Overview
Following a short primer on working with community based organizations, we will move into three concurrent breakout sessions with organizations working in the following areas: food security, school wellness policy and park access. When you register, please make sure to indicate which session you would like attend.*
*For those participating in the school wellness policy breakout session, the presenter has provided a ~13 minute overview video of local school wellness policy available here: Local School Wellness Policy Micro Learning Training Video (Slides).
Presenters
Jared Call, Senior Advocate, joined Nourish California in 2015. He oversees the organization's state legislative agenda and the annual policy development process related to state legislation. Jared leads Nourish California's advocacy aimed at increasing low-income Californians' access and participation in CalFresh. His areas of focus include ensuring an equitable customer experience across the state, linking CalFresh access to other public benefit programs, and simplifying the application process - particularly for older adults and people with disabilities. He also leads our work to successfully implement state-funded nutrition benefit pilot programs.
Champion Provider Fellow Session Moderator: Dr. Emma Steinberg, San Francisco County (Cohort 3)
Shauvon Simmons-Wright serves as a National Content Advisor focused on Policy and Environment with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation. In this role, she provides technical assistance and professional development training, and develops best practice resources to improve local school wellness policies, school nutrition, and out-of-school time environments for schools and program sites across the nation. Shauvon focuses on building the capacity of districts and schools to make sustainable policy, systems, and environmental changes. She has brokered national collaborative partnerships to provide support and resources for schools and communities. She has over 20 years of experience working in schools and community settings providing training, curriculum development, technical assistance, and brokering resources. She has 10+ years of teaching experiencing in K-12 grades and higher education levels and a passion for building collaborative partnerships to create and sustain thriving healthy communities.
Champion Provider Fellow Session Moderator: Dr. Luz Elva Tristan, Imperial County (Cohort 2)
Mikaela Randolph, serves as a Technical Assistant consultant with the Children & Nature Network working to support the implementation of green schoolyards across the country. Green Schoolyards is a strategy to equitably connect children to nature. Mikaela has nearly 15 years of experience working on a variety of advocacy and public policy issues ranging from shared used of schools to address disparities in physical activity, park access in lower income communities of color, Safe Routes to School and Safe Routes to Parks efforts, which pair active transportation with park access and/or educational outcomes. Mikaela is based in Los Angeles, CA and has supported communities across the state on park equity, shared use of schools and green schoolyards. Mikaela is a champion for equity and enjoys the opportunity to improve and support communities close to home and across the country.
Champion Provider Fellow Session Moderator: Dr. Laurie Bostick Cammon, Santa Clara County (Cohort 3)
Learn More About the Presenting Organizations
Nourish California is a statewide policy advocacy organization that shapes the programs and policies that should connect - but sometimes stand between - people and the food they need to thrive. We work with an urgent focus on improving access to food for Californians who face the greatest needs and the starkest inequities. Our team leads statewide advocacy efforts to end hunger, disrupt poverty, and ensure that all Californians are well nourished. Our work also contributes to a larger movement of individuals, communities, and organizations fighting for human rights, dignity, and justice, both within California and beyond.
The Alliance for a Healthier Generation believes every child deserves a healthy future. For more than 15 years, Healthier Generation has helped kids develop lifelong habits by ensuring the environments that surround them support their physical, social and emotional health. Driven by our passion that all young people deserve a chance to live healthier lives, our work, in total, has reached over 30 million kids across the country. To learn more and help make a difference, visit HealthierGeneration.org and join us on Facebook and Twitter.
The mission of the Children and Nature Network is to increase equitable access to nature so that children - and the nature world- can thrive.