OUR TEAM
Will is responsible for the overall execution of ExtraFood’s mission: to end hunger and food waste in the Bay Area. He works with ExtraFood’s Board of Directors to establish the organization’s direction; leads ExtraFood’s strategic and business planning; manages key development activities; establishes and conducts strategic partnerships; manages ExtraFood’s marketing program; leads new business initiatives; provides thought leadership around issues such as hunger and food waste in the community, and provides direction and support to ExtraFood’s staff.
Prior to joining ExtraFood, Will worked for national nonprofits such as Boys & Girls Clubs of America with a focus on state, federal, and local government funding in order to improve food security in disadvantaged communities around the country. Leading teams in service of these communities, Will established food security, educational, and community engagement programs that improved outcomes for tens of thousands of families. Through this work, Will saw firsthand the impact of limited access to food nearly every day and is dedicated to ensuring equitable policies and programs to better serve those in need.
In his spare time, Will enjoys spending time outdoors with his two rescue dogs, Skip and Addie, as well as cooking for his family and friends with ingredients straight from his home garden. His email address is Will@ExtraFood.org.
Cherie has overall operational responsibility for ExtraFood’s county-wide food recovery and Community Meals programs, as well as overseeing business operations and partnering with the Executive Director on all major organizational decisions.
Cherie’s program team is responsible for all food sourcing and recipient partnerships, fleet management, volunteer management, our technology platform, and food delivery logistics. Cherie is also responsible for ExtraFood’s business operations — HR, IT, Finance, and Facilities — and overseeing outside service-providers in those areas.
Most recently, Cherie was Interim Executive Director and Director of Development and Outreach at Next Generation Scholars, a nonprofit working to help low-income middle and high-school students gain entry to college. Before that, Cherie was COO and Girls Leadership, a nonprofit focused on equipping girls with the skills to exercise the power of their voice. Cherie spent the initial phase of her career working for 18 years in the financial services industry, creating and leading global teams, bank networks, and complex technology initiatives.
In her spare time, Cherie is an active volunteer at local animal shelters, loves to be outdoors and spends her weekends spoiling her pitbull, Baloo. Her email address is Cherie@ExtraFood.org.
Monica is responsible for overseeing the operations that source thousands upon thousands of pounds of healthy, fresh food and then deliver it to the people who need it most in our community. Monica is committed to the cultivation and satisfaction of food donors, support of volunteer programs, building and maintaining relationships with our nonprofit recipient partners, and management of vehicles and drivers, as well as coming up with creative solutions to obstacles that inevitably arise.
Prior to joining ExtraFood Monica was a Sales Broker in the natural products industry working with health food stores throughout Northern California to introduce them to, and educate them about, new wellness products. Prior to that, Monica was the Project Director of COPA, a physical activity and nutrition education training program in underserved Los Angeles elementary schools. She has a Bachelor’s in Psychology as well as a Master’s degree in Social Welfare from UCLA. In her free time, Monica can be found exploring new bakeries and restaurants (she rarely meets a pastry she doesn’t like), studying the medicinal qualities of local plants, or planning her next backpacking trip. Her email address is Monica@ExtraFood.org.
Mandy is responsible for managing the marketing and public relations programs across all platforms for ExtraFood.
This includes development of the strategy and implementation of content and graphic design for social media, emails, ad campaigns, the ExtraFood Newsletter, and the website. Prior to joining ExtraFood, Mandy worked in various marketing and brand management roles at Gap, Inc. and Yahoo, including the management of global advertising campaigns, events, and media planning. Mandy served on the Executive Board of her daughters’ school foundation for 7 years managing fundraising events and social media. Mandy first joined ExtraFood as a volunteer in 2017 and has been passionate about the mission ever since. In her free time, Mandy enjoys being involved in her daughters’ sports and schools and traveling with her family. She can be reached at Mandy@ExtraFood.org.
Donna is primarily responsible for the recruitment, training and engagement of ExtraFood’s volunteers. She has an extensive background in customer service while working in the hospitality industry for many years leading hotel operations and sales teams.
Donna enjoys living in Marin with her family and being involved in organizations that assist others in the community. She has an MBA from University of Oregon and a BS from University of Delaware. Her email address is Donna@ExtraFood.org.
