WHO WE ARE

The Center for Good Food Purchasing uses the power of procurement to create a transparent and equitable food system that prioritizes the health and well-being of people, animals, and the environment. We do this through the nationally-networked adoption and implementation of the Good Food Purchasing Program by major institutions.

The Center manages the Good Food Purchasing Program, working with institutions to establish supply chain transparency from farm to fork and shift towards a values-based purchasing model.

LEARN ABOUT THE PROGRAM

The Center works with national partners and local grassroots coalitions in cities across the United States to build a cohesive movement in support of Good Food purchasing.

JOIN THE MOVEMENT

“Governments have few sources of leverage over increasingly globalized food systems – but public procurement is one of them. When sourcing food for schools, hospitals and public administrations, governments have a rare opportunity to support more nutritious diets and more sustainable food systems in one fell swoop.”

Olivier De Schutter, U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food (2014)

HOW WE WORK

A just and more regenerative food system is possible when we face the same direction together. The Good Food Purchasing Program unites stakeholders from across the food system around shared values and strategy. Together, we:

INCREASE COORDINATION

and alignment in the food movement through comprehensive, metric-driven standards that reflect a shared vision and collective values.

ENHANCE CAPACITY

of local grassroots coalitions and support for local procurement policy efforts to ensure that public food contracts reflect community values.

ACTIVATE POLICY

to institutionalize buyers’ commitments to Good Food and supply chain transparency.

EMPOWER GOVERNMENTS

by sharing tools to make informed procurement decisions, set procurement targets, and measure impact.

LEVERAGE BUYING POWER

and increased supply chain knowledge to drive change in the food industry towards suppliers that support our values.

OUR TEAM

STAFF & BOARD

TIFFANY CHEUNGDirector of Operations

Staff

Bio

As Director of Operations, TIFFANY CHEUNG is responsible for optimizing the Center’s internal infrastructure and technologies to support sustainable expansion of the Good Food Purchasing Program.

Tiffany has over a decade of combined experience in Project Management and Finance. Directly before joining the Center, she was Director of Finance Optimization at Sony Pictures, where she oversaw the company’s portfolio of Finance and Procurement projects. She also led global projects focused on increasing operational efficiencies and streamlining processes, managing teams on the ground in Europe, Asia, and the Americas.

Tiffany is passionate about building an equitable and humane food system and promoting healthy and vibrant individuals, communities, and ecosystems. She is currently a peer counselor at W.O.M.A.N., Inc., providing support to people impacted by domestic violence. Tiffany has a B.A. in Business Economics and Minors in Accounting and Scandinavian Studies from UCLA.

PETER COHENAnalyst

Staff

Bio

PETER COHEN joined the Center for Good Food Purchasing in 2021 as an Analyst. He works with institutions to collect and analyze purchasing data, track progress towards Program goals, and shift sourcing to increase Program performance. His previous food system experience includes an AmeriCorps term in Oregon focused on rural broadband access for family farmers, supporting disruptive startups for a food incubator in the Bay Area, and conducting research for a local food policy council in Orange County, NC. He is passionate about the intersection of sustainable food systems and local economic development. Peter is a 2020 graduate of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where he majored in Public Policy and Food Studies with a minor in Environmental Science.

PAULA DANIELSCo-Founder, Chief of What’s Next, Founding Chair

Co-Founder in Residence, Board Member

Bio

PAULA DANIELS is Co-founder, Chief of What’s Next, and Founding Chair of the Center for Good Food Purchasing, a social enterprise non-profit founded in July of 2015 as a national spin-off from the Los Angeles Food Policy Council, which Paula founded in 2011.

After decades as a successful private sector attorney, Paula transitioned to a full time role in the public and social sectors. Her areas of leadership are in environmental food and water policy.

Paula served as Senior Advisor on Food Policy to Mayor Villaraigosa of Los Angeles; as a Los Angeles Public Works Commissioner (a full-time executive position overseeing a large city department); a commissioner with the California Coastal Commission; board member of the California Bay-Delta Authority (overseeing the California State Water Project); and as a commissioner with the California Water Commission.

