People

Andrew Crispin brings personal experience and professional expertise to the fight against food insecurity. Born and raised in Manchester, New Hampshire, a state with low poverty rates and minimal investment in social safety nets, Andrew developed a personal understanding of the challenges faced by food-insecure families.

From a young age, Andrew learned the value of hard work and resourcefulness from his single mother, who juggled multiple jobs to provide for their family. They often relied on food pantries and donations, which fueled Andrew’s determination to pursue higher education and effect change.

Andrew is the first in his family to attend college and graduate school. At the University of New Hampshire, he earned a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry, where he also served as the president of the co-ed professional chemistry fraternity, Alpha Chi Sigma. During this time, Andrew discovered a love for cooking.

Following graduation, Andrew supplemented research in pediatric oncology at Boston Children's Hospital with experience in the hospitality industry in Boston. This experience deepened his understanding of New England's local food systems and the importance of community collaboration. Andrew pursued a Master of Science in Nutrition and Metabolism from Boston University to better his understanding of how nutrition impacts human health.

In 2018, Andrew moved to a small city, Iwade, in Wakayama, Japan, where he taught English and engaged with the local culture through farming and teaching cooking classes. The COVID-19 pandemic led to Andrew's return to the US, where he applied his skills to public health initiatives and addressing food insecurity. He volunteered with Off Their Plate, worked with World Central Kitchen’s efforts in Boston, and supported the State of New Hampshire’s Department of Health and Human Services COVID-19 testing response efforts.

In July 2021, Andrew's journey brought him to Berkeley, where he continued his work with Off Their Plate as its Executive Director. In May 2022, he brought his extensive experience to the Berkeley Food Network. Starting as the Distribution Programs Manager, Andrew has spearheaded efforts to centralize operations, standardize procedures, and ensure the community's needs and voices are at the core of BFN's mission and programs.

Having forged important relationships with key community stakeholders, Andrew is committed to leveraging critical partnerships to make a tangible difference in the lives of those served by The Berkeley Food Network.

Ben is a second generation Berkeley resident and is fortunate to return home and work in the community he grew up in. He brings with him a background in farming, cooking, and organic produce sales and distribution. Ben is excited to work for an organization that is focused on improving access to healthy, high quality food for the Bay Area community.

Emma (she/her) has been working in the world of food justice and community organizing as a farmer and garden educator. She was born and raised in the Bay Area and is grateful to be a part of BFN’s community-based work to recover and redistribute food in an area where she has deep roots. When she is not in the BFN warehouse, you can find Emma hiking the trails of the East Bay, tending plants in her front yard, or taking a polar plunge in the Pacific Ocean.

James (he/him) is a Northern California native with a family history of giving back to food insecure communities, from his mother volunteering in food pantries to his grandmother leading canned food drives at her church. James is an alumnus of San Francisco State University with a Bachelor’s in Film and Screenwriting and enjoys losing himself in a good movie or book. And during his time off, James can be found with his wife walking around the lake and redwoods of Oakland or writing his next screenplay at a local coffee shop. He has an extensive background in customer service and is excited to help his local East Bay communities through his work at BFN.

Keli’i (Key) is a first-generation college graduate, born and raised in the East Bay by his grandparents, who instilled in him values of pride, purpose, and community. Forged from his values and life’s humble beginnings was a passion for investing in people. Throughout his personal and professional life, Keli’i has joined efforts supporting educators, students, athletes, the unhoused, immigrants, single parents, and low-income individuals because he loves seeing others thrive. He excited to join BFN in the every day fight to help the community weather the rising cost of living in the Bay. He looks forward to spreading awareness and helping community members obtain essential resources to achieve a higher quality of life. When he’s not at BFN chasing his dreams, you can catch him coaching football at Pinole Valley High School, or embarking on an outdoor adventure with his girlfriend and dog Nala.

