Staff
Judi Shils | Founder & Executive Director, Turning Green & Conscious Kitchen
Judi has spent the last 28 years of her life spearheading grassroots community projects. The dearth of answers around Marin County’s high cancer rates led Judi to found the nonprofit Search for the Cause, now Turning Green, a global student-led movement advocating for healthy food, safer products, and ethical businesses. She is also the force behind The Conscious Kitchen, a paradigm shifting model for school food service, transitioning school meals from pre-packaged, processed, heat-and-serve to chef-prepared, scratch cooked local, organic food, cooked in on-site zero waste kitchens. Believing that access to healthy food is a right, not a privilege, she began this work on a campus where 95% of children live below the poverty line, qualifying for free-and-reduced government-subsidized school meals. Moving to the Bay Area in 1989 and becoming a mother to daughter Erin changed the course of Judi’s life. Prior to this, she was an Emmy Award-winning television producer for 25 years with ABC Sports, FOX and Oxygen, founded The Diary Project forum for youth at the onset of the internet, and ran a successful student art exhibition, Celebrate Arts. Judi has been a consultant with the California Coastal Commission around public education for the past two decades.
Erin Schrode | Co-Founder, Turning Green
Erin Schrode is an activist and social entrepreneur. This leading voice on sustainability, social justice and millennials recently ran an unprecedented campaign for US Congress in California. Since co-founding Turning Green in 2005, she’s developed eco-education and action platforms for millions of students and beyond. Erin speaks and consults internationally, contributes to ABC, Glamour, Cosmopolitan and Refinery29, and is featured in The New York Times, Today Show, Vanity Fair, CNN, FOX, Seventeen, Forbes, more. After Hurricane Maria, Erin led Chef José Andrés’ #ChefsForPuertoRico to serve 3.7+ million meals, while investing in local, sustainable agriculture and food systems islandwide and is now driving her non-profit’s Conscious Kitchen feeding program to serve hot, organic, nutritious meals to students, elders and vulnerable populations near her home in Marin County. This bold innovator and community organizer champions civic leadership, conscious living, and environmental stewardship on a lifelong journey to inspire and mobilize people to discover and activate passion for social impact and policy change.
Aniket Aich | Senior Program Manager
Aniket is a sustainability enthusiast with a background in food and education. Aniket started out working as a field researcher working with farmers on different agriculture projects. He has worked as a high school teacher teaching Math and Science in an underserved community in New Delhi. After briefly working as a program manager for Pratham, one of the largest NGOs in India, Aniket decided to get his master’s in development economics along with a graduate certificate in food systems. Aniket co-facilitated the Plant Futures Challenge Lab on Food Systems at the Haas School of Business, exploring the intersection of education and food systems. As a consultant, Aniket has worked with organic farms to develop sustainability metrics and programming strategies. In his free time, he loves to cook elaborate dinners.
Caralee Ellis | Procurement & Special Projects Manager
Caralee graduated from UC Berkeley with a B.S. in Society and Environment and a minor in Food Systems. During her studies, she held leadership roles in multiple student organizations focused on environmental and social justice. Caralee joined Turning Green as a lead intern on the Conscious Kitchen team in 2021 and quickly advanced to a fellowship position, where she contributed to initiatives like Project Cereal and conducted a comprehensive cost analysis of organic school meals for her senior capstone project.
After wearing many hats as Program Coordinator for a year, Caralee now serves a more focused role as Procurement & Special Projects Manager. Directly supporting connections between schools and farmers to facilitate organic procurement, she manages weekly produce availability lists, coordinates direct orders, and offers general support for schools in securing fresh, local ingredients. Caralee also leads the organization of events, like the local organic culinary workshops hosted in collaboration with The Alice Waters Institute, and oversees various special projects as they develop. Organized, adaptable, and driven, Caralee is dedicated to protecting the health of the planet and all those who inhabit it.
Sue Waiss | Program Administrator
Sue has worked with Turning Green for fourteen years and has helped bring all of our key programs to life. She is passionate about sustainability, education, and bringing our programs to students across the country and around the world. Prior to TG, Sue worked as a Project Manager and Studio Manager in the graphic design industry and co-founded two video production companies.
