H2HC 2024 Fall Summit: Accelerating Solutions

Marybeth Campbell is the Chief Executive Officer of the Worcester Community Action Council, a Central MA anti-poverty focused on stabilizing individuals and households through safety net programs and partnering with people to help them thrive. Marybeth joined WCAC as a board member in 2017 and became Executive Director in 2019. Prior to joining WCAC as Executive Director, she was the Executive Director of SkillWorks at the Boston Foundation, an ambitious effort to create a workforce development system that helps low-skill, low-income residents move to family-sustaining jobs and helps employers find and retain skilled employees.

Marybeth has more than 20 years of experience in public policy, public education, and project management in the areas of clean energy, education, and economic and workforce development. She served as the Commonwealth’s first cross-secretariat Director of Education and Workforce Development advising the Deval Patrick Administration in the Executive Offices of Education, Labor and Workforce, and Housing and Economic Development. Marybeth previously served as the state’s first Workforce Development Director at the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center establishing national-leading green jobs programs, and as the Public Education Manager for the former Massachusetts Renewable Energy Trust. She holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Providence College and attended Suffolk University Law School.

Steven Chen, MD, is Chief Medical Officer of Alameda County Recipe4Health, an award-winning integrative healthcare model that uses “food as medicine” interventions to bring together health care and organic/regenerative agriculture to improve food and nutrition insecurity, chronic conditions, health/racial equity, local economic health, and climate health. While leading the scale and spread of Recipe4Health (R4H), Dr. Chen and his team successfully implemented one of California’s first Medically Supportive Food and Nutrition services as a covered Medi-Cal (Medicaid) service.

Dr. Chen serves on the Board of Integrative Medicine for the Underserved (IM4US), is active on California’s Medically Supportive Food and Nutrition Steering Committee, has helped craft two bills for the California legislature, has given testimony to the U.S. Congressional House Rules Committee Roundtable on Food as Medicine, and organized a Food as Medicine roundtable for Congresswoman Barbara Lee and Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra.

A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Stanford University and Stanford School of Medicine, Dr. Chen is a board-certified family medicine physician who completed his residency training at UCSF-San Francisco General Hospital. He completed additional fellowship training at the University of Arizona’s Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, leadership training through the California Health Care Foundation’s Leadership Program, acupuncture training through the UCLA-HMI Physicians’ Medical Acupuncture program, and advanced training in osteopathic manipulative medicine.

Nicolene joined the Hunger to Health Collaboratory (H2HC) as its first executive director in July 2021. Her career has been focused on strategic, programmatic, and communications work in both domestic and international public health and academia. She has worked with Beth Israel Lahey Health, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University, Pathfinder International (Horn of Africa region), and others.

Nicolene is an alumna of LeadBoston, a local network of inclusive leaders, and founded an award-winning nonprofit, Roslindale Green & Clean, to renew neglected public green spaces in her Boston neighborhood. As a Friend of the Roslindale Library, she worked with the City of Boston and the Boston Public Library to help guide a comprehensive branch library renovation process. She holds a BA in Government from Smith College and an MSPH from the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.

Clare Higgins is Executive Director of Community Action Pioneer Valley. Located in Greenfield, MA, Community Action Pioneer Valley assists people who have low incomes to achieve economic stability and security, and works to build communities in which all people have the opportunity to thrive. Prior to joining Community Action Pioneer Valley in 2011, Higgins served as six-term mayor of Northampton, Massachusetts, from 2000 to 2011.

During her tenure as mayor, Higgins was able to secure affordable housing for residents who were at risk of losing their homes due to condo conversion.The city’s capital improvement fund for infrastructure was greatly expanded and used for a new water filtration plant, a senior center, a new police station, and new public works facility. Higgins was recognized for her contributions by U.S. House of Representatives in 2012.

Higgins became involved in politics in the early 1990s, when she became a commissioner on the board of the Northampton Housing Authority. She was elected as an at-large City Councilor in 1993 and held the office until 1999, when she was elected major.

She earned her bachelor’s degree in 2003 through the University Without Walls (University of Massachusetts Amherst).

