Diane is the Project Manager for the Fairfax Food Council. In this role, she supports the many food system leaders in their work to increase healthy food access in Fairfax County. Working closely with the very active Food Council work groups, she ensures they have the tools they need to bring community input to issues surrounding equitable and healthy food access. Diane's previous work has centered around leadership roles in nonprofit organizations addressing food access, children and families.

Ms. Garris is the Programs Director for Britepaths, a non-profit organization that develops sustainable solutions to stabilize low-income working families, build resilience through financial literacy and workforce development, and provide supports for children. In this role, she is responsible for leading and managing the comprehensive array of services and programs. This includes collaborating with Fairfax County farmer’s markets to issue Our Daily Veggie vouchers, which help families purchase produce. Ms. Garris also partners with Fairfax County Public Schools to provide Food4Thought weekend food assistance packs to families in need. She chaired the Fairfax Food Council from 2018 to 2020, and was a co-leader for the Food Provider Network (circa 2013-2014), a coordinating organization for all food pantries across Fairfax County.

Annie Turner is the Executive Director of Food for Others (FFO), an organization that feeds an average of 3,000 families per week and distributes over 2 million pounds of food each year. Under her leadership, FFO now has 3 community gardens for food insecure families, and partners with farms, farmers markets, and local gardeners to increase the amount of donated produce. Annie has also implemented a farm-to-family cooking class for low-income families, as well as the RX for food program with local health care providers. In August of 2020, Annie was chosen as a “Northern Virginian of the Year” by Northern Virginia Magazine due to her work in fighting food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Annie currently serves as Co-Chairman of the Fairfax Food Council. When not at work, Annie can be found spending time with family, and being active outdoors.

Dr. Lilian de Jonge is an assistant professor at the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies. She obtained her PhD degree in nutrition from the Université de Montréal. After her PhD degree, Dr. de Jonge moved to the Pennington Biomedical Research Center in Baton Rouge, where she was a faculty member and the director of the Metabolic Chambers Laboratory. During this time, she developed the Indirect Calorimetry Core Laboratory, and was involved in the redesign and reprogramming of the metabolic chambers. These chambers have become a model in the U.S., including for the NIH/NIDDK and the University of Colorado. Dr. de Jonge has collaborated with investigators on numerous studies, both federally and privately funded, including POUNDS LOST and CALERIE. In September 2010, Dr. de Jonge accepted a staff scientist position at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD where she was involved in the study of the role sleep and circadian rhythm on obesity.

Sharon Arndt, MPH, MPA serves as Division Director for Fairfax County Health Department’s Division of Community Health Development. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic response she has served as assistant liaison officer for community and non-profit sectors. She contributes to actions that enhance the agency’s transition to more population based public health service delivery and the multi-sector adoption of health in all policies considerations. Her team consists of community outreach, communications, and partnership engagement functions. She advances public health collaboration with county agencies, schools, faith communities, non-profit community organizations, residents and businesses in the effort to transform Fairfax into a community where everyone has the opportunity to live healthy.

Sharon has earned a Master of Public Administration in Public Management from George Mason University, a Master of Public Health in Environmental and Occupational Health from The George Washington University, and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Richmond. Sharon’s home is in Fairfax County with her husband and 4 children.

Kate Garsson is the Manager of Program Outreach and Education for Inova’s School and Community Partnerships department. In this role, she manages the Inova Healthy Plate Club and other programs to increase food access and reduce childhood obesity among low-income populations. The Inova Healthy Plate Club works with K-8th grade students to increase vegetable consumption and reduce sugary beverage consumption. Kate developed the Healthy Plate Club in 2016, and since then, more than 1,000 students have graduated from the program. An active community member, she serves as the co-chair for the Fairfax Food Council and on the Board of Directors for Medical Care for Children Partnership Foundation. Kate is a Masters in Public Health candidate at George Mason University, with an expected graduation date of December 2021.

As Project Manager for One Fairfax, Dawn works on various community initiatives to advance racial and social equity. Her passion for creating an equitable, just, and sustainable food system was instrumental in the conception and execution of the county’s first Food Equity Summit held in May 2019. In response to COVID-19, Dawn, along with business and nonprofit partners, launched the Coalition for Equitable Food Access + Economic Relief pilot program in June 2020 that addresses food access inequities in culturally, ethnically, and religiously diverse communities and provides economic support to local small food businesses impacted by the pandemic.