Allison Erftenbeck | Project Coordinator
Allison is a sustainability specialist with a passion for climate change resilience, sustainable infrastructure, and environmental justice. Following her interests and the rising call for environmental action, she received a B.A. in Environmental and Sustainability Studies from Indiana University (IU). During her time at IU, she and her peers saw a lack of sustainable initiatives on campus and spearheaded the environmental campaign Students for a New Green World, where she held research and professional writing roles for their divestment campaign and environmental education series. Rounding out her time at IU, Allison declared a concentration in sustainable energy, resources, & climate, and added minors in earth and atmospheric sciences and business. This allowed her to gain a more holistic view on sustainability while exploring multidisciplinary issues via scientific research and writing, lab and field work, and various software applications including ArcGIS and MATLAB.
Samantha Ramey | Restaurateur & Project Coordinator | Americana Restaurant Group & Conscious Kitchen
Samantha is a restaurateur and food systems leader based in Sonoma County, California. Raised in restaurant kitchens in New York and the daughter of a wholesale butcher, she discovered farm‑to‑table and Slow Food culture while in college. Together with her husband, she co-founded the Americana Restaurant Group which consists of 3 organic and farm to table classic American breakfast and lunch diners. Samantha also serves as a Project Coordinator with Conscious Kitchen, supporting values‑aligned food procurement that connects schools, farmers, and communities. Her work focuses on food policy and advancing organic and regenerative food systems.
Guillaume Pfahl | Executive Chef
Born and raised in San Francisco, Guillaume brings his passion for our local food culture and community to his role at Conscious Kitchen. As Executive Chef, he directs the kitchen team at Willow Creek Academy, and mentors student leaders. He also supports Conscious Kitchen’s strategic planning and growth, including, menu, recipe, ordering and supply chain development. Prior to joining Conscious Kitchen, Guillaume worked as production sous chef for TASTE catering and helped open a farm-to-table restaurant in Sausalito. He sees food and family as the common denominator between people, and is inspired to create community for children centered around food in order to unite multi-cultural school settings.
interns
Alexa Fraiman | Summer Intern
Junior, Bryn Mawr College
Alexa is a rising junior studying environmental studies and sociology at Bryn Mawr College. She is interested in learning the many ways in which the environment and society are interlinked. As part of the Conscious Kitchen team, she hopes to work towards creating a more just food system that supports the well-being of all. She is passionate about finding both individual and collective ways to respond to the climate crisis, so we can work together towards being resilient. Alexa looks forward to applying what she learns in her everyday life to further explore the central role the environment and food plays in our lives.
Annika Spaet | Summer Intern
Rising Sophomore, Cornell University
Annika is a rising sophomore studying Environment and Sustainability with a minor in American Studies at Cornell University. Being from New York City, she is passionate about improving sustainability practices in urban areas. In student organizations, she furthers her interest in the environment. Her favorite club is Cornell Sustainability Consultants, where she improves conservation practices for local businesses. In her free time, Annika likes going to the gym, watching new movies, and trying to cook.
Elizabeth Lampley | Summer Intern
Masters Program, University of California – Berkeley
Elizabeth is a MPH student at UC Berkeley, and is originally from Illinois. She received her B.S. in public health at the University of Iowa in 2022. Her areas of interest include food access, water quality, and public health policy. She has also worked as a research associate with the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Gabriella Calimlim | Summer Intern
Rising Senior, New York University
Gabriella is a rising senior at New York University studying Nutrition and Dietetics. She is from Subic Bay, Philippines and has a great passion for anything food related from baking to food justice. In the upcoming years, Gabriella hopes to receive her masters in Nutrition and Dietetics and become a Registered Dietitian. She also hopes to go to culinary school to bridge the gap between sustainability and affordability in the culinary arts.
Lauren Daley | Summer Intern
Rising Senior, New York University
Lauren is studying both Environmental Studies and Politics at NYU, putting their focus on a future career involving environmental justice and policy. Throughout their time in New York, they’ve volunteered with food kitchens, social justice campaigns, and ecological research projects, fueling their passion for the field. After undergrad, they hope to find themselves on Capitol Hill, shaping the future of environmental legislation. In their free time, they’ll usually be listening to music, running around with their camera, or flexing their knowledge of local bird species to their friends.
Tatum Vaccaro | Summer Intern
Rising Junior, New York University
Tatum is a junior majoring in Food Studies and minoring in Spanish at New York University. She has worked on urban farms growing up in Atlanta, Georgia, which is where her love of community building through farming began. She is extremely passionate about addressing food justice through regenerative agricultural practices and food education. She hopes to improve healthy food access and the health of the environment through healing the food system.
