, alignment and measurement of the initiative focused on hunger relief and food security. She also served on the Global Corporate Affairs Leadership Team and provided oversight for the Kellogg Company Fund and Kellogg Company 25-Year Employees Fund. Additionally, she directed the organization’s United Way campaign and the company’s community development and engagement efforts in the its headquarters community. Julie was with Kellogg for 14 years in various roles after joining the company as manager of corporate public relations

Prior to Kellogg, Julie was director of community relations for the Philadelphia 76ers and held a variety of positions in team operations with the National Basketball Association.

Julie received a bachelor of arts degree in communications from the University of Michigan and a master’s degree in business administration from Penn State University.

She is a member of the Action for Healthy Kids Board and is a past member of the United Way Global Corporate Leadership Advisory Council, United Way Worldwide’s U.S.A. Membership Accountability Committee, and the United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region Board.

Professor
University of Illinois Chicago

Jamie Chriqui is a professor in the division of Health Policy and Administration at the University of Illinois Chicago School of Public Health. She is also Co-Director of the Health Policy Center, Institute for Health Research and Policy​.

Portfolio Director, Health FFRDC
Mitre

Mitre Director Cheryl Austein Casnoff has had a distinguished career in government working on health policy and public health topics, including work on Capitol Hill and in several agencies of the U.S. Department of Health and Servicess (HHS). She is currently directing the Mitre health portfolio for the US Department of Health and Human Services including the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. She also served as a Senior Fellow at NORC at the University of Chicago where she directed numerous studies focusing on children, Medicaid, telehealth, opioids and other key health policies.

Previously, Austein Casnoff served as the Associate Administrator for Health Information Technology (HIT) at the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), where she established a new Office of Health Information Technology (OHIT) within the agency to promote the adoption and meaningful use of electronic records. In that role from 2005 to 2009, she promoted the adoption and effective use of HIT among safety net providers and populations. Austein Casnoff oversaw the awarding of almost $100 million in new telehealth and health center network grants. In addition, Austein Casnoff led OHIT’s efforts to build enhanced technical assistance capabilities through websites and toolkits.

Before joining HRSA, Austein Casnoff was Deputy Director of the Finance, Systems and Budget Group at the Center for Medicaid and State Operations at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), where she directed more than 100 staff members and was responsible for the finance, systems, and budget for the Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) with budgets totaling more than $300 billion. From 2001-2004, Austein Casnoff was director of the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) at CMS, where she was instrumental in the implementation of the $40 billion program, which provides insurance for low-income children. She was also responsible for designing CHIP in 1997.

In 2004, Austein Casnoff was selected to participate in extensive leadership and management training through the HHS Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program and in 2003 she was selected as a fellow of the Council for Excellence in Government. Her prior experience includes service as director of the Division of Public Health Policy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE) and work as a principal budget analyst in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Management and Budget at HHS.

Austein Casnoff has also served on the President’s Task Force for Health Care Reform and was selected as a senior legislative fellow in the Office of U.S. Senator Dave Durenberger. She has received numerous awards for her outstanding service, including the Hubert Humphrey Award for Service to America, the Public Health Service Honor Roll from the Association of Yale Alumni in Public Health, the Director’s Citation from CMS, the Secretary’s Award for Distinguished Service, and the White House Certificate of Appreciation for Health Reform.

Austein Casnoff earned her M.P.H. in Health Services Administration at Yale School of Medicine, Yale University and a B.A. in Biological Sciences at Northwestern University. She resides in Fulton, MD. She also serves as a member of the Yale Public Health Alumni Board and serves as an adjunct professor at George Washington University Medical School where she teaches Health IT quality and policy. She is also entering her 35th year as the chief of the piccolo section for the Redskins marching band.

CEO
Rescue Agency

Kristin is a passionate business, strategy and marketing executive with a 20-year track record of cultivating high-growth businesses designed to have a positive impact on the health of our nation. Her experience spans the NYC ad agency world, a renowned non-profit, a high-growth tech company that went from a start-up to IPO to $1 billion private equity sale, and now, leadership of a B Corp certified behavior change marketing firm that is changing the way the federal, state and county health agencies, non-profit, and health care organizations approach our most pressing social issues across nutrition, food insecurity, mental health, maternal health, tobacco control and drug and alcohol prevention.
Kristin lives in San Diego with her husband and three daughters.