Loreann Grimes is the general manager of Frontier Kitchen. Frontier Kitchen is a food business incubator kitchen that is based in Fairfax County but has recently opened a second facility in Loudoun County. They currently have 100 small food businesses that utilize their facilities and services. She loves that Frontier Kitchen is involved in addressing food inequities in the food system by providing opportunities to her members and making partnerships to facilitate the good work being done. She also provides outside opportunities, outstanding customer service, and real-life experience to her members and partnerships. She has many years of experience in owning her own food business and working for other chefs in the DMV area. She is also an Air Force veteran and a transplant to this area.

Cheryl joined Great American Restaurants in 2004 and was immediately moved by GARs commitment and passion for serving those in our community. Inspired by that commitment, she began organizing volunteer team events with local charities and organizations, her favorite being their annual trip to the Shenandoah Valley to glean apples each Fall. Cheryl has led the philanthropy and volunteer initiatives at Great American Restaurants since 2015. Away from the office you’ll find Cheryl digging in her flower and vegetable garden, exploring Virginia wineries with friends and chasing her dog through the neighborhood.

Maralee is the founder and Executive Director of Comunidad, a nonprofit which exists to equip and engage locally-rooted community leaders. As a new organization, Comunidad works hard to respond to the needs of the community by engaging locally-rooted community leaders and providing a platform for these same leaders to thrive. This last year, Comunidad built a massive food distribution effort which provided food for thousands of families in Falls Church and beyond. Maralee has worked in the nonprofit sector for more than 20 years, creating initiatives which increase the visibility of marginalized or vulnerable communities. One of the biggest lessons she’s learned from working with locally-rooted community leaders is “Together, we can figure it out!”

Maria Perrone, RDN, is the Director of Food and Nutrition Services (FNS) for Fairfax County Public Schools. FNS participates in USDA Child Nutrition Programs and supports student success by preparing and serving healthy meals. Under Maria’s leadership, the FNS Team has served more than 15 million nutritious breakfasts, lunches, afternoon snacks, and supper meals during the pandemic and to households throughout Fairfax County.

Stacey Evers is co-chair of the Fairfax Food Council’s Urban Ag Work Group. She's taught environmental education at Belvedere Elementary School for 10 years and runs Grow a Row FC, a network of gardeners growing produce for donation. Stacey is working with several other people to expand Grow a Row into a non-profit organization that will aim to increase the availability and accessibility of garden-grown produce in the area.

Hiu Newcomb, born in 1935, lives and works on the farm year-round. She takes care of the off-beat varieties of vegetables that grow at the Vienna farm, in addition to dealing with the many details involved with running a small business on a small budget. A few background facts: Chinese-American, grew up in Hawaii, went to Oberlin College and studied piano, married Tony… Some people find her intimidating, but she is actually the most open-minded and inspiring person on the farm management team.

Cynthia Singiser is the Senior Director, Northern Virginia region for the Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB). In this role, she is responsible for ensuring that hunger needs are met across Northern Virginia through CAFB’s programs and network of partners. She identifies and implements partnerships with new, nontraditional food and other social actors on ways food can help enable pathways toward greater financial and sustained food security. She also oversees the CAFB’s warehouse located in Lorton, VA. Prior to CAFB, Cynthia worked in the private sector as Vice President at Home Box Office in New York City where she was responsible for overseeing distribution and marketing efforts.

Pamela Montesinos is the Director of Client Operations for WFCM. WFCM distributes food through their client choice food pantry and directly into local communities allowing WFCM to serve hundreds of families each month. Originally from Peru, Pamela moved to the United States in 2012, and in 2014 she worked at local non-profit La Cocina for four years as Program Coordinator. She was responsible for the logistics and administration of the culinary training program, recruitment, and food assistance program. Pamela joined the staff at WFCM in 2018 as the food pantry manager, and in 2019 she was promoted to Director of Client Operations overseeing both the food pantry and client services teams and functions. Pamela has developed and expanded partnerships with organizations such as Capital Area Food Bank, Cake4Kids, and JK Community Farm to bring more fresh produce and custom food options to community members in need. Pamela's dedication to serving the community, and willingness to expand programming as the needs have risen during the pandemic, is one of the reasons WFCM was recognized as a COVID 19 Hero by the Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce in 2021. Currently, Pamela is pursuing a second bachelor's degree in Community Health at George Mason University.