Board
Heidi Locke Simon | Board Chair
Former Partner, Bain & Company
Heidi recently retired as a Partner of Bain & Company, a global strategy consulting firm where she worked for 20 years. She was a leader of the firm’s performance improvement capability area and managed Bain’s marketing and client development efforts on the West Coast. Prior to joining Bain in 1993, Heidi worked in investment banking for Goldman, Sachs & Company and spent time in brand management with Colgate-Palmolive Company. Heidi earned an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Politics and Economics with highest honors from Middlebury College, including course work at the University of Paris. Heidi began volunteering for Turning Green with its first Search for the Cause campaign a decade ago. She has served in numerous roles, including Board Chair for several years.
Al Baylacq | Board Member
Partner, Good Earth Natural Foods
Al has co-led the growth of Good Earth Natural Foods since 1999. Since the early 1970’s, Good Earth’s mission has been to bring organic food into grocery stores in a consistent way, while supporting innovative and ethical organic growers and ranchers. Al’s dream was to be part of a marketplace that reflected the community it served. At the time he joined Good Earth, it was his intention that Good Earth would play a role as a “community hub,” while influencing and educating people and businesses far beyond its local community. Al is proud to have initiated an organic school lunch program through Good Earth in 2003. Good Earth’s school lunch program began with 4 schools, and currently is in 17 Marin County schools. Al and Good Earth’s support has been instrumental in the founding and growth of The Conscious Kitchen program.
Chuck Dietrich | Board Member
Corporate Vice President, OPG Mobile Data Applications and Growth
Chuck works for Rajesh Jha and leads the Mobile Data Labs team in San Francisco. The team builds and grows innovative, mobile-centric applications that help people to use their ambient data combined with artificial intelligence (AI) and delightful experiences to automate their valuable administrative tasks. Chuck also works on OPG and corporate strategy around the areas AI, engagement and growth. Chuck enjoys the challenges of matching user needs with product strategy and goto market models.
Chuck has over 20 years of entrepreneurial experience and was most recently the cofounder and CEO of Mobile Data Labs, acquired by Microsoft December, 2015. Mobile Data Labs is the creator of MileIQ, the top grossing finance app across both Google and Apple’s apps stores. Chuck’s entrepreneurial past also includes building a retail products company, followed by joining Salesforce.com in its inception and staying for 9 years. In the role of General Manager and Vice President, Chuck built and ran many of Saleforce.com’s channel and partner programs, including system Integrators, marketing partners, product partnerships, and Latin American distribution. Chuck also built and led the company’s mobile strategy and business unit. After Salesforce.com, Chuck was the CEO of SlideRocket, which grew quickly and was acquired by VMware in 2011.
Chuck earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado and an MBA from the University of Utah.
Chuck has been guest lecturer at Harvard, MIT and Northwestern and presents at many technology conferences. He has served on boards of numerous early to mid-stage companies and is involved with the Pledge 1% nonprofit initiative.
Chuck grew up in New Mexico and lives in Northern California with his wife and two children. Chuck is an avid adventurer and lover of the outdoors. In his younger days he spent a lot of time ski mountaineering in the Andes, Alps and Himalaya. When not working, he and his family can be found traveling, skiing, climbing, biking and kite surfing.
Kevin Grossman | Board Member
Brand Manager | SC Johnson Lifestyle Brands
Kevin is a Brand Manager at SC Johnson Lifestyle Brands, overseeing the Method personal care product portfolio. Before joining SC Johnson, Kevin spent seven years at Clif Bar, a multi-bottom line organic food company, where he held various roles ranging from managing retailers and distributors to developing product launch and channel growth strategies. Here, Kevin began to see the many challenges and opportunities facing the K-12 school food system and how organic food companies can help drive change. Kevin also serves as a Strategy Consultant with Conscious Kitchen and holds an MBA from Berkeley-Haas.
Sean Martin | Board Member
President | CEO, Martin Consulting Group
Sean works to create organizations that thrive. He partners with leaders to develop clear strategies, build strong teams and create companies that execute with success and pride, believing that the heart of effective leadership lies in authenticity, empathy and clarity – they are at the source of successful strategies as well as thriving cultures. Sean also believe that the greatest insights, critical to any organization’s success, reside with its employees, and an advisor’s job (his job) is to help leaders relate to their people such that the power and insight of the organization can flourish. The Martin Group is the current manifestation of Sean’s 20+ years of experience. With his colleagues, Sean is passionate about helping courageous leaders see, ignite and implement major changes in their organizations – ones that enable a positive impact on the world. His approach leverages a rich combination of expertise in strategy development, organizational design and leadership development helping leaders create thriving organizations with clear and meaningful strategies brought to life by employees inspired to do their best.