Tessa is responsible for the day-to-day rescue and delivery of food to people in need by managing Food Runners' daily rescues, operational relationships with food donors and recipient partners, and driver/volunteer dispatch.
Tessa started working with Food Runners in April 2021 after leaving behind a career in the restaurant industry. Tessa worked at Delfina, Back of the House restaurant group, bacar and Stars. Being in the restaurant industry food recovery always interested Tessa, she wondered how restaurants and food providers could do better for the community and the earth. The Food Runners Operations Manager position provided Tessa the opportunity to be part of the solution.
In her time off she enjoys watching Real Housewives and Lifetime TV (guilty pleasures) and being outdoors, especially by beaches or lakes. She also loves eating good food and cooking tasty lunches for her co-workers. Her email is Tessa@extrafood.org.
Michael is responsible for the maintenance, expansion, and coordination of ExtraFood’s relationships with potential and existing food donors.
Michael is dedicated to supporting and building close, thriving relationships with our food donors as well as building strong and supportive relationships with our recipients and our local community. In addition, Michael assists with daily operations and producing creative strategies to expand our programs. Michael has a background in the grocery industry as well as working for several years as a project and account manager. Michael is a graduate of the University of California, Davis, majoring in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems with a focus on social issues surrounding the food system. Michael is passionate about equity and sustainability in the food system and has a background in food justice. In his free time Michael enjoys cooking, camping, traveling, live music and taking his two dogs for hikes. His email is Michael@ExtraFood.org.
Eileen is responsible for managing and coordinating the weekend and holiday rescues in San Francisco, ensuring that all the food donations get delivered to agencies where it can best be used to serve San Franciscans in need.
Eileen’s involvement with Food Runners began in 2016 when she signed up as a Volunteer. Shortly after that, she was hired as the Weekend Coordinator and then the Food Runners Operations Manager. After stepping away in 2020 due to the pandemic, she continued to volunteer till 2023, when Extra Food asked her to return as the Weekend Coordinator. During the week she nurtures her full-time corporate travel business in San Francisco, which she has been managing with her team for the past thirty years. In her spare time, she is still a Food Runners Volunteer. Every Wednesday & Friday she takes her amazingly healthy 91-year-old mom on food rescues.
She can be reached at Eileen@Extrafood.org
Story ensures ExtraFood’s office runs smoothly and efficiently. She supports ExtraFood’s staff, managing gift/grant entry, authoring and sending correspondence, organizing/managing content such as photos and press/donor kit materials, ordering supplies, sourcing information for projects, backing up key data, handling general EF phone/email inquiries, and accomplishing a variety of additional support tasks typical of a start-up environment.
Story has been providing organizational, administrative, and operational support to small businesses and private clients in the Bay Area for 20 years. Before her administrative career, Story had numerous positions in the food industry, and has seen first-hand, many times, how much food goes to waste. She has a Bachelor’s degree from San Francisco State University and has had many experiences living outside of the U.S. In her spare time, Story likes to hike trails, paddle the bays, and experiment in the kitchen. Her email address is Story@ExtraFood.org.
Trevor is responsible for using ExtraFood’s refrigerated van to pick up and immediately deliver recovered food, complementing our volunteer program and serving as an ambassador for ExtraFood with specific food donors and recipient partners.
Before joining ExtraFood’s Operations team, Trevor worked in such fields as delivery, store management, and project management, and is fluent in Spanish. His email address is Trevor@ExtraFood.org.
Cisco is responsible for using ExtraFood’s refrigerated truck to pick up and immediately deliver recovered food, complementing our volunteer program and serving as an ambassador for ExtraFood with specific food donors and recipient partners.
Cisco moved to Marin County from Guatemala, where he worked for a nonprofit supporting returning migrants and reforestation of rural areas, planting more than 25,000 trees! Before joining ExtraFood’s Operations team, Cisco managed the warehouse of a local furniture company and has owned his own moving company. Cisco is bilingual in English and Spanish and can be reached at Cisco@ExtraFood.org.
Staff portrait photos by September Days Photography
Gerry is the Chief Financial Officer of Four Corners Property Trust, a Mill Valley-based, public real estate investment trust focused on the acquisition and leasing of restaurant properties across the country (NYSE: FCPT). FCPT owns more than 800 restaurant properties across 79 restaurant and retail brands.