Molly (she/her) recently moved back to the Bay Area after living in Mendocino County for the last nine years, where she developed her passion for economic and food justice. She has worked extensively with volunteers and community stakeholders to build support for cultural and anti-poverty organizations in various communications, fundraising, and consulting roles. Molly holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from San Francisco State University and profoundly values the power of storytelling and messaging to shift narratives and spark action.

Perry Hall (she/her) has worked for over 12 years coordinating volunteers at non-profits engaged in environmental education. She is passionate about the difference that volunteers can make and works to match each volunteer’s abilities and motivation with the needs of the organization. Perry is excited to be a part of making good nutrition more accessible to members of the Berkeley community that she calls home. She looks forward to collaborating with staff and volunteers to expand BFN’s partnerships with local businesses and organizations.

Lily (she/her/hers) is currently an MPH student at UC Berkeley, interested in focusing her studies on Health Policy Management and Community Health Sciences. She has years of experience coordinating care for low-income individuals by connecting them to resources in San Francisco to help meet their medical and social needs. One of the resources that Lily often helps the community connect to is nutritional resources such as CalFresh and local food banks. During her leisure time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, running, and cooking new recipes.

Deb (she/her) is a former chef, caterer and food event consultant, and has been active in other Bay Area non-profits including Jewish Youth for Community Action (JYCA) where she was a board member and the Berkeley Community Fund. Deb retired from her role as a restaurant chef around 2000, and since that time has catered, planned, consulted and executed on food-related events and programming in the Bay Area for several non-profits and educational institutions including The Nature Conservancy, JYCA, Congregation Netivot Shalom, the St. Paul’s Episcopal School and Berkeley High. Deb holds a BA in Urban Studies from Brown University. Prior to her food-related non-profit work, Deb was a staffer for the Greenbelt Alliance, a non-profit land conservation and urban planning organization in the Bay Area since 1958.

Pam (she/her) has worked in the public, private and nonprofit sectors and has been a longtime community volunteer in the Bay Area. She served as Chair of the City of Berkeley Parks and Recreation Commission and was a board member and sea kayak guide at Environmental Traveling Companions, a non-profit serving people with disabilities and under-resourced youth. Her professional experience includes directing operations at Goodwill Industries, San Francisco and working in the office of Berkeley City Councilmember Laurie Capitelli. Currently, she is the Employer Engagement Manager for BroadFutures, a non-profit that prepares young adults with learning disabilities to successfully enter the workplace. Pam received her B.A. from Tufts University, her MBA from Dominican University and holds professional certificates in Process Improvement and Sustainable Operations from Portland State University.

Lynnette Orme is a CPA and MBA and currently works as a Senior Finance Director at MHN, a behavioral insurance company. Previously, she worked as the Chief Financial Officer of Lifelong Medical Care, a non-profit Health Center based in Berkeley. She also volunteered as Treasurer for Berkeley High School Development Group for close to four years. She was born and raised in Berkeley and her family spent all of their vacations in the Sierra Nevadas so she calls Yosemite her second home. For higher education, she attended UC Santa Barbara and UC Berkeley – ultimately receiving a BA in Classical Languages. For post-graduate work she attended California State East Bay (Hayward), receiving a Master in Business Administration, Taxation. She hopes that her background running finance and operations teams will be of help in preparing BFN for the next big administrative leap. She is a big proponent of people having access to healthy, nutritious food - one of dad’s life lessons was “food is love”.

Jessica has a diverse background in customer service, communication, and education advocacy. With extensive experience as a former director of customer service in the private sector, Jessica transitioned her skills and passion towards public education. She served in communications and public information roles at Oakland and Berkeley USDs. The majority of her positions in education were as a volunteer serving as Co-President for Berkeley High School Development Group, among other leadership positions. Jessica brings exemplary leadership, fundraising, project management and non-profit operations skills. Jessica's community involvement extends beyond education, as she has also been actively engaged in local youth sports programs, acting as coach and manager for both Albany Berkeley Girls Softball and ECFC/Spurs soccer. She is a Berkeley native who holds a B.A. in Anthropology from UC Berkeley.

