Staff & Board Directory
OUR TEAM
Child Nutrition Initiatives Manager
Before joining the Child Nutrition Team at Hunger Free VT, Keely worked as the Farm to School Coordinator for the Milton Town School District (MTSD). In this role Keely implemented nutrition education in Pre-K-12 classrooms, supported connections between the MTSD Food Service Program and local CACFP childcare providers, procured local foods for the school district directly from farmers, and worked as the Milton Farmers Market Manager. Keely is honored to work with the amazing team at Hunger Free Vermont to decrease food insecurity and increase food access in our beautiful state!
Keely graduated from the University of Vermont with a B.S. in Dietetics and Nutrition and Food Science and has always been interested in child nutrition and food access. She believes that every child has the right to nutritious meals every single day. Keely currently lives in Essex and spends her free time performing in and choreographing for musical theatre productions around Vermont.
Gretchen has studied Psychology, special education, and organizational development. She served as the Director of Education at Sylvan Learning Center and Organizational Development Manager at the Children’s Literacy Foundation. She is passionate about strategically aligning an organizations’ operations to best carry out its mission and stand by its values. She believes in supporting individuals’ strengths, offering opportunities for learning and growth, and creating a backbone for core mission support within the administrative department.
Outside of her work at Hunger Free Vermont, Gretchen follows her other passions of writing, reading, traveling, and playing in nature with her son and her partner.
She arrived at HFVT with a background in community volunteering, grassroots projects on sustainability and local food systems, and Fair Trade advocacy and outreach, both in the US and Argentina, her home country. She received her B.A in Communications from the University of Texas at San Antonio and a degree in Tourism Guidance from the Universidad de Moron, in Buenos Aires.
Mariana joined HFVT because she believes that everyone deserves to be well fed in dignified ways, and that there are enough resources to do that. She believes in the power of local and sustainable food systems to nourish and grow people’s bodies and communities of thriving, peaceful beings!
Before joining Hunger Free Vermont, Prathana worked in many fields- some full of dairy cows, others flowers, mushrooms, and vegetables. She has lived in the Northeast Kingdom for the past six years where she has had many opportunities to help improve food security in her community. Before that, she lived in the economically poor but culturally wealthy country of Nepal where she has gained some insight into the brutality of wealth inequality and poverty, as well as the remarkable resilience and genius of people when they work collaboratively.
Prathana graduated from Sterling College in Craftsbury, Vermont in 2021 with a BA in Sustainable Food Systems and Agriculture and a minor in Natural Resource Management. She lives in Craftsbury, Vermont with a wonderful community of farmers and enjoys saving and sharing seeds.
Food Security Advocacy Manager
Ivy also manages SNAP advocacy efforts at the state and federal level to protect and strengthen this vital anti-hunger program. She is passionate about compassionate, people-centered policy and a strong federal safety net system that supports all of us and is easy to tap into when we need it.
Originally from Maine, Ivy graduated with a B.A. in Human Ecology from College of the Atlantic where she studied land and food systems. As a lived expert in poverty and hunger, Ivy is tied to this work from a deeply personal level, and is humbled to focus her daily efforts on dignified and polycentric approaches to ending the injustice of hunger.
She is excited to help improve the health of the community through fighting hunger and malnutrition and inspiring all staff and Board members to represent the work of Hunger Free Vermont wherever they go in the community.
Monica lives in South Burlington with her husband and daughter.
Prior to joining Hunger Free Vermont, Teddy worked in electoral politics in Vermont and New Hampshire. He worked as the State Organizing Director for the Elizabeth Warren Presidential Campaign in 2020, and as the Field Director for New Hampshire’s Congressman Chris Pappas in 2022. He has also served as a City Councilor in Barre City since 2019, when he became the youngest City Councilor ever elected in Barre.
When he is not working or campaigning, Teddy likes to hike, play discgolf, travel, read, and watch football (Go Saints!). He lives in Barre City.
Prior to joining Hunger Free Vermont in 2015, Catherine was involved in development work for both other non-profits and for-profit companies. Her favorite tasks in all of those settings involved writing, so she is a great fit for her position here, which allows her plenty of time at her keyboard, crafting proposals and reports. Her former work with foster families and the children placed with them made her keenly aware of the devastating effects of generational poverty and hunger on Vermont families. Since 2005 she has also been deeply involved as a volunteer in a small nonprofit providing relief to children and families in rural Uganda, opening her eyes to the complexity and depth of global poverty. This painful knowledge makes her very grateful to find herself a part of our dedicated group of anti-hunger advocates who are so determined to create a permanently hunger-free future for all Vermonters.