Partner, Co-founder
FoodMinds, LLC

Laura is a partner and co-founder of FoodMinds, LLC, a leading food and nutrition consulting and communications company that specializes in harnessing science, public affairs and communications to meet business and public health objectives. Laura leads the San Francisco office where she works closely with clients and is expanding the company’s capabilities in the convergence of food and nutrition with tech and sustainability. She also connects clients to FoodMinds’ Global ExpertBench™ for international work, Issues and Crisis Navigation and Strategic Insights capabilities.

With more than 20 years of experience in food, beverage, nutrition, health and wellness, Laura has developed strong relationships with leading experts and organizations. She provides strategic counsel and insights to help clients – ranging from global entertainment and food and beverage brands to associations and commodity boards – navigate the rapidly-changing worlds of nutrition and public health. She works with clients to understand the intersection between food and nutrition policy and marketing, overcoming challenges and creating new opportunities.

Laura has created signature science-based programs that have shifted long-standing perceptions, grown sales, created new categories and established novel leadership platforms. Her expertise is wide-ranging and includes: leading global nutrition affairs programs for multi-national companies; building credible health and wellness promises and plans that deliver on them while growing demand and sales; nutrition research, influencer research and market research strategies and plans; developing sound science-based communication strategies and programs for effective thought-leader, influencer and consumer education; establishing and managing strategic partnerships; and overseeing teams that develop delicious recipes and conduct nutrition analyses and menu modeling.

Prior to co-founding FoodMinds in 2006, Laura was a senior vice president, group head in the consumer food practice at Edelman Public Relations in Chicago and a vice president in the food practice at Porter Novelli in San Francisco. Laura also spent time as the director of business development for WineryExchange.com in Chile and Argentina.

Laura is a registered dietitian and an active member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and several practice groups within the organization. She received her Bachelor of Science in Family and Consumer Sciences from Miami University (Ohio) and completed her dietetic internship at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta.

Laura lives in the San Francisco area with her husband and two children. The foods most often on Laura’s mind are cheese, crusty bread and olive oil, nuts, avocados and good vino.

Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Ohio State University College of Medicine

Anastasia Fischer, MD, FAAFP, FACSM, is a member of the Division of Sports Medicine in the Section of Ambulatory Pediatrics at Nationwide Children’s Hospital and is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. Dr. Fischer holds a master’s degree in Exercise Physiology from the University of Georgia and attended medical school at The Ohio State University College of Medicine before completing a family practice residency at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and a primary care sports medicine fellowship at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine. She is fellowship trained and board certified in sports medicine, and is a member of the American Medical Society for Sports Medicine and the American College of Sports Medicine, where she has been appointed fellow, and currently serves as President-Elect.

She is active in the Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics,the Female Athlete Triad Coalition, and the ACSM Strategic Health Initiative for Women’s Health. She has a special interest in research and advocacy regarding the adolescent female athlete, spondylolysis and concussion. Dr. Fischer is a volunteer physician with the Tour de Grandview and also serves as team physician at Groveport Madison High School in the central Ohio area.

Senior Director, International Strategy
Walmart, Inc.

As Senior Director, International Strategy at Walmart, Inc., Michael develops and advises on strategic planning activities across the global markets in which the organization operates.

Previously, Michael co-founded Signature Health, LLC, a professional nurse staffing agency focused on reducing the cost of care for clients while improving overall outcomes for patients. As Chief Executive Officer, Michael was responsible for day-to-day operations, and drove company expansion into three states. He successfully exited this business in 2020.

Before Signature Health, Michael was Vice President – Corporate Strategy with Principal Financial Group® — he led corporate development for the $17 billion revenue corporation with 4 global business units and 15,000 employees operating in over 70 countries.

Prior to joining Principal®, Michael served as owner and principal of Hamilton Consulting International — advising clients on the exploration, qualification and execution of strategic planning, sales and marketing efforts in the United Kingdom, Switzerland and the United States.

Before starting his firm, Michael was Director of International Business Development for John Ryan Performance, Inc. in London, where he focused on delivering sales and marketing strategies to the global retail banking market. Michael has also held various global sales and corporate development roles at Carlson Companies, Target Corporation and Honeywell International.

