Martha Urias
Martha was born and raised in Northeast Los Angeles, in the small town of El Sereno. As a middle child, she always marched to the beat of her own drum. She was determined not to be a product of her…
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Amberlee Norris
Amberlee Norris grew up in Oregon, spending most of her time outdoors riding horses and exploring nature. Before relocating to Southern California, she lived in Denver where she embraced the outdoor culture and learned to love snowboarding, camping, hiking and backpacking. With…
Victor Tello
I was born in Guadalajara, Mexico. My biggest wish was to come to the United States and I feel very blessed to be living here in CA where I met my wife and we had a family. I have always…
Janelle Osteen
Janelle has called many places home throughout her life (Wisconsin, Nebraska, Florida, and more) but is thrilled to make roots in Los Angeles with Food Forward. Since completing her undergraduate degree in Molecular Environmental Biology in 2019, she has always…
Jim Berliner
Jim Berliner is currently the Chairman of Westmount Partners, a wealth management firm he co-founded in 1990. Based in Century City, Westmount manages approximately $5 billion on behalf of its clients. Westmount primarily serves the investment and planning needs of individuals, families,…
Pam Schwartz
Pamela Schwartz, MPH, is executive director of community health for Kaiser Permanente. She leads the organization’s national food-security strategy and other social health priorities, including ensuring that social health interventions are integrated seamlessly into care and services provided to Medicaid members and…
Jorge Santa Cruz
Jorge was born in Zacatecas, Mexico but grew up in sunny Whittier in California. After completing high school, he began to work at a fast-food restaurant for over 12 years. After that, he began working for a trucking company as…
Alden Herrera
Alden found Food Forward while looking for outdoor volunteer opportunities in community gardening and agriculture. She studied biology at the University of Chicago and has since explored a careers in reproductive healthcare and science writing. From Southern California, Alden grows…
Stevie Shandler
Stevie Shandler, 31, is a fifth-generation member of LA-based wholesale distributor Shapiro-Gilman-Shandler Co, SGS Produce, and General Manager of SoCal Grubmarket.
In her roles, she honors her family and company legacy while forging new paths for the future through industry involvement and advocacy focusing on food loss prevention and landfill diversion. As co-chair of the IFPA Food Waste and Food Loss Working Group, Stevie is actively creating accessible sustainability resources for the produce industry with an emphasis on connecting companies throughout the supply chain to food waste prevention strategies.
Through her passion for cross-industry communication, Stevie strives to push the ‘highest utilization’ produce conversation forward toward action while maintaining the core mission of feeding people.
Stevie’s favorite things are her adorable rescue pups and experiencing different cultures through travel.
Lisa K. Johnson, Ph.D.
Lisa K. Johnson, PhD is a leader in on-farm food loss research, serving as an Independent Consultant. Her projects focus on in-field measurement, estimation and analysis of food loss, in fruit and vegetable crops. She provides collaborators with technical assistance…