Pam Kaizer, Chairman, has 30 years of experience in charitable foundation and nonprofit management. She currently provides on-going foundation management services to the Maurice Amado Foundation, the Plum Foundation, The Opportunity Fund, the Consumer Education Foundation and the Batonga Foundation. Additionally, she advises the Philip and Muriel Berman Foundation and the Vladimir and Araxia Buckhantz Charitable Trust. She has led nonprofit foundations in developing mission statements, determining program focus, and creating program guidelines and procedures with the goal to creating a plan, and a structure, to enable these organizations to accomplish their goals.

Rick Nahmias, Founder/Executive Director (See ‘Our Team’ for Rick’s Bio)

Carl Buratti, Treasurer, is an essential part of our team, coordinating over 1200 volunteers with charm, grace and skill. Food Forward is a perfect reflection of Carl’s beliefs and values, and his passion for helping those in underserved communities.  He is a native of the San Fernando Valley who  owns and operates a consulting electrical engineering firm in Encino, California.

Erica Kenner Kopmar is a native Angeleno and has a special talent for creating a sense of community in our sprawling metropolis.  A graduate of the Stern School of Business at New York University, she is an intrepid entrepreneur, creator and owner of her own web-based business. Erica sees Food Forward as a unique opportunity to connect neighbors while helping to feed those in need.

Scott Jarus, Secretary, is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Ironclad Performance Wear Corp., a market-leading company which designs, manufactures, markets and distributes task-specific high-performance technical work gloves. Additionally he is an investor in and Chief Executive Officer of Cognition, was Chief Executive and President of j2 Global Communications, Inc., was President and Chief Operating Officer for OnSite Access, and in 2005, Mr. Jarus was named National Entrepreneur of the Year for Media/Entertainment/Communications by Ernst & Young and Los Angeles Entrepreneur of the Year.

Courtney Gross is the Senior Development Associate in the Santa Monica office of Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and is the Southern California E2 Chapter Liaison. Prior to coming to NRDC, Courtney worked at the California Community Foundation in donor relations. Courtney also worked in feature casting for nine years, working on films such as Miracle, Terminator 3 and Blue Crush. She graduated from Georgetown University, majoring in French Literature and a minor in art history. Courtney is a native Angeleno and spends her free time with great friends and family.

Robin Kramer has been an inventive, trusted leader in Los Angeles for over three decades.  She was Chief of Staff to both Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and Richard Riordan—the first woman to hold this post for one mayor let alone two (one a Democrat and the other a Republican) in the nation’s second largest city – and was a senior executive at the California Community Foundation, Broad Foundation and Coro Southern California, the nonprofit civic affairs leadership training organization. Robin currently is Senior Advisor to The Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands, chairs the Pitzer College Board of Trustees, and serves as one of five commissioners of the Port of Los Angeles, the governing body overseeing the massive economic engine for Southern California and the nation.  This year, she is also a Board Fellow of the Durfee Foundation and a trustee of both the Breed Street Shul Project and Angels’ Flight, the shortest railway in the world.  Robin holds a BA in Political Studies and Journalism from Pitzer College and an MA in Urban Studies from Occidental College.

Board of Advisors

Sarah Spitz, Ernest Miller, Lee Smith