Gerry has more than 25 years of real estate and financial management experience across the United States and Europe in sectors including industrial, office, multifamily and retail. Gerry obtained a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA from Stanford University.
Gerry has been blessed to live in some amazing places (London, Denver, Santa Fe and various spots in the Bay Area) but has fallen in love with Marin County since moving here in 2015. Gerry lives in Belvedere with his wife, Suzanne, and loves mountain biking, golf, playing pickle ball and traveling with Suzanne and their two adult children.
Jon Alferness is a Silicon Valley product and technology executive with over 20 years of experience across a suite of Fortune 500 companies. He has a passion for leading cross functional organizations to build and grow digital businesses.
Most recently, Jon was the Vice President of Core Rideshare at Lyft, where he led the product, engineering and business team, accelerating the growth and profitability of the core business. Prior to Lyft, Jon was SVP of Ads & Commerce at Pinterest where he led the broader ads and shopping business and product teams. Previously, Jon was a VP of Product Management at Google, where he spent twelve years managing a variety of ads teams from Search, to Apps and Mobile Ads to Shopping and Travel.
Jon and his wife Joy have two kids. Then enjoy spending time at Oliven, which is their farm in Calistoga, where they grow Cabernet Grapes, vegetables, fruit and raise chickens. Joy is active in the human rights and incarceration reform spaces, with leadership roles at Human Rights Watch, Refugees International, and The Campaign for Fair Sentencing of Youth among others.
Jon is passionate about food and reducing food waste, and has seen how easy it is to grow all the food you need with his farm in Calistoga. He’s thrilled to be a part of the ExtraFood board.
Paul Austin is the Executive Director of PLAY, a non-profit organization based in Marin County that seeks to promote the unification of communities through collective activities.
Prior to that, Paul was the Recreation Director of the Marin City Community Services District, where he promoted healthy lifestyles through sports, behavioral and cultural development. As a Community Liaison, he fosters partnerships and programs that bridge different cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds.
Paul began working with youth and teens as a coach and mentor from a very young age. During his tenure as the Marin City Recreation Center Director, he implemented and developed numerous sporting programs such as basketball, softball, dodgeball, tennis, and skateboarding. These sporting programs were afterschool, intramural, and competitive league teams. He is a coach for the County Bears that participates in the AAU (travel ball). His most significant accomplishment was establishing the Star of the Sea basketball program in 2012. This program participates in the Marin County CYO league, in partnership with Saint Mary Church, which is the first CYO program from the Marin City/Sausalito area. In 2014, he expanded his focus on developing youth basketball skills by facilitating access to the Junior Warriors programs for kids grades K-3 from Marin City and Mill Valley. This resulted in three teams annually participating in the YMCA program. Paul is well-respected in greater Marin County and has developed strong partnerships to enhance the lives of youth. He is a graduate of Dominican University at California with a degree in Psychology. He is happily married to Tenisha Tate-Austin, an assistant Principal at Hall Middle School. Paul and Tenisha are the proud parents of a son, Kiran, and a daughter, Symil.
Carla Buchanan is a psychotherapist in private practice in Marin. She did her undergraduate studies at the University of California at Berkeley and has maintained an active involvement with the University.
She’s a past member of the Executive Board of UCB’s College of Letters and Science and presently serves on the Advisory Board of The Center on Civility and Democratic Engagement at UCB’s Goldman School of Public Policy. The Center focuses on preparing current and future leaders to successfully engage people of diverse backgrounds and viewpoints in the resolution of public policy issues. Carla also serves on the Board of the Rhoda Goldman Plaza in San Francisco. She holds two Masters degrees, one from Dominican University in Counseling Psychology and one in Educational Therapy from San Francisco State University. She manages a family charitable foundation, the focus of which is education and the issue of hunger in the Bay Area. A third-generation San Franciscan, Carla has lived in Marin County for twenty-five years and has two adult children and two young granddaughters, all of whom also live in the County. She spends much of her free time hiking and running on Mt. Tam.
Kathy was ExtraFood’s first employee, originally serving as operations manager and later moving into the role of Director of Food Partnerships.
As a staff member for 7 ½ years, she wore many hats in ExtraFood’s small but fast-growing environment. In the early years, she expanded the volunteer program and managed the day-to-day food recovery logistics. Later, her focus was on actively recruiting new food donors and growing ExtraFood’s recipient partner network.