Michael is a current Board Member as well as Lifetime Member of the National Black MBA Association® and a member of the Executive Leadership Council (ELC). He currently serves on the Board of Directors for The University of Northern Iowa-College of Business. He has previous Board experience with Variety-The Children’s Charity® of Iowa, the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Minnesota®, the Twin Cities Chapter of the National Black MBA Association, and the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts.

Michael is a Sloan Fellow having received his Master of Science in Leadership and Strategy from the London Business School. He also holds an MBA in operations management from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Bachelor of Science degrees in both Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Education Technology Consultant

For over a decade, Chris has been an advisor to educational leaders across the country. Partnering with top education technology companies (Google, Microsoft, SMART, Epson, and others), he delivers unique solutions to help CTOs, superintendents, curriculum directors and other school administrators reach their teaching and learning goals. Chris also advises leading architect and engineering firms on best practices for technology and learning space design in schools. Chris has served as an advisory committee member for Stillwater Area Public Schools’ Curriculum Committee and World’s Best Workforce Committee, along with Fusion Learning’s Transforming Learning Committee. All three committees work to foster equity and success for all students. In addition to consulting, Chris coaches AAU basketball and serves as assistant varsity basketball coach and head JV coach at St. Croix Preparatory Academy. Chris lives in the St. Paul, MN area with his wife and three kids.

Principal
AW Marchetti Consulting

For nearly two decades, Ann Marchetti has held leadership roles in several successful nonprofit agencies working toward a singular goal — improving the health and well being of children, youth and families. Drawing upon her unique combination of public policy, business and creative skills, Ann has assisted these nonprofits in optimizing their business models to build organizational capacity and develop sustainable programs. Ann was awarded the 2008 Distinguished Service Award for Outstanding Service to Children and Youth by the National Child Labor Committee. This body remarked, “Ann has been at the
forefront of action and has been the voice to improve the health, education, well-being and futures of millions of children.”

Most recently, Ann served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer for the Cambridge, Massachussetts-based National Initiative for Children’s Healthcare Quality (NICHQ), which specializes in improving the quality of care for children. Since 2005, Ann provided leadership in building the organization’s marketing, finance, human resources and board governance capacity.

Prior to joining NICHQ, Ann served as Program Director for the Southern Institute on Children and Families (SICF), based in Columbia, South Carolina. There she also served as the Deputy Director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Covering Kids/Covering Kids and Families National Initiative. Immediately prior, she was Associate Director of the Illinois Maternal and Child Health Coalition (IMCHC). Ann earned her M.S. degree from Radford University.

Ann founded AW Marchetti Consulting in 2008. Her firm is dedicated to empowering a new generation of leaders in the nonprofit sector to develop effective systems for capacity development and program delivery. Clients to date include Covering Kids and Families Indiana, Indianapolis, Indiana; DuPage County Health Department, Wheaton, Illinois; Health Choice Network, Doral, Florida; Health Management Associates, Lansing, Michigan; Illinois Maternal and Child Health Coalition, Chicago, Illinois; Omni Youth Services, Buffalo Grove, Illinois; ShoreBank, Chicago, Illinois. Ann brings infectious energy and determination to her work, developing creative and sustainable solutions for today’s complex social and business environment.

Research Professor
Boise State University

Lindsey Turner is a research professor & Director​ of the Center for School and Community Partnerships​’ Initiative for Healthy Schools​ in the College of Education​ at Boise State University.

Former President
US Equity Services, Computershare

Jay McHale is the former president of Computershare’s US Equity Services group, the largest of Computershare’s business offerings in the United States. As the premier transfer agent in the US, Computershare offers the most complete and most comprehensive end-to-end investor services (Shareholder Recordkeeping, Investment Plan Services, Equity Compensation, and M&A Processing).

Jay has over 35 years of experience in the financial services industry. Prior to joining Computershare in 2007, Jay was with Bank of Montreal/Harris, where his roles included direct management of shareholder services and trust divisions of those companies. Jay has presided over numerous complex business integration projects throughout his career, including significant acquisitions, divestitures and reorganizations.

Jay holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago and a B.S. in Finance from DePaul University, and also serves as director of the Infant Welfare Society of Chicago.

Retired as Director of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs
Cargill Inc.

Indra Mehrotra recently retired as the Director of Scientific and Regulatory Affairs for the Research and Development Division at Cargill. In this capacity, she lead development and implementation of scientific and regulatory strategies that supported product innovation at Cargill to advance its various businesses globally.