Claire Veuthey | Board Member
Principal | Rizoma Ventures
Claire has worked in ESG/impact investing for 15 years, serving in product management, research, investment, and sales/business development roles in London, Toronto, Singapore, Amsterdam, and San Francisco. As Principal at Rizoma Ventures, Claire partners with investors seeking to integrate or assess environmental, social and governance (ESG) and impact in their investment processes, from due diligence to exit. Claire is particularly focused on venture and private equity investors. She also advises companies to understand and manage the impacts of their operations, and is co-authoring The Grassroots DEI Organizer Playbook, a tactical guide for early-stage, venture-backed companies on diversity & inclusion. In addition, Claire works as a Venture Partner for NextGen Venture Partners and the crowdinvesting platform Republic, and serves as a strategic advisor for several fintech startups.
She was previously Director of ESG & Impact Product at OpenInvest, one of the first venture-backed public benefit corporations. Before that, she led ESG on the Wells Fargo Social Impact Investing team, and worked in both research and sales at MSCI ESG Research and Sustainalytics. She also served as an advisor to the Sustainable Accounting Standards Board in 2017, its inaugural year. Claire holds an MBA from Berkeley-Haas, and MA From King’s College London, and a Licence from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. She speaks French and Spanish fluently; her Mandarin is a work in progress.
Advisory Board
ALICE WATERS, Chef, Author, Food Activist, Founder & Owner of Chez Panisse & The Edible Schoolyard Project
Alice has been a champion of local sustainable agriculture for over four decades. In 1995 she founded the Edible Schoolyard Project, which advocates for a free school lunch for all children and a sustainable food curriculum in every public school. She has been Vice President of Slow Food International since 2002. She conceived and helped create the Yale Sustainable Food Project in 2003, and the Rome Sustainable Food Project at the American Academy in Rome in 2007. Her honors include election as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2007; the Harvard Medical School’s Global Environmental Citizen Award, which she shared with Kofi Annan in 2008; and her induction into the French Legion of Honor in 2010. In 2015 she was awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Obama, proving that eating is a political act, and that the table is a powerful means to social justice and positive change. Her most recent honor was her induction into the National Women’s Hall of Fame in 2017. Alice is the author of fifteen books, including New York Times bestsellers The Art of Simple Food I & II, The Edible Schoolyard: A Universal Idea, and, a memoir, Coming to My Senses: The Making of a Counterculture Cook.
SUSAN GRIFFIN-BLACK, Co-founder and Co-CEO, EO Products
Susan is the co-founder and co-CEO of EO Products, the Marin-based parent company of two leading personal care brands: EO® and Everyone™. For nearly 25 years Susan has been a pioneer of the personal care industry, and has built a successful, exemplary company rooted in responsible business practices. Susan is an expert on safe, healthy personal care products and essential oils. She is involved with numerous advisory boards including Turning Green and Bay Cycle Project.
Debbie Raphael, Strategic Advisor
Debbie has spent 30 years in public service leading environmental agencies at the city, county, and state levels. She is a scientist by training and believes in combining the rigor of analytic data with the wisdom of community knowledge to craft policies and programs in service of people and the planet. Debbie was appointed by California’s Governor Jerry Brown, Director of the state’s Department of Toxic Substances Control where she put in place the world-renowned Safer Consumer Products Program. She then spent 8 years under Mayors Edwin Lee and London Breed as Director of the City/County of San Francisco’s Department of the Environment where she led the City’s award-winning programs in zero waste, toxics reduction, clean energy and transportation, and green building. Debbie was named by Apolitical as one of the world’s 100 most impactful leaders on climate change. She is a strategic advisor to academic institutions, businesses large and small, non-profits, philanthropic organizations, and governments around the world. Debbie is well known for her public speaking and her inclusive approach to problem solving.
Currently, Debbie is on the advisory council for the Center for Regenerative Solutions. Their team of experts bring together cities, resource specialists, community-based organizations, scientists, innovators, land managers, and others to accelerate the implementation of regenerative, nature-based solutions that simultaneously improve the social, economic, and environmental resilience of local communities.