During her 14 years as a Master Gardener, she co-founded the Outdoor Education Center at Marin Primary and Middle School, a state-of-the-art multi-disciplinary outdoor education center and school garden program. She designed and taught an integrated, garden-based curriculum for K-8th grade students, managed and maintained the garden, and created annual fundraising events. Later she founded the nonprofit, Marin School Garden Network, to connect garden advocates and resources and support the development of school gardens programs in Marin.
She was a registered nurse for 10 years, an open water rowing enthusiast and competitor, and an advisory board member to the Filoli estate in Woodside, CA. She remains seriously committed to healthy eating and cooking, fitness, nutrition, and overall wellness. Kathy has been a resident of Marin for 40 years and lives with her husband, George, in Novato.
Brian is Global Client President and Head of US Ventures at Dentsu International, a worldwide Marketing and Advertising firm. He has 25 years of marketing experience working on brands like then-Governor Bill Clinton, Amazon, Microsoft, Walmart, Pinterest, and Intel. He has been at the forefront of the digital marketing revolution. He is a member of the American Advertising Federation Hall of Achievement, the Bay Area Innovation Group’s Hall of Fame, and is an AdTech Industry Innovator.
Brian lives in Mill Valley with his chef-wife, Tory, and their two children who attend Tam High. Brian volunteers with the Business Advisory Board of the San Francisco Unified School District, the Media Advisory Council of The Ad Council (Schoolhouse Rock, Smokey the Bear, etc), and with the Gun Safety Alliance. Brian enjoys biking, yoga, and skiing.
Heidi Insalata Krahling loves to cook for people. Whether it was growing up in Southern California, where her father often did the cooking for huge Knights of Columbus dinners, working as a chef for others, or serving as the chef of her own restaurant, Heidi has always enjoyed making others happy with her food.
Opening Insalata’s (named in honor of her father, Italo Insalata) in 1996 was a natural step in her culinary career. Heidi says that the creation of Insalata’s was also about timing, “You just know when it’s time to work for yourself.” In 2009 Heidi also opened a wildly popular restaurant down the street from Insalata’s called Marinitas, serving luscious Latin inspired food and libations.
For eight years before opening Insalata’s, Heidi was executive chef at Smith Ranch, an upscale adult community in San Rafael. She took this position after spending several years as chef at Butler’s in Mill Valley, where she earned high regard from customers and food reviewers, culinary accolades from magazines such as Gourmet, Food and Wine, and Esquire, and critical acclaim such as USA Today’s USA’s Best Women Chefs, and San Francisco Focus Best Chef.
Prior to working at Butler’s, Heidi honed her cooking skills as a student at Tante Marie’s Cooking School and with Mediterranean expert Joyce Goldstein at Square One.
Heidi’s passion for working is passed to others through classes at Tante Marie’s, the Culinary Institute of America, Ramekins, and other Bay Area cooking schools. She also uses her energy and commitment in serving her community. Food, community, and family are the cornerstones of Heidi’s life today as they have been throughout her life. Today, her restaurant, her food and her community involvement testify to how these influences have shaped her life.
Matt Slepin is Founder and Managing Partner of Terra Search Partners. Matt founded Terra Search Partners in 2006 to provide a highly consultative and both a client and candidate centric approach to real estate search.
Prior to forming Terra Search, Matt was a Partner with several executive search firms, including Heidrick & Struggles and Ferguson Partners. In addition to leading the firm, he advises clients and manages senior level searches for many of Terra’s clients.
Prior to starting in search in 1998, Matt held leadership, management and functional roles within the real estate industry for more than 20 years. He was founder and executive director of the Multifamily Housing Institute in Washington, DC. Matt has also worked in key development, advocacy and finance positions for the National Housing Partnership (developing and acquiring housing for seniors), National Association of Housing Cooperatives (as a lobbyist) and the Resolution Trust Corporation (helping lead the RTC’s affordable housing program). He further rounded out his real estate expertise with NV Commercial, a northern Virginia-based commercial property company, and Reilly Mortgage, one of the country’s leading apartment lenders. Matt graduated with a bachelor’s degree in political science from Oberlin College.
