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 is a professional photographer, writer and filmmaker whose work focuses on the faces and stories of marginalized communities. Rick’s formal training as a cook, along with his exploration of California’s agricultural workforce in his body of work entitled “The Migrant Project: Contemporary California Farm Workers,” planted his feet in both the foodie and food justice worlds. These varied interests, along with his conviction that that all people everywhere deserve access to fresh nutritious food, culminated in the founding of Food Forward.

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.