She has notable academic appointments and fellowship awards for her social sector work, including: the Ashoka Fellowship (2018); the Resident Fellowship at the Bellagio Center of the Rockefeller Foundation (2016); the Stanton Fellowship of the Durfee Foundation (2012-2013); the Pritzker Environment and Sustainability Education Fellow at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability (2015); the Lee Chair in Real Estate Law and Urban Planning at UC Berkeley (2013); Top Ten People Making LA a Better Place (LA Weekly, 2012); Environmental Leadership Award (California League of Conservation Voters, 2005); Super Healer Award (Heal the Bay, 1991). Paula is a registered Native Hawaiʻian and an avid outrigger canoe paddler.

ALEXA DELWICHECo-Founder, Executive Director

Staff

Bio

ALEXA DELWICHE is the executive director of the Center for Good Food Purchasing. She previously served as Managing Director of the Los Angeles Food Policy Council from 2011 – 2015. At the LA Food Policy Council, she spearheaded the development, launch and implementation of the Good Food Purchasing Policy. From 2009 – 2010, Alexa was the Food Policy Coordinator for the Los Angeles Food Policy Task Force, working with the Task Force to produce and present to the Mayor of Los Angeles the “Good Food for All” Agenda. Previously, Alexa worked for the United Farm Workers and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Alexa has a Master’s of Public Policy from UCLA.

LAURA EDWARDS-ORRDirector of Institutional Impact

Staff

Bio

With great excitement, LAURA EDWARDS-ORR joined the Center for Good Food Purchasing as the Director of Institutional Impact in 2020 to help build the capacity of institutions to act as leaders in the good food movement. Previously, she was the Executive Director of Red Tomato—a Massachusetts-based food hub, focused on connecting a network of produce growers to diverse wholesale market outlets across Northeast. At Red Tomato, Laura was instrumental in developing rapid turn-around produce supply chains, achieving $5 million in gross sales, and building the organization’s capacity to serve the institutional market. In recognition for her leadership in the sector, Laura was named one of Fruit and Vegetable Growers 40 Under 40 in 2018. Prior to her eleven-year tenure at Red Tomato, Laura worked at Farm Aid where she ran their farm crisis hotline, managed a national grant program, and developed a web-based platform to reach farmers well ahead of a financial crisis and support their transition to market-responsive, good food production. Laura also serves as the Vice Chair of the National Farm to School Network advisory board and as a member of Farm to Institution New England’s network advisory council. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Italian and Art History from Bard College and lives outside of Providence, Rhode Island with her husband, two children, dog, two cats, and a pony named Schmidt.

SARA ELAZANDirector of Data Insights

Staff

Bio

SARA ELAZAN is the Director of Data Insights for the Center for Good Food Purchasing, responsible for overseeing analytics strategy and operations for the Good Food Purchasing Program. In her role, Sara manages the Assessments & Analytics team, reports on the aggregate impact and progress of the Good Food Purchasing Program, and optimizes data processes, tools, and analysis to enhance food system transparency and inform data-driven strategies for institutional action planning. Previously, Sara implemented value-based purchasing programs and oversaw analytics in the healthcare sector for over six years. Sara is passionate about improving health and wellbeing through food system transformation. She has a Masters in Public Health from Columbia University.

CHRISTINE KUOData Cleaning Assistant

Staff

Bio

CHRISTINE KUO is excited to be joining the Center as a Data Cleaning Assistant to help manage institutions’ procurement data. She has a background in farm animal welfare research, where she uses social science methods to understand the human elements of animal welfare. She also has worked previously with food systems organizations like the California Food and Farming Network and Real Food Generation. Christine is passionate about supporting environmentally and socially sustainable food systems. She holds a B.A. in International Relations and a Minor in Applied Animal Biology from the University of British Columbia.

MICHAEL LOPERAnalyst

Staff

Bio

MICHAEL LOPER joined the Center for Good Food Purchasing as an Analyst in 2021. He is responsible for analyzing procurement data and sharing evaluation results with institutional partners to facilitate actionable and measurable food sourcing improvements. Previously, Michael worked as a Health Program Analyst with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health where he was responsible for data management and analysis related to the County’s COVID-19 pandemic response. He holds a Master of Public Health (MPH), Master of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP), and Food Studies Graduate Certificate from UCLA and is dedicated to promoting just and equitable food systems as reflected through his internship experience with the Los Angeles Food Policy Council and Los Angeles County Sodium Reduction Initiative.

