OUR TEAM

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 DANIELS is Co-founder and 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. 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, through the nationally-networked adoption and implementation of the Good Food Purchasing Program by large institutions. There are numerous institutions in cities across the US enrolled in this Program.

She is a lawyer and public policy leader in environmental food and water policy, with extensive experience in developing and leading local, state and national environmental initiatives that include government, civil society, and private sector partners. Her most notable work is in urban forestry, green infrastructure (for stormwater management) and food system policy (all award-winning initiatives); she has also had key roles in other aspects of public policy and municipal infrastructure.

Paula has extensive experience in government: she 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; appointed 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 received recognition through academic appointments and other awards, 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); 2012 Honoree, Green LA Coalition; Water Quality Leadership Award (LA Regional Water Quality Control Board, 2007); Environmental Leadership Award (California League of Conservation Voters, 2005); Super Healer Award (Heal the Bay, 2005).

Paula is a registered Native Hawai’ian.

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.

LAM LE is an Analyst at the Center for Good Food Purchasing. Her work involves collecting and analyzing data, working with local partners and assisting institutions in meeting and complying with the Good Food Purchasing Standards, and supporting the Center’s current and future initiatives. Previously, Lam worked with the Green Team at Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley to support and implement green-building projects. She was also part of the Zero Waste Team at Haas, where she focused on outreach and the education of zero-waste practices. Lam is a member and volunteer at the Berkeley Student Food Collective. She holds a Bachelor’s of Business Administration from Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley.

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 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.

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’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 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.