Catherine graduated from the University of Delaware with a BA in Sociology. She and her family live in the beautiful town of Vergennes, continually attempting to master the challenges of gardening in solid clay and delighting in the daily visits of wildlife (except, perhaps, for the skunks).
Outreach Manager
She is an associate with The Creative Discourse and has served as Board Co-Chair for the Pride Center of VT. Before coming to Hunger Free VT, Lechelle spent five years in sales, with the most recent sales position being in optical sales at a local small business in Burlington. She also has a background as an AVID Facilitator in Cobb County Schools for five years working in classrooms from sixth grade through high school, and as an America READS! tutor at Kennesaw Charter School for grades K-3rd.
Lechelle attended Kennesaw State University studying Theatre and Performance studies w/ a Concentration in Performance Art and a Minor in Film Studies. She has always had a passion for the arts, volunteering to help w/ local children’s theatre in Marietta and doing set work around Atlanta while studying in university.
A community minded individual, she is always looking for ways to connect with and offer support to her local community members.
Program Communications Manager
Sabina received a Bachelor of Science in Food Systems, with a concentration in International and Community Development, and a minor in Environmental Studies from the University of Vermont. During her time as an undergraduate, Sabina worked with a variety of different non-profits including the Real Food Challenge and Vermont Community Garden Network, supporting their efforts to create a more sustainable and equitable food system, across the state and beyond.
Immediately before joining Hunger Free Vermont, Sabina worked in marketing and digital communications for a local food producer in Vermont. Sabina continues to provide freelance marketing services to small mission-driven businesses in her free time. She strongly believes that effective communications can be a key factor in driving a non-profit organizational mission forward.
Community Health Initiatives Director
Katy comes to her work at Hunger Free Vermont with an array of personal and professional experiences that reflect her passion for a wide variety of both domestic and international social and environmental issues. She has served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in both Cote d’Ivoire and Nepal, taught hands on environmental education at Ferry Beach Ecology School in Maine, and worked with a variety of grassroots and policy non-profits.
Katy received her Masters in International Development with a concentration in Environmental Economics from the University of Denver, Korbel School of International Studies in 2008. She is thrilled to be working with an amazing team of inspiring individuals who are dedicated to ending hunger and addressing its root causes in Vermont!
Before joining Hunger Free Vermont in 2011, Anore worked in higher education for over fifteen years teaching the history of social movements and public policy in the U.S. and Latin America, and as a consultant to faculty and academic programs on course and curriculum design and assessment. She has also directed volunteer literacy and ESL programs for children and immigrants in California and New York.
Anore received her Masters in Teaching from the University of San Diego and her Masters in History from Princeton University. She is also a certified adult educator with the Vermont Northern Lights registry. As an educator, Anore has experienced first-hand the direct relationship between nutrition and learning for children, teens, and adults. She is passionate about being part of the community working to end the injustice of hunger and malnutrition for all Vermonters with equity, dignity, and permanence.
Anore lives in Williston with her spouse Felicia Kornbluh and two cats. She enjoys kayaking, playing majong with her mother, and walking to Adams’ Farm Market.
Program Data & Child Nutrition Manager
Before joining Hunger Free VT, Tim worked in food service for most of the preceding 10 years. His background working with food, nutrition, and meal planning has fueled a passion for food and food systems. Always actively politically engaged, Tim is thrilled to be focusing his activist energy towards ending hunger. He is excited to be working as a part of the energetic, inspiring, and value-driven team at Hunger Free.
Tim received his Bachelor of the Arts in Politics from Oberlin College in 2011. His work at Oberlin focused on political theory and comparative political economy with a focus on class and labor politics. He enjoys engaging in lively debates, cooking, gardening, learning, and being outside. Tim lives in Williston with his partner, Barbara.
BOARD OF DIRECTORSBoard Chair: Erin Heins, Shelburne, VT, Partner, Langrock Sperry & Wool
Vice President/Secretary: Stephanie Walsh, Burlington, VT, Director, Industry & Community Affairs, Dairy Farmers of America
Treasurer and Monitoring Officer: Thomas Paron, Woodbury, CT/ Hinesburg, VT, President Emeritus, Compass Capital Management
Lucy Halvorson, Charlotte, VT, Registered Associate, Morgan Stanley
Sirisha Hawley, E.A., Colchester, VT, Tax Director, Gallagher, Flynn & Co. LLP
Joshua Kruk, Shelburne, VT, Chief Financial Officer, Bank of Burlington
Shane Rogers, Milton, VT, Communications Director, Food Solutions New England (part of the Sustainability Institute at the University of New Hampshire)
Addison Williams, Burlington, VT, Senior Consultant, Deloitte Consulting