COLLEEN McKINNEYDirector of Engagement

Staff

Bio

COLLEEN MCKINNEY is the Director of Engagement for the Center for Good Food Purchasing, where her focus is on the successful expansion and implementation of the Good Food Purchasing Program. She enhances program processes and infrastructure, facilitates individual and group technical assistance, oversees supply chain monitoring and verification, and contributes to strategic direction of the Center, including expansion, coordination with Governing Board and national campaign committee, resource development, branding and website development, and administration. Previously, she contributed to the Good Food Purchasing Program as a Policy & Program Associate at the Los Angeles Food Policy Council. She holds a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Southern California.

IKUKO NAKANOExecutive Assistant

Staff

Bio

IKUKO NAKANO is an Executive Assistant supporting the administrative needs for the Co-Founder and Founding Chair of the Center, including collaborating with the wider Center for Good Food Purchasing team to ensure projects and administrative priorities are completed efficiently.

Ikuko has worked as an intern at the Los Angeles Food Policy Council, improving operational efficiencies, internal protocols, and presentation development. She has experience with project and administrative management through student sustainability engineering teams and as President of Bruin Shelter. She grew her interest in food systems through previous experience as the Interim Manager of the Playa Vista Farmers’ Market and through working on a farm in Southern Vermont. She is motivated to use her experience in management to support efforts towards more local, diverse, sustainable, and Good food systems.

She is a 2023 graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles, with a B.S. in Civil Engineering and a certificate in Food Studies.

SANDY OLINGAFinance and Contracts Manager

Staff

Bio

SANDY OLINGA joined the Center for Good Food Purchasing in 2023 as the Finance and Contracts Manager. Working with the Operations, Finance, and Development team, Sandy is responsible for financial, contracts, and grants management. Sandy is passionate about sustainable and socially responsible food systems. Previous experience includes working with her local economic development authority to support entrepreneurs and small business owners as a Grants and Accounting Manager. Sandy also worked for the Emergency Management Department for her residential county. As an Analyst for the Emergency Management Department, Sandy was responsible for tracking all budgets and projects and developing procedures for internal procurement processes and tracking multiple grant budgets for the Preparedness Division exceeding over $8.5 million. Sandy has a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of California, Riverside and a Master of Business Administration from University of Phoenix.

VY PHAMData Cleaning Assistant

Staff

Bio

VY PHAM joined the Center for Good Food Purchasing in 2022 as a Data Cleaning Assistant. She assists the Assessment & Analytics team to standardize the food databases from institutional vendors and accommodate with other data analysis projects. Previously, Vy worked as a Data Analyst at Senken, a carbon credit company, where her primary focus was to utilize raw data and transform it to create a more user-friendly platform for the company. Vy is passionate about analyzing data as a way to create more meaningful results to solve the world’s problems. She is a 2022 graduate of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where she majored in Environmental Science-Quantitative Energy Track Concentration.

ZAINAB PIXLERSenior Analyst

Staff

Bio

ZAINAB PIXLER joined the Center for Good Food Purchasing in 2020 as an Analyst. She conducts in-depth supply chain research and produces aggregate analysis and reports to inform institutions on strategies to shift sourcing and increase Program scoring and performance. Prior to joining the Center, Zainab managed the Retail Donation Program at the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. In this role, she worked with grocery retail partners to reduce food waste and to provide nutritious food to those experiencing hunger. Zainab has dedicated her career to ensuring everyone has access to nutritious and delicious food, and she brings that same passion to the Center. Zainab holds a Bachelor’s of Science in Supply Chain Management with a Minor in Food Studies from Syracuse University.

TINA CASTROCo-Founder and Managing Partner, Avivar Capital

Governance Board Member

Bio

TINA CASTRO is a Managing Partner and co-founder of Avivar Capital, bringing over 15 years of experience in the fields of finance and investment management. Tina co-leads the firm’s overall business activities and serves as an impact investment advisor to Avivar’s clients providing guidance on the development and execution of impact investing portfolios and funds.

Prior to founding Avivar, Tina spent more than five years as the Director of Impact Investing for The California Endowment (TCE) and prior to that, six years in the Investment Management Division at Goldman, Sachs & Co. At TCE, a health-focused private foundation with over $3 billion in assets, Tina developed financing vehicles and strategies that delivered solid financial returns, leveraged significant additional investment capital and supported TCE’s Building Healthy Communities goals. This included the California FreshWorks Fund, a $272 million public-private partnership loan fund to finance supermarkets and other forms of healthy food retail in underserved communities throughout the state as well as TCE’s $101 million Program-Related Investment portfolio focused on healthy food retail, community health centers, affordable housing and community lending.