Prior to joining Cargill, she had 25 years of experience with General Mills as a nutrition, health and regulatory professional. In her last position at General Mills, she was Director of Science and Communications for the Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition. In this role, she led nutrition science research strategy and programs for various General Mills businesses. In addition, she was responsible for health and nutrition communications for consumers and health professionals. Before joining the Bell Institute of Health and Nutrition, she led Nutrition Services at the Pillsbury Company directing various nutrition related functions that provided technical, regulatory, and strategic support to food and food service businesses.

Indra is a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the Institute of Food Technologist, and the American Society for Nutrition. She is a Registered Dietitian and a certified Food Scientist. She received her MS in Nutrition & Dietetics from the Northern Illinois University, and another MS in Nutrition & Food Science from the M.S. University, Baroda, India. She also holds a post graduate diploma in Food Science and Nutrition (with emphasis on food technology and food processing) from the University of Gent, Belgium.

Professor of Pediatrics, Division of GI & Nutrition
Department of Pediatrics
The Ohio State University College of Medicine

Dr. Robert Murray spent over 20 years in the field of Pediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition in the Ohio State University School of Medicine and most recently was the director of the Center for Healthy Weight and Nutrition. He also served as the pediatric medical director for Abbott Nutrition from 2003-2006. For 10 years, Dr. Murray was a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Council on School Health, serving as chair in the final 4 years. He is a Board member of Action for Healthy Kids as well as of the Children’s Hunger Alliance, and previously served on the Board of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation. Dr. Murray is the immediate past-President of the Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Senior Vice President, Corporate Development
PRA

John Musolino is the Senior Vice President, Corporate Development at PRA, a portfolio company of CI Capital Partners that creates local destination experiences for meetings, incentives and events. Previously, John served as Principal and founder of Avondale Capital Advisors, a consulting firm that provides strategic and corporate finance advisory services to independent and private equity-sponsored middle market business in a range of industries. John also serves on the Board of RHR International and has also served on the Board of Aquent Marketing Staffing, Concert Group Logistics and as Partner at Magnate Capital Partners. John holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Duke University and a master’s degree in management with a concentration in accounting, finance and marketing from the Kellogg School of Management.

President, Dairy Health and Wellness
National Dairy Council

Jean Ragalie-Carr, R.D. is President of the National Dairy Council (NDC) and Executive Vice President, Dairy Health and Wellness for Dairy Management (DMI). In this role, she leads the development and implementation of nutrition strategies and relationship with leading government and non-government health, nutrition and school professional organizations. At the center of these strategies is Fuel Up to Play 60, an unprecedented initiative to create new opportunities to bring more nutritious, kid-appealing foods into schools, and maintain and further positive nutrition recommendations for children and teens. Fuel Up to Play 60 was developed through a partnership between NDC and the National Football League, aimed at incenting, equipping and mobilizing youth to adopt healthy behaviors, eat more nutrient-rich foods and get 60 minutes of physical activity each day. Through social marketing and a comprehensive in-school kit, Fuel Up to Play 60 will inspire kids to make positive changes in behavior today to develop lifelong healthy eating and physical activity habits. She has worked closely with government partners like US Department of Agriculture, Health & Human Services, Department of Education and the White House on the Let’s Move program. Ragalie-Carr also oversees nutrition and marketing communication strategies across the organization to support its overall health and wellness strategy.

Since joining DMI/NDC in 1996, Ragalie-Carr has been instrumental in programs addressing child nutrition, creating programs to promote child health through good nutrition and physical activity. She was one of four principal architects of Action for Healthy Kids, a national movement launched in 2002 with DMI as a lead sponsor. With then-First Lady Laura Bush as Honorary Chairperson and former Surgeon General David Satcher as Chair, Action for Healthy Kids set forth to address the growing epidemic of childhood obesity in the United States. Ragalie-Carr serves as one of 12 board members and is treasurer.

Director, The Satcher Health Leadership Institute and Center of Excellence on Health Disparities
Poussaint-Satcher-Cosby Chair in Mental Health
Morehouse School of Medicine
16th United States Surgeon General

David Satcher is director of the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine. The Institute’s programs reflect his experience in improving public health policy and his commitment to eliminating health disparities for underserved groups and the poor and shedding light on neglected issues.