He is a Governor of the Urban Land Institute Foundation, a member of the Board of ULI’s San Francisco District Council and a member of the Urban Development and Mixed Use Council. Matt is past Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Jewish Home of San Francisco, one of the largest skilled nursing homes in California. He is also a participant on the Policy Advisory Board of the Fisher Center for Real Estate at the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley. He is a supporter of Oberlin College, Mercy Housing, the Jewish Home of San Francisco, and other charitable organizations. He enjoys road biking in Marin County; relaxing and traveling with his wife, Diane Olmstead, and daughters, Sarah and Cali.
Sherry Wangenheim is a finance and operations executive with over 20 years of experience ranging from start-ups to multi-national corporations. Her expertise is taking companies through rapid growth and change well-positioned for success.
Currently, Sherry is a self-employed financial consultant, advising companies on forecasting, strategic plans, and operational efficiencies. Most recently, Sherry was the VP of Finance and Talent for Harvest Savings & Wealth Technologies before its sale to Envestnet. Prior to Harvest, Sherry was CFO of M/H VCCP where she led a post-acquisition corporate integration with a UK parent company. Previously, Sherry was at Autodesk, where she spent five years in finance, advisory services, audit, education, and procurement.
Sherry and her husband Aaron have four children. They enjoy offshore sailing, hiking in Marin’s beautiful backyard, and volunteering locally, primarily in youth sports. Sherry is an elected official that has served on the Reed Union School District board for the past five years. She has also served as the RUSD liaison member to the Belvedere-Tiburon Joint Recreation District.
Sherry is particularly passionate about food insecurity and its impact on Marin’s youth community. She volunteers for ExtraFood at the Farmer’s Market on Sundays with her children, delivering amazing fresh and beautiful produce to those in need and keeping food waste from the landfill.
Lynne Simon was ExtraFood's first volunteer in 2013, when the organization had a mission but not yet a name. Alongside the Founder/ Executive Director, she dedicated herself full-time for the first year to help launch ExtraFood, making connections with donors and recipient organizations, recruiting and training volunteers, and creating the organization's iconic aprons. In addition to serving as a director on ExtraFood’s board, Lynne leads the team at the Thursday Marin Civic farmers market, cooks alongside Chef and fellow board member Heidi Krahling in the soup kitchen and is a liaison to the SF-Marin Food Bank.
After a 30-year career in director/VP roles in media and technology, Lynne changed gears to pursue her passions for food and social justice, immersing herself in The Encorepreneurs curriculum and various other programs in nonprofit, food, nutrition and sustainability. She then joined Food-Tech start-up Byte Foods as their Forager, managing the food program and crafting a rotating menu of healthy grab-and-go items sold through unstaffed smart fridges. Lynne's work at Byte Foods deepened her knowledge of the food business and built relationships with makers of all sizes, and of course, all the unsold healthy fresh food was donated to food rescues, including ExtraFood.
As the recent vice president on Congregation Rodef Sholom's Board of Directors, Lynne led the DEIA Task Force and was an active member of the Executive and Capital Campaign Committees during the funding and building process of the new sacred space. Currently, Lynne serves as the leader of the Welcoming & Engagement Team, and co-leader of the Green Team, overseeing the congregations’s farm, C.S.A. program and climate activism.
Lynne brings a wealth of knowledge to any table where she sits (hopefully with food and flowers) with her critical thinking, corporate expertise, extensive community connections and a heart full of justice and joy.
Barbara Waxman, founder of The Odyssey Group, is on a mission to revolutionize how we approach aging. As a gerontologist and coach, Barbara empowers individuals to become impactful self-change agents with the capacity to live longer, healthier, and more purposeful lives.
Barbara has a unique ability to translate cutting-edge research in actionable ways. Her work at the intersection of coaching, leadership, longevity and wellness has culminated in the Entrepreneurship Turned Inward™️ (ETI) coaching process; the evidence-informed Seven Lifestyle Levers Assessment™️; and the Longevity Roadmap™️. In addition, Barbara has popularized Middlescence as a new life phase and is the author of The Middlescence Manifesto.
Barbara has been featured in Arianna Huffington's Thrive Global, the Wall Street Journal, Next Avenue, and CBS This Morning, among others, and is a frequent podcast guest. She shares her experience and pivotal insights on longevity and leadership topics including how the striking advances in longevity call for a different approach to align healthspan with lifespan; why the midlife crisis is a myth; why middlescence is life's newest potential-filled stage; and why the word retirement needs to be retired.
