Our Team

The people behind every bag.

Founders

Lisa Helfman

Founder & Board Chair

Lisa Helfman is the founder and board chair of Brighter Bites. In the fall of 2011,…

Shreela Sharma, PhD

Co-Founder

Dr. Shreela Sharma is the co-founder of Brighter Bites. Dr. Sharma is responsible for operationalizing the…

National Team

Amy Priebe

Director of Strategy and Partnerships

Amy Priebe is the sourcing manager for Brighter Bites. Based in Chicago, IL, Amy works closely with…

Azar Gaminian, MPH, CHES

Research Coordinator

Azar Gaminian, MPH, CHES® is the Research Coordinator at Brighter Bites. In her role, she supports…

Christina Blick

Senior Manager of Programming and Marketing

Christina Blick is the senior manager of programming and marketing for Brighter Bites. She received her…

Gouri Kulkarni

Director of Finance

Gouri Kulkarni is the Director of Finance at Brighter Bites. She is a finance professional with…

Greg Bounds, MPH

Data Architect

Greg Bounds is the data architect at Brighter Bites. Greg has five years of data management…

Jacqueline Noyola

Manager of Education and Outreach

Jacqueline Noyola is the Brighter Bites manager of education and outreach. In her role, she collaborates…

Lisa Robertson

Grants Administrator

Lisa Robertson is the Grants Administrator at Brighter Bites. Having lived in three major Texas cities,…

Melissa McDonald

Director of Development

Melissa comes to Brighter Bites after many years with The Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a…

Mike Pomeroy, MPH

Vice President of Operations

Mike serves as vice president of operations of Brighter Bites, overseeing and directing programmatic aspects of…

Oria Oyedemi

Data Manager

Oria Oyedemi is the data manager at Brighter Bites. Oria comes to Brighter Bites with six…

Rich Dachman

Chief Executive Officer

Rich Dachman is the Chief Executive Officer of Brighter Bites. Rich comes to Brighter Bites with…

Samantha Rodriguez

Marketing Coordinator

Samantha Rodriguez is the Marketing Coordinator for Brighter Bites. Samantha graduated from Trinity University in San…

Stephanie Cox

Manager of Human Resources and Administration

Stephanie Cox planted herself in the HR field 20 years ago and has worked both in…

Regional Leadership

Shey Hall

Northeast Regional Director

Shey Hall is the Northeast Regional Director in New York City. As a proud Bronx Native he…

Katherine McMahon

Regional Program Director

Katherine McMahon is the regional program director in Los Angeles for Brighter Bites. Katherine received an…

Megan Hall MPH, RD

Regional Program Director

Megan serves as the regional program director for Texas. In this role, she manages relationships with…

Alexander Rodriguez

Program Coordinator

Alexander Rodriguez is a native Houstonian with a wide array of food service and community outreach…

Anjanette Nikodym

Program Coordinator

Anjanette Nikodym is a program coordinator for Brighter Bites in Houston. She began working with Brighter…

Ashton Connely

Program Coordinator

Ashton Connely is a program coordinator for Brighter Bites in Houston, Texas. Ashton was born in…

Barbara Segundo

Program Coordinator

Barbara Segundo is a program coordinator for Brighter Bites in Houston. She was born and raised…

Déjà King

Program Coordinator

Déjà King is a program coordinator for Brighter Bites in Houston. She was born and raised…

Jackie Delagarza

Program Coordinator

Jackie Delagarza is a program coordinator for Brighter Bites in Houston. Jackie was not only born…

Juana Flores

Senior Program Coordinator

Juana Flores is a program coordinator for Brighter Bites in Houston. She was born in Mexico…

Katie Degen

Senior Program Manager

Katie Degen is a program manager for Brighter Bites in Houston. She received her undergraduate degree…

Kayla Mizwa

Program Coordinator

Kayla Mizwa is a Program Coordinator for Brighter Bites in Houston. Kayla was born and raised in…

Michael Carpenter

Program Supervisor

Michael Carpenter is a senior operations coordinator for Brighter Bites in Houston. Michael began his tenure…

Tessa Sweeney

Program Coordinator

Tessa Sweeney is a program coordinator on the Houston Brighter Bites team. She began her Brighter…

Thelma Green

Senior Program Manager

Thelma Green is a senior program manager for Brighter Bites in Houston. When she was two…

Tibisay Guzman

Senior Program Coordinator

Tibisay Guzman is a program coordinator for Brighter Bites in Houston. She began her career at…

Briana Compton

Senior Program Coordinator

Briana Compton is a program coordinator for Brighter Bites in Dallas. She received her undergraduate degree…

Ibeth Hernandez

Program Coordinator

Ibeth Hernandez is a program coordinator for Brighter Bites in Dallas. She attended Texas Woman's University,…

Magaly Solis

Senior Program Manager

Magaly Solis is a senior program manager for Brighter Bites in Dallas. She has a passion…

Maryann Aguinaga

Senior Operations Coordinator

Maryann is a senior operations coordinator for Brighter Bites in Dallas. Maryann has been passionate for…