Corby Kummer is executive director of Food & Society at the Aspen Institute, a senior lecturer at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science, and a senior editor of The Atlantic, for which he was a longtime food columnist and originated a vertical on food, sustainability, policy, and food justice. He attended the Loomis-Chafee School and received a BA from Yale College.

He is the author of The Joy of Coffee and The Pleasures of Slow Food, the first book in English on the Slow Food movement, and has been restaurant critic of New York, Boston, and Atlanta Magazines and a food and food policy columnist for The New Republic. He has received six James Beard Journalism Awards. One of the country’s most widely quoted experts on food justice and food culture in the United States, Corby is a featured commentator on food and food policy every week on WGBH’s Boston Public Radio.

Gordon Reid, MBA, serves as President of Stop & Shop, a local brand of Ahold Delhaize USA. Founded in 1914, Stop & Shop now has nearly 400 stores across the Northeast and employs nearly 60,000 associates.

Prior to joining Stop & Shop in 2019, Gordon Reid served as President of Giant Food and led the brand to the number one market share position in each of its local markets. Under his leadership, the company made healthy eating easier and affordable, while also transforming the shopping experience with the customer top of mind and growing home delivery in collaboration with Peapod.

Reid has more than 35 years of international retail experience. Before joining Giant Food, he worked as CEO of China and Deputy Regional Director of North Asia for The Dairy Farm Group in Hong Kong. Previously, he spent time at Tesco in various leadership roles and worked in a variety of countries such as Hungary, India and China. He also previously worked at Boots in the United Kingdom for 15 years, where he held general management roles, and at A.S. Watson Group spending time in Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea.

Reid holds a bachelor’s of science in pharmacy from Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh, U.K., and a Master’s of Business Administration from Nottingham University Business School in the U.K.

Stephen Ritz is an internationally acclaimed, award-winning educator, author of best-selling book, The Power Of A Plant and Founder of Green Bronx Machine. Known as America’s favorite teacher and 2015 Top Ten Finalist for the Global Teacher Prize, Stephen is responsible for creating the first edible classroom in the world. He and his students have grown more than 165,000 pounds of vegetables in the South Bronx, were celebrated at the Obama White House three times, have been featured on the cover of TIME for KIDS, and are the subject of a new, full-feature documentary, Generation Growth. A replica of his classroom was installed in the US Botanic Gardens in Washington, DC and his curriculum is being used in hundreds of schools across the United States, and internationally from Colombia to Dubai, from Canada to Cairo, to Doha, and beyond. To date, Stephen’s work has been featured by Forbes, Fast Company, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, FOX, TNT, Disney, Discovery TV, NPR, Teach Middle East, The Gulf National, and countless others.

Stephen’s TED talk boasts more than 1 million views, ranks in the Top 10 Food/Education TED Talks of all time, and is used for teacher training/workforce development globally. Stephen was featured in the film adaptation of Michael Pollan’s best-selling book, In Defense of Food and appeared on ABC’s The Chew, The Rockefeller Foundation’s Food for Thought, NPR’s 50 Great Teachers, All Things Considered, and American Graduate. The State University of New York uses his curriculum to train teachers in all content areas. His recent appearance on PBS’ Growing A Greener World (Episode 808) won an Emmy Award, the first ever in the ten-year history of the show. Stephen serves as a Senior Fellow in Social Innovation at Babson College and as a Board Member for the NYC Nutrition Education Network. Stephen is now appearing in the new PBS educational series Let’s Learn with Mister Ritz, was named the 2020 Change-Maker Award by NYC Food Policy Center for his response to COVID, named a 2021 Food Hero by TMZ Live, testified for the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Ending Hunger in America, and was awarded the 2021 Artemis CEA Disruptor Award for his work, advocacy, and impact in public schools across NYC and America. Stephen was just named to the Food Transition Team for NYC Mayor, Eric Adams.

Nishant Roy serves as Chief Impact Officer at Chobani. Before taking the role of Chief Communications & Impact Officer, Roy served as Chief of Strategic Operations after serving as Chief of Staff for Hamdi Ulukaya. Prior to joining Chobani, Roy worked at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) structuring partnerships to lift people out of abject poverty. Nishant has also previously served as the Chief of Staff to the Founder at Andco, as well as an analyst at Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

Roy started his career as an Airman in the United States Air Force, serving with the Security Forces, and deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan. Roy is a Term Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, working group lead at the Partnership for Central America, and serves as the Treasurer of the Tent Foundation. Roy earned his master’s degree in business administration from New York University Stern School of Business and received his bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, in economics from St. John’s University.