Barbara is a faculty member at Chip Conley’s Modern Elder Academy, a member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, and an Advisor to the Stanford Center on Longevity and Stanford Lifestyle Medicine. She is a Board Member at ExtraFood.org.
Barbara holds a master's degree in Gerontology and Public Administration from the University of Southern California, is a Colgate University graduate, and a Wexner Heritage Foundation Fellow. In addition, she earned coaching certifications from the International Coach Federation and The Hudson Institute.
Kim Diamond is Principal of KD Shae Development, a real estate development firm specializing in residential and mixed-use development opportunities in the North Bay. In response to the widespread housing shortage in Marin County, Kim actively collaborates with cities and local communities to address the pressing need for housing.
For over 25 years, Kim has played a pivotal role in the creation of thousands of residential units in a wide variety of projects in the Bay Area. Over her career, she has worked for prominent developers and homebuilders such as Pulte Homes, Trumark Urban, Catellus, and Harvest Properties and has also ventured into entrepreneurship with her own real estate development and consulting firms, 7x7 Development and ev8 Consulting.
For 20 years, Kim has proudly been part of the Urban Land Institute’s SF District Council and Executive Board, as Board Chair, Governance Chair, among other roles. Kim also currently serves as a Global Governing Trustee responsible for representing the voice of the diverse ULI membership. Kim is a member of Lambda Alpha International, an honorary society of Bay Area land economics professionals. She was also the past Chair and Board Member for Lao Family Community Development (LFCD), a non-profit organization providing employment, housing, education and supportive services. Kim currently serves on the Board of CanDo! Education Foundation, a non-profit organization that partners with the Miller Creek School District to bridge the financial gap between government funding and the cost of a well-rounded education.
Kim received her MA in Urban Planning at UCLA and a BA from Tufts University, with a concentration in urban design/planning. She lives in San Rafael with her family, and has two kids (one attending Miller Creek Middle School, one off to college). She and her husband are also proud owners of Johnny Doughnuts, and have been very happy serving the Marin and SF communities for the past ten years.
Barbara Abbott joined the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank in 2009. She oversees procuring and allocating more than 46 million pounds of food a year, 25 million of which is fresh produce. Prior to holding that position at the Food Bank she was the Food Donation Developer with a strong emphasis on developing the grocery pickup program. The Food Bank provides a spectrum of services designed to support the health and well-being of low-income people in our community who are struggling to make ends meet.
Prior to joining the Food Bank she worked in Key Account Management, Sales Management and Marketing roles for National packaged goods companies such as Ralston Purina and Campbell Soup Company. Born and educated in Canada she now lives in San Francisco with her husband and two children.
Tracy was born and raised in Marin, serving on several boards, most often as fundraising chair or vice-president. Boards included the Ross School Foundation Board, Marin Art & Garden Center Board of Directors, Ross Valley Women’s League Board, Pixie Parents, and Sunny Hills Auxiliary while raising her family and working in retail sales for 25 years. Most recently Tracy served on the ExtraFood (3 years), Adopt a Family (5 years) and To Celebrate Life Breast Cancer (2 years) Boards of Directors as fundraising adviser.
Tracy and her husband of 39 years, Bill Hogan, live in San Anselmo, where they moved after Bill’s retirement in 2015. Bill was the Chief Ranger for MMWD, and the Hogans lived at Phoenix Lake on the Marin Watershed for 25 years, where they raised their sons, Tyler and Jack.
Pat's leadership position is operational, strategic, financial, quality, care, service, people and community. Her guiding philosophies are patient, family, staff and physician focused. She often speaks of working in the Intimacy Business believing that seeking Health Care is one of the most intimate things we do in life. In addition, Pat believes in building a healthy community with an upstream emphasis focused across the spectrum of Prevention, recognizing the impact of the social determinants on health. Creating a healthy work place and engaging the leader in all levels of staff is a lifelong endeavor. Pat holds degrees in Nursing, Business, Organizational Development, Human Resources and Leadership. She has completed post graduate work at UC Berkeley and Stanford University. Pat is presently on the boards of North Bay Leadership Council, Healthy Marin Partnership, School to Career Partnership, Marin Economic Forum, Hospice, Marin Sustainable Agriculture and Dominican University School of Natural Sciences Advisory Board. Pat is also a member of the citizen's oversight committee of SMART, Friends of San Rafael, San Rafael City Schools Advisory Team – 114th Partnership, Marin Workforce Housing Trust and the Pickleweed Advancement Team. She is the recipient of the North Bay Leadership Award for Leadership for 2012 and San Rafael Citizen of the Year, 2013.