Sworn in as the 16th Surgeon General of the United States in 1998, Dr. Satcher’s tenure of public service also includes serving as assistant secretary for Health in the Department of Health and Human Services, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and administrator of the Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Dr. Satcher has received over 40 honorary degrees and numerous top awards from the National Medical Association, the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians. Additional honors include being named a Macy Foundation Fellow, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar and a Senior Visiting Fellow of the Kaiser Family Foundation. He serves on the board of directors of Johnson and Johnson, MetLife, the Kaiser Family Foundation, and locally on the board of United Way and The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta.

Dr. Satcher holds a BS degree from Morehouse College and MD and PhD degrees from Case Western Reserve University.

Professor
University of Connecticut

Marlene Schwartz is a professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences at the University of Connecticut and the Director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity.​

Administrator, Physical, Health and Driver Education
The School District of Palm Beach County

Eric Stern is the Administrator for Physical, Health and Driver Education in the Department of Curriculum for the School District of Palm Beach County, the 11th largest school district in the U.S. and the 5th largest in the state of Florida, with 185 schools and an enrollment of approximately 175,000 students. Additionally, Stern serves on the Action for Healthy Kids Urban School Wellness Coalition along with 19 other urban districts across the country.

As K-12 Curriculum Administrator for the School District of Palm Beach County, Stern was selected by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) in 2012 as one of 12 leading experts in the U.S. to serve on the first-ever National Urban Physical Education Leadership Coalition. The purpose of the coalition is to develop national research, professional development, and a best practice agenda for urban physical education. Stern also most recently served as President of the Florida Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation, Dance and Sport (FAHPERDS). He was also named a USTA School Tennis Volunteer of the Year at the United States Tennis Association Florida Section in 2012, recognized for championing tennis in his region and providing professional development for Physical Educators.

Eric has had the opportunity to advocate on Capitol Hill regarding the importance of including Physical and Health Education in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act as a core subject. He also has advocated continuing federal funding for the Carol M. White, Physical Education Programs grant (PEP).

Eric is originally from New York and is a certified Spark Middle School trainer. He resides in Wellington, FL with his family.

Senior Director, Clinical Solutions Medical Director
Aetna

Stephanie A. Whyte is a seasoned physician executive with multi-sector experience and a transformational leader known for building teams and leading innovative and large-scale initiatives. Currently a Senior Director, Clinical Solutions Medical Director for Aetna Medicaid, she oversees the medical team for a region of three states (Florida, Kentucky and Louisiana). She has previously worked as a health plan medical director; deputy chief medical officer; and interim/acting chief medical officer.

Prior to joining Aetna, Stephanie was the first ever Chief Health Officer for the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) – the third largest school district in the nation. She established a new office to focus on student health and wellness policy and programming, with an emphasis on removing barriers to learning. Stephanie launched Healthy CPS – an initiative to streamline wellness policies and embed accountability measures. Also during her tenure, CPS became the first large urban school district to put undesignated epinephrine auto-injectors in each school for emergency use.

Before CPS, Stephanie served as the Medical Director of Mobile Care Chicago, where she spent over a decade caring for children with asthma in Chicago’s most underserved neighborhoods on a mobile medical platform.

Stephanie is a board-certified pediatrician and has been honored with the “Distinguished Alumnus Award” from both Illinois Wesleyan University and the Chicago Medical School. She completed her Pediatric residency at Louisiana State University Medical Center in New Orleans. She also holds an MBA in Public and Nonprofit Management from Saint Xavier University; is a certified health care insurance executive; and board-certified in Health Care and Quality Management. Stephanie is a native Chicagoan and lives in the metro area.

Lane joined AFHK in 2019, drawn by the mission to create opportunities for kids to be active and play. A former college athlete, Lane is a strong believer in the ancillary benefits of a healthy and active lifestyle. He attributes athletics to helping him in his academic, personal, and professional life.

Lane is an investment analyst for Oak Ridge Investments, where he is responsible for investments across the technology space. He holds a Chartered Financial Analyst designation. Lane graduated from Columbia University with a B.A. in History.

Sarah is originally from Boston, Massachusetts but has spent time around the world, including extended stays in India, Belgium, and Panama, studying food, nutrition, and environmental issues. She graduated with honors from Lawrence University in 2017 with her bachelor’s degree in International Relations and later became a Functional Nutritionist through the Nutritional Therapy Association. She worked on nutrition and mental health issues in London, UK, and learned just how interconnected the two are. Sarah runs her own nutrition business focused on healing complex health issues with food and lifestyle, and also works at Verde Holistic Wellness Studio in Pilsen, Chicago as a group nutrition class instructor and meditation teacher.