Yesenia Mejia

Program Coordinator

Yesenia Mejia is a program coordinator for Brighter Bites in Dallas. She started with the organization…

Sheryl Vicente

Program Coordinator

Sheryl Vicente graduated from The University of Texas at Arlington with a BA in Marketing and…

Lori Hoadley

Senior Operations Coordinator

Lori Hoadley is the senior operations coordinator in Austin, Texas, where she helps manage day-to-day program…

Rebeca Hernandez Gonzalez

Senior Program Manager

Rebeca Hernandez Gonzalez is senior program manager for Brighter Bites in Austin. She received her undergraduate…

Veronica Cabrera

Program Coordinator

Veronica Cabrera is a program coordinator for Brighter Bites in Austin. She first discovered Brighter Bites…

Dinorah Cano Santana

Program Coordinator

Dinorah is from Fort Worth, TX and grew up in the DFW metroplex. She graduated with…

Michelle Dotson

Program Coordinator

A global citizen calling Austin home since 2013. Michelle was drawn to Brighter Bites in 2022…

Elizabeth Velarde, MPH

Senior Program Manager

Originally from Dallas, TX, Elizabeth moved to San Antonio after completing her MPH degree. Elizabeth has…

Gina Flores

Senior Operations Coordinator

Gina Flores is program coordinator for Brighter Bites in NYC. A true New Yorker, Gina was…

Jason Engongoro

Program Coordinator

Jason Engongoro is a program coordinator for Brighter Bites New York City. Jason is a recent…

Ricky Delgado

Program Coordinator

Ricky Delgado is a program coordinator for Brighter Bites New York City. Ricky is a proud…

Dorien Rotger

Program Coordinator

Dorien has worked in the Social Service field for over 20 years under various titles. Dorien…

Shey Hall

Northeast Regional Director

Shey Hall is the Northeast Regional Director in New York City. As a proud Bronx Native he…

Emily Owen

Senior Program Manager

Emily Owen is a senior program manager on the Brighter Bites Washington, D.C. team. Emily has…

Geraldine Menjivar

Program Coordinator

Geraldine Menjivar is a program coordinator form Brighter Bites in the Washington, DC metro area. After…

Rajni Sood Laurent

Senior Program Coordinator

Senior Program Coordinator Rajni Sood Laurent is a mom, baker, and lover of fresh foods. She…

Sasha Ledesma

Senior Operations Coordinator

Sasha Ledesma is the Senior Operations Coordinator for Brighter Bites in Washington, D.C. She was born…

Clarissa Sarsama, MPH

Senior Program Manager

Clarissa is a program coordinator for Brighter Bites in Southwest Florida. She has worked in rural…

Leidy Vassell

Program Coordinator

Leidy Vassell is a program coordinator for Brighter Bites. She received a Bachelors of Science from…

Natalie Zamudio

Program Coordinator

Natalie Zamudio is a program coordinator for Brighter Bites in Southwest Florida. Upon receiving her Bachelor…

Alicia Blanco

Senior Program Manager

Alicia is the Senior Program Manager for Brighter Bites based out of the Salinas Valley in…

Nancy Bernal

Program Coordinator

Nancy Bernal is a Program Coordinator with the Salinas team. Having discovered Brighter Bites during an…

Lorena Perez

Program Coordinator

Lorena Perez is a Program Coordinator for the Salinas Team. Lorena worked in the agriculture industry…

Katherine McMahon

Regional Program Director

Katherine McMahon is the regional program director in Los Angeles for Brighter Bites. Katherine received an…

Tami Chipeco

Senior Program Manager

Tami Chipeco is the program coordinator for Brighter Bites in Los Angeles. After receiving her Bachelors…

Valeria Tepetlanco

Program Coordinator

Valerie Tepetlanco is a Program Coordinator for Brighter Bites in Los Angeles. She attended Humboldt State…

Ana Drake-Tripp

Program Coordinator

Ana Drake-Tripp is a program coordinator for Brighter Bites Los Angeles. Ana completed her undergraduate degree…

Sonia Rodriguez

Senior Program Manager

Sonia Rodriguez is the senior program manager for Brighter Bites in Bakersfield. She moved to Bakersfield…

Board of Directors

Faiyaz A. Bhojani, MD, DrPH

Global Health Lead and Regional Health Manager
Shell

Chelsea Pope Collins

Head of School, St. Luke’s Episcopal School in San Antonio
St. Luke’s Episcopal School

Joel Grade

Executive Vice President, Business Development
Sysco

Steven Graubart

President & CEO
Community Hospital Partners

Lisa Helfman

Director of Public Affairs, Houston
H-E-B Grocery Company

Scott McClelland

President
H-E-B Food Drug

Benjamin Samuels

Director
Samuels Family Foundation

Manolo Sánchez

Director
Fannie Mae

Shreela Sharma, PhD

Professor of Epidemiology
UTHealth School of Public Health

Sue Smith

Community Volunteer

Vic Smith

Chief Executive Officer
JV Smith Companies

Melissa Ackerman

President
Produce Alliance (PA)

The Fruit Loop