Chuck (he/his) previously served as board chair of Berkeley Community Scholars, which provides scholarships, mentoring and other forms of college success support to resilient Berkeley High School seniors from low-income backgrounds, most of whom are first in their families to attend college. Chuck “retired” in 2010 after orchestrating the sale of the global legal recruiting company he co-founded. During 20+ years in that industry, Chuck was a career advisor to countless attorneys, and a key staffing partner to many of the Bay Area’s premier companies and law firms. He was previously a lawyer at a global 50 firm and a founder and executive editor of a monthly legal publication, which he subsequently sold. Chuck holds a BA in American Government from the University of Virginia, and a JD from the UCLA School of Law. “My interest in food insecurity issues springs from a number of years volunteering at — and being inspired by the work of — the Alameda County Community Food Bank."

Bio coming soon...

Dona (she/her) has held faculty and academic administrative positions for the California Community Colleges System Chancellor’s Office, the College of Marin, Chabot College, and Allan Hancock College. Dona also served as the president of the California Chief Instructional Officers Association. She has worked as a consultant to the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and the James Irvine Foundation, particularly in the area of education in community colleges. She has been a consultant to multiple California college districts, and she regularly co-presents a course for new chief instructional officers. Dona is faculty in the Enrollment Management Academy at Claremont Graduate University, and is a co-author of the California Community College Chief Instructional Officer Manual. A resident of Berkeley, CA, Dona holds a Master of Arts degree and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science, and completed coursework and exams for a doctorate in Political Science from UC Berkeley. “I have been concerned about food insecurity and have been a supporter of the Alameda County Community Food Bank for many years."

Rebecca (she/her) worked as a statistician/data scientist until her retirement in 2022. She started her career in academia and then moved to the private sector, working with both for-profit companies and for a combination of public and private sector organizations as an independent consultant. She has worked with a variety of clients in various industries including the Netflix, Amazon, Sony, Pfizer, Nissan, The Moore Foundation, and Covered California. She has also volunteered in the community: coaching soccer for ABSC and Mavericks, serving on the PTA Board and as PTA President at Thousand Oaks School, as well as on the PTA Council. Rebecca received her undergraduate (AB) degree from Harvard and holds both a PhD in Sociology and a MA in Demography from UC Berkeley.

Mirna (she/her) is a first-generation Latina with a demonstrated history of 10 years working in the nonprofit sector. She is currently the Executive Director of The Multicultural Institute, a community-based nonprofit organization addressing Latinx Immigrant community's issues in three counties of the California Bay Area. Her personal and first-hand experience shape her career and passion for programs and initiatives tailored towards the immigrant community. Mirna's work experience centers around Community Outreach to the day laborer and domestic worker community, Direct Service to monolingual Spanish speaking immigrant adults, Nonprofit Administration and Development, Donor Cultivation, and Grant Writing and Contract Management. With a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology from University of California Berkeley Mirna is pursuing a Masters of Nonprofit Administration at the University of San Francisco.

Susan (she/her) co-founded and later served as President of MPR Associates, a Berkeley education research and consulting firm. She specialized in issues related to college access and success and student financial aid. After retiring, she turned her attention to food insecurity and food waste issues and has been an active volunteer for the Alameda County Community Food Bank. She has a bachelor’s degree from McGill University, a master’s degree in City and Regional Planning from UC Berkeley and a PhD in Public Administration from New York University. “After working in many public policy areas, I have come to appreciate the urgency of addressing food insecurity in our community. Without adequate and nutritious food you can't be healthy and you can't succeed in school or work."

Molly Vitorte, PhD, is a Senior Project Manager the University of California, San Francisco. Previously, she fundraised for undergraduate education initiatives at UC Berkeley and worked at San Francisco-based national nonprofit organizations and the UC Office of the President. She earned her PhD at UC Berkeley in Latin American Studies. Molly grew up in South America, but has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area since 1991. She lives in Berkeley with her intergenerational family for whom she loves to cook.