Sarah is so excited to be on the Auxiliary Board for Action for Healthy Kids and advocate for healthier school meals and programs, better food and nutrition literacy, and healthy food access initiatives across the city. Sarah believes that a combination of all facets of health, including nutrition, seeing children as unique, whole people, and ensuring safe, clean environments for work and play, is crucial for overall child health outcomes. Sarah will be starting her Masters of Science in Food Security and Sustainable Nutrition at Tufts University next year and hopes to change food and nutrition policy to make it inclusive, sustainable, and fair.

In her free time, Sarah plays the harp, and loves to run, cook, do arts and crafts, and teach and practice meditation.

Michelle is a seasoned communications professional with over a decade of international experience and deep expertise in the non-profit sector, most recently at The Rotary Foundation and Rotary International. During her time there, she helped raise millions of dollars for social impact projects around the world and oversaw more than 200 participants focused on expanding the organization’s brand awareness. Early in her career, Michelle honed her skills working for global advertising and branding agencies in France. She earned a Master’s in Global Communications from The American University of Paris and a B.A. from DePaul University.

Inspired by her international travels and by becoming a mother, Michelle is driven to help children from all walks of life reach their potential. She is excited about serving on the Auxiliary Board and furthering AFHK’s mission to create healthier spaces for kids. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with family and friends, reading and exploring new places.

Rachel is a young professional with a strong interest in social impact and supporting local communities. Currently, she works within the Chicago tech industry at a company called Built In, an online platform helping the top talent connect with local tech companies and find their professional purpose. With a degree from the University of Michigan in Environmental Science and Communication Studies, Rachel is passionate about understanding and raising awareness of the world’s most pressing sustainability issues. She has had various professional and volunteer experiences focused on healthy food access and food sustainability and is excited to be doing similar work with AFHK’s Auxiliary Board.

Stephanie is a values-based leader with a lifelong passion for social impact work. Currently, she is an account executive at Google where she is the trusted strategic adviser to the C-suite of several multinational companies. Prior to this role, she was a Senior Brand Manager at L’Oreal working on their flagship brand, L’Oreal Paris. She has more than 15 year of experience in social impact work, is a Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University) Executive Scholar candidate, a mentor at the Cherie Blair Foundation, The Resolution Project and Micromentor;  and is an associate consultant for Pivot Nonprofit Consulting. Integrity, commitment and humility are foundational pillars to all of her corporate & nonprofit work. She recently moved to Chicago with her husband and daughter from Canada.

Ariel Bach is a happy 5-year-old boy living in New York City. He loves to spend time with his family and friends. Ariel is a dedicated student of TaeKwonDo and tennis, both of which he started when he was 3 and half years old, and still diligently trains two hours per day, six days a week. His extraordinary accomplishments and level of performance for his age in both TaeKwonDo and tennis has led him to be an official brand ambassador and a sponsored athlete for multiple TaeKwonDo and tennis-related companies and organizations. Ariel was an invited contestant on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” television show and featured on ABC News for his charitable initiative through his TaeKwonDo practice. His goal is to one day compete in the Olympics. For more information about Ariel and his activities, please visit his official website www.ArielBach.com.

Ariel is an ambassador for Action for Healthy Kids because he is passionate about helping other people, especially promoting a healthy lifestyle and diet for children. This is the reason he decided to launch his own charitable initiative #KickingForHealthyKids, where he raises $5 for every hour he trains and donates profits to Action for Healthy Kids, whose mission perfectly aligns with Ariel’s passion.

Bella Grill is a 16-year-old from Minnesota who has always lived a healthy lifestyle. She is the current Miss Minnesota’s Outstanding Teen 2020 and 2021. This means that she is the state representative for Minnesota in the Miss America’s Outstanding Teen scholarship program. She grew up very involved in sports, the outdoors, and extracurricular activities. In order to maintain the energy she needed to stay active, she needed to incorporate healthy living into her everyday life. This inspired her to share her love of health with her friends and community. Bella is passionate about teaching others how to replace unhealthy habits with new, healthy habits, one small step at a time. Changing what can seem to be small, insignificant habits (or micro habits) over time will lead to a healthy lifestyle.