Tina has designed and built impact investing portfolios and funds on behalf of clients ranging from large national and regional private foundations to local community foundations including authoring Impact Investing Policy Statements, Impact Investing Procedures Manuals and designing social and financial tracking systems using customized dashboards as well as conventional portfolio management systems.

Tina is a CFA Charterholder, has an MBA in Finance from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and an MA in International Affairs with a focus in International Business from the University of Miami. She earned a BA Cum Laude in International Relations with a focus in Latin America from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Tina currently sits on the board of Aeris Insight and is an Adjunct Instructor co-teaching a graduate course on impact investing at USC.

ELIZABETH REYNOSOAssociate Director, Living Cities

Governance Board Member

Bio

ELIZABETH REYNOSO is an Associate Director at Living Cities where she is a senior leader responsible for managing the resources and results of a collaborative of the world’s leading foundations and financial institutions. Since 2015 she has been working with mayors and their staff in the development of public sector strategies, including equitable contracting and inclusive procurement, to close racial income and wealth gaps.

With a background in social justice, economic development, and farming, Elizabeth developed policies and programs to increase food security for residents when she served as the first Food Policy Director for the City of Newark, NJ under then-Mayor Cory Booker. During her tenure she created a citywide umbrella campaign that increased SNAP redemption and farmer revenue by 125%. She also established NJ’s largest urban farm on public land, at that time, which provided training and jobs for formerly incarcerated. She continued to serve the city as the Acting Sustainability Director in the Baraka administration.

Elizabeth began her career in international human rights with Human Rights Watch and lived abroad for several years before focusing domestically on criminal justice issues through her media and advocacy work. In the Frontline series, The Drug Wars, her team won a Peabody for its 30-year history of US drug policy and its effect on the world economy and US foreign policy. With the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, Elizabeth’s on-the-ground work led to a package of prisoner reentry bills passed by the NJ State Legislature in 2010 that was hailed by the New York Times as “a model for the nation”. Elizabeth managed a Department of Labor Pathways Out of Poverty grant for Goodwill Industries International to provide green jobs training in the solar, construction, and energy-efficiency industries to low-income individuals in six major cities around the country.

MONTE ROULIERCo-founder and President, Community Initiatives

Governance Board Chair

Bio

Monte’s personal passion and professional journey have always revolved around community. Whether helping establish a public park system in Russia, working to alleviate poverty through micro finance in Tajikistan or coaching multi-sector coalitions across the United States, creating healthy, sustainable and just communities has been at the heart of it. Monte is also fortunate to be part of two vibrant communities. He lives in Portland, OR, with his wife and three kids and regularly works out of the CI office located in his hometown of Fort Collins, CO. Monte is Co-Founder and President of Community Initiatives (CI). As a consultant, coach, trainer and facilitator, Monte has helped hundreds of communities and a wide range of organizations, community partnerships, and national initiatives to develop change strategies resulting in healthier people and places. Prior to CI, Monte’s eclectic work experience included directing client education for a health informatics software firm; guiding the National Civic League’s renowned Healthy Communities Program; and serving as President of Service Adventures—service based adventure travel in Russian and Central Asia—where he also co-led a National Geographic sponsored team of scientists who discovered the world’s longest dinosaur track-way. Monte’s speaking engagements provide opportunities to help advance the healthy and sustainable communities movement. He and the CI team also partner to create and curate the Community Commons www.communitycommons.org, a powerful platform to help anyone who is, or wants to become, a change maker in their community.

RICARDO SALVADORSenior Scientist & Director, Food & Environment Program, Union of Concerned Scientists

Governance Board Member

Bio

RICARDO SALVADOR works with citizens, scientists, economists, and politicians to transition our current food system into one that grows healthy foods while employing sustainable and socially equitable practices.

Before coming to UCS, Dr. Salvador served as a program officer for food, health, and well-being with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. In this capacity, he was responsible for conceptualizing and managing the Foundation’s food systems programming. He partnered with colleagues to create programs that addressed the connections between food and health, environment, economic development, sovereignty, and social justice.

