Artwork by Bonnie Acker


National Farm to School Network is fortunate to have an Advisory Board composed of 17 smart and passionate advocates who guide us in the work we do. At the beginning of this new year, we want to extend our deep thanks and gratitude to those who served on our Advisory Board in 2020 and welcome a few new members to this important cohort.

This past year was a significant one for National Farm to School Network, which included navigating the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, deepening our commitment to racial justice, and announcing our new Call to Action. We are grateful to these 2020 Advisory Board members who worked alongside us last year:

  • Anneliese Tanner, Austin Independent School District
  • Bertrand Weber, Minneapolis Public Schools
  • Betsy Rosenbluth, Vermont FEED
  • Brandon Seng, Michigan Farm to Freezer
  • Caree Jackson Cotwright, University of Georgia - College of Family and Consumer Sciences
  • Catherine Compitello, The Beacon Fund
  • Erin Croom, Small Bites Adventure Club
  • Haile Johnston, The Common Market
  • Jamese Kwele, Ecotrust
  • Janie Hipp, Native American Agriculture Fund
  • Laura Edwards-Orr, Center for Good Food Purchasing
  • Ricardo Salvador, Union of Concerned Scientists
  • Silvia Abel-Caines, Organic Valley
  • Simone Washington, Business for Social Responsibility
  • Sommer Sibilly-Brown, Virgin Islands Good Food Coalition
  • Wande Okunoren-Meadows, Little Ones Learning Center
  • Vanessa Herald, University of Wisconsin - Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems

At the end of 2020, we said farewell to Janie, Ricardo and Vanessa. We are especially grateful to Janie for advising us on working with Native communities, to Ricardo for contributing his racial justice and policy advocacy expertise, and to Vanessa for her farm to school content expertise and for being a long-time and continued NFSN state partner.

As we say these thank yous and farewells, we are also excited to announce the addition of three new board members in 2021:

  • Jennifer Gaddis - Jennifer is an assistant professor of Civil Society and Community Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Jennifer's scholarship centers the perspectives of frontline cafeteria workers and focuses on topics including the history of the national school lunch program, farm to school efforts, food work as a form of care work, and values-based universal school lunch programs.
  • May Tsupros - May is a Founding Collaborator of SunTree Collaboration and co-founder of Gardeneers. In addition to her work with SunTree Collaboration, whose mission is to unearth, build, and strengthen connections between many local food, environmental, and health-related stakeholders, May is also Director of People and Partnerships at Partridge Creek Farms where she works to promote food education and improve local access to fresh produce.
  • Valerie Segrest - Valerie is a Native foods nutritionist and the Regional Director of Native Food and Knowledge Systems for the Native American Agriculture Fund. Valerie is an enrolled member of the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe and is a nutritionist who specializes in Native American Food Traditions and has over a decade of experience developing food sovereignty strategies and culturally relevant food and nutrition curriculum and educational interventions.

We are also appreciative of those stepping into leadership positions on the board this year:

  • Haile Johnston, Chair
  • Simone Washington, Vice-Chair
  • Laura Edwards-Orr, Governance Committee Chair
  • Betsy Rosenbluth, Strategic Plan Committee Chair

This year, the Advisory Board will be focused on implementing our 2020-2025 Call to Action, which focuses on racial equity and shifting power in our food system; continuing the NFSN Advisor-Staff Mentor Program; taking part in board professional development activities (including racial equity, shifting power, and policy advocacy); and diversifying our funding and increasing support for general operations of our organization. (Want to give them a jump start? It’s easy to make a donation right now! )

Many thanks again to our outgoing Advisory Board members, and welcome to our new members! We look forward to working alongside you these next 12 months towards our vision of a racially just food system for all.