A Junior at Liberty Classical Academy, Bella maintains a healthy lifestyle by playing volleyball, coaching her school’s dance team, and participating in competitive dance three days a week. She is a dance and tumbling instructor for children ages 5-13. She herself has been dancing since the age of two. Through dance, she enjoys sharing her message of a healthy lifestyle by being an active role model for others.  She is excited about teaching everyone how easy it is to make simple changes to their daily routine to transform their health.

Bella is an ambassador for Action For Healthy Kids because she loves that not only does this organization teach kids how to live healthy, but also teaches schools and adults how to help the kids live a healthy lifestyle. Some teens and children don’t get the resources they need to live healthy, but thanks to Action For Healthy Kids, they make sure those children receive the tools and resources they deserve. You can find her on Instagram at @maoteenmn.

Shauna Harrison is a self-proclaimed nerd, hip-hop head, jock, and yogi. A graduate of Stanford, UCLA and Johns Hopkins, she simultaneously pursued academics and fitness obtaining her PhD in Public Health and teaching fitness classes across the country. Through her unique style and authenticity that blends her love for hip hop, wellness, yoga and knowledge of public health, Shauna has created a brand of her own, making her one of the most influential fitness profiles on Instagram and sought after partner for leading brands. Not only is Shauna the creator of Muscle + Flow, she is an Adjunct Associate at Johns Hopkins and served as a panelist for multiple universities and organizations covering the subject of Fitness, Yoga, Wellness and Public Health. Shauna is also a member of the MindBodyGreen Collective and a contributing writer for SELF.

Shauna is a passionate ambassador for Action for Healthy Kids: “I move between and across multiple worlds daily, but mostly I just move. I believe that movement power. I believe that knowledge is crucial. I believe that action is necessary. And I believe that, together, these powers put us in a much better position for greater physical, mental, and emotional health. And I believe EVERY person should have the opportunity to experience themselves through movement, to learn how to continue to learn and to feel emboldened to take action even if into the unknown. And we all know the earlier we can learn and adopt behaviors, the better. My alignment with Action for Healthy Kids is unquestionable; my alliance was inevitable. We are all on the same mission to help children lead healthier lives and I’m excited to join forces to Take Action!”

Anne Jeudy is a mother of five daughters and currently lives in Forsyth County, Georgia. She is a lifelong athlete, from growing up skiing in northern New Hampshire, where she was born and raised, and playing soccer, field hockey, and softball, to now being an avid weightlifter, personal trainer, and soccer coach. Her inspiration for her children’s book, Maddie Makes Moves, comes from her love of women in sports and encouraging her own daughters to be brave and to never
give up.

Anne joined the Action for Healthy Kids team as an Action Ambassador because she believes that children who exercise grow into strong adults! In her children’s exercise book, she wanted to encourage children and their caregivers to get up and get moving. Anne has a degree in English from the University of New Hampshire, plays the trombone, and
loves to exercise with her family. You can learn more about Anne on her website , on instagram @maddiemakesmovesofficial and on facebook at facebook.com/maddiemakesmoves.

Zoe Kelly is an award-winning, self-taught bilingual chef and food personality. She is best known for being a finalist on Food Network’s All-star Academy and on-camera host of various shows on the digital network, Tastemade. Originally born in Venezuela, she moved to the United States when she was seven years old and is truly living her version of the American dream.  

She loves nothing more than sharing her passion for chasing dreams and connecting with people through food. As a self-taught chef, she is able to connect to home cooks in an approachable and relatable way, making the kitchen a little less intimidating. While working as a private chef, she’s had the pleasure of cooking for celebrity clients and working alongside world class chefs. With every meal she cooks, she hopes to create memorable dining experiences through her food.  

When she’s not creating content or developing recipes, Zoe enjoys being a new mom to her son Raiden and spending time with her husband, Jordy.  

Zoe wanted to be involved with Action With Healthy Kids because this cause is very personal to her. Growing up, her family didn’t have a lot of money when they migrated to the United States from Venezuela. When Zoe began school, she heavily relied on the cafeteria breakfast and lunch for her daily meals. After school, she would sometimes have to cook dinner for her and her sister as her parents were both working late to provide for their family. 