Prior to that, he was an associate professor of agronomy at Iowa State University. While at ISU, Dr. Salvador taught the first course in sustainable agriculture at a land-grant university, and his graduate students conducted some of the original academic research on community-supported agriculture. He also worked with students to establish ISU’s student-operated organic farm, and with other faculty to develop the nation’s first sustainable agriculture graduate program in 2000; Dr. Salvador served as the program’s first chair. Dr. Salvador also worked as an extension agent with Texas A&M University.

Dr. Salvador has appeared on MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry Show and has been quoted inThe Boston Globe, The New York Times, Politico and many other outlets. Dr. Salvador was named a 2013 NBC Latino Innovator and received the James Beard Foundation Leadership Award in 2014. He was also an author of a 2014 op-ed in The Washington Post calling for a national food policy, which is changing how many think about food and farm policy.

Dr. Salvador earned a B.S. in agricultural science from New Mexico State University. He holds an M.S. and Ph.D. in crop production and physiology from Iowa State University.

WOOD TURNERVice President, Agriculture Capital Management

Governance Board Member

Bio

Wood Turner is a Vice President at Agriculture Capital Management, focused on integrating and operationalizing the firm’s cross-platform sustainability strategies.

Wood brings over 20 years of experience in corporate sustainability, environmental management, and consumer engagement. Most recently, he was on the executive team at organic yogurt pioneer Stonyfield Farm as the company’s VP Sustainability Innovation. Prior to that, he was founding executive director of Climate Counts, an international NGO focused on measuring and scoring the world’s largest consumer companies on their concrete, enterprise-level responses to climate change. Wood has consulted to brands, elected officials, and public agencies on mobilizing the public around ideas that improve the environment and build community, including the start-up of a groundbreaking curbside food waste recovery program, the expansion of carshare program access to underrepresented communities in the Puget Sound area and Los Angeles, development of an early shuttle program for Bay Area biotech workers, and a citizen engagement program that nearly resulted in innovative fixed-rail for Seattle. Early in his career, he worked with the plastics industry in the policy and product stewardship arenas and was later instrumental in developing Urban Ecology’s “Blueprint for a Sustainable Bay Area.” He worked for many years on the alignment of economic and recreation demands with wetland, riparian, and wildlife corridor conservation in the Pacific Northwest.

KAREN WATSONStrategic Marketing and Communications Consultant

Governance Board Member

Bio

Karen E. Watson is a strategic marketing and communications consultant whose practice centers on using consumer market research, advertising techniques, and stakeholder coalition building to create greater public demand for healthier behaviors and the adoption of new cultural norms.

Watson established a business vertical at Nielsen to sell data, analytics and solutions to the government and public sector in order to match the interests of public policy entities, domestic and global, to Nielsen’s broad array of information and services. She was the primary driver behind the innovative “Drink Up” project, a national public health campaign to encourage Americans to drink more water. Before that role, she was Chief Communications Officer at Nielsen.

Watson has more than 30 years of experience in policy, public affairs, government relations, media and marketing. As head of the public policy office for Echostar, during the introduction of satellite TV, she advocated for competitive choice for consumers. As chief communications officer for the FCC during the mid 90’s, she translated complicated communications policies during the revision of the 1930 Telecommunications Act, Watson’s early career was as a journalist for PBS, National Public Radio and The MacNeil/Lehrer Report.

Watson also currently holds a title as visiting researcher at Imperial College Business School in London, where she works at The Centre for Health Economics and Policy Innovation. She has lectured graduate students at McGill University, Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and Columbia University.

She is an investor in Farmer’s Fridge and a board member of the Gold Foundation and an advisory board member of several food and tech startups. She also advises Esther Dyson’s Wellville initiatve and the Obama Foundation’s effort on Civic engagement.

PARTNERS

In cities across the country, the Center for Good Food Purchasing works with a network of cross-sector partners at the national and local levels to expand the reach and impact of the Good Food Purchasing Program.

NATIONAL PARTNERS

Core national partners include Food Chain Workers Alliance and Real Food Media.

Food Chain Workers Alliance supports local partners around organizing and coalition-building, including strategy, tactics, and leadership development.

Real Food Media supports communications, telling local and national stories of impact, and supporting local coalitions to build public support for the Program.