Rachel Sagor, MD, is Interim Director of StreetCred at Boston Medical Center (BMC), where she works to build economic mobility and health equity for patients by offering a bundle of economic services to families with infants receiving pediatric care at BMC. She is also a primary care pediatrician at BMC and an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Boston University School of Medicine.

Dr. Sagor attended medical school at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and completed the Pediatric Residency Program at Massachusetts General Hospital. She is board-certified in Pediatrics Primary Care.

Sharon Scott-Chandler serves as president and CEO of ABCD — Action for Boston Community Development. ABCD is one of the largest community action agencies in the country, having a $200 million budget and serving more than 100,000 people throughout greater Boston each year. Scott-Chandler became a vital member of the ABCD leadership staff after leaving the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office in 1999 to pursue her commitment to directly impacting the communities in which she was raised.

Scott-Chandler served as executive vice president/COO for 13 years, a period of significant growth during which she was instrumental in the expansion of the Head Start and Early Head Start programs, supporting some 2,400 young children and their families in early care and education centers, and the introduction of innovative youth development programs including WorkSMART and Youth Engaged in Action! (YEA!). Prior to that, she was vice president of ABCD Head Start and Children’s Services and director of ABCD’s Child Care Choices of Boston (CCCB), the designated Child Care Resource and Referral Agency (CCRRA) for several Greater Boston communities.

An expert in human services management and policy, Scott-Chandler has held statewide leadership positions in various areas, including 10 years as a member of the Massachusetts Board of Early Education & Care, serving four years as Chair. She is currently a gubernatorial appointee to the state’s Special Commission on Poverty, the Governor’s Black Advisory Commission, as well as the Community Economic Development Assistance Corporation (CEDAC). She is also a trustee of the Urban College of Boston (UCB), which was established as an ABCD program and evolved into a fully accredited college; she is a board member of MADCA and MASSCAP, and a member of the Cradles to Crayons Chairman’s Council.

Born and raised in Boston’s Mattapan neighborhood, Scott-Chandler began her career as a legislative aide to U.S. Congressman Sidney Yates and as an associate at a large Boston law firm. She went on to serve as an assistant attorney general for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Scott-Chandler received a J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law and an undergraduate degree from Tufts University.

Beverley Wheeler joined DC Central Kitchen in 2022 after serving as the director of D.C. Hunger Solutions for seven years. As Chief Knowledge Officer, she leads organization-wide evaluation and data-driven decision-making activities through continued, structured engagement with each DCCK department, directs growth and contingency plans to ensure that DCCK’s knowledge capital is preserved and enhanced, manages productive partnerships with research institutions, and develops engagement with the public sector and food policy community.

Throughout her career, Beverley has spearheaded numerous efforts to end hunger, reduce poverty, promote nutrition, and increase the availability of healthy affordable food in low-income areas. She has over 30 years of progressive experience in all phases of public and private sector policy development and 20 years of experience working with the District of Columbia (DC) government and the DC Council at the executive level as Executive Director of the State Board of Education and Neighborhood Action; Chief of Staff to Phil Mendelson; and Special Assistant to three City Administrators. She is the former president and CEO of Center City Public Charter Schools.

She holds a B.S. in Social and Decision Science and a M.S. in Management and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University, as well as a Master’s and Doctorate in Education from Harvard University. A past member of the CMU Board of Trustees and past President of the CMU Alumni Association, Beverley continues her long-time work with CMU as a current member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for the H. John Heinz III College and Director of College Engagement for the Carnegie Mellon Black Alumni Association.

Ashley Williamson, MSW, is Co-Executive Director at The Giving Grove. Ashley brings local and international experience in program development, community engagement, and research. She has a Master in Social Work Advocacy, Policy and Administration from the University of Kansas and is passionate about connecting people, ideas and policies.