As a new mother, Zoe now sees how important it is to be able to provide all children with quality, healthy and nutritious meals. As a chef, she also sees how important it is to not only teach kids early on about food but to also engage them in the process of cooking. One of her favorite moments ever, as both chef and mom, is to see the fulfillment in a child’s face when they try something new for the first time and love it because they cooked it themselves. Zoe truly believes when kids are given the right tools, knowledge and the space to try something in the kitchen, they’re able to start healthy eating habits early. 

Zoe is excited to be partnering with Action For Healthy Kids to be able to provide kids and parents with the basic kitchen knowledge to create great meals in the kitchen that will turn into life skills and lasting memories. Follow Zoe on Instagram @ItsZoeKelly, Facebook.com/heyitszoekelly, or visit her website itszoekelly.com. 

Katrina Pilkington is a NASM Certified Personal Trainer, Weight Loss Specialist, Youth Exercise Specialist, Women’s Fitness Specialist, Nutrition Coach, AFAA Group Fitness Instructor and Wellness Workshop Presenter also studying to complete her Bachelor of Science degree in Exercise Science and Kinesiology.

Katrina was inspired to change careers after her own humbling experience battling poor health and weight issues. Growing up, she never knew the importance of physical activity and didn’t understand how big nutrition’s role would be in her life. Over time, she grew unhealthy and had to take steps to understand proper fitness programming along with ways to understand food’s role in her life. Now, her goal is to pay forward the knowledge she’s gained to be a catalyst for others to change the trajectory of their own health within her community. She and her family live on nutrition that is plant-based and incorporate most of their intake around whole foods to fuel naturally. Katrina has worked as a group fitness coordinator in multiple studios, has mentored and trained over 300 group fitness instructors and personal trainers all over the country, teaches classes, trains clients, and assists in leading workshops delivering nutritional knowledge.

Katrina is an Ambassador for Action for Healthy Kids because she knows that proactive change starts at a young age. She wants to empower and provide her community with resources and tools so that families and teachers can help children foster and implement a healthy lifestyle early in life. You can visit Katrina at fittykat.com, on Instagram (@fittykat_), Twitter (@fittykat), and Facebook (facebook.com/fittykat).

Ethan Taylor, from Rockford, Illinois, was overweight and obese most of his life. In January 2018, Ethan made the conscious decision to rejuvenate his health and wellness by taking control of his life. In 18 months, Ethan lost 184 pounds by eating healthy foods and by adding daily physical activity. Through this transformation, Ethan found a love for fitness, which led him to become a National Academy of Sports Medicine certified personal trainer. Ethan also successfully ran the Chicago Marathon in 2019 as a part of Team Healthy Kids, where he beat his goal time.

Ethan chose to become a part of the Take Action campaign as an Ambassador because he wants to encourage others to realize the importance of being in control of their own mental and physical health. He is extremely passionate about helping kids maintain or learn how to build healthy habits. Ethan also advocates to adults how they can lead by example by modeling healthy behaviors at home. Ethan’s mantra: We owe it to our kids to help them become the healthiest versions of themselves while we become the healthiest versions of ourselves! You can visit and follow Ethan on Instagram (@Ethan_gets_fit).

Jeanenne Tornatore is a nationally-recognized travel expert, writer and TV commentator with a passion for exploring. An avid outdoor enthusiast and mother of three, she is always seeking to incorporate her passion for living an active lifestyle into both her travel experiences and her everyday family routine. Whether it’s planning a trip to one of our great National Parks or planning a neighborhood scavenger hunt, Jeanenne believes that encouraging kids to get out and explore is a powerful tool in developing lifelong healthy habits.

Jeanenne’s background in the travel and outdoor industries over last twenty years has given her a unique perspective on how communities, and even industries, can come together to create opportunities for the next generation to become active and healthy members of society. And as a working parent, she understands the struggle many families encounter in maintaining healthy routines among the distractions of daily life.

Jeanenne is an ambassador for Action for Healthy Kids because she believes in the power of partnerships and the spirit of positivity that are necessary to take on the challenge of educating schools and families through programs that will have a lasting impact not just on the health and well-being of individuals, but entire communities. Follow Jeanenne as she shares her insights and ideas about what she believes families need for their minds, bodies and souls: outdoor activity, healthy eating habits and a little bit of adventure! You can visit Jeanenne at TheOutsideInsider.com and on Instagram at @theoutsideinsider.