Shawn Brown
The Humane League
Shawn grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, in a family of small business owners, and he has a degree in filmmaking as well as a law degree. He was drawn to community organizing and advocacy while in high school. Shawn was lucky enough to have a priest who had been a community organizer who took him under his wing and arranged for him to get his first paid organizing job in 1995. In the past thirty years, Shawn has worked on issues ranging from East Los Angeles charter schools to organizing West Virginia nursing home workers. When he started as an organizer, he had faith that people had the power to change the world. Thirty years later, his faith is even stronger.
Mr. Don Gaddis
Mr. Gaddis is a 10 year grower with New Growth community garden; and creator of NorthStar CLE an upcoming resource database for Cleveland's local food system.
Dawn Glasco
NPN Advisory Council Member
Dawn Glasco is an author and educator with extensive experience in community engagement and collaboration building. She works to improve community health and culture by supporting projects and initiatives which promote transformation. Dawn holds a Masters of Arts in Psychology and Diversity Management from Cleveland State University, is a graduate of the Gestalt Training Program of the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland. She enjoys playing instruments used in sound healing, socializing, exploring new ideas, and spending time in nature. Dawn currently works at the Sisters of Charity Health System (SCHS) as Manager of Engagement and Social Innovation for the Cleveland Central Promise Neighborhood initiative.
Alissa Glenn
Alissa Glenn, MPP, serves as the Director of Community Health and Research at the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. Alissa leads the food bank's efforts to improve health outcomes and health equity in the community, as well as oversees research and evaluation of GCFB's programs and impact. Alissa is a doctoral candidate at Cleveland State University, and has a Masters degree in Public Policy and Management from The Heinz School at Carnegie Mellon University, and a Bachelors degree in Economics and English from Case Western Reserve University. Prior to her work in food security and health, she worked in policy and strategy consulting, serving a wide variety of clients in the public, private and non-profit sectors.
Julie M. Johnson
CEO, Hunger Network
Julie M. Johnson is the Chief Executive Officer of Hunger Network, where she advances efforts to fight food inequity and injustice that reduce hunger and enhance nutrition in the Greater Cleveland community. Under her leadership, Hunger Network actively undertakes innovative and coordinated hunger relief and food recovery responses to support individuals and families in need. Julie's strategic vision and dedication are instrumental in driving the organization's mission to ensure no one goes hungry and no food goes to waste.
Julie, a founding member of Cleveland Women in Business for Good, graduated from Allegheny College and is an alumna of Leadership Akron (Class 34) and Cleveland Bridge Builders (2002). She currently serves on the Advisory Board of Cuyahoga County Division of Senior and Adult Services as the Advocacy Committee Chair, and on the Advocacy Committee of the Greater Cleveland Food Bank.
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Shelby Kaemmerer, MPH
Program Officer, Mt. Sinai Health Foundation
Shelby Kaemmerer has been a member of the Nourishing Power Advisory Council since 2022. She has worked in nonprofits focused on public health in Columbia, Missouri; Austin, Texas; and Cleveland, Ohio throughout her career. Shelby received a Bachelor of Health Science from the University of Missouri and a Master of Public Health from the University of Texas Health Science Center.
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Jin Kim-Mozeleski
Assistant Professor, Case Western Reserve University
Jin Kim-Mozeleski is a social and behavioral scientist devoted to research on advancing health equity by addressing social drivers of health that impact health behaviors and health outcomes. Her areas of expertise include socioeconomic disparities in health, particularly as they relate to tobacco use and food insecurity. She currently leads community-partnered research using an implementation science framework to enhance the reach of evidence-based smoking cessation resources in community settings, such as food pantries.
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Brandy E. Phipps
Associate Professor, Central State University
Dr. Brandy E. Phipps is an Associate Professor at Central State University. Her teaching, research, and service is focused on Food Systems - including nutrition science; food, health, and environmental justice; community engagement; and equipping the next generation(s) of Food Systems leaders.
She serves as Chair of the Inter-Institutional Network of Food, Agriculture, and Sustainability (INFAS) and as an active member of national steering committees and organizations dedicated to equity and justice in the Food System.
Zainab Pixler
Local Food Systems Strategies Coordinator, Cleveland Department of Public Health
Zainab Pixler is Cleveland's first-ever Local Food Systems Strategies Coordinator. The role was created as a result of advocacy efforts from food systems folks across the City. In this role, Zainab serves as the City's point person for food access related work. While Zainab is new to government, she is not new to food systems. She studied supply chain management and food studies at Syracuse University and has since worked in food rescue, food assistance, institutional food procurement, and now, food policy. Zainab's world revolves around food - she travels for food, cooks in her free time, and collects cookbooks.
Morgan Taggart, MUPDD
Director, FARE
Morgan Taggart has been working at the intersection of food systems, community-driven development and policy in Cleveland for the last 20 years. She is currently the Director of FARE|Food Access Raises Everyone, a collaborative initiative that works with grassroots partners and community leaders to improve access to healthy food using a community participatory framework and an equity-based approach. Prior to her work with FARE, she was a Founder and the Director of the Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Food Policy Coalition, a public-private collaboration that advocated for local food policy and systems change. She received her Bachelors in Biology from Earlham College and her Master in Urban Planning, Design and Development at Cleveland State University.
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Tanisha Velez
Tanisha Velez is a native to Cleveland. She is a mother of three growing young men and a life partner to her high school sweetheart. Tanisha has become a serial entrepreneur and a mentor to many. Tanisha is the founder, lead grower of Cleveland Fresh an Urban Agriculture Operation. She is the president of Jardin 4 Life Inc a newly formed nonprofit that focuses on inspiring, educating and training the next generation of farmers. She also runs the Cleveland Fresh Farmers Market a once-a-week market that shares opportunity with the community, resources and fresh produce. Tanisha is the co-director of the Roberto Clemente Baseball League a newly launched baseball league that supported 250 Cleveland youth from ages 3-18 years old. She feels that her purpose is to inspire others to grow food and become sustainable. Through her many efforts she focuses on involving the youth as they are the ones to lead us.
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Monica Yepes-Rios, MD
Medical Director, Community Health Equity, Food as Medicine
Dr. Yepes-Rios clinical practice is centered with Cleveland's Hispanic community where she works to dismantle barriers to care. Her leadership in Food as Medicine/ Food Insecurity initiatives of the Cleveland Clinic addresses the upstream effects of equitable health and health outcomes. She earned her medical degree and completed her Internal Medicine Residency at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, and is a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar, Yale University.
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