Andy Naja-Riese brings 15 years’ experience in community food systems and education. He is Chief Executive Officer of the Agricultural Institute of Marin (AIM), a Bay Area 501c3 educational non-profit that connects communities and local and regional food systems so the public can access healthy and sustainably-grown food. In his current role, Andy is a champion for a systems approach to connecting small to mid-size farmers and producers with communities in a way that is empowering, responsible, and socially just.
Andy leads AIM’s day-to-day operations, while directing the organization’s major programs, fundraising, government partnerships, external relations, and strategic planning in collaboration with AIM’s Board of Directors. Prior to joining AIM, Andy spent 10 years with the Federal government, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service, where he oversaw the administration of $12 billion in benefits redeemed by 8 million low-income households at grocery stores and farmers markets across eight Western states.
Andy is currently the Co-Chair of the Marin Healthy Eating Active Living Collaborative, Vice Chair of San Rafael’s Citizens Advisory Committee on Economic Development and Affordable Housing, and an active member of both the California Food & Farming Network and Drawdown: Marin. He lives in San Rafael with his husband and dog and enjoys backyard gardening, cooking farmers market hauls, eating NY-style bagels, and enjoying the natural beauty of Northern California.
Bruce’s tenure includes over twenty years of honing and developing a consultative wealth management process for Bay Area high net-worth families and private foundations. His expertise in investment policy development, asset allocation, security selection (domestic and international) has allowed him to develop an understanding of the special circumstances surrounding the financial needs and goals of his clients and the significant organizations he works with. Bruce also acts as his clients’ personal financial officer working closely with their other professional relationships thereby addressing advanced planning needs that are often neglected. As President of Relevant Wealth Advisors, Bruce is instrumental in creating and driving the strategic initiatives of the company and determining which direction the company should take to best serve the foundations and families he works with.
His professional designations include Registered Investment Advisor, Chartered Financial Analyst, General Securities Principal, NYSE Supervisory Analyst, Registered Options Principal, and General Securities Representative. In addition, Bruce received his Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of California at Davis, and his MBA in Finance from Golden Gate University.
He is a member of the Council on Foundations Philanthropic Advisory Network, The Marin Estate Planning Council, The Financial Planning Association, and the CFA Institute. Bruce also serves on the boards and committees for several Bay Area non-profit organizations. His current and former board experience includes Family Service Agency of Marin, The Marin Valentines Ball, Sunny Hills Services, Red Hill Academy, The Branson School, USF Center for Global Justice, and the Quincy Foundation for Medical Research. He is the founder of HelpMarin.org.
Bruce lives in Kent Woodlands with his wife Sara. They have three children, Jordan (25), Brooke (18) & Benjamin (5), and one dog Dexter (7). As an accomplished pilot, scuba diver, and cyclist, Bruce enjoys the adventures offered by the great outdoors.
Mary Risley is a renowned chef, philanthropist, and educator who has made a significant impact on the San Francisco culinary scene. Born in 1941, Risley grew up in a family that prioritized good food and cooking. She attended the University of California, Berkeley, where she earned a degree in Political Science.
After college, Risley traveled to Europe and was introduced to the world of fine cuisine. Inspired by what she saw, she returned to the United States and enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu in London. There, she honed her culinary skills and gained valuable experience working in some of the most prestigious kitchens in Europe.
In 1979, Risley founded Tante Marie's Cooking School in San Francisco, which quickly became one of the most respected cooking schools in the country.
In addition to her work with Tante Marie's, Risley is also the founder of Food Runners, a food recovery non-profit organization in the San Francisco. Food Runners has distributed millions of pounds of food since its inception and has been recognized for its outstanding contributions to the community.
Risley has received numerous awards and honors for her work, including the James Beard Foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018. She is also a member of Les Dames d'Escoffier, an international organization of women in the food and beverage industry.
Today, Risley continues to be an active member of the San Francisco culinary community and a passionate advocate for social causes. She is an inspiration to many, both for her culinary skills and her dedication to making a difference in the world.