STEPHEN SIMON, Founder, Simon Equity Partners
Steve is the founder of Simon Equity Partners, LLC and has been a managing member since January 2007. From February 1997 to December 2006, he served as president and chief executive officer of Melvin Simon & Associates, Inc., a privately-held real estate and investment company. Steve serves on the board of directors of the Pacers Basketball Corporation. He is a director for the Herbert Simon Family Foundation and serves on the boards of the following non-profit organizations; Central Indiana Land Trust, Conscious Alliance and HeadCount.
Steve holds a degree in General Studies with a concentration in Public and Environmental Affairs from Indiana University.
ROBIN PENDOLEY, Ed.M., Strategic Consultant
Robin is a dedicated nonprofit leader and strategic thinker with over two decades of experience driving systemic change at the intersection of education, social justice, and global development. He brings a profound commitment to cultivating a more just and sustainable world by empowering the next generation of conscious leaders.
Throughout his career, Robin has pioneered innovative educational models that challenge students to engage deeply with complex global issues. He co-founded Thinking Beyond Borders, an influential educational institution specializing in gap year programs, and served as a founding board member of the Gap Year Association. His leadership extends to local community impact through his recent work around educational equity with Marin Promise Partnership and the Marin County Office of Education.
Robin’s strategic insights have been featured by Forbes and Ashoka. He holds a Master’s in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a B.A. in International Development Studies from UCLA. Robin’s work is rooted in the belief that systemic equity and environmental stewardship are inseparable, a vision he continues to advance through mentorship and advocacy for a thriving, resilient planet.
JENNIFER SHERMAN, Program Director | The Alice Waters Institute
Jennifer is the Program Director of The Alice Waters Institute, whose mission is to transition agriculture in the state of California to organic-regenerative practices. She spent most of her culinary career working with Alice Waters at Chez Panisse as a cook, co-chef, and general manager, while also supporting Alice’s global projects and programs in School Supported Agriculture. Jennifer spent 10 years developing food product lines at scale for Rock Field, Japan, Ltd. She has served on the board and was the Culinary Director at The Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano, a 30-acre educational farm and culinary program, and currently serves on the board of the Chez Panisse Restaurant.
BARBARA JELLISON, Executive Director, Food & Nutrition Services | West Contra Costa Unified School District
Barbara leads a team of over 240 food service leaders, serving about 30,000 students across 54 sites in a high-needs district. With 23 years of service, her background in culinary school and restaurant management drives her commitment to improving school meals. She has championed the integration of organic and minimally processed foods, now procuring roughly 50% organic ingredients, prioritizing California-grown products. Under her leadership, the district has accessed equipment and training to expand fresh, organic, scratch-cooked menu items in its central kitchen.
YADIRA MENDIOLA, Organic Farmer & Aggregator | Queen of Vegetables
Yadira owns and operates The Queen of Vegetables Organic Farms in Royal Oaks, CA — appropriately named after herself as the only woman in her family. She developed a passion for organics after going through the Agriculture & Land-Based training Association (ALBA) education program, and she was clearly able to see the difference between conventional and organic farming after tending to her first half acre of organic land. This crucial experience led her to quit conventional agriculture altogether and pursue a career in organic farming. Despite the challenges associated with organic growing, Yadira believes that providing her community with pesticide-free produce is worth it. Yadira’s biggest aspiration is to keep her community happy and healthy, and she continues to strive toward this through her role as a small organic farmer.
MARLEN TAPIA, Organic Farmer | Mimi’s Organic
Marlen works with her parents and sister to run their family business, Mimi’s Organic Farms, in Salinas, California. The Tapias are the second and third generation of agricultural workers in their family lineage. With Marlen’s family and agricultural history originating in Mexico, growing organic has always been the way. While the market can be more difficult for organic farmers than for conventional farmers. Marlen is passionate about growing organically. She loves eating her strawberries straight off the vine without worrying about chemical residues. Quality is very important to Marlen, so she uses natural remedies to combat pests and mites that can damage the growth of her super-sweet strawberries. Marlen is very proud and grateful for all her parents have done for her and her sister.
AL COURCHESNE, Frog Hollow Farm
Al is the owner of Frog Hollow Farm, a certified organic and regenerative orchard in Brentwood, California, known for its commitment to soil health, biodiversity, and high-quality fruit. Farming since 1976, Al has built a resilient operation grounded in ecological practices and long-term land stewardship. Through his partnership with Conscious Kitchen, he brings a farmer’s perspective to organic farm-to-school sourcing—working across the supply chain to support reliable, values-aligned procurement for school communities. His leadership reflects a belief that nourishing food, environmental responsibility, and strong local economies are deeply interconnected.