A dedicated Kansas City community member, Ashley is continuously involved in boards and leadership programs, currently serving as Secretary of Unified Government of Wyandotte Board of Parks Commission, Board Member of Community Capital Fund, Advisory Board Member for the Pride Fund Committee of Mid-America LGBT Chamber of Commerce, and Advisory Committee Member for the Kansas City Young Farmers Coalition. Ashley is always looking forward to a good podcast, book, or the next time she can work in her ever-expanding vegetable garden.

Emily Yu is committed to driving innovations that ensure everyone can be healthy and thrive. A social entrepreneur, speaker, and published author with more than 20 years of experience in the social sector, Emily is changing how change is made to tackle society’s most pressing challenges.

As an outspoken advocate for developing responsible AI applications for the social sector, Emily founded AI PRIORI—a B2B and B2C SaaS platform that helps changemakers identify the most relevant information across all their documents, and generate insights for greater impact. She also currently helps the Newman’s Own Foundation realize its mission to nourish and transform the lives of children who face adversity as its Chief Partnerships and Program Officer. In this role, Emily forges innovative initiatives ranging from grant cycles and strategic planning to dynamic collaborations with cross-sector partners.

Honors include being chosen as a Halcyon Fellow, Center for Community Investment Field Catalyst Fellow, and a Terrance Keenan Institute Fellow. She earned her MBA from New York University’s Stern School of Business and her BS from Georgetown University’s Walsh School of Foreign Service.

John Erwin is Vice Chancellor for government relations at UMass Chan Medical School. In this role, he leads comprehensive advocacy efforts and oversees the Office of Community and Government Relations, which serves as a liaison between the medical school and its neighbors and representation at all levels of government.

John joined UMass Chan Medical School in 2019 after serving for 13 years as the executive director of the Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals (COBTH), a coalition of 12 Boston-area teaching hospitals that collaborate on issues fundamental to their missions of patient care, teaching, biomedical research and community service. He is an active member and former chair of the Association of American Medical Colleges Government Affairs Committee; and has served on a number of policy and community steering and advisory committees including the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission’s Advisory Council, Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Community Benefit Advisory Committee and the Boston Alliance for Community Health Steering Committee.

Prior to joining COBTH, John was the director of government affairs for Tufts Health Plan and also held positions at the Boston City Council and the Massachusetts State Council on Vocational Education. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts Boston, John also earned his MBA from Boston University.

Julie Meyer, RDN, the co-founder and CEO of AugMentors, a leadership platform that elevates mentoring to help leaders connect more authentically and grow to their full potential. Prior to founding AugMentors, Julie was the Founder and Chief Commercial Office of Eat Well Global, a highly specialized communications and consulting firm whose mission is to empower global change agents in food and nutrition. As a B-Corp, Certified Woman-Owned Business (WBENC) and founding member of GA4HN communications, and working with growing to globally recognized brands, Eat Well Global is realizing their vision of ‘A world where good nutrition is good business’.

Julie has more than 20 years of experience in strategic communication, global insights, and stakeholder engagement, including founding and running businesses in both the United States and abroad.

Julie is also an active member of Chief, a private network of women leaders who support each other in accelerating their careers.

Julie holds a bachelor of international relations from Tufts University, and a dietetics degree from New York University.

Katie Stebbins is the Executive Director of the Food and Nutrition Innovation Institute (FNII) at Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. FNII uses an innovation ecosystem approach to further their mission to build the infrastructure for an economy that sits at the intersection of nutrition and foodtech.

Katie launched her career as the Deputy Director for Economic Development for the city of Springfield, MA, where she successfully designed and implemented the city’s first environmental planning program which became a focus for public health and community nutrition. She was then the Executive Director for the Holyoke Innovation District, leveraging investments for sustained local revitalization, a new culinary school in downtown Holyoke, a community-based entrepreneurship program, and creative and arts entrepreneurship training. She then served in the Baker administration as the Commonwealth’s first “Tech, Innovation and Entrepreneurship” Assistant Secretary, leading competitiveness strategies for Massachusetts on technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Most recently, she was the Vice President of Economic Development and Chief Economic Development Officer for the University of Massachusetts’ five campuses.